Ek Chuah

Ek Chuah is known from Postclassic Maya codices and site iconography and has been catalogued in modern scholarship as the codical God M. Postclassic representations and comparative readings link him to an older Classic figure (often identified with God L in some sources), indicating continuity and iconographic overlap between Classic and Postclassic merchant and underworld/personified‑commodity figures. Our knowledge of Ek Chuah derives primarily from codical imagery (notably the Dresden and Madrid codices) and artisanal representations rather than an extended narrative myth preserved in the supplied sources.

In the Postclassic codical record Ek Chuah appears in variant renderings: in the Dresden Codex he is shown with a black‑and‑white striped appearance, while in the Madrid Codex he is rendered darker (described in sources as dark/black). Distinguishing facial markers noted in the codices include a mouth encircled by a red‑brown border, a large lower lip, and two curved lines to the right of the eye. He is frequently depicted as an old man (sometimes with a single tooth), carrying a pack of goods with a rope or tumpline around his head; other accoutrements in some images include a spear and, in certain composite renderings, a scorpion tail or the spine of a death god, producing hybrid iconography.

Sources present Ek Chuah's role in terms of patronage and symbolic function rather than enumerated supernatural powers. He functions as the patron and protector of merchants and travelers and as the patron of cacao and those who cultivate or trade it. Codical depictions of combat (often with Buluk Chabtan/God F) are interpreted as reflecting merchants' need for defense against violence on trade routes rather than as literal statements of aggressive magic. Ek Chuah also appears iconographically in forms that overlap with other deity types (e.g., God L, death‑god elements), indicating fluidity of attributes across related divine figures.