Itzam Cab Ain, the Cosmic Monster, is the zoomorphic manifestation of Itzamna — the supreme god's body literally constitutes the sky, with the celestial reptile's form spanning from horizon to horizon.
⚠ Some scholars distinguish Itzam Cab Ain as a separate earth deity rather than a direct manifestation, though Taube and others argue for identification based on shared iconographic traits in the codices.
In the Dresden Codex flood scene, Chaac appears wielding weapons amid the deluge unleashed when Itzam Cab Ain disgorges torrential waters from its mouth to destroy a world age.
In Classic period iconography, Hun-Hunahpu the Maize God emerges reborn through a crack in Itzam Cab Ain's back, the earth-crocodile's body splitting open to release maize and renewed life.
On page 74 of the Dresden Codex, Ix-Chel pours water from a jar while Itzam Cab Ain simultaneously disgorges a flood from its mouth, the two figures jointly enacting the destruction of a world age.
Kinich Ahau traverses the body of Itzam Cab Ain daily, rising from the cosmic crocodile's eastern jaws at dawn and sinking through its western maw into the underworld at dusk.
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