Xibalba
![Vessel depicting deities in the court of Xibalba](/Images/godic/202502/21/Vessel_depicting_gods_in_the_court_of_Xibalba,_the_underworld,_Maya,_Late_Classic_Period,_600-900_AD,_ceramic_-_Royal_Ontario_Museum_-_DSC044912952.JPG")
![Before the Lords of Xibalba, Ixquic is entangled by K'awiil's serpent leg. The female deity could also be identified as the Classic Period Goddess I.](/Images/godic/202502/21/Jarron_Maya_2_-_Ixquic_y_los_Señores_de_Xibalbá2953.jpg")
Xibalba (Mayan pronunciation: [ʃiɓalˈɓa]), roughly translated as "place of fear", is the name of the underworld in K'iche' Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the vicinity of Cobán, Guatemala. According to some of the K'iche' Maya presently living in the vicinity, the area is still associated with death. Cave systems in nearby Belize have also been referred to as the entrance to Xibalba. In some Maya areas, the Milky Way is viewed as the road to Xibalba.