Lintel 15 of Yaxchilán Structure 21

3D Model

Lintel 15 of Yaxchilán Structure 21

16°53‘57.51”N, 90°57‘52.13”W

Carved from limestone, this lintel was once part of a three lintel series from Structure 21 illustrating the accession rituals of Lord Bird Jaguar IV (Yaxun B’alam IV). It was originally set above the left southeast doorway of the central chamber of Structure 21, but the structure had collapsed before its rediscovery.

In this scene, one of Bird Jaguar IV’s wives, Lady Wak Tuun of the Ik’ polity, is in the final stages of a blood letting ceremony wherein paper she has ritually bled onto has been set on fire. The resulting smoke has ushered forth a deity aspect of the waterlily serpent, itself the nagual of the lightning deity, K’awiil.. The lintel is thought to have been created between 755-770 CE. Currently on display at the British Museum

Translations from Harvard Peabody