Ah Puch

Ah Puch (designated in pre-Columbian codices and Classic Maya epigraphy as Kimi, 'Death', and Kisin, 'The Foul-Smelling One', and conventionally classified by Paul Schellhas as 'God A') is the principal Maya deity of skeletal death, cadaver decomposition, and the subterranean realm of Xibalba. In the Guatemalan highlands, the Popol Vuh records the sovereign powers of death under the names Jun Kame ('One Death') and Wuqub' Kame ('Seven Death'), who govern the judges and scourges of the underworld. Iconographically, Kimi is consistently depicted as a fleshless corpse or one in an advanced state of putrefaction: exposed skull, visible ribs and vertebrae, a swollen belly marked by dark circular patches of cadaveric necrosis, and lipless jaws. His characteristic adornments include rattles and spherical bells of copper or shell tied to the ankles, wrists, and hair, as well as necklaces made of eyeballs torn out and hung over the chest. In the Dresden and Madrid codices, God A rules the day Kimi (the sixth day of the 260-day Tzolk'in ritual calendar) and often appears brandishing funerary torches or decapitation axes, or presiding over the ritual sacrifice of prisoners in direct opposition to the deities of rain (Chaac) and maize (Ixim).

6 min read · Reviewed on September 28, 2026 · How we research

The skeleton, the bells, the owl and the signs of decay

Primary sources

• Anonymous (K'iche' Maya), Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya. translation: Translation by Allen J. Christenson, University of Oklahoma Press, 2007.
• Diego de Landa, Relación de las cosas de Yucatán. translation: Annotated edition by Ángel María Garibay, Editorial Porrúa, 1959.
• Anonymous (Post-Classic Maya), Dresden Codex. translation: Analytical study by Helmut Deckert, Akademische Druck, Graz, 1975.

Studies

• Karl Taube, The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1992.
• Michael D. Coe, The Maya Scribe and His World. The Grolier Club, 1973.
• J. Eric S. Thompson, Maya History and Religion. University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.