REPORT: Name and Image on Two Codex-style Vessels 3

by David Stuart























  1. Hi David,

    Very interesting discussion. Among the many codex style vessels that name Yop’aat Bahlam, in K1560 the DF refers to him as a /4 winikhaab ajaw/. This title is also seen in K2226 where the owner of the vessel is said to be /u mijiin 4 winikhaab ajaw/. I suspect that this is the same Yop’aat Bahlam from K1560. His son is also named in K2226 and many other codex style vessels, is named perhaps /timaj took(al) k’awiil/ (“the sparking k’awiil is pleased” – there are several spellings of the name and this is just one possibility). K8498 names /timaj took k’awiil/ as a /ch’ok/ person. This is actually interesting as it suggests a dynastic line. Both individuals carry the /k’uhul chatan winik sak wayis/ title.

  2. This is in regard to your comment about butterflies. In a recent paper, I have argued that Tlaloc had a number of avatars including a jaguar, owl, Black Witch Moth and the 18 Ub’aah Chan serpent. The close association between Tlaloc and the 18 Ubaah Chan is seen in the Copan Structure 10L-26 example where the leg of Tlaloc is represented by the 18 Ubaah Chan. The Classic Maya depicted Tlaloc in a skeletal form with round goggle-like eyes, E-shaped nose element, k’an cross earrings and a headdress that includes a so-called Central Mexican year sign such as the Tlaloc mask and headdress worn by the ruler on Dos Pilas Stela 2. The E-shaped nose element of the Tlaloc mask is an obsidian eccentric, and such examples have been found in excavations. Tlaloc is intimately associated with obsidian and obsidian weapons. For example, the Piedras Negras and Dos Pilas rulers dressed as Tlaloc carry obsidian weapons and are decked out in obsidian imagery.
    Lepidoptera is the order of insects that includes butterflies and moths. Yaxchilan Lintel 8 and Lintel 41 illustrate Bird Jaguar dressed as a Tlaloc with Lepidoptera features. Illustrations of Lepidopteran Tlalocs often have wings with scalloped edges such as seen on the Tlaloc headdress held by a secondary lord on the Houston Museum of Fine Arts panel. The base of these wings frequently has a zigzag design that is used at Teotihuacán and in the Maya region to represent obsidian. The Lepidopteran Tlaloc has traditionally been identified as a butterfly, but there is significant evidence that it was based on a Black Witch Moth (Ascalapha odorata). The huge Black Witch Moth (17 cm wing span) has wings with scalloped edges and a zigzag pattern ( The tip of a Black Witch Moth’s hind wing is decorated with E-shaped motifs that are similar to Tlaloc’s E-shaped obsidian nose element while its upper wing has a motif similar to the T712 obsidian bloodletter. A ubiquitous belief found across all of Mesoamerica is that the appearance of a Black Witch moth inside a house is an omen that a member of the household will become ill or die. This fear of the Black Witch Moth is reflected in its Aztec name micpapalotl or miquipapalotl “death moth”, and its Ch’ol name pejpem xib’aj “moth demon”. A warrior king dressed in the costume of a Black Witch Moth Tlaloc such as Bird Jaguar would certainly have sent a powerful death message to his opponents. In the same regard, there are numerous examples of Tlalocs with owl attributes such as the owl headdress on Piedras Negras Stela 9, and another pervasive Mesoamerican belief is that owls are omens of death. These rulers were literally dressed to kill.
    I would suggest that the K1552 and K1647 motifs are truncated illustrations of Yich’aak K’ahk’ in his role as a Tlaloc deity.

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