01 Photograph Gallery

02 Object Information

Description

Ceramic plate or cache vessel with lid. Both the base and the lid consist of two identical bowls joined lip to lip, with flat bases and divergent walls.

The lid bears a highly significant text, composed of a vertical band of five incised glyphs filled with hematite. The paraphrase of the text reads: “She performs sacrifice, Lady Ix Ahin K’uk’, to her deity Akan Yax Aj”.

Its provenance may be the city of Tikal (Mutul), as the “owner” of the vessel, identified as Ix Ahin K’uk’ or Lady Crocodile-Quetzal, is also mentioned in other inscriptions from Tikal (including Lintel III).

This woman is identified as the mother of K’an Chitam of Tikal and the wife of the renowned Sihyaj Chan K’awiil II. Sihyaj Chan K’awiil II ruled from AD 411 to 456, and his son was possibly born in AD 415 and acceded to the throne in AD 458.

This Early Classic vessel can be dated to the mid-fifth century. It is therefore tempting to place this object around AD 460/470, either as an offering made by Ix Ahin K’uk’ herself, or as a post-mortem offering by the following generation, her son K’an Chitam, who ruled between AD 458 and 508.

* Epigraphic collaboration by Guido Krempel, 2016.

Period

CLASSIC (150/200 A.D.-900 A.D.) Early Classic (150/200- 650 AD).

Provenance

Maya Lowlands

Medium / Material

Clay, Hematite

Technique

Incised, Modeled, Painting

Dimensions

03 References and Exhibitions

References to similar objects

Exhibitions

Publications