The Usumacinta River Valley

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Lintels of Itzamnaaj Balam II

The city of Yaxchilán lay by the Usumacinta River, which today forms the western boundary between Chiapas State, Mexico, and Guatemala. Its most ambitious rulers reigned during the 8th century, during which time the city dedicated stone stelae and lintels that count among the most numerous and aesthetic for any city in the Maya world. The piece at left is Lintel 53, whose scene reenacts a ritual with Itzamnaaj B'alam II, "Shield Jaguar," in a ritual dance with one of his wives. In the relief at right, Lintel 26, Shield Jaguar takes up his jaguar helmet from his wife Lady K'ab'al Xook as he heads off to battle on a day in the year 726.

National Museum of Anthropology and History


Lintels of Chel-te Chaan K'inich B'alam

After Shield Jaguar's death his son Bird Jaguar IV inherited the throne of Yaxchilán. One of his several wives was Lady First Skull, who has been variantly identified as the mother or "uncle" of the throne's successor Chel-te Chaan K'inich B'alam. After his accession around the year 769, this new king would assume the ruling name of his predecessor Shield Jaguar, so that he would become named Itzamnaaj B'alam III. He erected Lintel 54, at left, to commemorate his parents, Bird Jaguar IV and Lady First Skull. Lintel 58, at right, depicts the lord holding a k'awiil scepter before the lord Great Skull, carrying an axe and a solar shield.

National Museum of Anthropology and History


Jonuta Stele

The individual in this relief holds a bowl with an offering. Offerings were made to gods and the royal ancestor spirits, from whom the priests were believed to often seek counsel. The prevailing theme in this relief may be fertility: fruits hang from a branch above the offertory bowl, and the individual may be bearing phallic symbols upon his brow and collar. Tropical birds also appear around the figure. The stele is from Jonuta, Tabasco.

National Museum of Anthropology and History


Piedras Negras Panel 3

I owe most of my discussion of Piedras Negras to Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube. This city lay 25 miles northwest of Yaxchilán, and it is today on the Guatemalan side of the Usumacinta. Some of the finest integrations of glyphic script and relief art emerge from its stone sculpture, and Panel demonstrates the artistic finesse of this Classic Maya city. The central event in this panel depicts a sumptuous jubilee ceremony held in 749 to mark the turning of the 7200-day katun anniversary of Ruler 4's accession to the throne. The text framing this scene additionally describes a cacao-drinking feast and the attendance by Yaxchilán delegates, who receive a "history lesson" on their former submission to the Piedras Negras polity. The panel's layout is interesting because it "unrolls" the type of political event that is usually painted upon the famous cylindrical ceramic vases.

National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology


Piedras Negras Throne 1

Ruler 7 took the throne in 781, and he would oversee the last recorded generation of Piedras Negras's dynasty. During his reign, however, he commissioned several new structures, including the new palace gallery J-6, in which this maginificent throne was discovered. Dedicated in 785, Throne 1 features two Maya figures that Martin and Grube suggest could be Ruler 7's parents. Their heads shape the pupils to the eyes of a large mask describing the back of the throne. Glyphs line the front edge and two legs.

National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology


Piedras Negras Stele 12

With the help of allies from the neighboring city of La Mar, Ruler 7 led two successful campaigns against the city of Pomona, the first in 792 and the second in 794. Stele 12, dedicated in 795, shows the victorious king seated at the top as he presides over the presentation of the bound war captives, who were usually nobles. His La Mar ally Parrot Chaak is one of the two lieutenants standing at the sides, and his participation in the battles ensured his rule in his home city. Continual battles with Yaxchilán would soon lead to the demise of Piedras Negras, with the death of Ruler 7 in 808.

National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology


Piedras Negras Dedicatory Stele

The seated figure in this niche is a Piedras Negras lord. Its commemorative date marks a quarter-katun turn in the long-count date 9.12.15.0.0, a day in 687 CE. Digital values for the long-count were based on a vigesimal counting system, with the lowest places on the right. Each day counted as a kin, the digit furthest to the right. The next place counted the 20-day uinal, and the central place counted the 18-uinal (360-day) tun. The next place marked the number of katuns, or periods of 20 tuns (7200 days). Finally, the largest place belonged to the period of 20 katuns called the baktun, which measured 144,000 days. All of the dates in Maya chronology count from a singular date, the date of creation. Creation occurred on the day 13.0.0.0.0 - which many scholars place at August 13, 3114.

National Museum of Anthropology and History


Dance of the Wayob

The way (rhymes with "eye") was a dream animal, a companion spirit that each person was endowed with. As in dreams, these creatures were often fantastically exaggerated and grotesque, and they commonly inhabited the nether realms. Under ritual circumstances, however, an ancestral king's way could be summoned, often in the form of a great serpent whose gaping jaws bore the ancient king's spirit. The wayob could be ritually impersonated, as with the dancers painted on this vase from Altar de Sacrificios, Guatemala.

National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology