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Stela with Ix Mutal Ahaw, 761CE
Limestone
Museum purchase, gift of Mrs. Paul L. Watts
Maya rulers erected stone monuments to commemorate significant events and to substantiate royal lineages. This monument, or stela, depicts a woman wearing a beaded jade skirt and plumed headdress, evoking the Maize God. As she opens a portal to the spirit world, she is encircled by a vision-serpent, which represents the supernatural conduit between the human and divine realms. K’awiil, the god of lightning and royal power, emerges from the serpent’s mouth. According to the hieroglyphic text on the stela, the woman is an ahaw, or lord, named Ix Mutal, who undertook this rite as part of the monument’s dedication ceremonies on March 13, 761.
