Sources

An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/an-illustrated-dictionary-of-the-gods-and-symbols-of-ancient-mexico-and-the-maya.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/an-illustrated-dictionary-of-the-gods-and-symbols-of-ancient-mexico-and-the-maya

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-an-illustrated-dictionary-of-the-gods-an,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/an-illustrated-dictionary-of-the-gods-and-symbols-of-ancient-mexico-and-the-maya},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Mary Miller and Karl Taube's dictionary works from the surviving iconographic and textual record of Mesoamerican art and religion, entry by entry, giving each deity's attributes and epithets as they appear in that physical record rather than through a single unifying narrative imposed across every culture it covers. That grounding in checkable iconographic evidence is the real basis for using it here. This record has not independently traced a documented history of scholarly disagreement with any specific entry, and it has not checked every entry against a second independent iconographic study. Use it for the attributes and epithets of a specific Mesoamerican deity as recorded in surviving art and text.

Facts

Citation

Author

Mary Miller and Karl Taube

Publisher

Thames and Hudson

Publication Year

1993

URL

https://archive.org/details/godssymbolsofa00mill

Source Type

reference

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Mary Miller and Karl Taube's dictionary, working entry by entry from the surviving iconographic and textual record of Mesoamerican art and religion to give each deity's attributes and epithets as they actually appear in that physical record.

Notes

General reference for Mesoamerican deities, iconography and terminology, used here for attributes and epithets.

Claims Backed By This Source (319 claims)

This source backs 319 claims across the atlas. As facts: 186 well-attested, 3 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 36 holds, 1 connected. Plus 93 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Deities, 169 claims: 107 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 22 holds, 1 connected, 38 general references.
Lords of the Night, 31 claims: 18 well-attested, 4 holds, 9 general references.
Articles, 28 claims: 21 well-attested, 7 general references.
Sacred Objects & Ritual Items, 13 claims: 8 well-attested, 3 holds, 2 general references.
Dreamspell Kins, 12 claims: 12 general references.
Rituals, 9 claims: 5 well-attested, 2 holds, 2 general references.
Mythical Creatures, 8 claims: 6 well-attested, 2 general references.
Realms, 8 claims: 5 well-attested, 2 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
Bodies of Water, 7 claims: 5 well-attested, 2 general references.
Veintenas, 5 claims: 5 holds.
Plants, 4 claims: 1 well-attested, 3 general references.
Animals & Totems, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Directions, 2 claims: 2 general references.
Religious Symbols, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Sacred Sites, 2 claims: 2 general references.
Textual Witnesses, 2 claims: 2 general references.
Doctrines, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Historical Figures, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Holidays & Festivals, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Other Writings, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Practices, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Regions, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Religions, 1 claims: 1 general references.