Of snake kings and cannibals: a fresh look at the Naranjo hieroglyphic stairway (original) (raw)
Related papers
Stela 45 of Naranjo and the Early Classic Lords of Sa'aal
2007
During the 2004 field season of the Project of Archaeological Research and Salvage at the site of Naranjo, Peten, Guatemala, a team of archaeologists led by Dr. Vilma Fialko uncovered Early Classic sculpture fragments in the fill of the main structure of Triadic Acropolis C-9. This paper presents the results of preliminary epigraphic and iconographic analysis of these fragments, which belong to a previously unknown monument (Stela 45) commissioned by the king Naatz Chan Ahk. Among other things, the inscriptions and imagery on the new stela make reference to an otherwise unknown Early Classic king of Naranjo, Tzik’in Bahlam, and suggest that the seat of the lords of Sa’aal was at Naranjo by the fifth century AD.
The Litany of Runaway Kings: Another Look at Stela 12 of Naranjo, Guatemala
PARI Journal, 2020
The remarkable duplication of dates and places between the text of the Komkom Vase and monuments at Naranjo has allowed more in-depth comparisons to be made and has greatly elucidated details of heretofore faint sections of the text of Stela 12 of Naranjo. Spurred on by these promising leads, coupled with new photography of the extant fragments, we have produced a new drawing of the glyphic text of Stela 12. Here we provide background information on this monument and describe the process by which we were able to produce a new drawing, before turning to a more detailed clause-by-clause presentation of the text, providing a thorough exploration of the historical narrative.
This paper constitutes an application of paleographic analysis of ancient Mayan hieroglyphic writing in line with the comprehensive approach elaborated by . More specifically, it reviews the evidence for the origin and development of T168/2M1a, the logogram ʔAJAW 'lord, ruler' , and proposes a relationship between it and T130/2S2, the syllabogram wa. Additionally, the paper contributes with a more complete diachronic perspective than has been attempted before by incorporating evidence from the earliest texts. Moreover, a graphic relationship between T168/2M1a and T130/2S2 is proposed, explained on the basis of designs of T168/2M1a starting in the Late Preclassic and Early Classic, as well as the graphic operations of rotation and 're-rotation' , a process introduced in this paper for the first time. The paper also suggests that the relationship between these signs is not merely graphic, but also acrophonic, and it elaborates a typology and chronological seriation of T168/2M1a, with the aim of assisting scholars in assigning relative chronologies to unprovenienced texts lacking calendrical data. 1
The Lords of Baakal: How an emblem glyph was shared in the Western Maya Lowlands
Notas de Antropología de las Américas, 2022
The Baakal emblem glyph was one of the few emblems that were shared by different cities during the Classic Period. Originally appearing at Palenque, this emblem glyph would later be used by rulers at Tortuguero and Comalcalco. The close study of the emblem glyph's development reveals that it was brought to Tortuguero through royal marriage while its later use by Comalcalco rulers is indicative of Palenque's growing influence in the western Maya Lowlands. El glifo emblema de Baakal fue uno de los pocos que compartieron diferentes ciudades durante el período Clásico Maya. Aunque originalmente apareció en Palenque, este glifo emblema sería usado más tarde por los gobernantes de Tortuguero y Comalcalco. El estudio detallado del desarrollo del glifo emblema revela que fue traído a Tortuguero a través de un matrimonio real, mientras que su uso posterior por los gobernantes de Comalcalco es indicativo de la creciente influencia de Palenque en las Tierras Bajas Mayas Occidentales.
People from a Place: Re-Interpreting Classic Maya Emblem Glyphs
Ecology, Power, and Religion in Maya Landscapes, 2011
This paper addresses the problem of the so-called “emblem glyphs” or royal titles that incorporate certain place names. The common trend in scholarship is to view these place names as corresponding to a distinct kind of spatial entities, even as polity names. I argue that there is no evidence to sustain the “polity name” hypothesis. Instead, place names incorporated into the royal title should rather be interpreted as the most salient, highlighted features in the representations of the political landscape created by each Classic Maya regime. Such features do not necessarily correspond to the largest spatial entities within the political landscape. There may be little or no correspondence to the immediate physical landscape of Classic Maya sites as some of the place names in the “emblem glyphs” are locations in deep time. The article begins with a brief overview of the research on the subject and then proceeds with a specific case study exploring the relations between the ideational landscape in the inscriptions of the site of Naranjo and the identities of its rulers according to the same corpus of texts. It considers other cases of place names in “emblem glyphs” supporting the observations made in the case study.