Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami

Hieroglyphic Panel Fragment

Artist/Maker Maya (archaeological culture) (Mesoamerica)

Dateca. 700-800

Mediumlimestone

DimensionsOverall: 19 5/8 x 13 1/4 x 2 3/4 in. (49.8 x 33.7 x 7 cm)

ClassificationsVisual Works

Credit LineGift of an Anonymous Donor

Terms

Object number93.0043.04

DescriptionThis fragment from Tablet 3 of the hieroglyphic stairway at the site of Seibal records a scattering event in the upper-left glyph block, and the associated ceremonies performed by K’awiil Chan K’inich, ch’ul ajaw (holy lord) of Dos Pilas, who celebrated this ritual at the site of Seibal on May 30, 746 (7 Etz’nab 16 Xul in the Maya calendar). According to other textual sources, Dos Pilas won a decisive victory over Seibal approximately ten years earlier and this stairway commemorated the vassal status of Seibal. K’awiil Chan K’inich was named for one of the principal Maya deities, in this case K’awiil, the god of royal bloodlines. Parts of this text were removed from the stairway in antiquity and surviving elements were moved to the archaeological camp at the turn of the twentieth century. Sadly, many of these have now disappeared. Maya hieroglyphic writing was one of the most sophisticated notational systems of the ancient world.

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