Karen Bassie-Sweet - Maya Gods of War

Karen Bassie-Sweet

U NIVERSITY P RESS OF C OLORADO

Louisville

2021 by University Press of Colorado

Published by University Press of Colorado

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Louisville, Colorado 80027

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The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, University of Wyoming, Utah State University, and Western Colorado University.

ISBN: 978-1-64642-131-2 (hardcover)

ISBN: 978-1-64642-132-9 (ebook)

https://doi.org/10.5876/9781646421329

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bassie-Sweet, Karen, 1952 author.

Title: Maya gods of war / Karen Bassie-Sweet.

Description: Louisville : University Press of Colorado, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021003574 (print) | LCCN 2021003575 (ebook) | ISBN 9781646421312 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781646421329 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Maya gods. | Maya mythology. | Warfare, Prehistoric. | Weapons, Ancient.

Classification: LCC F1435.3.R3 B375 2021 (print) | LCC F1435.3.R3 (ebook) | DDC 355.02dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003574

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003575

Illustrations: Palenque Temple XIX pier Yajawkak headdress, photo by Karen Bassie-Sweet (front); Palenque Tablet of the Slaves, drawing after Merle Greene Robertson (background).

For Rick and Nick, my yin and yang

Genealogy chart

Chajom titles: a. Yaxchiln Throne 2, b. Quirigu Stela J, c. K1440

Palenque Temple XXI bench

Usumacinta stela

Chajom headdress: a. La Corona Panel 1, b. Yaxchiln Lintel 43

El Cayo Altar 4

Dos Pilas Stela 2

Aguateca Stela 2

Tikal Bone MT-39

Yaxchiln Stela 1

Palenque Temple XIX platform

Yaxchiln Lintel 8

Yaxchiln Lintel 16

Yaxchiln Lintel 12

Yaxchiln Stela 10

Laxtunich wall panel

Piedras Negras Stela 12

Portraits and nominal glyphs for the deity GI: a. stone mask, b. Early Classic incensario, c. portrait glyph, d. nominal phrase

Kawiil in the form of thunderbolt axe

a. T528 tuun sign, b. witz sign, c. witz motif

a. hi sign, b. kan tuun motif

a. flint signs, b. personified flint signs, c. flint centipede

Yaxchiln Lintel 45

Palenque Temple XVII

Copn Margarita Structure panel

Dumbarton Oaks Tablet

a. T24 sign, b. T1017 sign, c. Kawiil gods

K4013

K8608

La Pasadita Lintel 2

K2772

a. T122 sign kak fire sign, T1035 kak fire sign, b. Early Classic axe

T44 tok spark sign on Yopaat portrait glyph

Palenque Tablet of the Foliated Cross

Seacal vessel

Temple of Inscriptions sarcophagus lid

Lacanha Panel 1

Dresden Codex page 26

War shield featuring portrait of GIII, Palenque Tablet of the Sun

K1892

a. T544 sun glyph, b, c. Sun God, d. kin cartouche

Sun God K1398

Dawn glyph, Copn Structure 66c bench

Dawn glyph, Copn Group 10K-4

Palenque Tablet of the Cross

Yaxchiln Four Crocodile House

a. GIII portrait glyph, b. GIII nominal phrase

Palenque Group B incensario

Tikal canoe scene

Naranjo Stela 30

Palenque Tablet of the Sun

Yaxchiln Lintel 41

Teotihuacn warrior with obsidian blade headdress and obsidian weapon

a. T712 chab sign, b. u chab u akab couplet, c. u chab u akab conflated signs

Personified obsidian spear heads, Piedras Negras Stela 7 and Stela 8

Copn Stela 6

Tlaloc portraits

Yaxchiln Stela 35 front

Tlaloc with Waxaklajuun Ubaah Kan leg, Copn Structure 26

a. Acanceh Waxaklajuun Ubaah Kan, b. Acanceh stucco facade, c. K1350 Waxaklajuun Ubaah Kan

Naranjo Stela 2

Yaxchiln Lintel 41 spear, Xiuhcoatl

Trapezoid motif, Copn Structure 26

a. Jaguar glyph, b. jaguar claw and jaguar glyph, c. hix, d. puma

Hix jaguar, vessel K771

Tlaloc jaguar, Palenque Group B medallions

Tlaloc jaguar, Palenque Group B medallions

Waxaklajuun Ubaah Kan, K8266

Piedras Negras Stela 8

Naranjo Stela 19

La Corona Panel 6

Copn Rastrojon puma

Teotihuacn Lepidoptera, Cleveland Museum of Art mirror

Palenque looted panel

Lepidoptera Tlaloc, K4644 and Dzibilnocac plate

Black Witch Moth

a. o owl, b. sky glyph, c. cave glyph, d. katun glyph, e. Muwaan glyph

Piedras Negras Stela 9 bundle

Owl Tlaloc, a. vessel K8504, b. Acanceh owl, c. K8121

Lepidoptera Tlaloc, vessel K6809

Atetelco mountain place name and Piedras Negras Stela 9 Owl Tlaloc

Piedras Negras Stela 7

Piedras Negras Stela 26

a. T583 sign, b. janaab owl, c. and d. T932 pakal sign, e. T583T932 conflation (T624), f. Janaab Ti O glyph

Owl incense bag, Palenque Temple XIX jamb

Kaloomte logographs

Tikal Stela 31 front

Museo VICAL vessel

Tikal Marcador

a. Tikal Marcador glyphs, b. Tikal Marcador medallion, c. Tikal Marcador medallion

a. Teotihuacan lechuza y armas, b. Tikal Stela 31 medallion (drawing after Christopher Jones)

Spearthrower Owl name and Piedras Negras Stela 9 Tlaloc Owl wing

Tikal Stela 31 back

Copn Altar Q

Wiintenaah place name

Palenque Palace Tablet scene

Palenque Palace Tablet text

Palenque Oval Palace Tablet

Piedras Negras Panel 2

Piedras Negras Stela 40 top

Piedras Negras Stela 40 bottom

Bonampak Stela 3

Palenque Temple XIX pier Yajawkak headdress

Palenque Tablet of the Slaves

Tonin Monument 27 and Panel Mp49

La Corona ballplayer

Yaxchiln Lintel 24

Yaxchiln Lintel 17

Yaxchiln Lintel 25

Yaxchiln Structure 21 mural

Yaxchiln Stela 35 back

God L Temple of the Cross right jamb

K511

K2796

This study focuses on the Classic period deities of the Maya region that were associated with weapons of war and sacrifice, as well as the flint and obsidian from which those implements were made. The Classic period terms for flint and obsidian were tok and taj (Proto-Mayan *tyooq and *tyaah), respectively (Kaufman 2003:442). These two types of stones were the most common material used to make axes, hammers, lancets, knives, spears, darts, and arrows as well as utilitarian tools. Flint and obsidian were also knapped into exotic shapes nicknamed eccentrics that had ritual purposes. The use of flint and obsidian debitage in caches and elite burial contexts was common, and this speaks to the sacred nature of these stones (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937; Coe 1959; Moholy-Nagy 2008). The Maya area has four broad geographic zones: the Pacific coastal region, the highlands, the Maya Mountains of Belize, and the lowlands. The highlands consist of a volcanic southern region and a metamorphic northern region. A karst platform dominated by limestone bedrock forms the lowlands. Flint (a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of quartz) is found in limestone formations, while obsidian (volcanic glass) only occurs in the volcanic regions of the highlands of Guatemala and Mexico. During the Classic period ( AD 250900), the three primary obsidian sources of Guatemala in descending order of importance were El Chayal, Ixtepeque, and San Martn Jilotepeque. Obsidian from these sites has been recovered across the Maya lowlands and attests to the importance of this highland trade commodity. Though in small quantities, Central Mexican obsidian, particularly the superior green obsidian from the Pachuca sources that were controlled by Teotihuacn in the Early Classic period, was also present in the Maya lowlands and even appeared at highland Guatemalan sites that had easy access to local sources.