Ancient Mesoamerica, page 1 of 18, 2017

Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2017

doi:10.1017/S0956536116000432

A MAYA CURIA REGIS: EVIDENCE FOR A

HIERARCHICAL SPECIALIST ORDER AT XULTUN,
GUATEMALA

William Saturno,a Franco D. Rossi,a David Stuart,b and Heather Hurstc

a
Archaeology Department, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Ave, Suite 347, Boston, Massachusetts 02215
b
Department of Art and Art History, UT Campus Art Building, D1300, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
c
Anthropology Department, Skidmore College, 815 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866

Abstract
This article presents an in-depth analysis of an important mural painting discovered within Structure 10K2 of the Los Sabios Group at the
Classic Maya site of Xultun, Guatemala. We first discuss the composition of the mural scene and its central protagonist, a Late Classic
period (a.d. 550–900) ruler of Xultun named Yax We’nel Chan K’inich, suggesting that it presents a ritual performance associated with
an ancient New Year ceremony. Several attendant figures in the mural are labeled as members of a specialist order or category called Taaj,
“obsidian,” and are marked by an unusual shared appearance. This “obsidian order” exhibits internal hierarchical ranking and is attested at
other Classic Maya centers. In addition to discussing the overall content of the Xultun mural scene, we conduct a focused inquiry into these
various Taaj individuals by presenting associated archaeological evidence and considering related epigraphic data. Through this analysis
of the Taaj, we shed light on a previously unknown aspect of Maya courtly life and organization that is relevant to models of sovereignty,
governance, and ritual performance in the Classic Maya world.

INTRODUCTION possible connection between the mural’s narrative and annual New
Year rituals. We then closely examine the “uniformed” figures in
Until recently the study of the Classic Maya ruins of Xultun,
the scene, several of whom are labeled with ranked variations of a
Guatemala was restricted to three sources of evidence: the hiero-
title read Taaj, commonly translated as “obsidian” (Houston 2012:
glyphic inscriptions of its highly eroded monumental corpus, a
89; Wanyerka 2002:v, 2003:86). The Los Sabios group was both
handful of references to Xultun lords from other contemporary
the residence and workspace for individuals who specialized in astro-
sites, and the texts on various ceramic vessels looted from the site
nomical and calendrical knowledge as well as in the creation of
and surrounding region (Garrison and Stuart 2004; Houston 1986;
murals and bark-paper codices—at least one of whom (though prob-
Krempel and Matteo 2012; Martin and Grube 2008:87). Recent sys-
ably others as well) seems to have been a member of this Taaj “order”
tematic archaeological excavations at Xultun now provide a new
or social category (Aveni et al. 2013; Bricker et al. 2014; Rossi 2015;
window into the city’s past, helping to link many hypotheses and
Rossi et al. 2015b; Saturno et al. 2012a, 2015).
conclusions drawn from scant textual sources to contextual archaeo-
We provide evidence that the Taaj title refers to a type of orga-
logical evidence (see Rivera Castillo and Saturno 2012; Romero and
nizational entity not previously attested among the Classic Maya.
Saturno 2010; Rossi et al. 2015a, 2015b; Saturno et al. 2012a, 2012b;
Furthermore, we argue that the Taaj order was made up of individ-
Saturno et al. 2015). One recent find, the painted murals of Structure
uals acting as specialist agents of the Maya state—producing cere-
10K2 in the Los Sabios Group, allows particular insight not only into
mony, performing sacrifice, writing texts, calculating astronomical
Xultun history but into the structures and entanglements of Classic-
sciences, and transmitting specialized knowledge. This purview of
period Maya politics and ritual. Its content is two-fold: a colorful
duties fits comfortably within Fray de Landa’s descriptions of the
narrative scene of ritual performance, and a group of more than 40 indi-
roles performed by Colonial-era Yucatec “high-priests” (Ah K’in
vidual “micro-texts” mostly painted on one wall (see Aveni et al.
Mai) and, more broadly, within commonly understood duties of
2013; Bricker et al. 2014; Rossi and Stuart 2015; Saturno et al.
priesthoods globally (Sabourin 1973; Winkelman 1992:69–76).
2012a, 2015). The narrative scene depicts a uniformed order of indi-
Despite these overlaps and our occasional use of the adjective
viduals interacting with an important eighth-century king named Yax
“priestly,” however, we hesitate in fixing the term “priest” to
We’nel Chan K’inich. In this article, we present an in-depth analysis
these Taaj individuals. Instead, we use the term “order,” which
of these wall paintings and their associated inscriptions in order to
we define as a ranked hierarchy whose members share ritual and
place their content within broader social and political contexts. We
political objectives, and whose members’ ranks in the hierarchy cor-
draw on epigraphic, ethnographic, and historical records to posit a
respond to diverse functions in achieving those ritual and political
objectives. This definition vaguely recalls the civil-religious hierar-
E-mail correspondence to: saturno@bu.edu; frossi@bu.edu; david- chies described in Chiapas or cofradía organizations in the
stuart@austin.utexas.edu; hhurst@skidmore.edu Guatemalan highlands today (see Colby and Colby 1981:31–45;

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 2 Saturno, Rossi, Stuart, and Hurst
Collins 1977; LaFarge and Byers 1931; Miles 1957, 1965; Orellana
1984; Villa Rojas 1985; Vogt 1969, 1976).
The following review is an effort toward describing the Taaj on
their own terms through the specific roles, activities, and functions
they performed within Maya society, as gleaned from epigraphy and
archaeology. Although the individuals labeled as Taaj may at first
seem standardized on the mural, they exhibit certain differences in
internal rank, expressed hieroglyphically. Following research into
similar Maya orders and “priesthoods,” we seek a more nuanced
understanding of the specific political, social, and religious roles
of the Taaj as well as the internal organization of the order as a
whole (see Collins 1977; Miles 1957, 1965; Zender 2004a).
Clarifying the nature of the Taaj order and its internal make up
can potentially shed light on the design and intent of Structure 10K2
as part of a large elite residential group at Xultun. By extension we
can examine how the members of the Taaj order and their actions
were related to the king Yax We’nel Chan K’inich and to structures
of Xultun royal authority. In light of the mural’s unusual theme and
associated inscribed texts, we suggest that the ruler may have relied
on the Taaj order for calculating and executing key calendrical
rituals and ceremonies; offering guidance on political issues; and
even instructing and educating aristocratic youth in indigenous sci-
entific, ritual, and other forms of specialized knowledge.
XULTUN AND THE LOS SABIOS MURAL
The ruins of Xultun are located between the Río Ixcán and the Río
Uaxactun in the northeast Petén region of Guatemala (Figure 1). The
Figure 1. Maps of the site of Xultun and location of Xultun in relation to other regional sites. Map by Jonathan Ruane, Adam Kaeding,
and Franco D. Rossi.
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San Bartolo/Xultun Regional Project has been conducting system-
atic archaeological research at the site since 2008, elucidating
various details of Xultun’s development and history during its con-
tinuous occupation from the Middle Preclassic period (900–300
b.c.) up until the Terminal Classic period (800–1000 b.c.)
(Rivera Castillo and Saturno 2012; Romero and Saturno 2010).
Xultun was first discovered by Aurelio Aguayo, a local chiclero
(gum-resin harvester), in September 1915 (Morley 1938:383).
The site did not receive archaeological attention until the Fourth
Central American Expedition of the Carnegie Institution of
Washington visited for three days in May 1920. Morley, who led
the expedition, was impressed with the size of the ruins:
“The new site, to which the name Xultun was given, proved to be
of great importance, no less in fact than a city of the second class
with two principal plazas, 50 subsidiary courts, and 18 sculptured
monuments. It has more structures, covering a larger area, than
either Piedras Negras or Quirigua, and has more sculptured mon-
uments than either Nakum or Palenque. It is larger than La
Honradez in the same region, and was probably the largest city
of the Old Empire in northeastern Peten” (Morley 1938:322).
It was during this first visit that Morley and his companion Carl
Guthe gave the ruins their name, xul meaning “end” or “close” and
tun meaning “stone” in Yucatec Maya. This name was based on
their reading of the date on Xultun Stela 10 (10.3.0.0.0, or a.d.
889), which at the time was the latest known date in the Maya low-
lands; thus, “End Stone” (Morley 1920:322). The Carnegie
Institution, focusing on making a preliminary plan of the main archi-
tectural groups and on documenting inscribed monuments, made
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 A Maya Curia Regis
Figure 2. Xultun royal titles as they appear on a Late Classic Polychrome
vessel: baax witz ajaw k’uhul k’abte’ yook’in. Drawing by Franco D. Rossi.
three subsequent visits to Xultun in 1921, 1923, and 1924 (Morley
1920, 1921, 1938:383–422).
Following the initial Carnegie Expeditions, Xultun was not inves-
tigated by archaeologists until Von Euw paid two visits as part of the
Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions project (Von Euw 1978:
8–10). Xultun’s monumental inscriptions were at last made widely
available with the publication of Von Euw’s photographs and line
drawings (see Von Euw 1978; Von Euw and Graham 1984). As a
result, Houston (1986) first identified the site’s emblem glyph and
Garrison and Stuart (2004) were able to detect personal names of
rulers and other members of the nobility. Steady epigraphic progress
has continued, including the proposal of a phonetic decipherment of
the main Xultun emblem glyph as “hammerstone hill” or baax[tuun]
witz (BAAX?-?-WITZ) (Prager et al. 2010). Not all ancient nobles
bearing the title Baax Witz Ajaw were Xultun rulers. It seems that
high kings took an additional set of titles, perhaps read K’uhul
K’abte’ Yook’in, the exact translation of which remains problematic
(Figure 2; see Garrison and Stuart 2004).
Los Sabios, the larger group of which Structure 10K2 is part, is a
high-status residential patio group located roughly 300 meters to the
southwest of Xultun’s southern ceremonial core and equidistant due
west from the heart of the southern palace complex (Figure 1; Rossi
Figure 3. Schematic of the 10K2 mural with numbered figures: (1, 2) Tek’eet Ch’ok; (3) Sakun Taaj; (4, 5) individuals in military attire and
scorpion tails; (6) Itz’in Taaj; (7) Xultun ruler Yax We’nel Chan K’inich; (8) Baahtz’am; (9) Tek’eet Taaj; (10, 11) unidentifiable east wall
individuals. Artwork by Heather Hurst.
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3
2015:69–75). Maxwell Chamberlain, who was casually investigating
one of many looters’ trenches penetrating the group’s architecture,
discovered the mural paintings in 2010. One such illicit excavation
had cut into the buried central room of Structure 10K2, exposing a
small section of painting on the west interior wall. Few examples
of Maya mural painting are known from residential contexts, so
Los Sabios quickly presented a rare opportunity for investigating
how such art functioned in a private and non-royal setting.
The mural shows eleven individuals. Three of the eleven bear a
title featuring the term Taaj (Figure 3:Individuals 3, 6, and 9). Two
of the eleven are identified as “youths” (ch’ok) (Individuals 1 and
2). The seated Xultun ruler and his attendant Baahtz’am (numbered
Individuals 7 and 8, respectively) are depicted in the north wall
niche, and two males in military dress are painted on the sloped
vault above the north wall (Individuals 4 and 5). Two individuals
(Individuals 10 and 11), who are too eroded to accurately identify,
are just visible on the east wall (Figure 3, Figures 4a–4c). The hiero-
glyphic titles for six individuals in the Xultun mural survive and addi-
tional portrait heads and incised elements possibly name or
characterize these individuals further. The relationship between
these Taaj and the king and the organization of their ranked order
are prominent components of the mural narrative (see Saturno et al.
2015). There are three primary captions, two of which are well pre-
served and discussed here. Finally, the northeast niche jamb and the
east wall have multiple texts that were repeatedly painted and
incised with calendric and astronomical calculations (Figure 4c; see
Aveni et al. 2013; Saturno et al. 2012a). While the mural figures
and associated captions were painted at the same time, the superimpo-
sition of many calendrical texts over the narrative scene demonstrates
that this room was an active place for writing and notation for the res-
ident Taaj until its eventual architectural incorporation into a mauso-
leum (Rossi 2015; Rossi et al. 2015b).
The Mural Scene and Yax We’nel Chan K’inich
The portrait of Yax We’nel Chan K’inich dominates the mural nar-
rative scene of Structure 10K2 (Figure 5). The name of this
eighth-century Xultun ruler appears more than any other local
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 4 Saturno, Rossi, Stuart, and Hurst

Figure 4. 10K2 Mural: (a) north wall, (b) west wall, and (c) east wall.
Illustrations by Heather Hurst, images by William A. Saturno and Franco
D. Rossi.
figure in the inscribed ceramics that can be linked to Xultun,
showing up in the dedicatory texts of at least seven unprovenienced
vessels (Garrison and Stuart 2004; Krempel and Matteo 2012; Rossi
et al. 2015a). While the historical record for this king is spotty, he
was clearly an influential and important personage at Xultun, as
indicated by his assortment of honorific titles, including Bakab,
Baax(?) Witz’ Ajaw, and K’uhul K’abte’ Yook’in(?), all of which
we find associated with other Xultun kings in the Classic period.
His less common titles are K’ahk’ Tzuhl Chan Yopaat (Kerr Nos.
4997, 4572, 9271) and 13 ?ta K’awiil (Kerr No. 8007; XUL Stela
25) (for all vessels with Kerr Numbers, see Kerr 2014). On vessel
K2324 he bears the well-known title Kaloomte’, often associated
with particularly powerful lords who oversaw regional hegemonies
(the literal meaning and function of this title remain uncertain and
open to debate). The vessels that feature Yax We’nel Chan
K’inich have stylistically been attributed to the second half of the
eighth century (Krempel and Matteo 2012:154–157).
Unfortunately, no specific dates are provided on these vessels,
which has prevented any firm chronological placement of this
king’s reign in Xultun’s dynastic line; that is, until his identification
on the Xultun mural (Rossi et al. 2015a:667–669).
Painted within a niche (a closed off interior doorway), the por-
trait of Yax We’nel Chan K’inich is the central figure in a scene.
He is flanked by several seated or kneeling attendants accompanied
by hieroglyphic captions, painted on the west, north, and east walls
(Figures 3–5). Cord-holders indicate that this niche could be
covered from time to time, whereas the rest of the mural program
was always visible to anyone in the small room (Figure 6). A
deep bench occupies most of the interior space of the chamber.
An individual sitting upon the bench surface would be approxi-
mately at eye-level with the painted figures that are depicted at
roughly two-thirds life-size.
The niche text begins with the Calendar Round (CR) date 11 Oc
13 Pop, most likely corresponding to the Long Count date
9.15.17.13.10, or February 12, 749 a.d. (Figure 7:A1–A2). In an
earlier study this CR was originally read as 11 Men 13 Pop, which
corresponds to February 9, 762 (Saturno et al. 2012a). A closer anal-
ysis during the drawing of the text indicated that 11 Oc is the more
likely date. Following this CR record the text goes on to recount an
event in which the reigning Xultun king, Yax We’nel Chan
K’inich, impersonated the deity named “First Wind-Maize with
Obsidian” (Hun Ik’ Ixiim ti taaj) (Figure 7:A7–A9). The long
caption text may also reference a ballgame-related ritual title along
with the name and honorific titles of the king. Taken together, the
caption glyphs suggest strong associations with agricultural fertility
and acts of sacrifice (Rossi and Stuart 2015:353–358).
The focal point of the mural scene on the north wall shows Yax
We’nel Chan K’inich facing a kneeling Individual 6, labeled hiero-
glyphically as Itz’in Taaj (“Junior Obsidian”; Figure 5b, Figure 8a).
This caption is not a personal name but rather is a title or designation
known from a handful of other inscriptions outside of Xultun.
Emerging from behind the king’s feathered cape and headdress, still
within the bounds of the north wall niche, a courtly attendant labeled
as a Baahtz’am (“first or head throne” or perhaps “before the throne”)
peaks out, looking in the opposite direction from the ruler (Houston
2012:89–90; see Houston 2008 for discussion of baah titles; Stone
and Zender 2011:97 for discussion of tz’am and its associations).
Yax We’nel Chan K’inich is shown dressed as the wind/maize
deity mentioned in the hieroglyphic caption (Hun Ik’ Ixiim ti taaj) in
what amounts to an “impersonation phrase” (Houston and Stuart
1996). He holds a scepter with repeating Ik’ or “wind” cut-out
motifs as well as a zoomorphic incense bag. The king’s costume
is adorned with blue-green plumage and inverted heads (seemingly
decorative) and behind him we see what appears to be a scorpion’s
tail (Figure 5). A similar scorpion-tailed impersonation by a Naranjo
king with the same Ha’b date, 13 Pop is depicted on Naranjo Stela
2, and the fusion of maize god and scorpion imagery is a previously
well-attested iconographic complex in Classic Maya art, perhaps
related to celestial imagery, as well as agricultural and rain related
themes (Milbrath 1999; Rossi 2015:57–65; see Rossi and Stuart
2015 for full discussion).

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 A Maya Curia Regis 5

Figure 5. The north wall of the 10K2 mural with a photographic detail of the name caption of Yax W’enel Chan K’inich’s. Illustration by
Heather Hurst. Photograph by Franco D. Rossi.

Figure 7. Niche caption. Drawing by David Stuart.

Figure 6. Cord-holders on the (a) east wall and (b) north wall. Photograph
by Franco D. Rossi.

zodiacal episode or entity enfolded into the royal impersonation

Individual 6, the Itz’in Taaj, kneels before the king with his hand
raised, possibly in a gesture of communication, garbed in red and
white accouterments with a white circular pendant suspended over
his chest. As mentioned at the start of this article, the term taaj is
generally understood to mean “obsidian” or “obsidian blade,” and
its use here as part of an official title constitutes an important con-
flation of instrument and agent, as will be discussed further below.
Two males in military dress, Individuals 4 and 5, adorn the sloping
vault immediately above this central interaction. They stand facing
west and hold shields similar to many figures depicted in the
Structure 1, Room 2 murals of Bonampak. Like the king, they
each have a scorpion tail perhaps referencing the same celestial or
being depicted (Figure 9; see Rossi 2015:45).
Moving westward in the mural scene we come to three men who
we refer to as Individuals 1, 2, and 3. In terms of the scene’s hori-
zontal composition they all sit behind the Itz’in Taaj (Figures 3 and
4a). All three are rendered on the west wall, yet their gaze is none-
theless directed toward the interaction unfolding on the north wall
between the Itz’in Taaj and the king. These three individuals are
each simply and uniformly depicted wearing a loincloth, a white
pendant over the chest, and a large black headdress adorned with
a single orange feather and a circular white ornament identical to
the chest pendant. These three men, as well as another identically
rendered male painted on the east wall (Individual 9, see Figures

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 6 Saturno, Rossi, Stuart, and Hurst

Figure 9. Ends of scorpion tails of Individuals 4 and 5 painted on vault.

Photograph by Franco D. Rossi.

position; his title survives and also reads Tek’eet, although rather
Figure 8. Taaj title captions from the 10K2 mural room: (a) Itz’in Taaj, (b) than ch’ok the second word in the title is Taaj (Figure 8d).
Sakun Taaj, (c) Tek’eet Ch’ok, and (d) Tek’eet Taaj. Photographs by Franco
D. Rossi. Drawings by David Stuart and Franco D. Rossi.
The Mural Narrative
Our understanding of the wider mural scene derives first from a con-
sideration of the main caption accompanying the portrait of Yax
3 and 4c), are all distinguished by their black body paint. The prin-
W’enel Chan K’inich. As we have seen, this refers to a ritual imper-
cipal differences to be noted between these four individuals derives
sonation by the king on the day 11 Oc 13 Pop, involving a deity with
from their titles and the size in which each is rendered, with
wind and maize associations and perhaps a reference to the Maya
Individuals 3 and 9 being depicted as larger than Individuals 1
ballgame. Overall the caption is difficult to translate, given
and 2. Individual 3 is labeled Sakun Taaj or “Senior Obsidian”
several unique terms and areas of poor preservation (Figure 7).1
(Figure 8b). Individual 2’s name caption is read either Tek’eet
The ha’b station of the date, 13 Pop (Figure 7:A1), may provide
Cho’k or Tek’at Ch’ok (spelled phonetically te-k’e-ta-ch’o-ko), a
an important clue for understanding the larger significance of the
unique and therefore difficult term to translate and interpret
occasion commemorated in the mural scene. Pop is the very first
(Figure 8c). For the sake of our discussion here, we will we refer
month in the 365-day year and its presence here raises the possibility
to this provisionally as Tek’eet.
that the king’s impersonation is a New Year ritual of some sort,
Tek’eet is most likely derived from the Proto-Mayan verb “to
perhaps not unlike the many ceremonies of the month Pop cited
step on,” to be discussed below. The second word in the title,
in ethnohistorical sources such as Landa’s Relación (Tozzer 1941:
ch’ok, identifies him as a “youth” (Grube and Stuart 1987), here
151–153).
perhaps in a more figurative way, since ch’ok can also reference
The phrase ti taaj, “with obsidian,” appears twice in this main
individuals who were often “‘unmarried’ or ‘not fully grown’ (in
caption (Figure 7:A6, A9), and likely refers to a kind of sacrificial
a social sense)” (Houston 2009:163). The presence of ch’ok in the
object or event. This may be corroborated by the initial phrase of
caption may explain the diminutive rendering of this figure and
imply that Individual 1, whose inscribed label does not survive, 1

shares a ch’ok status and title. Only one of the three figures origi-
nally rendered on the east wall is discernible in any real detail,
Individual 9 (Saturno et al. 2015). He is depicted in identical
dress to the west wall figures and is also seated in a cross-legged
A preliminary transcription of the main caption is as follows: 11-OOK-
13-[K’AN]JAL-wa-U-ba-hi ti-?-k’u-ju-lu-ti-ta-ji-U-ba[AHN]-*hi-*li-nu-
1-IXIIM?[IK’]-ma-ti-ta-*ji-*u-*CHAHK-li-IHK’-T533-ti-12-NAHB-ba-
K’AHK’-tzu-lu-*CHAN-*YOP-*AAT-YAX-WE’-*ne-*le-CHAN- K’INICH
BAAX?-WITZ-AJAW-ba-ka-ba *K’UHUL-K’AB-TE’-yo-OK[K’IN].

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 A Maya Curia Regis
the text (u baah ti ?; Figure 7:A3–A4) where the glyph at position
A4 (ti ?) includes a rare logograph otherwise known only from the
similar impersonation captioned on Stela 2 at Naranjo. There, as
mentioned above, the ruler of Naranjo is also depicted holding
a censer bag and wearing obsidian-related ornaments, a feather
cape, and a distinctive a scorpion-like tail ( just visible between
his legs). The event on Naranjo Stela 2 is also said to have taken
place on 13 Pop (falling on 9.14.19.9.0 6 Ahau 13 Pop, or
February 17, 731). In addition, we are intrigued by the clear associ-
ation with “wind” as indicated in the toponymic register shown
beneath the Naranjo king’s feet (see Graham and Von Euw 1975;
Stuart and Houston 1994). On the Xultun mural, Yax We’nel
Chan K’inich is the main acting figure, and as we discuss below,
the deity he impersonates and the ritual he performs are both con-
cerned with agricultural rites.
The impersonated deity, which we read Hun Ik’ Ixiim ti taaj or
“First Wind-Maize with Obsidian” (Figure 7:A7–A9), also occurs
on the rim text (dedicatory formula) of an Ik’-style vessel at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Kerr No. 1728). This vase’s owner
carries the Ik’ or Ik’a’ emblem glyph traditionally connected to
Motul de San Jose (Marcus 1976:Figure 1.7; Stuart and Houston
1994:28), although probably encompassing the wider Lake Petén
Itzá area as a whole (see Foias and Emery 2015). Here the god’s
name is also part of an impersonation phrase, indicating that the
local ruler assumed the guise of this particular deity on the occasion
mentioned (no such impersonation phrase is given on Naranjo Stela
2, however). We interpret this name “First Wind-Maize with
Obsidian” as suggestive of the impersonated deity’s association
with agricultural abundance and the sacrifice necessary to ensure it.
The Xultun caption text continues with a reference to an enig-
matic “black” T533 “at/of/with 12 handspans” (ti 12 nahb)
(Figure 7:B1, C1, D1), employing a glyph that is usually found
on depictions of large rubber balls in ballgame scenes (Zender
2004b). A highly similar phrase—perhaps an extended title
sequence—also occurs on a Late Classic period vessel very likely
from the nearby Holmul-Naranjo area (Kerr No. 2358). This is
referred to as the drinking vessel for atole ( yuk’ib ti ul) of a deity
whose name is eroded beyond legibility. In its dedicatory text, we
also see a reference to the “black T533” and then to the ballgame,
with the term pitz “ball play” inscribed instead of the “12 hand-
spans” term.
Sacrifice is often a key component of ballgame-related narratives
and imagery and ballcourts famously serve as mythical passageways
between the human realm and the underworld (see Christenson
2007; Houston 2014a). Ballcourts were closely associated with
fertility and abundance as well, specifically with regard to maize
(Schele and Freidel 1991). The ballgame-related phrase in the
Xultun ruler’s title, with the impersonated deity “First Wind-
Maize with Obsidian,” therefore seems to echo many of these sym-
bolic overlays, linking a number of related ritual themes present
within the mural.
The rest of the caption text comprises the king’s name and
assorted titles (Figure 7:E1–F6), as previously mentioned. These
include the standard Xultun royal honorifics as well as various ele-
ments known across many inscriptions of the northeastern Peten
(Garrison and Stuart 2004; Krempel and Matteo 2012; Matteo
and Krempel 2011:959–960; Prager et al. 2010; Rossi et al. 2015a).
While the mural’s specified ritual occasion does not fall pre-
cisely on the first day of the New Year, the 13 Pop date nonetheless
may have been a significant station in a month full of New Year
renewal rituals and celebrations. The number 13 is ubiquitously
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7
meaningful in Mesoamerica, serving as the highest coefficient in
the so-called Tzolk’in or 260-day ritual calendar. In his account of
festivities in the month Pop in contact-era Yucatan, Landa describes
a special concern with rites of purification and cleansing (Tozzer
1941:151–153). He specifically writes of the preparatory actions
of individuals he refers to as priests, who would fast up to three
months in advance, “but no one less than thirteen days” (Tozzer
1941:152). He mentions that during ritual fasts, priests would
cover themselves with black paint or soot, only to be cleansed of
the black soot—both physically and symbolically purified—at the
end of the fast. The New Year month, Pop, was a time period
during which such fasts would end. Landa writes of the cleansing
ceremony:
“Here now the men [earlier called priests and lords] came clean
and ornamented with their red ointment, after having cleaned
themselves of the black soot with which they covered themselves
when they fasted. All having come together with the presents of
food and drinks, which they had brought, and also a great quan-
tity of wine, which they had made, the priest purified the temple,
seating himself in the middle of the court, clothed like a pontiff,
having near him a brazier and the little boards with incense”
(Tozzer 1941:152–153).
Discussed by Love (1986:171) as a type of renewal ceremony, the
scene described by Landa is remarkably reminiscent of the Xultun
mural scene. Only in the mural it is the king who is elaborately
clothed and holding an incense device (a bag, not a brazier) rather
than the “priest.”
Another obvious parallel emerges between Landa’s account of
priests covered in black soot and the dark-painted individuals on
the mural. While carbon-black is a commonly used black
pigment, in the case of the Xultun mural applying a color rendered
from “soot” may have intentionally invoked a ceremonial practice
similar to what Landa describes. Fray Las Casas (1967:215–216)
mentions the blackening of skin during ritual fasts as well, also
stating that the application of soot from pine torches to the skin
was the preferred method of pigmentation. At Xultun the composi-
tion of the paint has additional significance: black pigment used on
Individuals 1, 2, 3, and 9 was a mixture of carbon-black and hema-
tite. It is precisely the same paint recipe used to render the obsidian
element of the king’s headdress, suggesting that this compositional
choice was intentional, used to link the four black-bodied person-
ages with the substance and sheen of obsidian itself. Individual 6,
labeled as the Itz’in Taaj, is distinguished from the others within
the scene by his red-orange skin and differing dress. This, of
course, seems a more natural skin-tone, further highlighting the dis-
tinctiveness of the black body paint on the other individuals, but
also may reflect the “red ointment” adorned by a priest that Landa
describes as having freshly “come clean” of the black skin paint
associated with fasting.
These connections, paired with the epigraphic and iconographic
evidence, suggest that the Xultun mural scene does indeed represent
a New Years ritual akin to the renewal rites attested in Landa’s
Relación and select codices, in which fasting priests “came clean”
for the coming year, or a moment of preparation immediately pre-
ceding or following such an event. We further suggest that this
was somehow related to a ceremonial ballgame or ballcourt and
associated sacrificial rites. Considering the time of year at which
this event is said to have occurred, it is possible that this deity
was petitioned to invoke the first winds and first maize harvest
that mark the dry season—and, perhaps un-coincidentally, this
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 8 Saturno, Rossi, Stuart, and Hurst
period of seasonal transition regularly occurred when the constella-
tion Scorpio would have been strongly visible in the night sky
(potentially explaining the scorpion tail) (Bricker and Bricker
1992:157, Bricker and Bricker 2011:734; Rossi 2015:58–59).
This wind-maize scorpion-tailed deity, which offers sacrifice as
part of agriculturally related and New Years rituals, may thus
blend these various seasonal elements into a single petitioning actor.
The mural makes clear that those individuals labeled Taaj were
involved in a very direct way, perhaps depicted toward the end of a
ritual fast at a moment just before cleansing. As previously men-
tioned, we believe that at least one individual carrying a Taaj title
was in residence in the Los Sabios group, although more than one
Taaj was probably working within the room and onsite (Rossi
et al. 2015b). We turn now to these Taaj individuals in an effort
to gain a better understanding of how their order features in the por-
trayed ceremony, and to discuss the nature of their relationship with
the king and Maya political ceremony more broadly.
RELIGION IN MESOAMERICAN GOVERNANCE
Public ritual, sacrifice and performance, the likes of what we see in
the mural narrative, is a dominant feature in Mesoamerican politics,
critical to kingly legitimation and governance of Classic Maya pol-
ities (Foias 2013:165–192; Houston 2006; Inomata 2006; Lucero
2003; Miller and Brittenham 2013). As we see on the Xultun
mural, Maya kings and their high-ranking officials were commonly
the focus of artworks depicting such events. Yet, the Los Sabios
mural is unusual in that it presents a ranked order of officials,
which we refer to as the Taaj order—an order which epigraphic
and archaeological evidence suggests played key roles in the plan-
ning and orchestration of such events. Notably, three of the main
subordinates (Individuals 3, 4, and 7) are labeled with two-glyph
titles the second word of which is Taaj. The first glyph in each
these titles is different, marking distinct modifiers or “ranks”
within this uniformed order —likely indicating distinct roles as well.
The Classic Mayan word taaj survived across a wide array of
colonial and modern day Mayan languages, most often referring
not only to the material we call obsidian, but also to blades,
lancets and other implements used for ritual bloodletting and sacri-
fice (see Barrera Vázquez 1991:748; Ciudad Real 1929:806–807;
Feldman 2000:50; Hull 2005:19; Pío Pérez 1866–1877:312).
During periods of fasting and penitence in which these obsidian
objects were used, Indigenous ritual specialists and diviners
covered themselves head to toe in black soot, perhaps in visible
invocation of this very material used for penitential bloodletting,
just as we see with the black-painted Taaj on the Los Sabios mural.
This conceptual fusion of the act—the practitioner and the mate-
rial—turn up prominently in the ethnographic record as well.
Drawing from anthropological work in the village of Santa Eulalia
in highland Guatemala, LaFarge (1947:121) documented a particu-
lar ritual he witnessed called tcai, where an order of ritual specialists
known as “Prayermakers” bloodlet by flogging themselves with
thongs edged with small pieces of glass called tcai, the K’anjobal
Mayan word for obsidian. He notes the likely antiquity of this
practice and also that it probably once incorporated actual tcai, or
obsidian, rather than glass fragments. This example grows more
intriguing when we when we consider that those prayermakers
wielding the tcai (and collectively called tcaxlom) each carry
two-part official titles that feature a rank followed by the term
tcax. For example, the “head alcalde prayermaker” is called satalkal
tcax while the “second alcalde prayermaker” is called kapalkal tcax.
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The word tcax [see also tca’] is generally translated as “prayer,
to pray” (LaFarge 1947:131–136; LaFarge and Byers 1931:
143–152). Additionally, the linguistic affinity to the word for obsid-
ian, tcai, (the material with which these tcax would bloodlet) is
intriguing. Not only are the titles of these two orders similarly struc-
tured in two parts, one a changeable ranking and the other marking
membership in a cohort, but the second component in each title
seems to have its roots in the same substance, obsidian (see Rossi
2015:124–128 for full discussion).
Additional support for this conceptual and linguistic fusion of
agent, material, and implement appears in the Motul dictionary
of Colonial Yucatec. There we see a survival of the term taaj in
its meaning as ta, meaning “blade, lancet or bloodletter” (Ciudad
Real 1929:806–807). We see an agentive form of this Classic
period term survive as well, preserved in Yucatec (from Ciudad
Real 1995:43–44) as ah taah, literally meaning, “he of taah,” and
translated as “representative or one who speaks with fluency and
eloquence,2” (see Real Academia Española 2001 for Spanish defi-
nition of the term decidor). In line with these meanings, another
dictionary entry, ta taah, which literally means “of the taah,” is
translated as “a work; writing; sermon; injurious words, ill-
conceived and carried out” (Ciudad Real 1995:705).3 This associa-
tion with the spoken word mirrors what we see in K’anjobal, where
tca’ refers to prayer, but also to the practitioners of prayer, while tcai
refers to the sacrificial implements. In colonial Yucatec, ta, referred
to this implement while taah seems to have referred to prayer as well
as writings—acts ostensibly within the purview of individuals
labeled ah taah. At Los Sabios, we suggest that the ranked Taaj
individuals portrayed on the mural represent earlier forms of these
later titles and associated roles.
Several scholars have explored the prominence of metaphorical
thinking among Maya peoples both ancient and modern, revealing
how seemingly disparate but culturally linked concepts and materi-
als were often cognitively and linguistically conflated (Hanks 1990,
2000; Jackson 2013:111–140). If we are allowed to speculate,
perhaps Classic Mayan taaj brought to mind more than simply
the physical material of obsidian, but also signaled various
sensory associations as well—its “cultural synesthesia” (Houston
and Taube 2000). Through this layering of meaning, taaj may
have come to define those specialists who wielded taaj in physical
forms and in particular ritual settings. The term was eventually
extended to other parts of these individuals’ roles as well—prayer,
sermons and eloquence in speech, not to mention writings (an
important inclusion when we consider the archaeological and
inscribed evidence at Los Sabios). At least one of these specialist
roles (writing) we know was actively being practiced by residents
within Los Sabios; however, as we explore other Classic period ref-
erences to the Taaj order (listed in Table 1), aspects of these other
roles come into play as well.
Junior Taaj, Senior Taaj
In texts from the Classic period, the terms itz’in and sakun (also
written as sukun) take on the hierarchical meanings of “junior”
and “senior,” respectively, and usually appear in kinship terms for
“younger brother” (itz’in winik) and “elder brother” (sak[un]
winik) (Stuart 1997). In the Xultun murals, rather than preceding
the Maya word for “person” (winik), itz’in and sakun precede the
2
“Representante o decidor.”
3
“Obra, escritura, sermon, palabras injuriosas y mal sabidas y hazerlas.”
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 A Maya Curia Regis 9

Table 1. Glyphic References to Taaj Titles.
Titles Artifact
Itz’in Taaj Rm. 2 Mural Xultun
Itz’in Taaj Chicago Panel La Corona
Itz’in Taaj Duke Vase N/A
Itz’in Taaj Altar U Copan
Itz’inte’ Taaj El Abra Vase La Entrada
Sakun Taaj Rm. 2 Mural Xultun
Sukun Taaj House C Palenque
Sakun Taaj Str. 8L-74 Copan
Tek’eet Taaj Rm. 2 Mural Xultun
word taaj, hence our reading “junior obsidian” and “senior obsid-
ian.” Such senior-junior pairings are well attested ethnographically,
not only in referencing people, but “hills, mountains, waterholes,
crosses, cargoholders, shamans, fireworks, drums, and so forth,”
and also denoting other types of unequal relationships like “more
powerful” and “less powerful” or “more prestigeful” and “less pres-
tigeful” as well (Vogt 1969:238). Among the Tzotzil Maya these
ways of ranking factored significantly into the formal ritual features
and deferential behaviors of the “cargo system,” the Tzotzil civil-
religious hierarchy (Vogt 1969:238–269).
The title Itz’in Taaj shows up in several other inscriptions
besides the Los Sabios mural, where it seems to have been a more
publically visible post than the Sakun Taaj (or any other Taaj
for that matter), despite the “junior” ranking (Figures 10a–10c;
Table 1). These hieroglyphic references come from across the
Maya area: the Petén lakes region, La Corona, and the area near
Copan. Another likely reference to this title can be found on the
so-called “El Abra” vessel from the La Florida Valley of
Honduras (Figure 11). There it occurs as one of two ”junior”
titles: Itz’in Te’ [Itz’in] Taaj, or “junior sticks, junior obsidians”
(Zender et al. 2016:43). Individuals designated as Itz’in Taaj are
always mentioned alongside the ruler and other important officials
of the Maya court. This proximity is explicitly shown on the
Xultun mural where the Itz’in Taaj’s position relative to the king
is compositionally emphasized in comparison with the other Taaj
in the scene, but it also holds in other mentions of the Itz’in Taaj
as well, reviewed below.
On a looted polychrome ceramic vessel in the “Ik style,” cur-
rently part of the collections at the Duke University Museum of
Art (Kerr No. 3046), an individual labeled as “the guardian of
K’an ?” is also called an Itz’in Taaj (Figure 10c). He kneels
Figure 10. Other occurrences of Itz’in Taaj: (a) Copan Altar U, (b) ball-
player panel in Art Institute of Chicago, and (c) polychrome vessel at
Duke Art Museum, Kerr Vessel No. 3046. Drawings by Franco D. Rossi.
before one of several members of a dancing nobility. This Itz’in
Taaj wears a red and white pectoral and a headband (likely made
Site of paper) stained red at its middle. The red and white headband
and pectoral often feature in scenes focused on sacrifice and may
intimate that sacrificial rites accompanied the dances depicted on
the vessel with the Itz’in Taaj serving a central role.
A sculpted block from La Corona, Guatemala, currently housed
within the Art Institute of Chicago, also cites an Itz’in Taaj who is
shown in ballplay alongside a well-known individual of La Corona
named Chak Ak’ Paat Yuk (see Stuart et al. 2015 for this most
recent reading). The text states that the portrayed event occurred at
Calakmul (referred to as Uxte’ Tuun, Chihk Nahb) (Martin 2012;
Stuart and Houston 1994:28–29; Tokovinine 2013:8, 71–72).
Although most of this Itz’in Taaj’s name is eroded, the Taaj title
is clear, and it is followed by another official title—and important
epigraphic clue (Figures 11b and 12). A second title, U Ti’huun
Kaloomte,’ translates to “Speaker of/for the headband of the
Kaloomte,’” which Zender (2004a:210) notes as the “most impor-
tant of all the priestly offices.” The Kaloomte’ in question could
have only been the Calakmul king, which suggests that this Itz’in
Taaj served at Calakmul. Elements of his costume are closely asso-
ciated with the highland Mexico rain deity (called Tlaloc by the
much later Nahuatl speakers) and this may suggest the ballgame
in which the Itz’in Taaj took part was related to rain or fertility
ritual like the ceremony we see depicted on the Los Sabios mural.
This particular Tlaloc-like iconography possesses strong connec-
tions with the material obsidian as well (Agurcia Fasquelle et al.
2015; Rossi 2015:112).
Perhaps the most informative window into the role of an Itz’in
Taaj comes from Copan, Honduras. There, one particularly well-
documented Itz’in Taaj, who goes by the name Yax K’amlay ?
Chan (Figure 10a), occurs on several monuments and “God
House” incensario fragments (Table 2). Together these various
texts mention Yax K’amlay in a scattering ritual (on the “throne
stone” of Str. 10L22a) and in two different seating events (one on
Altar U and incensario fragment CPN 22350, and another on incen-
sario fragment, CPN 22351). The lengthiest of these references
occurs on Altar U in a complex passage that involves not only
Yax K’amlay but at least three other mortal characters. These are:
the sixteenth Copan King, Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat; an individual
believed to be his brother (Bardsley 1990); and Ix Chak ? Xok, a
noblewoman, possibly from Palenque, who was the mother of the
royal brothers (Schele and Freidel 1990:330–331; Schele and
Grube 1987). The word itz’in included as part of Yax K’amlay’s
name and associated “seating” event (a verb normally reserved for
entry into rulership or high office) initially suggested that he was
also a brother of the commissioning Copan king Yax Pasaj Chan
Yopaat—“seated” by him into a high-ranking administrative posi-
tion. Exactly which office Yax K’amlay entered during this event
is never mentioned and remains enigmatic (Bardsley 1990, 1996;
Schele and Freidel 1990:333–334; Stuart 1992:179–181). The
spelling of Itz’in Taaj (i-tz’i-*ni-ta-ji) is beyond a doubt and
shows that rather than specifying him as a younger brother to the
king, it serves to identify Yax K’amlay as a Taaj. As the text con-
tinues onto the opposite side of Altar U, Yax K’amlay’s status as
a mortal being seems to change, however. Between positions P3
and R2 on the opposite side, Yax K’amlay is named again, possibly
labeled as an Itz’in Taaj again but then additionally (and enigmati-
cally) he is also referred to as k’uh or “god” rather than as a “noble
lord of Copan” (YAX-Copan E.G.-AJAW-wa) as is done in the
initial reference.

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 10 Saturno, Rossi, Stuart, and Hurst

Figure 11. “El Abra” Alabaster vase recovered from near La Entrada, Honduras (Schele Number, SD-1041). Drawing by Linda Schele,
© David Schele.

Figure 12. Ballplayer panel in Art Institute of Chicago. L-shaped panel with text recording the birth of Yuknoom Yich’aak K’ak’ of
Calakmul; Site Q, Calakmul (Schele Number, SD-7259). Drawing by Linda Schele, © David Schele.

These various texts concerning Yax K’amlay have become
increasingly perplexing in light of the 1990 discovery of several
“godhouse” (uwaybil k’uh) sculptures (Andrews and Fash 1992:
78–79; Bardsley 1990). These “god-houses” name several well-
established local deities as their owners (like Bolon Yokte’), but
they also name individuals who seem to have been mortal
humans like Yax K’amlay, only further obscuring the line
between human and god. All other known occurrences of the title
Itz’in Taaj refer to living individuals. Based on these ambiguities,
we believe that Yax K’amlay was actually a historical figure that
may have been deified after his death—with the noted change in
status from human to “god” inscribed on Altar U perhaps serving
as an epigraphic account of his apotheosis event. The deification
of prominent human figures upon their death is a widely attested
and well-known trope in the historical and anthropological record,
Table 2. References to Yax K’amlay.
Artifact
“God house” model CPN 21141
“God house” model CPN 19094
“God house” model CPN 22350
“God house” model CPN 22351
“God house” model CPN 266
“Throne Stone” of Str. 10L22a
Altar U
often linking institutions of sovereignty to ideological systems.
Significantly, this may be the first purely textual reference to such
an event we are aware of for the Maya area (see Estrada-Belli and
Tokovinine 2016:154–159 for discussion of apotheosis events
among Maya peoples).
The frequency with which Yax K’amlay is discussed across
monuments and objects at Copan and the various public ceremonies
in which he took part shows the Itz’in Taaj was not only an espe-
cially important figure to the king, but to the public face of Maya
political and ritual spectacle as well. Imagery of an agent whose
roles may be similar to those of an Itz’in Taaj appears in the
Bonampak murals. This figure, rendered on the east wall of Room
3, Structure 1 at Bonampak (HF14), holds a scepter or rattle in
his raised hand and a spear or staff in the other as he oversees a per-
formance of dance and bloodletting by noble and elite youths and
the sacrifice of a captive. He is between dancers on the
Bonampak pyramid steps wearing a puma skin cape and a dark
blue oblong headdress; furthermore, he wears a simple white oval
pectoral ornament visible in front of the knot of the tie around his
neck. His gesture and position suggests he is a ritual specialist
who directs the ceremonial activities. The distinctive shape of the
headdress worn by this enigmatic figure—who “seems to direct
some part of the performance” (Miller and Brittenham 2013:
136)—closely resembles those headdresses worn by the Taaj.
Returning to the mural at Los Sabios, the title Sakun Taaj,
or “Senior Obsidian,” labels Individual 3 on the west wall.
Unlike the Itz’in Taaj (Individual 6) he is depicted in the stan-
dardized “uniform” mentioned earlier. He is shown seated at

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Figure 13. Other occurrences of Sakun Taaj: (a) panels from Western Substructure of Palace House C, Palenque. The texts name
“ch’ok-ob,” or young lineage members (Schele Number, SD-168). Drawing by Linda Schele, © David Schele; (b) medallion inscription
from Str. 8L-74, North Group, Copan. Drawing by Franco D. Rossi after C. Carrelli in Ashmore 1991:210.
the fore of two smaller, but otherwise identically dressed
individuals–Individual 1 and Individual 2 (labeled Tek’eet Ch’ok).
The caption labeling Individual 1 does not survive, though his
size indicates that he was likely labeled ch’ok as well—visually
placing the Sakun Taaj at the head of two youths or novices.
The Sakun Taaj title is decidedly rare; we are able to find only
two other occurrences in the hieroglyphic corpus. At Palenque it
appears as part of the inscription on the western base of House C
of the Palenque Palace (Figure 13a). There, seven individual texts
were carved along the lower wall just beneath the building’s sup-
porting platform. Six of these texts name specific individuals who
are ch’ok and each is identified with the “Wa-Bird” toponymic
emblem associated with the site of Santa Elena. Collectively, they
are usually interpreted as captives taken in battle (Martin and
Grube 2008:165; Schele 1994; Stuart and Stuart 2008:158–159).
One name included amongst these six individuals stands out: “the
Sukuun Taaj of the youthful lord/heir”—revealing that actually
only five of the inscribed six ch’ok titles refer to youths, and one
refers to the possessed Sukuun Taaj (local spelling of Sakun Taaj)
of a particularly important youth, possibly an heir to the Santa Elena
throne (see Houston and Inomata 2009:144; Houston and Stuart
2001:66–67 for discussion of the heir designation title).
Courtly positions that are “possessed” in such a manner are
common in the hieroglyphic corpus, most taking the form of ruler
who possesses courtiers. Beyond reflecting the affiliation of partic-
ular officeholder with specific royal people, these statements clearly
relate the hierarchical superiority on the part of the “owner” (i.e., the
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11
ruler) and also convey a binding sense of service and duty on the
part of the courtier toward his/her “owner” (for example, see
u-sajal, y-ajaw, and yAhk’uhuun). Given these other cases, this spe-
cific example of the Sakun Taaj title tells us quite a bit. Firstly, he is
named as the only non-ch’ok alongside a collectivity of notable
ch’ok (“youths”) taken in battle, suggesting that part of the Sakun
Taaj’s role concerns these young, highly important agents in
Maya politics and society. As mentioned earlier, the Sakun Taaj
on the Xultun mural also appears in close association with youths,
depicted on the mural’s west wall at the head of two ch’ok, in
visual confirmation of the connection suggested by the Palenque
example.
A second key insight provided by the Palenque reference con-
cerns the socio-political identity of the Sakun Taaj’s “owner”—
the ch’ok ajaw or “lordly youth/heir.” Like possessive construc-
tions of human agents elsewhere in the Maya world, this text at
Palenque indicates an inequality in status between the younger but
higher status possessor (the noble-born youth and lordly heir or
ch’ok ajaw) and the much older, lower status possessed (the
Sakun Taaj). Yet by the same token, it also indicates the importance
of this possessed office to the ch’ok ajaw merely by its prominent
mention as part of a captive-taking narrative. The Sakun Taaj of
the heir was clearly a meaningful figure to have been captured
alongside the many other noble youths from Santa Elena.
At Copan, this relationship between the heir apparent and the
Sakun Taaj emerges again within a Late Classic elite residential
compound located to the north of the city’s central zone. Group
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 12
8L-10, known as the “North Group” (see Ashmore 1991; Rossi
2015:143–145 for further comparison with Los Sabios). At that
group, the title Sakun Taaj is mentioned on one of several sculpted
stone medallions (26–31 cm in diameter each) that had fallen from
the west façade of one of the group’s structures (Figure 13b). This
text remains incomplete—more hieroglyphs are surely to be
unearthed but it no doubt once referred to the dedication of a build-
ing associated with Waxaklajun Ubaah K’awiil, the thirteenth
Copan king commonly referred to as “18 Rabbit,” who ruled from
a.d. 695 to 738 before meeting his untimely end at the hands of
a former vassal king.
The Calendar Round is helpful here. When paired with this
Copan king’s name, only two possible dates emerge. The later
option falls in a.d. 738, just days after Waxaklajun Ubaah
K’awiil is said to have been beheaded by the king of Quirigua
(Ashmore 1991; Stuart 1992). An alternative, earlier option worth
considering falls on May 12, 686 (9.12.14.1.8 8 Lamat 6 Sek),
which would have been nine years before Waxaklajun Ubaah
K’awiil acceded the throne and during the especially long and pros-
perous reign of his father, Ruler 12—intriguingly at a point in time,
when Waxaklajun Ubaah K’awiil would himself have been a
“lordly youth/heir” (ch’ok ajaw). Perhaps, a future recovery of
additional portions of what is currently the incomplete textual
record of this Copan group will elucidate specifics regarding the
relationship between this Sakun Taaj and the thirteenth Copan king.
Thus, in two of three known epigraphic contexts (Los Sabios
Mural and Palenque House C), the Sakun Taaj is shown in direct
relation with two or more ch’ok. We believe these arrangements inti-
mate a potential supervisory, and possibly even instructional, role
on the part of these particular Taaj—a role in line with ethnographic
and ethnohistoric records that describe such specialists as oversee-
ing and educating highborn youths (Sahagún 1969:209–218,
1978:61–70; Tozzer 1941:27, 111–112; see Calnek 1988;
Houston 2009 for broader reviews). Adding this epigraphic evi-
dence to the Los Sabios palimpsest of the east wall and its varied
handwritings raises the strong possibility that the mural room and
nearby spaces may have once served pedagogical ends, in addition
to specialized occupational ones—with education overseen not by
just a Taaj, but specifically by a Sakun Taaj (Rossi 2015:
142–145, 160–209).
Tek’eet Ch’ok, Tek’eet Taaj
Returning once more to the Los Sabios mural, the full title of at least
one of the two youths seated behind the Sakun Taaj is called a
Tek’eet Ch’ok. Tek’eet is a poorly understood and previously unat-
tested term in the hieroglyphic corpus. It may belong to a certain
type of Classic-period title that ends in –Vt or -VVt, such as with
the titles Ebeet (“messenger”), Itz’aat (“sage”), or the “banded
bird” title (Houston et al. 2006:241–251; Jackson 2013:15; Miller
and Martin 2004:29; Stuart 1989, 2005:133–137). It remains to
be seen whether the title can stand alone as Tek’eet.
As previously mentioned, the Tek’eet title is written twice in the
mural room, preceding the terms ch’ok (labeling Individual 2) and
Taaj (labeling Individual 9). It identifies two identically dressed
but differentially sized individuals who were painted on opposite
interior walls. As previously mentioned, the root of the word
Tek’eet is almost surely tek’, “to step on” (Kaufman and Norman
1984:132). Although the word Tek’eet is known only from the
Los Sabios mural, the root tek’ does occur in four other glyphic con-
texts (Figure 11, Figures 14a–14c): on the Dumbarton Oaks panel
/A A47 7 9CA BD 64 5C 7: AC: 6AC AD A 3 CD 2 A A: 0 5C4C A ,BC
BD 64 5C 7: AC: 6AC C D BD 7A AC: 1
Saturno, Rossi, Stuart, and Hurst
from the Palenque area; on Stela 19 from Aguateca; on the previ-
ously mentioned “El Abra” vessel from near La Entrada; and in
the Dresden Codex where it is used as a verb twice in the same
section of the same page. These four examples of tek’ in verbal
form all refer to religiously charged and deliberate actions
(Houston and Taube 2012:41–43). Specifically, these were acts of
ritual movement or “stepping,” which were usually carried out by
local kings or heirs in or around shrines, temples, and processional
ways at certain times of year—in other words, in sacred spaces at
sacred times (Houston 2014b:244–248; Houston and Taube 2012;
Zender et al. 2016:43n15)
This Classic-period association with religious acts is echoed in
how the same verb tek’ is incorporated into various modern
Tzotzil words (Table 3). One especially noteworthy example is
tek’an ba “to support or defend; to be faithful or devout; ritual dis-
course; prayer that refers to ancestral deities” (Laughlin 2007:304
[authors’ translation from Spanish]). Although there is a range of
meanings in the definitions of these Tzotzil terms, they nearly all
cite religious acts, movements, or functionalities and many align
with these Classic period usages of the verb.
Tek’eet (te-k’e-ta) is spelled identically in both the Los Sabios
examples. Considering the forms in which the root tek’ appears in
the epigraphic, iconographic, and linguistic records, we suggest
that it may have identified individuals who participated in reli-
giously charged events through their entry and movement within
sacred space. Houston (2009) notes that access to temple spaces
and the lesser duties within those spaces were often the responsibil-
ity of “youths.” The Tek’eet title’s use in both an adult title (Tek’eet
Taaj) and a youthful one (Tek’eet Ch’ok) at Xultun demonstrate that
it could identify multiple individuals within the Taaj order and that
it was not necessarily tied to age grades, but rather to function. The
inherent ranking which accompanies the title Sakun and Itz’in make
Figure 14. Texts featuring the root, tek’: (a) tehk’aj (te-k’a-ja); column A,
glyph 1, Dumbarton Oaks Panel (drawing by A. Tokovinine, courtesy of
A. Tokovinine and Dumbarton Oaks); (b) tehk’aj (te-k’a-ja); column B,
glyph 2, Seibal Stela 19 (drawing by Stephen D. Houston, courtesy of
Stephen Houston and Takeshi Inomata); (c) utehk’aj (u-te-k’a-ja); column
A, glyph 1; column D, glyph 1 (drawing by Franco D. Rossi of page D.8c
of the Dresden Codex).
4 D 5 6 A .4 5C 7: .AC C D A9 D 4 4 45 4
 A Maya Curia Regis 13

Table 3. Modern tzotzil words and phrases incorporating the verb tek’ by some epigraphers as “mouth of the crown,” Ti’huun were,
(after Laughlin 2007:304). “known to have presided over period ending rituals for or in place
of their overlords…[and] may have been responsible for entertain-
Tzotzil Spanish English ing lesser vassals in their visits” (Zender 2004a:221). It is not cur-
rently known whether this additional title was carried by the Itz’in
tek’ pisar To step
tek’ ok pisar (la persona, el venado) To step (a person, a deer) Taaj at Xultun but his placement on the Xultun mural immediately
tek’an ba apoyar o defender, ser fiel o To support or defend, to be before the king and ahead of the other Taaj visually suggests an ele-
firme, discurso ritual, rezo faithful or firm; ritual vated position within his order and a strong official relationship with
refiriendose a los dioses speech, prayers that refer to the king in line with other examples. In the mural, his greenstone
ancestrales the ancestral gods jewelry, clothing, and distinctive headdress imply a readiness for
tek’an discurso ritual, el juramento Ritual speech, an oath of public appearance. Perhaps it is no coincidence that when the
komel del cargo; dejar office; remaining firm curtain would have been drawn, effectively hiding the king
permaneciendo firme behind it, the Itz’in Taaj would remain alone on the north wall of
tek’be na entrar en la casa de otro To enter the house of
the Los Sabios mural room, presiding over the scene during the
another
visual absence of the king as he seems to have done at particular
tek’etk’et chorreando a distancia (la Dripping (like diarrhea or
diarrea, la sangre) blood does) times in other contexts.
tek’el toj la punta del pino/ que se usa A pine tip/ that is used to Although the Tek’eet title is otherwise unknown in the hiero-
para decorar las cruces o que se decorate the crosses that are glyphic record, its contemporaneous verbal uses and subsequent
erigen a ambos lados del erected along the sides of the meanings suggest that ritual movement or “stepping” within sacred
camino de la procesion processional way spaces like temples and shrines was a key role for individuals and
tek’i discurso ritual rezo de curar: Ritual speech, prayers for novices with this title. Such figures would likely have taken part in
permanecer firme healing, to remain firm high-level rituals, though would not necessarily have served as
tek’laj bailando (la gente) Dancing (of people) primary actors in public ceremony, which was more often reserved
tek’lajetik bailando (la gente) Dancing (of people)
for the king and other high-ranking courtiers (specifically those cour-
tek’lebal discurso ritual, curandero Ritual speech, a healer’s
tiers “seated” into positions) and youths or ch’ok of the Maya court.
rezando; el santuario praying, a sanctuary
tek’ob son la cuarta cancion de la serie de The fourth song in a series of Sakun Taaj is closely associated with such youths in the Los Sabios
cinco o seis canciones five or six religious songs mural, House C of the Palenque Palace, and possibly the North Group
religiosas of Copan.
tek’ton bailando (la persona), Dancing, ostentatious In carrying out their collective duties, the Taaj were naturally
pavoneando (el guajolote) display positioned close to the ruling personality, just like many courtly
officials of the time. Yet Taaj titles are also unlike many of these
courtly titles in that they existed as part of a ranked unified
order—an organizational structure echoed in much later civil-
religious hierarchies, “Prayermaker” orders and Cofradía associa-
the notion of a Sakun Ch’ok or Itz’in Ch’ok highly unlikely, espe- tions ethnographically attested from the colonial period to the
cially since we normally see a ch’ok distinguished from others present day. We obviously do not posit an exact overlay between
through the term baah or “head, first” (Houston 2009:157). This these temporally distant types of organizations and their functional-
suggests that Tek’eet served as part of a more standard title within ities. Any Classic-period manifestation of such orders would have
the Taaj order—that perhaps it marked individuals who were part been embedded within a dramatically different political and social
of the order, whether ch’ok or Taaj, simply as individuals who system, and would have reflected these larger differences accord-
were permitted to tread on sacred space and take part in the acts ingly. Later forms of ranked civil-religious organizations may none-
being carried out in those spaces. theless help shed light on the nature of the Taaj order, as they seem
to have more in common with the Taaj than the Taaj do with other
contemporaneous Classic-period offices as we currently understand
them.
The Ritual Cabinet
Classic-period offices and noble titles are found in wide variety
The depiction on the mural of the Taaj order with the Xultun king throughout the hieroglyphic corpus. Many have been well-explored
Yax We’nel Chan K’inich demonstrates that an intimate and ritually by epigraphers and archaeologists alike for many years (Houston
driven relationship existed between them. In Classic Maya art, most 2008; Jackson 2005, 2013; Stuart 2005; Zender 2004a) but none
prominent courtiers we know of were commonly portrayed or men- of these other offices or titled positions bear evidence of having
tioned alongside their kings—with closeness of certain offices to the had a shared “cohort” identity or an internal ranking system based
king emphasized in particular sites and regions. When considering on junior/senior principles and age grade designations. There are
this wide array of other offices and titled individuals, Taaj titles are several examples of age grade designations for certain titles suggest-
quite rare in the artistic and glyphic record. Yet, as we see in the dis- ing novice members were training in particular positions akin to
cussion above, the instances where they do occur are telling. what we suggest for the Taaj (i.e., –‘ahk’uhuun and ahk’uhuun
As we have seen, when portrayed or mentioned in texts, the Itz’in ch’ok; and baah tz’am and baah tz’am ch’ok). The same system
Taaj operated in close contexts with their kings. It seems the of junior/senior internal ranking is difficult to identify: the closest
Itz’in Taaj was an important public figure with considerable influ- example is the designation of specific figures as baah or “first”
ence in political as well as in royal religious affairs. A Calakmul among peers (i.e., —baah took’; baah pakal; baah ch’eb; baah
Itz’in Taaj was also a Ti’huun, an office for individuals with well- ajaw; baah ch’ok; baah sajal; baah te’; baah tz’am) (see
attested public importance and close ties to the ruler. Glossed Houston 2008).

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BD 64 5C 7: AC: 6AC C D BD 7A AC: 1
 14
The majority of these baah terms label officials and courtiers
working as part of military forces or administrative apparatuses of
a Maya polity or regional hegemony—like “first shield” (baah
pakal), a term for leading warrior; “first throne” (baah tz’am), a
term for high-ranking courtly attendant; baah sajal (first sajal)
denoting “first among vassals”; or “first quill” (baah ch’eb), osten-
sibly marking a high-ranking courtly scribe. Other baah titles are
necessarily tied to age groupings, like baah ch’ok, which distin-
guishes a “first youth/novice” (yet this ch’ok title does not neces-
sarily indicate an “heir” like the title Ch’ok Ajaw). The title baah
kab, or “first in the land,” similarly differs from the majority baah
titles in that it commonly forms part of the collective titles of
Maya kings, paramount kings, and vassal kings alike.
Other common noble titles borne by high officials, sajal officials
and kings alike, are anahb(?) and ch’ajoom; though these may not
signify offices at all but, rather, less formal honorifics linked to spe-
cific politico-religious actions. Ch’ajoom specifically references
those who “scatter incense” (uchokow ch’aaj) in ceremonial
events and can thus be held by a wide variety of individuals.
While rare, family surnames are sometimes used inter-
generationally in the hieroglyphic texts following localized distribution
patterns akin to noble titles. These differ from such titles, however, in
that they are not distributed across large regions, but rather, are dis-
tinctly localized. In addition to surviving as a title, the word Taah
also survived in Yucatan as a surname, a possibility recently suggested
to the authors as an explanation for its occurrence with the Xultun
figures (Barrera Vázquez 1980:748). However, the widespread and
consistent use of Taaj in hieroglyphic contexts reviewed above
reveals a pattern consistent with standardized titles and not names—
i.e., consistent with ajk’uhuun usage as opposed to family names
such as K’utim (see Jackson 2013).
It is also important to note that insofar as can be gleaned from
current evidence, individuals were not officially “seated” in the
Taaj order—a trait shared with the baah titles above but different
from what are perhaps the five most pertinent and widely discussed
official titles we know of during the Classic period: Sajal;
Ti’ (sak)huun; Yajaw K’ahk’; ‘Ahk’uhuun; and the “banded bird”
title (Jackson 2013:10–12; see also Stuart 2005:133–137).
Individuals who assumed these specific offices did so through
“seating” (chum) or “tying/wrapping” (k’al / joy) events, parallel-
ing the accession of rulers by using the same verbal constructions. It
is also possible that individuals who were part of the Taaj order
could simultaneously serve within a seated office, as we see in
case of the Itz’in Taaj, who was also a Ti’huun of Calakmul.
An especially tricky question concerns how long individuals
served in courtly offices. Data on tenure for any of the offices men-
tioned above is extremely limited. When encountered, it often sheds
light indirectly on such questions through highlighting individuals
whose tenure bridged the successive reigns of kings at particular
sites. There are no specific “terms of office” mentioned or even
alluded to in the hieroglyphic record.
It is likely that there was considerable variability in the length of
time individuals inhabited particular posts, some serving in life
appointments with others serving in shorter-term capacities. An
age-related status like that marked by the label, ch’ok, would obvi-
ously change as such “youths/novices” entered adulthood (see
Houston 2009). Winkelman writes of priestly training that, “the
central part of status acquisition for the priests is the occurrence
of an inauguration ceremony in which full ascendance to practi-
tioner status is recognized or bestowed” (1992:71). Whether
Tek’eet Ch’ok moved on to become Tek’eet Taaj is of course
/A A47 7 9CA BD 64 5C 7: AC: 6AC AD A 3 CD 2 A A: 0 5C4C A ,BC
BD 64 5C 7: AC: 6AC C D BD 7A AC: 1
Saturno, Rossi, Stuart, and Hurst
unknowable—but it is plausible, just as we expect an Ajk’uhuun
Ch’ok and Baahtz’am Ch’ok would move on to become an
Ajk’uhuun and a Baahtz’am respectively. In general, movement
through the ranks of the Taaj order—Tek’eet Ch’ok to Tek’eet
Taaj to Itz’in Taaj to Sakun Taaj—is certainly a very real possibil-
ity, though by no means a surety. These questions, however, force us
to consider the issue of exactly how courtly officials of various
kinds were trained within Classic Maya society. Other positions
were likely tied to particular kings, much in the way elected officials
bring in their own advisory counsels or cabinets. Where the Taaj
order stood in all this is difficult to say given the information avail-
able. Hierarchical orders of later periods often featured both rota-
tional positions, as in the cargo system of Chiapas, but also more
permanent ones, as in the priestly orders of Yucatan. Training
included highborn members who would serve in the orders in tem-
porary capacities, but also those who would train as permanent
practitioners. At Los Sabios, the burial of one individual with the
accouterments of a Taaj suggests he died a part of the order,
though this does not necessarily indicate such posts were permanent
(see Rossi et al. 2015b).
As a set of specialized offices, the Taaj were apparently respon-
sible for a range of religious and political functions in the courtly
ritual life of Maya polities. Specifically, the reviewed evidence sug-
gests they may have been primary players in coordinating bloodlet-
ting and sacrificial events that featured specially curated obsidian
blades and other ritual accouterments and which were timed in
accordance with layered astronomical, seasonal, and historical
events. The evidence also suggests that their movements in and
around sacred precincts, ancestral temples, and religious loci were
perhaps key components of their offices. Furthermore, inscribed evi-
dence from the Los Sabios mural at Xultun forcefully demonstrates a
keen talent for highly advanced calendrics and mathematics. If we are
to entertain that Taaj individuals resided in or about Los Sabios (as
archaeological evidence suggests, see Rossi et al. 2015b), then
such esoteric knowledge must have been part of their repertoire.
The many inscriptions of Str. 10K2 alongside several material and
epigraphic lines of evidence at the Los Sabios group suggests these
same figures also made and inscribed codex books and also transmit-
ted their specialized knowledge (Rossi et al. 2015b; Saturno et al.
2012a). It is intriguing to think of this order as a kind of ritual
cabinet—incorporating secret bodies of knowledge into guiding
royal decorum, advising political action, and choreographing the pre-
sentation of such bodies of knowledge and their inherent messages
within public ceremony and ritual forums.
CONCLUSION
While the true motivations underlying the Los Sabios mural scene
may never be fully understood, its existence nonetheless illuminates
a previously unacknowledged class of specialist. The Taaj order as
defined and discussed here is currently our only example of a
Classic-period ranked order but we emphasize that it was not
likely the only one of its kind acting within the politico-religious
hierarchies of Classic Maya society. These “obsidians,” intimately
bound up with their material namesake and its sacrificial function-
alities, may simply be one among several such orders that existed
within Classic Maya society—similarly linked with symbolic mate-
rial and specialized function. Through focused inquiries into spe-
cialist orders like the Taaj—who were at once elite, scribal,
pedagogical, religious, and highly political—we can add anthropo-
logical depth to monolithic views of elite power during the Classic
4 D 5 6 A .4 5C 7: .AC C D A9 D 4 4 45 4
 A Maya Curia Regis
period and, perhaps, build a better understanding of the dynamic
relationships underpinning sovereignty and governance not only
RESUMEN
Hasta fechas recientes, el estudio de la historia del sitio maya clásico de
Xultun (Guatemala) se había limitado a tres fuentes principales de
información: las inscripciones sumamente deterioradas de su corpus monu-
mental, las escasas inscripciones referentes a la nobleza de Xultun que apar-
ecen en otros sitios, y los numerosos textos que adornan vasijas de cerámica
indudablemente obtenidas del sitio por saqueo (Garrison and Stuart 2004).
Ahora, recientes y sistemáticas excavaciones arqueológicas realizadas en el
sitio permiten un nuevo acercamiento al pasado de esta ciudad, ya que
ayudan a conectar las hipótesis y conclusiones basadas en los textos con
datos arqueológicos. En este artículo, presentamos análisis epigráficos e
iconográficos de las pinturas murales descubiertas en el interior del Grupo
de Los Sabios en Xultun. El Grupo de los Sabios fue un conjunto residencial,
a la vez que un espacio de trabajo para individuos especializados en
astronomía y calendario, así como en la creación de murales y de códices pin-
tados en papel de corteza (Aveni et al. 2013; Saturno et al. 2012a, 2015.).
Además, datos arqueológicos procedentes de una tumba recién descubierta
sugieren que por lo menos una persona llevando el título de Taaj residió
en el Grupo de los Sabios (Rossi 2015b).
Al exponer esta nueva parte de nuestra investigación, nos interesaremos
primero en el bien conocido e importante gobernante llamado Yax We’nel
Chan K’inich, mostrando que se trata del gobernante representado en el
interior de un nicho en el cuarto pintado de la estructura 10K2. Luego,
examinaremos la interacción entre el texto y las imágenes de los murales,
y nos apoyaremos en los textos etnohistóricos para proponer que la
escena representada está relacionada con las celebraciones del año nuevo
que tenían lugar anualmente. De ahí pasaremos a discutir detalladamente
las figuras de uniforme que aparecen en el mural, varias de las cuales
llevan el título de Taaj y están retratadas con el gobernante en esta
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank IDAEH and the Departamento de Monumentos,
Guatemala, for support of the Proyecto Regional Arqueológico San
Bartolo-Xultun research in the Petén, Guatemala. We further express our
appreciation to co-director, Patricia Rivera Castillo, for her facilitation of
this work, as well as Angelyn Bass for the conservation of the murals and
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