Sukunkyum

Sukunkyum, 'Our Elder Brother Lord', is the eldest of the gods and ruler of the underworld, Yalam Lumil ('beneath the earth'). Each night he receives the setting sun and carries it through the underworld to the eastern horizon, and he judges the souls of the dead, weighing their conduct and assigning their fate. He also keeps the destructive death-god Kisin in check. As guardian of the dead he is central to Lacandon mortuary belief.

Parentage

• parent: KʼakʼochRobert D. Bruce, El Libro de Chan Kʼin (INAH, 1974) (primary)

Children

• Tʼuup

Domains

• underworld
• death
• solar

Powers

• carry the sun through the underworld
• judge the souls of the dead
• restrain the death-god

Epithets

• Sukun Kyum — Our Elder Brother LordR. Jon McGee, Life, Ritual, and Religion among the Lacandon Maya (Wadsworth, 1990) (primary)

Relations

• parent: KʼakʼochRobert D. Bruce, El Libro de Chan Kʼin (INAH, 1974) (primary)
• sibling: HachäkyumR. Jon McGee, Life, Ritual, and Religion among the Lacandon Maya (Wadsworth, 1990) (primary)
• sibling: Äkyantho'Robert D. Bruce, El Libro de Chan Kʼin (INAH, 1974) (primary)
• enemy: KisinDidier Boremanse, Hach Winik: The Lacandon Maya of Chiapas (IMS, 1998) (primary)
• child: TʼuupRobert D. Bruce, El Libro de Chan Kʼin (INAH, 1974) (primary)

Sources

• Sukunkyum is the eldest god and ruler of the underworld, who carries the sun by night and judges the dead.: R. Jon McGee, Life, Ritual, and Religion among the Lacandon Maya (Wadsworth, Belmont, 1990) (primary); Robert D. Bruce, El Libro de Chan Kʼin (INAH, 1974) (primary)