Camazotz, The Maya ‘Death Bat’
John MitchellCamazotz, the Maya deity associated with death.
The Indigenous Zapotec people of Mexico believed that caves were portals to the underworld, and that the bats that flitted in and out of their depths were representations of death. They came to believe in a bat death god — first mentioned around 100 C.E. — and their belief in such a deity was seemingly adopted by the K’iche’ Maya of modern-day Guatemala. The K’iche’ Maya came to deeply fear a death god called Camazotz.
Seemingly inspired by the giant vampire bats that once flew over Central America, Camazotz is often depicted holding a sacrificial knife in one hand and a human heart in the other. The death god’s name comes from the K’iche’ word kame, meaning “death,” and sotz’, meaning “bat.” However, Sam Houston State University notes that his name is sometimes translated as “snatch bat,” a nod to how Camazotz was believed to “snatch” his victims.
Indeed, the best-known tale of Camazotz seemingly comes from a story in the Popol Vuh, a sacred text that includes the K’iche’ Maya creation myths. One story in the Popol Vuh describes how demigod twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué were challenged to spend the night in Zotzilaha, or the House of Bats. Though the brothers spent most of the night successfully hiding in their blowguns, Hunahpú stuck his head out when things grew quiet.
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Hunahpú and Xbalanqué, twins who fatefully tried to spend a night in the “House of Bats.”
Camazotz immediately snatched his head, decapitating him. What’s more, the death god then took Hunahpú’s head to the underworld so that other gods could use it in their ball game.
Scholars also believe that Camazotz plays a role in another K’iche’ Maya myth, this one about how humankind obtained fire. In this myth, a bat-like deity barters with humans, who agree to give up their armpits and waists for fire. This, seemingly, is a nod to how sacrificial victims were cut open.
And while Camazotz is an especially terrifying death god, he’s one of many death gods with animal-like characteristics.
