Makemake (deity)

, carved from red scoria Makemake (also written as Make-make; pronounced in Rapa Nui ) in the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island is the creator of humanity, the god of fertility and the chief god of the "Tangata manu" or bird-man sect (this sect succeeded the island's more famous Moai era). He appeared to be the local form, or name, of the old Polynesian god Tane. He had no wife. Makemake, as a face with large eyes or perhaps a skull with large eye sockets and a phallic nose, is a frequent subject of the Rapa Nui petroglyphs.

, carved from red scoria]] Makemake (also written as Make-make; pronounced in Rapa Nui ) in the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island is the creator of humanity, the god of fertility and the chief god of the "Tangata manu" or bird-man sect (this sect succeeded the island's more famous Moai era). He appeared to be the local form, or name, of the old Polynesian god Tane. He had no wife. Makemake, as a face with large eyes or perhaps a skull with large eye sockets and a phallic nose, is a frequent subject of the Rapa Nui petroglyphs. ==Astronomy== The trans-Neptunian dwarf planet Makemake is so named because sightings of both the dwarf planet and the island occurred close to Easter: the dwarf planet was discovered shortly after Easter 2005, and the first European contact with Easter Island was on Easter Sunday 1722. The dwarf planet's code name was "Easterbunny". ==In popular culture== In 2000, BBC produced the documentary The Lost Gods of Easter Island which featured a carved wooden idol that David Attenborough purchased for a relatively low price at auction. It is determinated that it was a carving of Makemake fashioned from the now locally-extinct Toromiro wood on Easter Island. The carving had been one of two traded with the crew of Captain Cook's ship and transported to Tahiti and given to family members of a Tahitian member of Cook's crew. s on rocks at Orongo. Makemake at base and two birdmen higher up]] ==References== Alfred Métraux. [1940] 1971. Ethnology of Easter Island. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 160. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press. Katherine Routledge The Mystery of Easter Island 1919 ==External links==

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