Valladolid Adventures Part 21: The historic churches of Santa Lucia, Santa Ana, and La Calendaria

 

Iglesia de Santa Lucia is one of Valladolid's oldest churches. It was built with limestone, the same material that had been used by the Maya to construct pyramids and temples in the pre-hispanic city of Zaci. The Spanish conquered Zaci in 1545 and built Valladolid on its ruins. The choir window on the facade above the door contains a stained-glass image of Santa Lucia, a young woman who was martyred during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. 

At the top of the facade is a campanario (belfry) containing three bells. These are still rung the old-fashioned way, with ropes. The church was built in 1565, only a couple of decades after the conquistador Francisco Montejo el Mozo conquered Zaci. Many of Valladolid's buildings were constructed using materials looted from Zaci's pyramids and temples. The Santa Lucia church is located on the corner of Calle 42 and Calle 47. Parque Santa Lucia is located across the street from the church. This is the first of three colonial-era churches I will show in this posting. The other two are Santa Ana and La Candelaria.  

Stucco flowers decorate the arch over the right-side entrance of the church. A matching doorway can be seen across the nave. The two side-entrances are about 2/3 of the way along the walls from the front of the church. There is a single, barrel-vaulted nave with an attached sacristy. Although I haven't determined exactly who built Santa Lucia, the style is very similar to that used by the Franciscan Order during the 16th century. According to one source, the church was built for the use of slaves imported from Africa to work on the local haciendas. 

If you are a regular visitor to this blog, you may have noticed that I often highlight the churches in colonial cities that we visit. As a photographer, their architecture always attracts me, but it is more than that. What really fascinates me are the cultural, political, economic, and even military roles that these religious structures played in Mexico's history, from colonial times through the early 20th century. They are nearly always central to the story of any particular locality. The churches of Santa Lucia, Santa Ana, and Candelaria are good examples of this.

View of the nave toward the main altar. Although all three churches are still used for regular services, Iglesia Santa Lucia is the only one where the nave was accessible when we visited. The simple, sparsely-decorated interior is a feature typical of Franciscan churches. The two side entrances can be seen on either side of the nave. At the far end is the apse, containing the main altar and a wooden retablo on its back wall. The earliest sources of information about the martyrdom of Santa Lucia date back to the 4th century AD. The story of her life has been much embellished over the following centuries.

Santa Lucia (283-304 AD) was born in Syracuse, Sicily. Her wealthy Roman father died early in her life. Her mother's name, Eutychia, suggests that she was ethnically Greek. Lucia became a Christian at an early age and persuaded her mother to give away a large part of the family fortune to the poor. This angered the man to whom Lucia had become betrothed and he denounced her as a Christian to the authorities. The Emperor Diocletian's persecutions  were at their height at the time and Lucia was arrested. She miraculously survived the first few attempts to execute her, but finally died when a sword was thrust into her neck.

A small but lovely retablo covers the back wall of the apse. This wooden altarpiece has three niches. In the center, Jesus hangs from the cross. The left niche contains a female figure that may be Santa Lucia. In the right niche is a statue that appears to be Jesus. Two more saints stand on either side of the retablo. On the far left is San Isidro Labrador, the patron of farm workers. The identity of the saint on the far right is unclear. Standing in front of the retablo on the right is a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron of Mexico and its poor and indigenous people.

The neighborhood around the church is called Barrio Santa Lucia. This was where the leaders of the "First Spark of the Revolution" gathered here to plan their revolt (see Part 20). It was launched on June 4, 1910, but was crushed by troops sent by the dictator Porfirio Diaz. There were four days of fierce fighting that filled the streets with bodies. The rebel leaders who survived were captured and summarily executed. The First Spark pre-dated the main November 20 revolt by several months. Valladolid's residents are proud of their claim that the Mexican Revolution actually started in their city.

Statue of the Virgin Mary wearing a golden crown and holding the Baby Jesus. There are many versions of Mary. Some of these involve a miraculous apparition, often many centuries after her death. This statue shows her as the Madonna of the Golden Crown. She was first portrayed this way in an early 1500s painting. 

The crown symbolizes her role as Queen of Heaven and the child represents her as the Mother of God (Jesus). The crown further suggests a connection to the royal House of David, founded by the first King of Israel. This seems pretty far afield from her actual New Testament description as the wife of a simple carpenter from the small Palestinian town of Nazareth.

Iglesia de Santa Ana

Three arched gates form the entrance to Santa Ana's atrium. This church was built in the last half the 16th century and was intended solely for the use of the Maya. Along with the imported African slaves, the Maya were forbidden access to the Spanish churches built for the conquistadors and settlers. However, in order to maintain their dominant position the Spanish needed to indoctrinate the native and slave populations into a belief system under which they would accept subordination. Military conquest could be accomplished by force, but a stable society needed willing, or at least docile, subjects.

The process of indoctrination was called the "Spiritual Conquest". Central to it was the conversion of the subordinate populations to Catholicism. This was coupled with the suppression of their native religious practices (i.e. stopping "devil worship"). Consequently, Iglesia de Santa Ana was built for the Maya and Santa Lucia for the African slaves. At Santa Ana, almost all services were conducted in the Yucatecan Maya language. However, mass was delivered in Latin, as it was in all Catholic churches. Santa Lucia's services (except for the Latin mass) were probably in Spanish, given the variety of African languages. 

The arches are attached to the low wall surrounding the atrium. Atriums were often part of early colonial churches. Their purpose was to provide an enclosed exterior space for religious processions and activities. The number of participants in these rituals would often have been too large to fit inside the nave of the church. The trees on the upper left are part of Parque de Santa Ana, a space with some important history of its own. You can read more about the Parque below. 

The facade of Iglesia de Santa Ana. Like Santa Lucia, this church displays a simplicity that suggests a Franciscan origin. The decoration includes only the relief carvings around the entrances, the choir window image of Santa Ana, and the four-bell campanario. There are finials on the corners of the structure's roof and on the campanario, but these have a very plain design. There are two side entrances, as well as the one on the front, all with thick wooden doors. The very limited access, the single high window, and the thick, high walls all suggest a fortress, which could well have been one of the structure's intended purposes.

Spanish colonial churches were often used as places of refuge during violent conflicts. Sometimes, they even became strong points during sieges. Valladolid's Templo San Servacio and Convento San Bernardino de Siena both served this purpose. Many people in the U.S. will recall that the famous 19th century Siege of the Alamo in Texas occurred at a Franciscan mission. Yucatan was plagued with wars, revolts, and uprisings from the beginning of the Conquest in 1527 to the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution in the 1930s. It is not clear whether Iglesia Santa Ana ever served as a fortress, but it certainly could have.

An arched gate frames the right-side entrance to the nave. There is a similar gate and entrance on the opposite side of the church. Although we were unable to gain access to the nave, a sign outside provided information. The masonry church has a barrel vault nave with a sacristy. In the apse at the end of the nave is a 17th century baroque-style retablo, containing several statues in niches. Among these are Santa Lucia, San José, and San Pedro. On each side of the altar are statues of San Dimas and San Judas Tadeo. An antique chest serves as the reliquary (container for sacred relics).  

Santa Ana was the mother of the Virgin Mary. Neither Mary's mother nor her father, San Joaquin, are mentioned in the Bible's New Testament, but are simply part of Church traditions. According to the Protoevangelium of James, written in 150 AD, Santa Ana and San Joaquin were a wealthy couple unable to have a child. Joaquin prayed for help and Ana was then visited by an angel who told her  that she would have a child. James wrote his account more than a century after Jesus' crucifixion. Apparently, it was felt necessary to have a story to answer questions about Mary's origin.

A monument to the Niños Heroes stands in Parque de Santa Ana. The Niños Heroes (Boy Heros) were cadets at Mexico City's Chapultepec Military Academy. During the Mexican-American War (1846-48), the American army attacked the 200-foot bluff where the Academy was located. Only a fraction of the forces needed for its defense were available. Among these were the cadets, some as young as 10 years old. When a retreat was ordered, six of the cadets refused and fought to the death. Juan Escutla was the last one alive when he wrapped himself in the Mexican flag and plunged off the cliff to his death.

Parque de Santa Ana is also notable as the site of the incident that ignited the 68-year-long Caste War. Tensions in Yucatan were running high in 1847, particularly in the area around Valladolid. Oppressed for centuries by the Spanish and their Ladino (non-Maya Mexican) successors, the Maya were in a mood to strike back. The Ladino leaders were aware of the danger and decided to act preemptively. They arrested Don Manuel Antonio Ay, a local Maya leader, and accused him of sedition. He was executed at Parque Santa Ana on July 26, 1847. This completely backfired because it triggered a massive revolt that lasted for decades.

Iglesia de la Candelaria

Igelesia de la Candelaria. The 18th century church occupies the corner of Calle 44 and Calle 35. It was built on the site of an hermitage, which was a religious site intended primarily for seclusion. The Candelaria church is named after Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Our Lady of the Candlemass). She is venerated in Valladolid and is the patron of the city's annual festival, held on February 2. 

La Candelaria church is notable for its Moorish features. The Moors invaded Spain from North Africa in 711 AD. At one point, they controlled nearly all of the Iberian peninsula. The last of them were not expelled from Spain until 1492. During their nearly 800 year presence, the Moors created some of world's most beautiful buildings. The Moorish architectural style was brought from Spain to the New World and can be seen in churches and other colonial-era structures throughout Mexico.

The campanario on top of the facade has spaces for three bells.  The masonry church has a single vaulted nave, a sacristy, and a large courtyard. Attached to the front of the facade is a portico with three Moorish arches facing the street and one on each end. We were unable to access the nave, but one source says that the apse contains a Mexican Baroque retablo on the wall behind the altar. 

A Spaniard named Alonso de Espinosa produced the first written account of the legend of the Virgen de la Candelaria in 1594. However, the story he told dates back to 1392 in the Canary Islands. According to native oral traditions, two indigenous islanders found a statue washed up on a beach about a century before the Spanish arrived. It was a medieval gothic sculpture of a woman holding a child in one hand and a candle in the other. The dark figure wore clothing similar to that of the Virgen de Lluch (patron of Mallorca). The statue may have been lost overboard from a medieval European ship and washed ashore.

The native people believed the statue represented their earth goddess, Chaxiraxi, and  worshiped it over the next century. When the Spanish arrived in 1496. they declared that the statue represented the Virgin Mary taking Jesus to the Jerusalem Temple for his first visit. This was an event called Candelaria that Catholics celebrated each February 2. In 1526, the Spanish decided to house the statue in a hermitage. However, in1826, it was lost in a tsunami. Canary Islanders carried the story of the Virgen de la Candelaria with them when they migrated to other parts of the Spanish Empire, including Nueva España (Mexico).

The floor of the Moorish portico is covered by what may be the original stonework. Although the Muslim Moors were hated for their 800-year domination of Spain, the Spanish Christians admired their culture and architectural styles. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. 

A sign near the church provides a local legend about the Virgen de Candelaria. In the 18th century, a Maya hacienda worker led a caravan of burros loaded with palm fronds into Valladolid. When he entered the city, he encountered a beautiful woman carrying a child with one hand and a lit candle in the other. She asked the worker to build a shelter for her and her baby, using the palms he was transporting. He agreed, but needed wood to complete the shelter. When he went into the mountains the next morning to look for wood, he met a co-worker from the same hacienda and asked for help in building the shelter.  

Interior courtyard of the Santa Ana church. Notice the rough wooden varas (rafters) on the ceiling in the upper right. They appear to be original parts of the arcade that surrounds the courtyard. 

After finishing the woman's shelter, the two men returned to the hacienda where they met the foreman. He was upset by their absence and didn't believe their explanation. So, the workers took him to meet the woman and see the shelter. The foreman was so impressed by the woman's beauty that he reported the incident to the hacendados (owners). Because of the child and the candle, the hacendados believed her to be an apparition of the Virgen de la Candelaria and they ordered a chapel to be built in her honor. Today, she is celebrated as the patron of Valladolid's festival of the Virgen de la Candelaria.

View of Parque de la Candelaria from the Moorish portico. Like the other churches in this posting, Iglesia de la Candelaria has a park across the street. When the festival of Candelaria is held on February 2, the park will be lined with stalls, many of them selling various kinds of food. The most popular of these are Yucatecan-style tamales, filled with turkey, chicken, pork, or corn kernels. 

There is a Mexican tradition connecting Candelaria with the January 6 Dia de los Tres Reyes (Three Kings Day). On that day a special cake is served, called rosca de reyes. Baked into the cake is a small figurine. Whoever finds the figurine in their slice of cake must supply the tamales for the next Candelaria fiesta.

This completes Part 21 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim

Valladolid Adventures Part 20: The spectacular murals of the Palacio Municipal

The Palacio Municipal, viewed from the southeast corner of the Parque Principal. The Palacio Municipal (Municipal Palace) has a second-floor Salon de Murales that is lined with large, colorful murals illustrating important events and phases of Valladolid's history. These include the pre-hispanic period, the colonial era, the Caste War, and the Mexican Revolution. Some of my previous postings on Valladolid have dealt with this history. The windows along the front of the second floor provide a great view of the Parque Principal and Templo San Servacio, also subjects of previous postings.

There is no entry fee for the Palacio Municipal or its Salon. On the ground floor of the Palacio is the tourist office. I always visit such offices when I go to a new town in Mexico. The staff are invariably friendly, often speak at least some English, and can provide you with maps of the town and the surrounding area. There may also be free pamphlets about local sites that may interest you. Often there are books you can buy (sometimes in English) with in-depth information and photographs of the town and surrounding area. 

Overview

The Palacio Municipal is marked on the map as the Ayuntamiento de Valladolid. This  means "City Council of Valladolid". The building is across Highway 295 (also known as Calle 40) from the southeast corner of the Parque Principal. While visiting Valladolid, we stayed at a wonderful hotel called El Mesón de Marques. It is located on the north side of the Parque Principal across Highway 180 (also known as Calle 39). For a map showing how to reach Valladolid from either Mérida or Cancun, see Part 1 of this series.

The Palacio Municipal was built in 1864, during the French Occupation (1862-67). It was constructed in a style that was popularized by the Emperor Maximillian, who had been imposed on Mexico by France. After the Occupation, French culture and architecture remained popular with Mexico's upper classes, even though the French themselves had been driven out.

The symbols on Valladolid's coat-of-arms relate to the city's long history. This emblem hangs on the wall beside the main door of the Palacio Municipal. The white bird in the center is a hawk, called a zaci in the Maya Yucatec language. Zaci was the name of a small Maya city that the Spanish conquered in 1545. They built their new city of Valladolid from materials looted from Zaci's pyramids and temples. The six castles surrounding the zaci represent the city's six colonias (neighborhoods). The red border symbolizes native blood shed during the Conquest.

The football-shaped object below the hawk is the Maya glyph symbol for zero. This celebrates their ancient discovery of the mathematical concept of zero, long before anyone in Europe ever thought of it. There are two plants under the red border. On the left is tamán (cotton), which was used by the ancient Maya for textiles. To the right are xtabentún flowers, from which a ceremonial liquor was produced. "Ciudad Heroica" (Heroic City) refers to Valladolid's roles in the Caste War that began in 1846 and the 1910 Mexican Revolution.

The Salon de Murales is on the Palacio's 2nd floor. Four large murals cover the walls along the right side of the Salon. The doors on the left side open out to the French-style balconies seen in the first photo of this posting. The muralist was Manuel Lizama (1931-2021). He produced 200 pieces of work included paintings, drawings, murals, and illustrated books. They all focused on Yucatan's culture, history and traditions. Lizama studied art at the Yucatan Center for Fine Arts and taught there for 23 years. He founded  the Art'Ho Collective and received numerous awards for his work.

Pre-Hispanic

This very complex painting is at the far right end of the series of murals. It represents the customs, beliefs and religion of the Cupul people who were the inhabitants of Zaci when the Spanish arrived. There are three parts to the mural above. I will first show the central part, then the left, and finally the right. Each of the four panels of the mural series has an explanatory sign in Spanish and English. Most Mexican murals are painted directly on a wall. These large, movable paintings don't follow that tradition. 

Chilam Balam contemplates his zastún. Chilam Balam ("Prophet Jaguar") was a legendary Maya prophet. He is said to have looked into the future and predicted the arrival of "barbarian men from the East, coming to subdue the Maya". The transparent stone in his hand is a sort of crystal ball, called a zastún. It was used to make his prophesies. Hand-written works called The Books of Chilam Balam were created by Maya scribes in the 17th and 18th centuries. They are a collection of oral traditions, histories, myths, riddles, medical recipes, and astrological predictions. Many of these date back to the pre-Conquest period. 

In front of Chilam Balam's knees is an unfolded Maya codex showing the daily activities of the Cupul people, including planting, harvesting, working with textiles, and carrying heavy loads. Emerging behind Chilam Balam on the left are two Spanish pikes and a hand holding a sword. Along with these is another hand holding a Christian cross. These suggest the imminent arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, accompanied by evangelizing friars. Their intent was to conquer the native people and suppress their religious practices and customs, all in the name of Christianity.

Kinich Ahau descends toward the fanged mouth of a sea monster. This image is on Chilam Balam's left. Kinich Ahua the Maya god of the sun, was one of the most important Maya gods. The way he is portrayed above symbolizes the downfall of the Maya culture. The sea monster represents the devouring Spanish culture. The Spanish actively worked to destroy any native beliefs or practices that might interfere with their rule. Next to the monster's tail are two of the codex panels, showing a man dropping seeds to the ground in front of his coa (digging stick) and another toting a heavy load. 

Peaceful activities and ferocious conflict are both depicted in this part of the panel. This scene is to the right of Chilam Balam. At the upper left are women sitting around the entrance of a cave beside a lovely pond. A peaceful village can be seen in the background. Two of the women are engaged in making pottery while the third cradles her child. The silhouette of Chaac, the god of rain, lightning, and thunder can be seen on the right side of the cave's arched entrance. Water gushes down from his mouth. A very peaceful scene, as far as it goes.

However, in the right foreground, a fierce battle rages between a feathered serpent and a lion. The serpent was called Kukulkan, another important Maya god. The lion represents the Spanish invaders. Kukulkan has been pushed back into a corner, much as Yucatan's Maya defenders were pushed back and eventually subdued, at least temporarily. To the left of this image is a broken Maya statue and a jumble of stones containing hieroglyphs. This represents the destruction of Maya culture by the Spanish conquistadors and Catholic friars who were intent on suppressing "devil worship".

The Conquest

Rampaging conquistadors brandish their swords. Steel weapons and armor, along with horses and firearms, gave a small number of Spaniards an advantage over much larger Maya forces. The Maya were armed with spears, arrows, and hand weapons. These were tipped with flint or obsidian and couldn't penetrate steel armor. Wood and leather shields couldn't protect against swords and bullets. Still, the Maya resisted fiercely and their sheer numbers could sometimes bring victory. In addition, unlike the Aztecs, the Maya were never a unified empire. Capturing a king or a capital city didn't bring the conflict to an end. 

The Spanish had to defeat each local Maya population, one group at a time, and they had a disconcerting habit of not staying conquered. Francisco Montejo el Mozo led the conquest of the Cupules of Zaci. In 1545 he established his new city of Valladolid on Zaci's ruins. Only a year later, the Spanish faced a serious revolt that nearly drove them out. During the following the centuries, there were numerous other rebellions. The last independent Maya kingdom of Petén Itza was not conquered until 1697. By contrast, the Aztecs had a great empire and a powerful army but were defeated in a little more than two years.

Francisco Montejo el Mozo (center), is flanked by a priest and a native warrior. The stern-looking Montejo is dressed in full armor and holds a long, two-handed sword. The nearly-naked native warrior holds a weapon in his hand. The priest looks reverently to the heavens as he holds up his cross. Above the priest's head is the royal coat-of-arms of Castille y Léon. On the far left, a soldier clutches his matchlock firearm, a weapon with a limited range and complicated to operate. However, it made a great noise, spouted fire and smoke, and caused considerable damage to those hit by its large bullets. 

The seated figure at the far right is the defeated Maya lord of Zaci. His right hand rests on a plaque with an image of the hawk for which the city was named. On the base of his throne is a human face emerging from the open mouth of a snake. This image is one that I have seen at Labna and several other Maya ruins. It represents the Vision Serpent, another powerful Maya god. The emergence of a human from a snake's mouth symbolizes rebirth and renewal, much like a snake which sheds its skin periodically. This important pre-hispanic theme was related to the cycle of planting and harvesting of maiz.

Ordinary Cupules engage in the daily activities typical of their pre-hispanic world. The woman on the left operates a back-strap loom, one of the oldest forms of weaving. The woman next to her grinds maiz with a mano and metate, a method also dating far back in time. The man next to her appears to be repairing a fishing net, while beside him another man works a piece of wood. The final man in the row uses a tump line around his forehead to support the large load on his back. While these are all extremely ancient technologies, during my travels through rural Mexico I have personally observed all of them in use. 

A dramatic scene plays out behind the row of Cupules. A native priest is attempting to use an obsidian knife to sacrifice a young woman. Two other already-dead native women lie next to her. A Spanish friar, probably a Franciscan, struggles with the native priest, attempting to stop the sacrifice. This is how the friars viewed themselves and their efforts to stop Maya barbarity and devil worship. However, the Catholic authorities engaged in a good deal of human sacrifice themselves. They burned many people at the stake for "idolatry" and operated dungeons filled with hideous torture machines, like the one at Hacienda Cochero.

The Caste War

Scene showing the ways Maya were tortured by their oppressors. Above, one man is held in stocks in a kneeling position, while another hangs by his wrists. Behind them, a third man is slowly strangled with a torture device called a garrote. These methods had been in use since at least Medieval times. The garrote was still being used as a method of execution in the early 20th century. Kneeling at the right, waiting his turn, is a young boy. Standing in the back is a tall Ladino (non-Maya Mexican) holding a paper that describes him as Procurador de Indios (Indian representative). He is unidentified and his role is ambiguous.

By the mid-19th century, hennequin was being described as "green gold". Demand was soaring for rope and twine made from its fibers. To expand production, hacendados    (hacienda owners) seized Maya lands, oppressed their workforces, and severely punished native people who raised objections. By the end of the 19th century, short of workers, hacendados were importing slaves captured in the northwest state of Sonora, after the Yaqui revolt was crushed. This was in spite of the fact that slavery had been abolished in Mexico back in 1829. All of this stoked native rage.

In 1847, the pot boiled over and the Caste War broke out. Armed mainly with machetes, insurgent Maya battled government troops. Ladino leaders in Valladolid had feared just such a revolt. They tried to nip it in the bud by arresting and executing Manuel Antonio Ay, a local Maya leader. In addition, they killed large numbers of villagers they suspected of complicity. This tactic totally backfired. The enraged Maya rose up and attacked, killing every Ladino they could lay their hands upon. The Caste War, as it came to be called, became a "no prisoners" struggle--for both sides.

The revolt started in Chemax, a few miles to the east of Valladolid. Soon the insurgents reached the Convento San Bernardino de Siena, on the outskirts of Valladolid. When the government troops there tried to surrender they were massacred. Ladinos started fleeing Valladolid  toward Mérida, Yucatan's capital, but many more were killed on the way. The Maya rebels laid siege to Mérida and the Govenor made plans to evacuate Yucatan. Then, suddenly, the Maya started to leave. It was planting season and their families would soon face starvation. The Caste War dragged on into the 20th century and finally ended in 1915.  

The Revolution

"The First Spark of the Revolution" flamed up in Valladolid. This uprising began on June 4, 1910. It pre-dated the formal beginning of the Mexican Revolution on November 20, 1910. Francisco Madero, the first revolutionary leader, is shown in the foreground, although he was not actually in Valladolid on June 4. Behind him, wearing sombreros, are several of the local leaders who were there. These include Atilano Albertos, Maximiliano R. Bonilla, and Miguel Ruz Ponce. The revolt was a reaction to an election rigged by the dictator Porfirio Diaz.  On the left, men fall dead during an execution by a government firing squad.

The rebels who ignited the First Spark were largely workers from local haciendas. They seized the city and tore up the railroad tracks leading to Mérida. Presidente Diaz sent 600 troops from Tabasco to put down the revolt. However, due to the destroyed tracks, the troops arrived exhausted. It took them four days of hard fighting to overcome the brave but badly-armed rebels. At the end, the streets of Valladolid were strewn with the dead. The rebel leaders, along with many of their followers, were quickly executed. However, their sacrifice spurred others to join the Revolution.

The completes Part 20 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

 

Ek Balam Part 7 of 7: The spectacular tomb of Ek Balam's greatest ruler

Two "Warrior Angels" adorn the facade of the ruler's tomb. The tomb of Ukit Kan Lek Tok' is on the fourth level of the Acropolis. It wasn't discovered until the beginning of the 21st century because it had been deliberately covered over by the ancient Maya. In fact, serious archeological excavations at Ek Balam itself didn't begin until the mid-1990s. The tomb's facade contains several other statues, some intact and some beheaded, but all were carved with equal artistry. Along with the statues are numerous hieroglyphs and other decorations. The tomb's interior contained thousands of artifacts.

In this final part of my Ek Balam series, I will focus on the tomb, its exquisite stucco statues, and the meaning behind some of its decorations. Ukit Kan Lek Tok' was described as a "foreigner" on glyphs found at Ek Balam. He probably came from southern Yucatan, bringing with him the Rio Bec and Chenes styles of art and architecture. He founded the Talol dynasty in 770 AD and probably died around 802 AD. His dynasty lasted 100 years, until 870 AD. During Ukit Kan Lek Tok's rule, he built Ek Balam's Acropolis and also constructed many of the other important structures within the city. 

The entrance of Tomb is through the mouth of the Witz Monster

The tomb is located on the west side of the Central Staircase on the fourth level. A hieroglyph painted on the capstone just inside the door names the tomb Sak Xok Naah (translated as "White House of Respect" or "White House of Reading"). Large panels of hieroglyphs decorated the walls on either side of the main door. The terrace in front of the main door has fangs, making it look like the lower jaw of a monster. More fangs line both sides of the door and the area above it. The base of the terrace is lined with stylized fish and lillies, an important symbolic link to water. There are two staircases, one on either side. 

The city of Ek Balam contains a mix of archeological styles from various regions of the Maya world. These include Petén (northern Guatemala), Puuc (northwestern Yucatan), and Rio Bec (southern Yucatan Peninsula). The monster fangs and ornate hieroglyphic designs are features of the Chenes style. This style flourished in the central lowlands of the Yucatan Peninsula from 600 AD-800 AD and geographically overlaps the Rio Bec style. The fact that the Chenes style was used on Ukit Kan Lok Tek's tomb strongly suggests he may have been from that area. 

View of the tomb's fangs and hieroglyphic panels. The Warrior Angels can be seen in the upper right corner. To the right of the main door is another, smaller one. A similar door can be seen to the left of the main door in the previous photo. The area around the main door was constructed to resemble the face of a monster, with two eyes, a nose, and a lower jaw with jutting teeth. The open door is the gaping mouth. All this wasn't just whimsey, but represents the face of an important mythical figure that the Maya called the Witz Monster. 

The Witz Monster, also known as the Earth Monster, was the personification of mountains, caves with water, and the world of the dead (Xibalba). The Witz Monster was also connected with maiz and was sometimes portrayed with an ear of maiz sprouting from its head. Caves were often important water sources, creating another link to the Witz Monster. Finally, caves were believed to be entrances to Xibalba. The face of a Chenes-style Witz Monster would therefore have been an appropriate facade for the tomb of a king from the Chenes region. 

The room on the right side of the tomb was built to resemble a Maya hut, called a nah. Many rural Maya still live in huts shaped like this. A traditional nah is constructed with upright sticks covered with mud, with a thatched roof. The style is called wattle-and-daub. Images of a Maya nah are displayed in a variety of elite Maya structures. An example of this can be found at the Nun's Quadrangle at Uxmal. I remain puzzled as to why an imitation of a commoner's hut would appear next to the royal tomb of Ek Balam's High King, or as a decoration on the wall of an elite palace at Uxmal. 

The stucco roof of the imitation nah contains another monster face. The projection in the middle is the nose, with a row of teeth below. The eyes are in the upper corners of the rectangular structure from which the nose projects. Although it is all quite abstract, if you look closely you can make it out. The purpose of this room is not clear, but it may have been constructed to contain the remains of the ruler's relatives. Another possibility is that priests used it to store clothing and other items used in religious ceremonies, similar to a sacristy in a Catholic church.  

The left side of the temple has a similar nah-shaped room. In addition to its front entrance, there is another on the side. The decorative roof seen on the right-side structure is absent from this one. It may have been destroyed during a partial collapse of the upper levels of the Acropolis. The tomb and its two adjacent rooms were deliberately filled with rubble and buried by the Maya some time after the ruler was placed inside. During the following century, the rooms were re-opened and inscriptions were added. Then the tomb complex was re-buried. This process of burial, re-opening, and re-burial was repeated several times.

Glyphs on left side of the tomb's main door. A similar large panel can be found on the right side of the door. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any information about their meaning. The symbols on the two panels are almost identical. However, their arrangement on the two panels are reverse mirror images of each other. Notice the monster face on the right center of the photo. There is a matching face on the right side of the main door. There has been some debate over what mythical figures these faces represent.

A monstrous face decorates the left hieroglyphic panel next to the tomb's door. Some sources say this represent the Witz Monster. Other sources claim that it is the Maiz God. Both of these mythical figures are associated with maiz. My vote, for what it is worth, is for the Witz Monster. The face above has glaring eyes, an open mouth, and large teeth, all typical of the Witz Monster. It also has an ear of corn growing out of the top of its head, another typical aspect. 

The Maiz God images that I have seen show him as a handsome young man with a smooth, attractive face. He is sometimes portrayed carrying maiz ears in his hands or in a pouch on his back, but never growing out of his head. Given that this is a tomb, representing the entrance to the underworld, I believe that the two faces bracketing the tomb's entrance must represent smaller versions of the Witz Monster. 

The tomb's exquisite statues

One of the Warrior Angels stands on the upper right corner of the facade. The two life-sized statues were given this name because of the supposed "wings" sprouting out of their backs. However, I doubt that these actually represent wings. It is more likely that they are feathered cloaks. There is nothing that I could find in Maya mythology about supernatural winged figures in human shape. The concept of angels was not introduced until the Spanish arrived, 700 years after these statues were carved.

The youthful male figure above represents a member of Ek Balam's top nobility. In life, elaborate head dress would have been made of a combination of feathers and paper. The figure wears expensive jade jewelry, including a pendant, ear spools, bracelets, and anklets. His clothing includes an embroidered loincloth and a wide belt that resembles a ball player's protective gear, called a yoke. On the yoke are a series of Xs, symbolizing the divine source of a ruler's power. Hanging over the groin is a pouch that reminds me of the sporran worn with a kilt in Scotland. The pouch is decorated with a grinning human face.

A second Warrior Angel stands a short distance to the left. This statue has an interesting haircut that might actually be a close-fitting cap. Note the statue's elongated skull. Noble parents deliberately shaped the skulls of their infant children in this way in order to mark them as aristocrats. The figure wears a necklace and bracelets of jade. The garment around the hips has dots that may represent the markings on a jaguar's pelt.  Around the waist is another ballplayer' yoke, also decorated with Xs. The figure gazes off to the right, in a posture that suggests a readiness to spring into action. 

Aside from the beautifully-preserved artistry of these statues, I was fascinated with them because they capture a moment in  time. They show, in considerable detail, how the local people (or at least the nobility) saw themselves. It is almost like having a time machine capable of bringing these ancient, long-forgotten people to life. The statues and other images of pre-hispanic people all too often feel stylized and over-decorated. The figures here appear ready to come to life before my eyes.

A headless statue of Ukit Kan Lok Tek' sits directly above the Witz Monster's mouth. The Kalo'mte (High King) occupies a throne above the main door of the tomb. Feathered "wings" spread out on either side. The statue's head and left arm are missing, probably due to the collapse of the wall above. The wide belt resembles a ball player's protective gear and the spherical object near the left foot may be a ball. This suggests that Ukit Kan Lok Tek' was a participant in ball games himself, as well as a sponsor. The face attached to the belt may represent the severed head of a defeated ball game opponent.

When the tomb was opened, archeologists found the ruler's remains, along with more than 7,000 grave goods. These included 21 ceramic and alabaster vessels, as well as a gold frog, jewels of jade and pearl, and shells carved into skulls. Other grave goods were made of flint, bone, and pyrite. In the ruler's hand was a human femur bone. Hieroglyphs on it identified the bone as belonging to Ukit Ahkan, a priest who was the ruler's father. The femur had been carved to a point on one end and may have been used for auto-sacrifice (ritual blood letting). It was not unusual for the Maya to use of the bones of relatives in this way. 

A graceful figure sits casually in the corner of the Witz Monster's left eye. The naturalism in this sculpture is striking. Although Maya sculptors sometimes stylized their depictions of human forms, they are also renowned for their naturalism. The young man above sits with his hand resting on his knee. The other hand extends across his chest, with the fingers casually wrapped around his upper arm. The eyes of his turned head appear to be watching a game being played in the Ball Court below. A modern viewer can instantly relate to this very recognizable human figure.

Within the tomb is another painted capstone. On it, Ukit Kan Lek Tok' is portrayed as the Maiz God, deity of the plant that made pre-hispanic civilizations possible. The interesting thing about this painting is that it shows the High King with a deformed upper lip. This is very unusual, both because he was the ruler and because the Maiz God is normally portrayed as a beautiful young man. In fact, when the ruler's skull was examined, scientists discovered that he had suffered from a disease of the maxillary area. The ancient artist chose--or was allowed--to show him as he was in real life, not as an idealized version.

The corner of the Witz Monster's right eye contains another very natural figure. The headless statue of a young Maya noble sits erect and cross-legged. The clothing, particularly the yoke/belt, suggests yet another ball player. A pendant containing a small face hangs from his neck. Notice the fine details of his hands and feet. I can even make out what appears to be a toenail on the left foot. This statue was apparently another victim of a long-forgotten structural collapse. 

The gold frog found in Ukit Kan Lek Tok's tomb presents an interesting question: where did the gold come from? There were virtually no sources of gold in the Maya area. The nearest sources were in what is now Panama and Costa Rica, or in Central Mexico. The presence of gold in northern Yucatan illustrates the importance of Mesoamerica's long-distance trade networks. Jade was valued even more than gold. Most jade was imported from the Valle Rio Motagua in southern Guatemala, also a long way from Ek Balam. One heavily used trade route was by seagoing canoe along the Caribbean coast from South and Central America.

This statue stands at the far left of the tomb's facade. The head, left forearm, and the entire right arm are all missing. Dangling from the neck is a jade necklace. Around the waist is a ball player's yoke containing Xs. Around the hips is a dotted jaguar pelt. The belt that holds up the pelt appears to be made from large pieces of jade. Dangling in front of the groin is another "sporran" pouch. The upper chest and shoulders are covered by a light, fringed garment. 

Most of the statues on the tomb's facade have certain things in common. All, except for the High King, are slim, athletic-looking young men. All--including the High King--wear a ballplayer's yoke and seem to be associated with the Ball Game. Several of the yokes contain the Xs that represent the divine power of the ruler. The jaguar-pelt hip coverings would only have been allowed for those belonging to the nobility. 

A ruler sits cross-legged on his throne, with his lap covered by an embroidered cloth. The identity of this figure is unknown, but he is clearly royalty. While the statue is located on the same level as the tomb, it sits several meters to the east. In this case, the lack of a head may be deliberate rather than accidental. When an ancient Maya city was conquered, it was standard practice to not only sacrifice the defeated ruler, but also to decapitate or otherwise deface statues and other images of him. 

The figure above wears a jade necklace with a wide collar under it. Around the waist is another wide belt. However, this one does not resemble a ballplayer's yoke and the stone is too worn to tell if there are any Xs. The right hand clutches an object which may be a symbol of power. My best guess is that this is a statue of one of Ukit Kan Lek Tok's dynastic successors.

This completes Part 7 of my Ek Balam series and the series itself. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim