 According to Francisco Hernández (quoted by Las Casas and Diego López de Cogolludo), the Bacab (apparently a unitary concept) was the son of the creator god, Itzamna, and of the goddess Ixchebelyax; he had once been humbled, killed, and revived.The veneration of the Bacabs was closely connected to that of the so-called Year Bearers and their prognostics.Each Bacab ruled one of the directions and the associated Year Bearer day (one of four New Year days), as follows