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# The thirteen Maya constellations and the bat that corresponded to Ophiuchus
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/po-povodu-trinadtsatogo-astronomicheskogo-sozvezdiia-zmeenostsa/
- Published: 2016-09-23T05:55:48.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:01:52.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Science, Ethnography, Humour

On the thirteenth astronomical constellation, Ophiuchus. The Maya likewise had 13 constellations, which is to say that they too possessed astronomy and knew the constellations of the Milky Way.

To odd-numbered Ophiuchus there corresponded the bat.

It is curious that half of the Maya constellations were named after mammals, and half after various birds and reptiles, which were held to be able to pass between worlds. There is an artless legend of how neither party would take the bat in: the mammals were displeased by her wings, and the other creatures by her bestial genitals. And so she remained alone, hanging sadly on a washing line.

The washing line, of course, is the Milky Way, in the middle of which there is indeed situated the unbridled constellation of the bat (Ophiuchus).