Kukulkan

K’uk’ulkan, also spelled Kukulkan (kuːkʊlˈkɑːn; "Plumed Serpent", "Amazing Serpent"), is the Mesoamerican serpent deity of the Pre-Columbine Yucatec Maya. It is closely related to the deity Qʼuqʼumatz of the Kʼicheʼ people and to Quetzalcoatl of Aztec mythology. Prominent temples to Kukulkan are found at archaeological sites in the Yucatán Peninsula, such as Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Mayapan. The depiction of the Feathered Serpent is present in other cultures of Mesoamerica. Although heavily Mexicanised, Kukulkan has its origins among the Maya of the Classic Period. Little is known of the mythology of this Pre-Columbian era deity. In the Yucatec Maya language, the name is spelt Kʼukʼulkan (/kʼuː kʼuːlˈkän/) and in Tzotzil it is Kʼukʼul-chon (/kʼuːˈkʼuːl tʃhon/). The Yucatec form of the name is formed from the word kuk "feather" with the adjectival suffix -ul, giving kukul "feathered", combined with kan "snake" (Tzotzil chon), giving a literal meaning of "feathered snake". Kukulkan has its origins among the Maya of the Classic Period, when it was known as Waxaklahun Ubah Kan (/waʃaklaˈχuːn uːˈɓaχ kän/), the War Serpent. It has been identified also as the Postclassic version of the Vision Serpent of Classic Maya art. The cult of Kukulkan/Quetzalcoatl was the first Mesoamerican religion to transcend the old Classic Period linguistic and ethnic divisions. This cult facilitated communication and peaceful trade among peoples of many different social and ethnic backgrounds. Although the cult was originally centred on the ancient city of Chichen Itza in the modern Mexican state of Yucatán, it spread as far as the Guatemalan Highlands and northern Belize. In Yucatán, references to the deity Kukulkan are confused by references to a named individual who bore the name of the god. Because of this, the distinction between the two has become blurred. This individual appears to have been a ruler or priest at Chichen Itza who first appeared around the 10th century.