Wall Relief,
tentatively identified as a Scribe-Historian.
(See text at bottom of page.)
Steve Daniel and I believe this is a wall relief from a building described on page 329
of Schele & Freidel's
A FOREST OF KINGS (1990). If so, it is from Compound 9N-8 where a noble family
of scribe-historians had erected a temple to God N, Patron God of
Writing, during 18-Rabbit's reign.
As described by Schele & Freidel,
this temple was dismantled by the family during Yax-Pac's reign
some 30-80 years after it had been consecrated, and a new house (otot)
was built for the family patriarch. I believe this relief and the
next image in this sequence are from
that otot.
What puzzles me is the head-dress here and on the
next image. Do they represent the upper portion of a maw of Xibalba?
Or something else?
And what is the significance of the hand positions?
Is this a way of representing the hands without implying presence of
the
vision serpent bar?
(As described by Schele & Freidel (among others), Xibalba is the Mayan "Otherworld,"
which is parallel to our own world, and unseen but for ecstatic
trance states induced by bloodletting or other ritual activities.
Hand positions in images of the royalty often are stylized
representations for holding the double-headed serpent vision bar and
imply the vision quest of the royalty.)
A later image in this sequence shows a famous carved
bench from inside the otot. These are especially interesting images
from Copan's history because they are manifestations of the power
of the non-royal nobility at this site (see Schele & Freidel.)
If you have comments or think this
information is wrong, send me an email by clicking here:
janthony
Schele L & Freidel D. A forest of kings: The untold story of the
ancient maya. New York: William Morrow & Company, Inc. 1990.
Credit: Copyright © Aug 1996, J. Anthony, All rights reserved
