Corn God

As is to be expected, there was a god of corn among the ancient Maya. In general, anthropologists concur that this god was Yum K'aax, who was depicted as a young man with long, silky tresses, symbolizing the long filaments or 'hair' on the cobs, and a beautiful face with classic Maya profile, who wore a headdress made of a corn stalk surrounded by leaves.

The Maya considered corn a gift from the gods and cultivating it was a sacred duty. It was so highly esteemed that jade, the most sacred of stones, was used to symbolize it.