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ACTA MESOAMERICANA
18
Sacred Books, Sacred Languages:
Two Thousand Years of Ritual and Religious Maya
Literature
Proceedings of the 8th European Maya Conference
Madrid, November 25 – 30, 2003
Rogelio Valencia Rivera, Geneviève Le Fort (Editors)
ACTA MESOAMERICANA
Sacred Books, Sacred languages: Two Thousand Years
of Ritual and Religious Maya Literature
Rogelio Valencia Rivera, Geneviève Le Fort (Editors)
Markt Schwaben; Verlag Anton Saurwein – 2006
Acta Mesoamericana; 18
ISBN: 3-931419-14-2
ISBN: 3-931419-14-2
Copyright by Verlag Anton Saurwein
Markt Schwaben, Germany, 2006
Alle Rechte vorbehalten/All rights reserved
Druck: 3-931419-14-2
Printed in Germany
Wayeb Advisory Editorial Board
Alain Breton
Andrés Ciudad Ruiz
Elizabeth Graham
Nikolai Grube
Norman Hammond
CONTENTS
Prefacio
Art of the Maya Epitaph: The Genre of Posthumous Biographies
in the Late Classic Maya Inscriptions
Alexandre Tokovinine
VII
1
Los sujetos novelísticos y las palabras obscenas: los mitos, los cuentos
y las anécdotas en los textos mayas sobre la cerámica del Período Clásico
Dimitri Beliaev, Albert Davletshin
21
A New Look at Linguistic Interaction in the Lowlands as a Background
for the Study of Maya Codices
Søren Wichmann
45
Fire Drilling, Bloodletting, and Sacrifice:
Yearbearer Rituals in the Maya and Borgia Group Codices
Gabrielle Vail, Christine M. Hernández
65
The Hunting Scenes in the Madrid Codex – Planner for Hunting Rituals
Pierre R. Colas
81
“Sib-ten a w-áalak’-o’ob…” (“regálanos tus hijos, tus criados…”)
Oraciones Dirigidas al “Protector de los Animales” (Sip)
Marianne Gabriel
93
De Extirpatio Codicis Yucatanensis: The 1607 Colonial Confiscation
of a Maya Sacred Book – New Interpretations on the Origins and
Provenience of the Madrid Codex
John F. Chuchiak IV
113
La voz de los antepasados en la poesía k’iche’
Michela E. Craveri
141
Two Maya Prayers: Microcosm of Cultural and Linguistic Contact
Lisa D. Bennett
159
El lenguaje sagrado contemporáneo. Comentarios sobre la definición
de los géneros en la tradición oral maya
Aurore M. Becquelin
173
El origen prehispánico de las profecías katúnicas mayas coloniales:
Antecedentes clásicos de las profecías de 12 Ajaw y 10 Ajaw
Alfonso Lacadena
201
PREFACIO
La Octava Conferencia Maya Europea tuvo lugar los días 29 y 30 de noviembre de
2003 en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional de Madrid, gracias al patrocinio y
financiación de la Facultad de Geografía e Historia de la Universidad Complutense de
Madrid, la Asociación Europea de Mayistas, Wayeb, la Sociedad Española de Estudios
Mayas (SEEM) y el Museo Arqueológico Nacional.
Durante la misma tuvimos la oportunidad de escuchar a los ponentes que ahora
presentan sus trabajos de forma ampliada en el presente volumen. Además de ellos,
también tuvieron la amabilidad de presentar una ponencia Bruce Love, Nikolai Grube,
James L. Fitzsimmons, Alain Breton y Kerry Hull, quienes si bien no han podido
presentar una versión escrita de la misma, enriquecieron de gran manera las discusiones
durante la Conferencia y durante los días previos en los talleres de Epigrafía que
tuvieron lugar en las incomparables instalaciones del Museo de América de Madrid de
los días 25 al 28 de noviembre.
El tema elegido para este encuentro y reflejado en su título fue el de Libros sagrados,
lenguas sagradas: dos mil años de literatura religiosa y ritual maya (Sacred Books,
Sacred Languages: Two Thousand Years of Ritual and Religious Maya Literature),
donde se buscaba explorar la expresión escrita maya desde un punto de vista global,
considerando la literatura maya en su conjunto, desde el pasado prehispánico hasta la
actualidad, con un especial enfoque en los textos rituales y religiosos.
El presente volumen presenta el contenido agrupado de forma cronológica, aunque no
de forma estricta, comenzando con la presentación de estilos literarios plasmados sobre
diversos soportes durante la época prehispánica. Empezamos con las “biografíaspóstumas” descritas por Alexandre Tokovinine, las cuales constituyen un género
utilizado en una región concreta del alto Usumacinta para la configuración de textos de
conmemoración de la muerte de sajaltaak escritos en piedra por sus descendientes con
el fin de justificar su acceso al cargo de su predecesor.
Posteriormente se presentan los mitos y anécdotas mitológicas representadas sobre la
cerámica por parte de Dimitri Beliaev y Albert Davletshin, haciendo especial hincapié
en un grupo de textos que no suele encontrarse en otro medio físico y que son
especialmente interesantes por la utilización de un lenguaje más coloquial, así como por
su uso de formas gramaticales poco usuales en el arte monumental.
Pasamos a ocuparnos de los textos escritos en los códices. Søren Wichmann nos
presenta un análisis de la influencia de las lenguas de las Tierras Bajas mayas sobre la
escritura de los códices, basado en el análisis de la presencia del sonido p’ en la
escritura maya, haciendo especial hincapié en el análisis de aspectos muy concretos de
la distribución de innovaciones morfémicas como base para determinar la posible
filiación lingüística de los textos de los códices.
El artículo de Pierre R. Colas trata sobre las ceremonias de la caza representadas en el
Códice de Madrid, indicando que se trata de la representación de ceremonias
propiciatorias de esta actividad y no de la actividad en si misma. En este punto
rompemos el orden cronológico e incluimos la valiosa aportación de Marianne Gabriel,
por permitirnos establecer cierto paralelismo entre las ceremonias descritas por Pierre R.
Colas realizadas en la antigüedad y las mismas prácticas aún llevadas a cabo entre los
mayas de Yucatán.
Continuando con los códices se incluye a continuación el artículo de Gabrielle Vail y
Christine Hernández que trata de establecer similitudes entre el centro de México y el
área maya en la descripción de ceremonias relacionadas con el ciclo de renovación de
52 años tal y como se describen en los códices de Dresde y Madrid y los del grupo
Borgia del centro de México, siguiendo una línea de investigación que ha resultado ser
muy fructífera en los últimos años.
Pasamos posteriormente al análisis del periodo que va del final del Clásico maya al
principio de la Colonia, con el interesante artículo de John Chuchiak acerca del posible
origen del Códice de Madrid, el cual hace un análisis detallado de los participantes en la
incautación del documento, así como las circunstancias bajo las cuales ha podido
sobrevivir hasta la actualidad.
Seguimos después con las plegarias escritas en el presente, como las analizadas por Lisa
D. Bennet, Aurore Monod Becquelin y Michela E. Craveri, en las cuales se puede aún
apreciar la estructura poética basada en difrasismos y en paralelismos, mecanismos aún
utilizados por los pueblos mayas en su narrativa oral y que ya estaban presentes en el
Popol Vuh y otros textos cercanos a la Conquista, como se puede apreciar en nuestro
último artículo.
Y terminamos con el artículo escrito por Alfonso Lacadena acerca de la relación entre
las profecías katúnicas presentes en las inscripciones mayas del Clásico y sus relaciones
con los libros de Chilam Balam, sugiriendo que dichas profecías pertenecen a un género
literario de gran antigüedad.
Queremos agradecer especialmente la deferencia mostrada por parte de los responsables
del Museo de América de Madrid para poder realizar los talleres de escritura maya en
sus instalaciones, y la oportunidad única que nos brindaron de poder contemplar el
original de uno de los códices mayas que aún se conservan, así como la de poder
escuchar una conferencia magistral por parte del Conservador en Jefe del Códice, D.
Andrés Escalera, acerca del análisis de los colores del códice y en especial del azul
maya. Hacemos extensivo nuestro agradecimiento a la Conservadora Dª. Ana Verde y a
la Dra. Paz Cabello, Directora del Museo, quienes en todo momento apoyaron y
facilitaron la realización de los talleres en sus dependencias, haciendo nuestra estancia
sumamente provechosa y grata. Agradecemos también al Subdirector del Museo
Arqueológico Nacional, D. Félix Jiménez Villalba, el habernos cedido sus magnificas
instalaciones para la celebración del Congreso y las facilidades dadas en todo momento
para su feliz realización.
Quisiéramos también agradecer a los tutores de los talleres de epigrafía, Juan Ignacio
Cases Martín, Pierre Robert Colas, Sven Gronemeyer, Elisabeth Wagner, Annette Kern
y Dimitri Beliaev, así como a los organizadores del evento, Frauke Sachse, Alfonso
Lacadena García-Gallo y Rogelio Valencia Rivera y también a todo el grupo de
colaboradores de la Facultad de Geografía e Historia de la Universidad Complutense de
Madrid y de la Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas que cooperaron con la
organización: Ana García Barrios, Marta Romero, Rocío García Valgañón, Berta
Martínez Silva, Carmen Palacios Hernández, Javier Villar Jorcano, Pilar Asencio y Juan
Carlos González Virseda.
Y finalmente, nuestro agradecimiento al Dr. Andrés Ciudad Ruiz, Presidente de la
Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas así como a la Dra. Dª. Mercedes Molina, Decana
de la Facultad de Geografía e Historia de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, sin
cuyo apoyo y patrocinio este evento no hubiera sido posible.
Rogelio Valencia Rivera y Geneviève Le Fort
Art of the Maya Epitaph:
The Genre of Posthumous Biographies in the Late
Classic Maya Inscriptions
Alexandre Tokovinine
Department of Anthropology
Harvard University
Classic period inscriptions have become
another source of knowledge about what
can be vaguely termed as ‘ancestral
worship’.
In the present paper, I exploit the recent
accessibility of these sources and suggest
that a distinct genre of posthumous
biographies inscribed on ‘tombstones’
emerged in the Maya kingdoms of the
Usumacinta River drainage during the
Late Classic period (A.D. 600-800). I
focus on non-royal inscriptions and
discuss the contribution of these texts to
understanding the differences between
royal and non-royal elites within the
framework of the Classic Maya state
ideology.
Abstract
This paper describes a specific genre of
the Late Classic Maya texts that may be
defined as posthumous biographies
inscribed on ‘tombstones’. The article
focuses on the literary properties of the
genre but it also considers social,
cultural, and political contexts of several
inscriptions commissioned by non-royal
elites in the Usumacinta drainage and
compares these texts with royal
posthumous biographies from the same
area. One of the most interesting
findings of the comparative study is that
the non-royal biographies are distinct in
their deliberate stylistic simplicity
combined with the articulation of being
with the king and following the king’s
orders and omission of references to
divine patrons. The author also tries to
suggest some hypotheses concerning the
function of the inscribed ‘tombstones’.
Maya Tombstones
My research has been initially
concentrated on a group of small panels
commemorating the rituals of tomb reentry known as ‘fire-entering’ and
‘censing’ (Stuart 1998). The most
prominent feature of these inscriptions is
that the biographies of the deceased
constitute the bulk of the narrative,
which is structured around major life
events such as birth, accession to office,
and death. Other important events may
be mentioned, but there are no references
to funeral rituals (with the exception of
the tomb ‘censing’) or esoteric
knowledge about one’s fate in the
netherworld.
Quid sumus aut loquimur, vita est denique
nostra?
Vel modo nobiscum vixit homo, nunc homo
non est.
Stat lapis et nomen tantum, vestigia nulla.
Quid quasi iam vita est? Non est quod
quaerere cures1.
Introduction
The theme of death and social memory
among the Maya has traditionally been a
focus of archaeological and ethnographic
research. Thanks to a decade of
advancements in Maya epigraphy, the
1
Alexandre Tokovinine
There is no good term for this genre of
texts. Neither ‘obituary’ nor ‘epitaph’
would fit its content closely, although
the combination of the two terms offers
some approximation2. Whereas an
‘obituary’ informs about death and
provides biographical facts, an ‘epitaph’
commemorates deeds and emphasizes
cultural values. Additionally, the term
‘epitaph’ is applied to the inscriptions,
which in turn are expected to be short,
while ‘obituaries’ may be lengthy texts
on a broader variety of media. For now, I
would use a cautious ‘posthumous
biography’.
The dignitaries who ordered the carving
of these monuments did not belong to
the lordly class of the Maya society.
They were sajaltaak3, the “small people”
– subsidiary governors and warriors
appointed by the king and bound to their
liege by personal obligations (Beliaev
2000: 137-138; Houston and Stuart
2001: 61-64). The sajaltaak rose to
power in the Late Classic period and
their prominence usually coincided with
warfare and ‘dynastic’ conflicts. The
monuments commissioned by the
sajaltaak illustrate attempts to formulate
an ideological framework that would
correspond to the new role of this group
in the political life of the western
kingdoms (Tokovinine 2002).
Nevertheless, the sajaltaak may have
given voice to some traditions which
existed earlier but were not mentioned in
the royal texts. The monument-building
activity of the sajaltaak is largely
restricted to one area (the Usumacinta
River region) and a relatively short time
span (late sixth – early eighth centuries).
A unique reference to the dedication of
panels associated with tombs of
sajaltaak appears in the inscriptions on
the two monuments of unknown
provenance published by Karl Mayer
and known as the Randall Stela and the
Stendahl Panel (Mayer 1980: 37, 50-52,
Pl. 61; 1984: Pl. 30; 1991: Pl. 91, 94;
1995: Pl. 98)4. Both were carved to
commemorate
the
wi’il
ho’tuun
anniversaries of 10.1.15.0.0 and
9.14.15.0.0 under the auspices of the
sajaltaak who served the lords of
Sakts’i’, an important kingdom in the
Usumacinta region. In neither case did
the narrative seem to focus on ho’tuun
events. Instead, the texts described what
looked
like
dedicating
funeral
monuments. The Randall Stela referred
to the “fire-entering into the carved stone
of B’ahlam-Chij-Uy-K’uk’-Maax” who
had died a little over nine haab’ months
earlier5. The inscription on the Stendahl
Panel (Figure 1) was even more
interesting as it described the “binding of
the carving of the tombstone” belonging
to a dignitary named Pay-Pan who was
supposedly dead at that time6.
The ‘fire-entering’ and ‘binding’
expressions are common terms for
dedication events, although the former
may also designate tomb re-entering
(Stuart 1998). In either case, there was a
carved and likely inscribed stone
deposited inside or in association with a
tomb some time after the actual burial
event and probably in the context of
‘fire-entering’.
The only such ‘tombstone’ with a known
archaeological context is a small glyphic
panel found before the stairs of a
‘founder’s tomb’ funeral platform within
a non-royal residential compound at the
site of Piedras Negras, the capital of the
Yokib’-K’ihna’ kingdom (Gillot et al.
1999; Houston et al. 2003: 134-135).
2
Art of the Maya Epitaph
Figure 1. Stendahl Panel (Drawing by Alexander Safronov).
Although the panel is badly eroded
(Gillot et al. 1999: Fig. 5), its layout is
remarkably
similar
to
several
unprovenanced monuments from the
area of Yokib’-K’ihna’, which could also
have been associated with funeral
temples.
Not
surprisingly,
the
inscriptions on these panels culminate
3
Alexandre Tokovinine
with ‘house-censing’ of the tombs of the
sajaltaak.
The earliest monument of this kind, a socalled K’an-Xook Panel (Figure 2;
Mayer 1989: Pl. 103), surely came from
the area of Piedras Negras: its
protagonist’s biography is associated
with that of Ruler 2 of Yokib’-K’ihna’.
The inscription features only Calendar
Round dates. However, since two known
historical figures (Yukno’m-Ch’e’n and
Ruler 2) are mentioned, it is not difficult
to establish its absolute chronology.
The inscription on the second monument, known as Dumbarton Oaks Panel
1 (Figure 3; Mayer 1980: 68-70, Pl. 75;
1987: Cat. num. 39), is less wellpreserved but still readable. The long
count date and the mentioning of Piedras
Negras rulers secure its chronology.
Chinchilla and Houston (1992: 66-68)
suggested that the original location of
the panel might have been the site of El
Cayo or Yaxniil. However, the name of
the sajal installed in A.D. 729 is clearly
not the same as Ajchak-Wayaab’K’utiim, who was named on the stone
altar at El Cayo as the person who did
the period-ending ritual of A.D. 731
(Martin and Grube 2000: 150). AjchakWayaab’-K’utiim could not have gone
unmentioned in the text under question
since it concludes with an event
following that period ending. Therefore,
I think that the panel came from another,
supposedly unknown site in the Yokib’K’ihna’ area. Two tombstones from El
Cayo itself, the so-called Panel 1 (the
longest known posthumous biography of
a sajal), and Cleveland Panel, are poorly
preserved and considerable portions of
the texts are missing.
The sajaltaak of Yokib’-K’ihna’ likely
borrowed the genre of tombstone
inscriptions from their royal patrons. At
least three hieroglyphic panels once
adorned the stairs of the funeral temples
of Yokib’-K’ihna’ rulers7. All three
commemorate tomb re-entering rituals
that took place long after funerals and
were performed by the descendants of
the deceased lords. The texts on Panels
15 and 3 continue with references to
ho’tuun anniversaries, while the
inscription on Panel 4 simply culminates
with “house-censing of the tomb of the
holy king of Yokib”8. It is probably no
coincidence in the fact that K’an-Xook,
the protagonist of the narrative on the
earliest non-royal tombstone, could have
witnessed the ceremonies, which
involved the dedication of the first
known royal tombstone (Panel 4) during
the reign of Ruler 2.
Moreover, at least one royal consort,
Ruler 2’s bride from the kingdom of
Hixwits, was bestowed with a funeral
shrine (Structure K-5) that featured
Panel 7 adorning its stair9. Again, it
probably served as a prototype for the
much later Cleveland Panel, which
commemorates the censing of a tomb of
a sajal’s spouse. Despite its poor overall
preservation, the inscription on Panel 7
provides the only available internal
reference to the dedication of this type of
monument. An otherwise unknown term
– k’uhul k’ab’a’ tuun or “holy-name
stone” – is used in the dedicatory
passage that names the queen as the
owner (Stuart 2003)10. The reference to
the “holy-name” implies that the
monument was associated with the
‘lordly’, not ‘human’ aspect of the
queen’s persona.
It seems, however, that any object
associated with ancestral veneration
could provide a medium for one’s
posthumous biography. For example, at
the site of Palenque, the effigy incense
burner stands in the form of human
4
Art of the Maya Epitaph
Figure 2. K’an-Xook Panel.
heads were a distinct local manifestation
of the ancestor cult (Houston 2000: 177).
Fifteen such stands and fragments have
been discovered at the site, of which five
feature readable texts (Schele and
Mathews 1979: Cat. num. 281, 282, 303,
391). One of these inscriptions is a
posthumous life story of sajal B’aasUchih (B’aahis-Uchih) from Sik’ab’.
According to the dedicatory passage, the
person who commissioned the effigy 258
days after B’aas-Uchih’s death was also
from Sik’ab’. He could have been a
successor of the deceased sajal.
Moreover, the incense burner stand was
found in the residence of the local nobles
that boasted the splendid ‘Tablet of the
Slaves’ carved under the auspices of
Chak-Suuts’, the chief sajal of Palenque
ruler Ahkal-Mo’-Naab’ (López Bravo
2000: 43).
5
Alexandre Tokovinine
Figure 3. Dumbarton Oaks Panel (Drawing by Stephen Houston).
The dedication of the incense burner
stand predates that of the tablet and
associated building by some twenty-five
years, and yet the stand was discovered
in the upper layer of the structure – an
indication that it was still in use.
The burial of K’ihnich-Janaab’-Pakal
encased in the Temple of the Inscriptions
at Palenque featured at least two
inscriptions with biographical informa-
tion about the deceased lord, one carved
on the stucco walls in the interior of the
upper temple, the other incised on the
king’s sarcophagus. Interestingly, the
latter was conceptualized not as a
tombstone, but as an ‘altar’ of the Maize
god, whereas the upper inscription far
exceeds other posthumous biographies in
the level of elaboration and incorporates
genres such as k’atun history and myth
6
Art of the Maya Epitaph
(Schele and Mathews 1998: 101-119).
Therefore, the predominance of small
panels in the area of Yokib’-K’ihna’
might be nothing but a local development which later spread into the areas
controlled by the kingdom, at least for
some time, like Sakts’i’ that was under
the sway of Yokib’-K’ihna’ when the
first ‘holy-name stones’ were carved
(Martin and Grube 2000: 146).
those painted on the capstones of tall
Puuc vaults or inside royal tombs in
Peten, which were not intended for
public readership (Stuart 1995: 85).
Moreover, the layout of the inscriptions
on some presumably public monuments
leaves significant portions of the texts
practically inaccessible. For instance, no
one would be able to see the inscription
on the top of Stela 7 at Piedras Negras
(Stuart and Graham 2003: 41-42).
There is at least one case in the Maya
inscriptions when the author of a
posthumous biography explicitly addresses the gods. According to Lacadena
(2004), the k’atun history fragment in
the text carved on the stucco walls of
K’inich-Janaab’-Pakal’s funerary temple, describing the king’s attempts to
placate his gods with offerings,
culminates with an emotional “Now your
heart would indeed be appeased!”11 The
recipients of this unusual exclamation
are the gods of the Palenque Triad.
Moreover, of the two posthumous
biographies of the king, it is the
inscription on his sarcophagus, the altar
stone of the Maize God hidden beneath
the mountain of the king’s temple and
definitely the least accessible for humans
place at the site, where one finds the
most radical claims about the status of
Janaab’-Pakal’s parents12.
Epitaphs and their Readers
Who was the intended reader of these
texts? On the one hand, the location of
the panels at Piedras Negras suggests
that they were intended to be seen by the
public in the plaza before the temple. On
the other hand, the inscriptions on the
lintels are too small to be read from
below. Whereas the fact of the
statements about the ancestors was
publicly acknowledged, the content of
these statements was restricted to those
who went up the stairs. It is probably
significant that the alaay or che’n (“it is
said”) expressions associated with public
declamation of inscriptions on stele do
not appear in these texts.
A comparison with the Old World ‘high
cultures’ (systems of meaning created
and perpetuated by ruling elites)
suggests that monumental art and
inscriptions often address society in a
widest sense: the past, the future, and the
supernatural world are no less important
recipients of the message than are living
people (Baines and Yoffee 1998: 236238). The paradox of this situation is that
if it is ultimately the opinion of the
supernaturals that matters most, then
mortals can be completely excluded
from the written discourse. Even if such
discourse can be characterized as ‘pure
propaganda’, it was not ‘propaganda’ to
be seen by human eyes! There are many
inscriptions in the Maya area such as
Maya Epitaphs as a Genre
As Stuart points out (1995: 99-118, 155;
1998: 374-376), most Maya inscriptions
are dedicatory statements. Such a broad
definition can be applied to the posthumous biographies, but the context of
the dedication events and the nature of
the dedicated monuments set them apart
from other texts. These inscriptions mark
a special stage in a sequence of rituals
following the individual’s death. On the
Dumbarton Oaks and K’an-Xook panels,
7
Alexandre Tokovinine
this event is fire-entering into the
protagonist’s tomb, more than one year
after his death. The inscription on the
Randall Stela implies a dedication event
about a year after the death of the
protagonist. There is no apparent scheme
behind the dates of royal tomb-entering
events at Piedras Negras and other sites;
the sample for sajaltaak is too small to
draw any generalizations13.
The incense burner stand was dedicated
some 258 days after the death of B’aasUchih. Interestingly, there is at least one
example at the site of Tonina when the
tomb fire-entering ritual was performed
260 days after the death of its owner
(Stuart 1998: 397)14 and one may
wonder if the incense burner stand could
have been produced specifically for a
tomb-re-entering ceremony and later
kept
as
a
precious
heirloom.
Unfortunately, the poor preservation of
the inscriptions on other carved incense
burner stands at Palenque does not allow
checking this hypothesis. As far as I
know, no inscribed incense burner stands
are attested at Tonina.
The posthumous biographies never
explicitly describe the relationship
between the protagonist of the biography
and the performer of the tomb-censing
ceremony. Probably, the relationship
was implied by the nature of the event.
One can see continuity in the names, as
in the case of the texts on the Palenque
incense burner stand, the Stendahl Panel,
and El Cayo monuments15. As for the
Dumbarton Oaks Panel, the absence of
the father’s name in the titles of the new
sajal suggests the he was the son of the
protagonist16. The Randall Stela was
likely commissioned by a sajal from the
same line as B’ahlam-Chij-Uy-K’uk’Maax: otherwise, the claim of being the
“eighteenth in the line” of sajaltaak
would make little sense. However, there
is no doubt that in each case, those who
dedicated the inscriptions inherited the
places in the power hierarchy and the
social roles, which likely mattered more
than descent.
The separation in time between a
deceased protagonist and his contributing descendants implies a change in
their relationship. An epitaph creates an
image of the ancestor detached from the
actual person that disappears in the
course of the transformation. The
ancestor’s life, however, remains ‘real’,
so the change mainly takes form of a
selective articulation molding the past
into an internally coherent personal
history.
The language of the non-royal
posthumous biographies is dry and
deprived of any literary elaboration.
Their extremely formal style contrasts
with royal biographies at Piedras Negras
and Palenque, which are more
expressive. The apocalyptic phrasing of
the dynastic crisis that preceded the
accession of K’ihnich-Janaab’-Pakal on
the panels of the Temple of the
Inscriptions (Martin and Grube 2000:
161; Schele and Mathews 1998: 105106) is one of the most famous pieces of
the Classic Maya literature. By contrast,
only the inscription on the Dumbarton
Oaks Panel deviates from the typical
narrative form for tombstone texts: the
accession of the new sajal is described
with a complex clause probably
containing a verb in the agent-focusing
anti-passive17.
The literary paucity of the texts can
always be ascribed to the small size of
the panels and the necessity to compress
all the important facts (regarding births,
parentage, accessions, rituals, deaths,
and tomb censing) into a few words
(with a limited vocabulary). Moreover,
as suggested above, these inscriptions
8
Art of the Maya Epitaph
were probably not supposed to be read in
public and existed apart from the oral
tradition. Nevertheless, as Martin (2003)
recently pointed out, such ‘thinness’ of
discourse may have been deliberate: it
conveys the power of written speech.
According to Stuart (1995: 85-87) the
genre of ‘pseudo-glyphs’ on various
media and the dedicatory texts on the
clothes suggest that the mere presence of
writing conveyed a sense of prestige and
importance regardless of its readability
and content. Maya inscriptions were not
just ‘carved’ or ‘painted’ but animated,
sometimes literally ‘adorned and
begotten’ by the king as was the Tablet
of 96 Glyphs at Palenque18. The idea of
written words as living beings is
reflected in the animated full-figure texts
at Copan and Quirigua. Moreover, some
carved monuments were explicitly told
to have been dedicated through divine
action. For example, the period-ending
Ajaw altars at Tonina were literally
“bathed” by the Paddler gods, apparently
in the course of the sacrifice of the royal
blood (David Stuart, personal communication 2003). The choice of the
‘unadorned’ style for the biographies
was conditioned by the fact that the
kings relied on the same ‘thin’ discourse
of the ‘holy script’ and that the simplest
written phrases were most common in
the royal inscriptions and therefore, most
powerful.
Another feature of these inscriptions is
their preoccupation with the passage of
time, a common feature of written
narratives (Goody 2000: 63-85). It has
been noted that Classic Maya narratives
often present a complex interplay of
animated time and historical events
(Stuart 1995: 160-166). It does not
mean, however, that time itself was
recreated by means of the texts. The
narrative was only referring and
providing some new quality to certain
days in the fabric of counted time, much
like embroidery elaborates on a
preexisting
material.
The
days
themselves were ‘events’. A painted text
on the mural at the site of Ek Balam
provides a beautiful illustration of this
concept: only one-third of the inscription
(the upper register) is ‘historical’, the
rest is a continuous record of tzolk’in
days (Lacadena 2003: Fig. 18). It is also
significant that the Maya narrative never
‘collapses’ into a timeless sequence of
one’s actions. The two events may be
referred to as ‘earlier’ and ‘later’ without
further elaboration on the exact dates
only if these events happen on the same
day19.
Understanding ancient Maya narratives
as ‘embroidery’ rather than ‘weaving’
explains some deviations from linearity
in personal biographies carved on
tombstones. Thus, the author of the
K’an-Xook Panel intertwined the
biographies of the sajal and his lord into
a single narrative simply by mixing the
events in a checkerboard pattern20. In the
already mentioned inscription on
Janaab’-Pakal’s
sarcophagus,
the
passage about the death of the king is
interrupted by a lengthy digression
linking his death to those of his ancestors
and then goes on with giving the names
of the king’s parents (Fitzsimmons 2002:
120). The association with embroidery is
even more apparent as the likely purpose
was putting the name of Janaab’-Pakal’s
father before the second ‘emblem glyph’
of his son’s titles (k’uhul B’aakal ajaw
that follows k’uhul Matal ajaw) creating
a visual ambiguity in whether the second
title refers to Janaab’-Pakal, or to his
father, who was not a king. Moreover,
one more break in the story line occurs
within the ‘ancestral’ digression, as the
reference to Ix-Sak-K’uk’s period ending
9
Alexandre Tokovinine
rituals appears right between the tzolk’in
and haab’ dates of her death. A no less
spectacular digression from the main
story appears on an early classic altar at
Tonina with a text that places the death
of a local ruler into a larger framework
of deaths of the major kings of his time
(David Stuart, personal communication
2003). In other words, a narrative simply
appropriates certain slots in the overall
time matrix and then connects them into
a new design without affecting the
nature of the matrix. Be it K’an-Xook’s
posthumous biography or Janaab’Pakal’s ‘epitaph’, these texts embroider
upon the fabric of time to create a design
that links one’s life with a greater
context by means of covering some older
designs but not reweaving the fabric.
The linearity is of little concern for the
scribes since they build the stories upon
the objective reality in the form of the
counted passage of days.
The main challenge for the biography
writers was to create a coherent picture
of the individual’s life that would
emphasize certain values important for
the person who commissioned the
monument. Both text and image on the
panel carried the message. Thus, the
Dumbarton Oaks Panel depicts the
protagonist as warrior, whereas its ‘focal
event’ is a ritual dance. By contrast, the
imagery on the panels at El Cayo
emphasizes the ritual functions of the
dead: Lady Joob’ is shown holding the
effigy of K’awiil, while a deceased sajal
appears in the outfit for a dance with
jasaw-chan or ‘flapstaff’21. It is
significant that warfare, being so
prominent in that time, is almost never
the focus of the sajaltaak posthumous
biographies. What really matters is the
acquisition of the offices (and implied
change of status and ritual state of being)
and proximity to the ruler in the context
of royal ceremonies. The latter include
dances (Dumbarton Oaks Panel), burial
rites (incense burner stand), and
installations of other nobles into
important offices (incense burner stand).
Loyalty of the deceased to his ruler is
also emphasized. Thus, B’aas-Uchih
remains the sajal of K’ihnich-Janaab’Pakal even after the death of his liege.
This trait may be interpreted as a subtle
political message of legitimization
through the ancestral achievements, but
it may also indicate the presence of a
specific ethos associated with the
sajaltaak.
The articulation of being with the king,
following the king’s orders, offers a
striking contrast to the royal concept of
the ruler bound to no one but the gods.
Previous research on the inscriptions
commissioned
by
the
sajaltaak
(Tokovinine 2002) suggested that this
division crosscuts all genres of
hieroglyphic texts and may be the very
nature of the fundamental difference
between royal and non-royal elites. No
personal divine patrons belonging to the
sajaltaak are ever mentioned in these
texts. It seems that interaction with gods
was largely restricted to participation in
the royal rituals. Therefore, it is not
surprising to find these ceremonies
mentioned in the biographies.
Being aged was an achievement in many
ancient societies and Maya kingdoms
were not an exception; indeed (or thus),
the posthumous biographies reference
age at death. B’ahlam-Chij-Uy-K’uk’Maax’s obituary states that he saw his
fifth twenty of years. An even more
detailed reference appears on the
Dumbarton Oaks Panel where birth and
death events are dramatically opposed,
probably due to the protagonist’s
impressive age at death: “it happened
that on the day six Ak’b’al eleven Pax,
10
Art of the Maya Epitaph
Chak-Tok’-Tuun-Ahk-Chamiiy died; nine
days, fifteen months, four years, four
twenties of years passed since he was
born and then he died.”
The nearly total absence of women in the
obituaries (excepting Cleveland Panel
and Panel 7) suggests that these texts had
specific functions restricted to male
social and political life. The focus of the
inscriptions was obviously on continuity
in political and social roles of the
sajaltaak as officials appointed by the
king. Thus, the overlap of
AhkChamiiy’s lifespan with the accession of
his descendant by order of the new king
is clearly articulated through moving the
story line backwards in time to the
accession event and then counting
forward again to the death and
subsequent fire-entering likely performed by the newly appointed sajal. The
omission of birth events in both royal
and non-royal texts may also reflect a
preoccupation with the history of people
as office-holders, although it has been
suggested that this information was
omitted to protect the protagonist from
sorcery.
There are certain common patterns in the
internal structure of the biographies
discussed so far. Of course, royal
funerary texts exhibit higher variability
and complexity, as evidenced in the
narrative of the Temple of the
Inscriptions (Palenque). Nevertheless,
some basic generative schemes are
shared by the royal and non-royal
obituaries. Status change events, and
events related to continuity in power, are
prominent in either case. The only sharp
contrast is that in the non-royal stories
the gods are replaced by the mediator – a
divine king.
Not a single tombstone was commissioned during the lifetime of the
protagonist of its inscription. These texts
are not autobiographies and that may
explain
the
absence
of
selfaggrandizement
and
moral
selfpresentation which, for example, are so
prominent
in
Ancient
Egyptian
posthumous biographies (Lichtheim
1988). However, a common feature of
both Maya and Egyptian epitaphs is that
the recipient of their messages was
‘society in a widest sense’. The Classic
Maya term for tombstone suggests that
the key function of the posthumous
biographies was to “name” the deceased
within a larger context of the world of
gods and ancestors. Indeed, naming or
reading the lists of names of the dead on
all significant occasions including
holidays, weddings, and funerals
constituted the most important part of
ancestral worship in some post-conquest
Maya communities (Petrich 2003: 485).
What were the reasons to venerate a
particular person as a “special dead”
(Houston et al. 2003: 123)? It has often
been assumed that ancestor worship is a
strategy aimed at securing particular
resources in the hands of a kin group
(McAnany 1995: 11-15). The posthumous biographies offer a special view
of a key resource that the descendants
hoped to control – the offices. Continuity
in office, not in descent, was clearly the
focus of these texts. Returning to the
term for the tombstones, in the case of
the Piedras Negras queen, a reference to
her ‘holy name’ implies the significance
of power acquired through the accession
to the royal office when a ‘holy name’
was given. It is also significant that if an
individual had ancestors who did not
accede to corresponding offices or if a
proper transition of the office did not
take place, the association between these
ancestors and the offices was still
claimed, as in the case of K’ihnichJanaab’-Pakal. The ideological moti-
11
Alexandre Tokovinine
vation behind this emphasis on offices
remains a mystery. An Aztec
comparative case could provide some
clues. According to López Austin (1988:
322-323), the ancestral cult of the
ancient Nahuas was largely centered on
tonalli or personal ‘heat’ because this
powerful component of one’s soul could
be ‘collected’ inside a special box or
effigy and used for the benefit of the
entire group. Interestingly, three major
factors determined the strength of one’s
tonalli, and hence, one’s posthumous
importance for the community: gender,
age, and discharge of official duties
(López Austin 1988: 256-258, 290).
Unsurprisingly, these are precisely the
subjects of the inscriptions on the Maya
tombstones. A belief in a tonalli-like
entity was suggested by some scholars as
a
driving
force
behind
Maya
monumental sculpture replenished with
the ritually ‘charged’ images of living
and dead rulers (Houston and Stuart
1998). If the images of the deceased
sajaltaak were the recipients or vessels
of their personal ‘heat,’ it would be
natural to enumerate the circumstances
which contributed to the growth of that
‘heat’. Unfortunately, the available
sample of texts is too small for any
definite conclusions.
in a widest sense,’ including ancestors
and gods, was the most likely recipient
of the posthumous biographies. The very
presence of these texts conveyed
ancestral power. Moreover, in the case
of non-royal tombstone inscriptions, one
may suggest that the ‘thinness’ of the
discourse and the preoccupation with
time served as a way to appropriate some
of the royal language, and some of the
king’s place in time. The tombstone
inscriptions commissioned by the
sajaltaak
show
several
specific
ideological orientations of this group of
subsidiaries, including preoccupation
with status improvement, notion of
loyalty, and ritual dependency on the
ruler. The emphasis on office holding
and rituals is equally important for royal
and non-royal posthumous biographies,
whereas genealogical descent was not
strongly articulated. A speculative
explanation of this shared emphasis on
social roles would be that the latter
contributed to one’s supernatural tonallilike power and consequently, to one’s
importance as a venerated ‘special dead’.
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank James Fitzsimmons,
David Stuart, Stephen Houston, and
Patricia McAnany for their advice,
insights, and criticism that made this
paper possible. I also want to express
my gratitude to Ian Graham for his kind
permission to work with the materials of
the Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic
Inscriptions project. Of course, I am
fully responsible for any errors or
omissions.
Concluding remarks
The tombstone texts that can be
cautiously
termed
‘posthumous
biographies’ constitute a distinct genre
of the Classic Maya inscriptions. In
some cases, the dedication of these texts
marked a final stage in a sequence of
funeral rituals. However, the corresponding tomb re-entering ceremonies
could occur a considerable time after
one’s burial without any common pattern
in specific time span between death,
burial, and tomb reentering. A ‘society
Notes
1. “What are we or what do we say at last
this life is? Just that a man has lived
among us and now is no more. Just the
stone and the inscription remain, and no
other traces. Now what is life? It is
12
Art of the Maya Epitaph
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
nothing that you should trouble about
(Shore 1997: 32).”
For example, Webster’s Third New
International Dictionary (1998) defines an
epitaph as “an inscription on or at a tomb
or a grave in memory or commendation of
the one buried there” and an obituary as
“a short account of the significant aspects
and accomplishments of a person’s life
published (as in a newspaper) upon the
person’s death.”
Since no plural form for the word sajal
has been attested so far, I use the same
plural suffix as for ajaw – ajawtaak and
ch’ok – ch’oktaak.
The present location of the monuments is
unknown. The Catalogue num. 27 used to
be in the Stendahl Galleries, whereas the
Catalogue num. 43 was originally
reported from the Walter Randall Gallery,
hence their common names – Stendahl
Panel and Randall Stela.
(D3) OCH-K’AHK’ (C4) ti yu-lu (D4)
xu?-TUN-li (E1) B’ALAM chi-ji (F1) uyu (E2) K’UK’-ma-xi (F2) sa-ja-la,
ochk’ahk’ ti yuxul(?)-tuunil b’ahlam chij
uy k’uk’ maax sajal. B’ALAM chi-ji uyu is a new reading suggested by Mark
Zender (personal communication 2004)
instead of B’ALAM chi-li KAY-yu.
(F4) K’AL-la-ja (E5) yu-lu (F5) xu?-li
(E6) ’u-TUN-li (F6) ’u-MUK-li (E7)
WINAK-HAB’ (F7) ch’a-HOM-ma
(E8) pa?-ya (F8) pa-na, k’ahlaj yuxulil(?)
’utuunil ’umukil winaak-haab’ ch’aho’m
pay(?)-pan. The reading pa?-ya pa-na,
pay pan is highly speculative, because
poor preservation of the glyphs does not
allow any secure identification of either
the first or the second sign in the block
E8. There is no reference to Pay-Pan’s
death, but the impersonation ritual and the
subsequent ho’tuun completion were
performed by another noble named
Witsal-Pan, his successor and probable
son (Safronov, personal communication
2003).
Thus, the famous Panel 3 was associated
with the Structure O-13 that housed the
tomb of Ruler 4 (Burial 13), whereas
Panels 4 and 15 once topped the stairs of
the Structures R-5 and J-4, although the
loose rubble fill foiled all attempts to find
the tombs of Ruler 1 and Ruler 2 beneath
the latter two pyramids (Escobedo and
Alvarado 1998; Escobedo and Zamora
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
13
1999; Fitzsimmons 2002: 83-99; Houston
et al. 2000: 99, 102-105; 2003: 127-132).
EL-NAJ-ja ’u-MUK-li K’UH-yo-ki b’iAJAW, elnaajaj ’umukil k’uhul yokib’
ajaw.
The original location of the panel was
reconstructed by Tatiana Proskouriakoff,
while the inscription was described and
analyzed by David Stuart (2003). As in
the case of the Structures R-5 and J-4, no
burial has yet been found beneath K-5
except Burial 22 that looks like the
remains of a sacrificial victim interred
before the stairs of the temple (Escobedo
1998: 101-103).
The reading suggested by David Stuart
(2003) is ’u-K’AB’A’ TUN-ni-li,
’uk’ab’a’ tuunil “her name stone”.
However, a K’UH logogram is inscribed
into K’AB’A’. Therefore, one can read
the compound as ’u-K’UH-K’AB’A’,
although I should acknowledge that the
ligature of K’UH and K’AB’A’
sometimes stands just for K’AB’A’. The
entire passage would be T’AB’-yi ’uK’UH-K’AB’A’ TUN-ni-li IX HIXWITS-AJAW, t’ab’aay ’uk’uhul-k’ab’a’
tuunil ix-hixwits ajaw “the holy-name
stone of the Lady of Hixwits got
finished”.
’i-chi na-’i-ki ’u ti-mi je-la ’a-OL-la, ’i
chi na’ik ’utihmje’l ’awo’hl “(ojalá) haya
hecho la satisfacción de vuestro corazón”
(Lacadena 2004). The ’utihmje’l reading
was initially suggested by Barbara
MacLeod and Marc Zender (David Stuart,
personal communication 2003).
Notably, it claims that the king’s mother
performed a proper period-ending ritual
prior to his accession (’uchumtuun sak
k’uk’) and that his father died as a ‘holy
king’ of Palenque (ochb’ih k’an mo’
b’ahlam k’uhul b’aakal ajaw).
The corresponding passages on the panels
from El Cayo are damaged beyond
recognition.
The same 260-day period after one’s
death is mentioned on Monument 149 and
probably Monuments 76 and 116.
’a-si-k’a-b’a, ajsik’ab’ (literally, a person
from Sik’ab’) for the incense burner
stand, k’u-ti-ma, k’utiim for El Cayo
monuments, and pa-na, pan for Stendahl
Panel.
Their names are also slightly similar
(CHAK-TOK’-TUN-ni-AHK-CHAM-
Alexandre Tokovinine
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
ya, Chak-Tok’-Tuun-Ahk-Chamiiy and
SIY-ya-CHAN-na-AHK,
Siyaj-ChanAhk). However, ahk “turtle” is a common
component of names in Yokib’-K’ihna’.
Moreover, a ‘young lord’ of K’ihna’
bearing the name of Siyaj-Chan-Ahk is
mentioned as a carver of Altar 4 at El
Cayo dedicated shortly after the accession
of the sajal Siyaj-Chan-Ahk at the site
where the Dumbarton Oaks Panel was
found.
JOY-ja ti sa-ja-[la]-li CH’AM?-wa ’u??-li? SIY-ya-CHAN-na AHK, joyaj ti
sajalil ch’amaw … sihyaj-chan-ahk “he
makes his début in sajalship, as for
Sihyaj-Chan-Ahk, he takes …”
The dedicatory passage states: ’u-ta-pawa ?-wo-jo ’u-ko-b’o-wa, ’utapaw
k’uhul (?) woh ’ukob’ow “he adorns the
holy (?) script, he begets it”.
One of the best examples of such
interdependent events happening on the
same day occurs on the panel from
Temple XIV at Palenque: b’olon ok
waxaklajun wo b’olon ’ipnaj sak-b’aaknaaj-chapaat ’uway k’awiil ’uch’amaw
b’olon-ok-te’ ’uhtiiy… “[on the day] 9 Ok
18 Wo many [times?] is filled (?) SakB’aak-Naaj-Chapaat, the way of K’awiil,
B’olon-Okte’ takes it, it happened at…”
The king is ‘adorned’, the sajal dies, the
king dies, and the fire enters the tomb of
the sajal.
Unfortunately, in the case of El Cayo
monuments, references to ‘focal events’
are missing or irreversibly damaged. The
‘flapstaff’ dance outfit is clearly
recognizable thanks to the inscriptions
and depictions at Yaxchilan (Grube 1992:
207-208).
A building or a place name at Piedras
Negras also mentioned in the inscription
on Stela 8 (Stuart and Graham 2003: 48).
CHAN-AJAW (B8) ’u-TS’AK-’a (A9)
… HO’-LAJUN WINAK-ji-ya (B9) ’uti-ya (A10) ’i-PASAJ (B10) CHA’ AK’
(A11) JUN ka-se-wa (B11) CHAMI
(A12) [K’AN]-XOK (B12) sa-ja (C1)
’u-TS’AK-’a (D1) LAJUN B’OLON
WINAK-ji-ya (C2) ’u-ti-ya (D2) ’iPASAJ (E1) B’ULUK B’EN (F1)
B’ULUK UNIW-wa (E2) CHAMI
(F2)?-[K’AN[-AHK (G1) ’u-TS’AK-’a
(H1) WAK-he-wa (G2) B’ULUK
WINAK-ya (H2) JUN HAB’-ya (I1)
CHAMI-ya (J1) [K’AN]?-XOK (I2) ’iPASAJ (J2) CHAN MULUK (K1)
CHA’ PAX (K2) ’o-chi K’AHK’ (K3)
tu-MUK-li (K4) [K’AN]?-XOK (K5)
sa-ja-la
cha’ ak’b’al wak mol na[h]waj ’unuk
’ukohaw …k’anahk k’i[h]n[a’] ajaw
’ukab’jiiy ’ajkaj k’uk’-luumi[l] k’ahk’kuuk ya[j]b’aak yukno’m ch’e’n k’uh[ul]
kan[al] ajaw ’u-ts’aka[j] [mixhew]
ho’lajun winaakjiiy ’u[h]tiiy ’ipa[h]saj
cha’ ak’b’al jun kasew chami k’an-xook
saja[l] ’uts’aka[j] lajun[hew] b’olon
winaakjiiy ’u[h]tiiy ’ipa[h]saj b’uluk
b’en b’uluk uniiw chami k’an-ahk
’uts’aka[j] wakhew b’uluk winaak[j]iiy
jun haab’iiy chamiiy k’an-xook ’ipa[h]saj chan muluk cha’ pax ’ochi
k’ahk’ t-umukil k’an-xook sajal
On the day 2 Ak’b’al 6 Mol were
adorned the pelt and the helmet of
…K’an-Ahk (Ruler 2), king of K’ihna’.
Ajkaj-K’uk’-Luumil-K’ahk’-Kuuk,
the
captive-taker of the holy king of Kanal
Yukno’m-Ch’e’n, had ordered this. The
count is 0 days, 15 months since that had
happened, and then at dawn on the day 2
Ak’b’al 1 Tsek sajal K’an-Xook died.
The count is 10 days, 9 months, 1 year
since that had happened, and then at
dawn on the day 11 Ben 11 K’ank’in
…K’an-Ahk died. The count is 6 days,
Appendix
K’an-Xook Panel
(A1) CHA’ AK’ (B1) WAK mo-lo (A2)
na-wa-ja (B2) ’u-nu-ku (A3) ’u-ko-hawa (B3) ?-[K’AN]-AHK (A4) K’IN-ni
AJAW-wa (B4) ’u-KAB’-ji-ya (A5) ’aka?-ja (B5) 2k’u-lu-mi? (A6) K’AHK’ku-ki (B6) ya-b’a-ki (A7) yu-ku-no-ma
(B7) CH’E’N?-na (A8) K’UH-ka-
14
Art of the Maya Epitaph
11 months since K’an-Xook had died,
and then at dawn on the day 4 Muluk 2
Pax the fire entered the tomb of sajal
K’an-Xook.
Dates (there are two sequences of events):
09.12.13.04.03
adornment event
+
00.00.00.15.00
+
09.12.14.01.03
K’an-Xook dies
+
00.00.01.11.06
09.12.15.12.09
fire-entering
09.12.13.04.03
00.00.00.09.10
09.12.14.10.13 Ruler 2 dies
AHK-CHAM-ya (J2) B’OLON HO’LAJUN WINAK-ji-ya (I3) CHANHAB’-ya CHAN WINAK-HAB’-ya
(J3) SIY-ji-ya ’i-CHAM-mi (I4) CHA’
chi LAJUN PAX (J4) JOY-[ja] ti saja-la-li (I5) CHAM?-wa-?-?-?-SIY-yaCHAN?-na-AHK (J5) ya-la IX-muxu?-ka-na (I6) ’u-KAB’-ji?-ya? …AHK K’UH yo-ki-[b’i] AJAW-wa (J6)
IL?-? CHAK-TOK’-TUN-ni AHKCHAM-ya (I7) WAXAK-LAJUN-hewa MIX-WINAK-ji-ya HUX-HAB’-ya
(J7) … WAK AK’? (I8) CHAM
CHAK-TOK’-TUN-ni AHK-CHAMya (J8) WAXAK-LAJUN MIXWINAK-ji-ya (I9) HU’N-HAB’-ya (J9)
CHAM-ya (I10) ’i-EL-NAJ? (J10) tu?MUK?-li? (I11) WUK IMIX (J11)
CHAN [K’AN]-’a-si-ya
Dumbarton Oaks Panel 1
(A1-B2) tsi-ka-HAB’ (A3) B’OLON
PIH (B3) LAJUN WINAKHAB’ (A4)
WAK-LAJUN HAB’ (B4) WAXAK
WINAK-ki (A5) CHAN-LAJUN K’IN
(B5) WUK HIX (A6) G2 (B6) TI’HUN-na (A7) WUK HUL-li-ya (B7)
C3 (A8) X4a (B8) ’u-ch’o-[ko]K’AB’A’ (A9) WINAK-LAJUN (B9)
WUK-LAJUN CHAK-K’AT (A10)
SIY-ya-ja (B10) CHAK?-TOK’?TUN-ni (A11) ch’o-ko-AHK?-CHAMya (B11) ya-YAL IX (C1) AHK-?-’oxo-ma (D1) ’u-?-na-?-li (C2) MO’-’oAHK-CHAM-ya sa-ja-la (D2) ’uTS’AK-’a
(C3)
WUK-CHANWINAK-ji-ya (D3) JUN HAB’-ya
CHA’ WINAK-HAB’-ya (C4) ’iPASAJ (C5) WAXAK IMIX CHAN
PAX (E1) AK’-TAJ-ti? SAK-ye-[ke]NAJ (F1) CHAK-TOK’-TUN-ni AHKCHAM-ya (E2) yi-IL?-ji-ya yo?-’o?NAL-AHK (F2) K’UH-yo-ki-[b’i]
AJAW-wa ti HUX HAB’-ta (G1)
WAXAK WUK WINAK-ji-ya (H1)
WUK-HAB’-ya ’i-’u-ti (G2) B’ULUK
MULUK CHA’-LAJUN CHAK-K’AT
(H2) JOY-[ja] ti sa-ja-la-li (G3)
CHAK-TOK’-TUN-ni AHK-CHAMya (H3) ’u-KAB’-[ji]?-ya yo-’o-NALAHK (G4) CHAN-LAJUN HUX
WINAK-ji-ya (G5) WAK-LAJUN
HAB’-ya HU’N WINAK-HAB’-ya (I1)
’i-’u-ti WAK AK’ (J1) B’ULUK PAX
CHAM-mi (I2) CHAK-TOK’-TUN-ni
tsikhaab’ b’olon pih lajun winaakhaab’
waklajun haab’ waxak winaak chanlajun
k’in wuk hix “G2” ti’-hu’n wuk huliiy
“C3”
“X4a”
’uch’ok
k’ab’a’
winaaklajun wuklajun chakk’at si[h]yaj
chak-tok’-tuun-…-ahk-chamiiy yal ixahk-…oxo’m ’u-… mo’-ahk-chamiiy
sajal ’uts’aka[j] wuk[hew] chan
winaakjiiy
jun
haab’iiy
cha’
winaakhaab’iiy ’ipa[h]saj waxak imix
chan pax ak’taj ti sak yek naj chak-tok’tuun-ahk-chamiiy yiljiiy yo’onal-ahk
k’uh[ul] yokib’ ajaw ti hux haab’ta’
waxak[hew] wuk winaakjiiy wuk
haab’iiy ’i’u[h]ti b’uluk muluk cha’lajun
15
Alexandre Tokovinine
chakk’at joyaj ti sajalil chak-tok’-tuunahk-chamiiy ’ukab’jiiy yo’onal-ahk
chanlajun[hew] hux winaakjiiy waklajun
haab’iiy jun winaakhaab’iiy ’i’u[h]ti
wak ak’b’al b’uluk pax chami chak-tok’tuun-ahk-chamiiy b’olon[hew] ho’lajun
winaakjiiy
chan
haab’iiy
chan
winaakhaab’iiy siyjiiy [’i]chami cha’
chi[h] lajun pax joyaj ti sajalil chamaw…si[h]ya[j]-chan-ahk yal ix-muxkan
’ukab’jiiy …-ahk k’uh[ul] yokib’ ajaw
[yiljiiy?]
chak-tok’-tuun-ahk-chamiiy
waxaklajunhew mix winaakjiiy hux
haab’iiy [’i’u[h]ti?] wak ak’ chami
chak-tok’-tuun-ahk-chamiiy
waxaklajun[hew] mix winaakjiiy jun
haab’iiy chamiiy ’i-elnaaj t-umukil wuk
imix chan k’anasiiy
The count of years is 9 pih, 10 twenties
of years, 16 years, 8 months, 14 days, on
the day 7 Hix, when “G2” is ti’hu’n,
seven days since “C3” arrived, “X4a” is
the youth name of 30 [days], 17 Sip
Chak-Tok’-Tuun young Ahk-Chamiiy
was born, the son of Ix-Ahk-…oxo’m, the
offspring of sajal Mo’-Ahk-Chamiiy.
Dates:
+
+
+
+
+
09.10.16.08.14
00.02.01.04.07
09.12.17.13.01
00.00.07.07.08
09.13.05.02.09
00.01.16.03.14
09.15.01.06.03
09.10.16.08.14.
00.04.04.15.09
Ahk-Chamiiy’s birth
Ahk-Chamiiy’s dance
Ahk-Chamiiy’s accession to sajal
09.15.01.06.03
09.14.18.05.07
00.00.03.00.16
09.15.01.06.03
00.00.01.00.08
09.15.02.07.01
Ahk-Chamiiy’s death
accession of a new sajal
Ahk-Chamiiy’s death
fire-entering
The count is 7 days, 4 months, 1 year, 2
twenties of years, and then at dawn on
the day 8 Imix 4 Pax Chak-Tok’-TuunAhk-Chamiiy danced in Sak-Yek-Naj22
Holy king of Yokib’ on the third year [of
his reign] Yo’onal-Ahk had overseen
that. 8 days, 7 months, 7 years passed
after it happened and then on the day 11
Muluk 12 Sip Chak-Tok’-Tuun-AhkChamiiy acceded to sajalship. Yo’onalAhk had ordered that. 14 days, 3 months,
16 years, 1 twenty of years later it
happened that on the day 6 Ak’b’al 11
Pax Chak-Tok’-Tuun-Ahk-Chamiiy died.
9 days, 15 months, 4 years, 4 twenties of
years passed since he was born and then
he died. On the day 2 Manik 10 Pax he
made his début in sajalship, as for
Sihyaj-Chan-Ahk, son of Lady from
Muxkan, he took… Holy king of Yokib’
…-Ahk [Ruler 4] had ordered that. ChakTok’-Tuun-Ahk-Chamiiy had seen that.
And then, 18 days, 0 months, 3 years
later it happened that on the day 6
Ak’b’al Chak-Tok’-Tuun-Ahk-Chamiiy
died. And then, 18 days, 0 months, 1
year after he had died it happened that
there was fire-entering in his tomb on the
day 6 Imix 4 K’ayab’.
16
Art of the Maya Epitaph
Escobedo, Héctor L., and F. Marcelo
Zamora
1999 PN 47: Excavaciones en la
Estructura R-5. In: Héctor L.
Escobedo and Stephen D. Houston
(eds.), Proyecto Arqueológico Piedras Negras, Informe Preliminar
No. 2, Tercera Temporada, 1999,
pp. 217-248, Instituto de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala,
Guatemala.
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19
Los sujetos novelísticos y las palabras obscenas:
Los mitos, los cuentos y las anécdotas en los textos mayas
sobre la cerámica del período clásico
Dimitri Beliaev, Albert Davletshin
Universidad Estatal Rusa de Ciencias Humanas
Moscú, Rusia
Hoy en día se conocen aproximadamente
cerca de 15,000 textos jeroglíficos
mayas del periodo clásico. Desde luego
estos no se clasifican de manera
homogénea sino que se distribuyen entre
distintos géneros. Podemos decir que el
estudio de los textos mayas desde el
punto de vista literario apenas empieza.
Sin embargo, el obstáculo más
importante para su estudio no está en el
hecho de que la literatura de los mayas
antiguos permanezca poco estudiada, si
no al carácter específico de los textos
jeroglíficos mayas. Para destacar y
definir los géneros literarios se utilizan
varios criterios, así como la unidad de un
grupo de textos ya sea esta estructural,
lingüística o semántica. Con todo esto se
admite que textos de un grupo
homogéneo por su contenido se
caracterizan por una cierta estructura y
ciertos rasgos lingüísticos específicos.
Según nuestro punto de vista, el carácter
específico de los textos jeroglíficos
mayas determina que la manera
universalmente reconocida de definir los
géneros literarios tales como el mito, el
cuento, etc. (Finnegan 1992: 135-157)
no resulta útil en este caso. Parece más
adecuada la clasificación de las
inscripciones por su función social
primaria.
Entre las inscripciones mayas del
período clásico se puede destacar dos
grupos principales de textos que se
distinguen entre sí por su función social
primaria – las inscripciones reales
conmemorativas y las inscripciones de
posesión
(“name-tags”).
A
las
inscripciones reales conmemorativas
pertenece la mayor parte de las
inscripciones sobre los monumentos
esculpidos. Ellas ensalzan a los
poderosos reyes y a sus favoritos, y
glorifican sus hazañas. Garantizaban el
poder divino de los reyes y la paz en
todo su reinado. Las inscripciones de
poseedor se presentan sobre los objetos
portátiles como las conchas, huesos, etc.
y también sobre la cerámica policroma e
incisa.
Esas
inscripciones
sólo
especifican el tipo de objeto y el nombre
del propietario y su estatus social. Su
función fue por un lado elevar el estatus
de un dignatario indicándole como el
poseedor de un objeto de prestigio y por
otro lado aumentar el valor del objeto
indicando el estatus elevado de su
poseedor. Entre los textos jeroglíficos
mayas llegados a nosotros es posible
también destacar dos grupos más – los
códices posclásicos que servían como los
almanaques y agendas del día para los
sacerdotes y las llamadas “inscripciones
augúrales” del período epiclásico que
proceden de Yucatán (García 1998).
De todo esto se obtiene que los textos
destacados según su función social
primaria se caractericen también por un
cierto contenido y por una notable
unidad estructural y lingüística. Las
inscripciones reales demuestran un
discurso muy rígido y esteriotipado y un
estilo muy elevado. Así por ejemplo, se
21
Dimitri Beliaev, Albert Davletshin
sabe bien que las inscripciones clásicas
carecen de los pronombres de la primera
y segunda personas (Houston 1997).
Hasta el momento permanecen sin
conocerse ciertas formas verbales, así
como el incompletivo de verbos
intransitivos, palabras interrogativas y el
plural del sustantivo. No cabe duda de
que estos elementos existían en la lengua
coloquial y es por eso evidente que el
lenguaje de las inscripciones fue muy
distinto del lenguaje común.
Durante los últimos años se ha hecho
evidente que en el corpus de
inscripciones mayas existe un cierto
número de textos sobre cerámica
policroma que son muy diferentes de las
inscripciones reales y las inscripciones
de poseedor.
Representan las descripciones para las
imágenes pintadas sobre las vasijas y son
inseparables de estas. A veces los
jeroglíficos flotan ante los protagonistas
y las llamadas “volutas de habla” los
conectan con sus bocas. Muchos
investigadores han indicado que dichas
volutas representan el habla humana (i.e.
Dütting y Johnson 1993: 168–169,
Houston y Taube 2000: 273–274,
Nielsen y Wichmann 2000 et al.).
En el presente artículo intentamos
demostrar que el estudio de las vasijas
del periodo clásico nos brinda una
excelente oportunidad para reconstruir
las narraciones folklóricas complejas que
servían como prototipos para las escenas
representadas. Como ejemplo, ofrecemos
el análisis de tres narraciones de ese tipo.
1989: 81). Esta vasija fue mencionada
por primera vez en “The Maya Book of
the Dead” de Francis Robicsek y Donald
Hales (1981) en relación con la vasija
K1560. Richard Johnson en 1989 fue el
primero en analizar los textos y las
escenas en ambos vasos. Más tarde el y
Dieter Dütting publicaron un estudio
extenso y detallado del texto e
iconografía de la vasija. Entre las
principales características del texto ellos
subrayaron el uso frecuente de los
pronombres de primera y segunda
persona. En conclusion, los autores
señalaron:
The scenes on the Regal Rabbit Vase
probably depict episodes in the harassment
of hell by the headband twins Hun Ahaw
and Yax Balam. Specifically, the scenes
show the humiliation of God L, who is
entitled Pawahtun (God N) after being
deprived of his insignia and vestments by
the Regal Rabbit, probably the way, animal
companion spirit, of Hun Ahaw, Venus in
the Underworld. Thereafter, the almost
naked God L, in his new role as Pawahtun,
kneels before the enthroned Yax Balam,
who in the second scene of the vase bears
the characteristics of the Sun in the
Underworld. On Princeton Vase No. 16 the
Night-Sun appears as enthroned Jaguar
God in a complex Underworld scene that
figures also God N/Pawahtun, seated on a
lower level, with the Muan Bird, the way of
God L, above his head pointing at his dual
nature (Dütting y Johnson 1993:186).
David Stuart dedicó a la vasija K1398
una pequeña nota publicada en el libro
Lost kingdoms of the Maya (Stuart
1993). El investigador indica que el mito
representado en la vasija es desconocido
para los epigrafistas y no tiene relación
con el Popol Vuh. Según Stuart, una
posible reconstrucción de este mito es
que el Dios L tenía que llevar el tributo
para el Dios del Sol, pero este fue robado
por el Conejo. En la Escena 2 el Dios L
explica la situación al Dios del Sol. Erik
Boot en un artículo no publicado (2003)
El Conejo, el Dios L y la Diosa de la
Luna
Uno de los textos más importantes de
este tipo es el texto sobre famosa “Vasija
del Conejo Real” o Regal Rabbit Vase
que lleva el número 1398 en el Kerr
Archive of Rollout Photographs (Kerr
22