In 2500 BC, even before DC Comics created Batman, the ancient Mayans worshiped Batman “Camazotz”, a bat god with a human body with a bat head and pointed ears. .
The Camazotz , meaning “bat of death” in the Mayan Kʼiche language, is a creature of ancient origin in Mesoamerican mythology . According to the Mayan description, this is a deity with a human-like body, a bat head and a nose like a stone blade.
Notably, like other monsters such as Lizard Man, Goat Man, Carmazotz is often referred to by the Maya with the phrase “Batman” instead of “Batgod” , to refer to this as a species. mysterious creatures, scary and often harm people.
Legendary image of Batman Camazotz according to the artist’s imagination.
In the Mayan religion, “Camazotz” is depicted as a powerful monster/god that dwells in the Hell of Xibalba, associated with night, death, and sacrifice. The fear and cult of the American inhabitants of the Camazotz explains why this creature is so common in Maya art and literature.
According to Popol Vuh, an ancient Mayan mythological text, Camazotz hid in a cave called Zotzilaha (house of bats) . It listens to orders from the King of Hell to kill strays who accidentally disturb the sleep of the Underworld gods. In addition, Camazotz is also one of the 4 demonic beasts responsible for wiping out humanity in the age of the first sun.
Ancient Mayans clash with giant bats.
However, in the eyes of modern science, some scholars studying the Maya civilization believe that the Camazotz image was actually inspired by the common large bat. Meanwhile, some other researchers believe that this creature originated from the fossils of giant blood-sucking bats that went extinct during the Pleistocene or Holocene, tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years ago. commonwealth.
In fact, the popularity of the Camazotz legend has led many archaeologists to propose the theory that the ancient Maya did indeed have encounters with large creatures of the bat family. In 1988, the fossil of a demon bat (Desmodus Draculae) was discovered in the Mongas province of Venezuela.
Twelve years later, another demon bat fossil was found in Honduras, showing the shape of a giant bat 30 percent larger than the common Desmodus Draculae bat. Bats of the species Desmodus Draculae usually have an average wingspan of about 50 cm, but Honduran giant bat fossils have a wingspan of up to nearly 80 cm. Scientists have named this species the Giant Devil Bat .
Image of Camazotz in the movie Hellboy.
The image of the Giant Devil Bat itself is also found in many sites and documents in the Yucatan peninsula, Belize, northern Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela. These are all areas that were once the territory of the ancient Mayan empire.
In 2000, a giant Devil Bat tooth was found in Argentina. With large teeth, this bat is completely capable of killing people with a bite to the neck. The Giant Bat lived until the Pleistocene or late Holocene period. Most likely, ancient humans in the Americas had encountered them. Their fear of this creature created the image of Camazotz, an extremely terrifying giant batman in legend.