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Deity figure

Maya

Not on view

This deity effigy was part of the rich funerary offerings placed inside the sarcophagus of the great seventh-century king K’inich Janaab Pakal I of Palenque. It portrays the patron god of Pax, one of the months of the Maya calendar. A jaguar deity, the god belongs to the realm of the forest, and his face often appears on the trunks of trees. In his avian manifestation he served as a messenger for Itzamnaaj.

Figura de deidad
Palenque, Chiapas, México
ca. 680 d. C.
Jade


Esta efigie divina formaba parte de la suntuosa ofrenda fúnebre colocada dentro del sarcófago de K’inich Janaab Pakal I, rey de Palenque en el siglo VII. Representa al dios patrono de Pax (uno de los meses del calendario maya): una deidad jaguar que pertenece al reino de la selva y cuyo rostro suele aparecer en los troncos de árboles míticos. En su manifestación como ave, servía como mensajero de Itzamnaaj.

Deity figure, Jade, Maya

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Secretaría de Cultura–Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Mexico, reproduction authorized by INAH; photo by Jorge Perez de Lara