Yaxchilan lintel 24
Maya, Late Classic period (AD 600-900)
From Yaxchilán, Mexico
A masterpiece of Maya art
This limestone lintel, considered one of the masterpieces of
Maya art, is one of a series of three panels from Structure 23 at
Yaxchilán, where it was set above the left (south-east) doorway.
Lintels 24 and 25, removed at Maudslay's request at the end of the
nineteenth century, are on permanent display in the British
Museum's Mexican Gallery. Lintel 26, the third in the series, is in
the Museo Nacional de Antropología, in Mexico City.
The scene represents a bloodletting ritual performed by the king
of Yaxchilán, Shield Jaguar II, and his wife, Lady K'ab'al Xook.
The king holds a flaming torch over his wife, who is pulling a
thorny rope through her tongue. Scrolls of blood can be seen around
her mouth.
The first two glyphs in the text at the top of the lintel
indicate the event and the date on which it took place, AD 709. The
last glyph represents the Emblem Glyph (that is, the city name in
Maya hierolglyphs) of Yaxchilán. The text on the left of the panel
contains the name and titles of Lady K'ab'al Xook.
The lintel has traces of blue and red pigment.
L. Schele and M.E. Miller, The blood of kings (London, Thames & Hudson, 1986)
C. Tate, Yaxchilan: the design of a May (University of Texas Press, 1992)
S. Martin and N. Grube, Chronicle of the Maya kings an (Thames and Hudson, 2000)
C. McEwan, Ancient Mexico in the British (London, The British Museum Press, 1994)