Mayas: revelation of an endless time

Mayas: revelation of an endless time is a temporary exhibition at World Museum Liverpool. The exhibition can be visited up to October, so don’t miss it if you are in Liverpool.

Over 10 museums got involved to create this wonderful display of Mayas artifacts. There were objects from many Maya sites, the most recognizable are Tonina and Chichen Itza.

It was bigger than I expected and we’ve spent two hours looking at the displays and reading about them. There is a short video about their calender and that is very interesting too. According to their beliefs, in a few days we should be celebrating the birth of the Earth, as they dated it to 13 August 3114 BC.

This statue is from Tonina. It represents the Ruler 8, K’inich who reigned between 787 – 806 AD. He holds a ceremonial bar with cosmic symbols. During his rule, Tonina invaded its neighbors and it was prosper.

This is a Tonina’s prisoner called Chan.

Another prisoner at Tonina. It was customarily for them to depict their prisoners in humiliating circumstances. This is a kneeling prisoner, tied with cloth and his ear ornament indicates that he will be sacrificed. He was taken prisoner during the reign of Ruler 4 of Tonina.

This is another object from Tonina, a ritual axe. The green ones were used for specific deities that could bring rain. The date on the axe is 12 April 599 AD.

Chac Mool is made of limestone and it’s from Chichen Itza. This type of sculptures usually depict priests.

This is another limestone sculpture from Chichen Itza. It is an atlantean figure with crossed ropes on its chest. It was part of a group of 15 atlanteans that supported a bench.

Stone with low relief, from Chichen Itza. The jaguar devouring a heart is part of a decorated building platform and it’s related to rituals. The jaguar is a fierce predator and it was a symbol used by rulers when they captured prisoners and offer them in sacrifice.

This is a figure of a noble woman. She has a dignified pose. She is dressed with a huipil, similar to a poncho and her hair is styled to have height. She also has a lot of jewellery and that is an indication of her status.

Another statue of a noble woman. This time the woman has her hands placed and she is on the back of a young man, this must be a way of transport for noble women. It is a very unusual means on transportation considering they had to be very close to THE servant transporting them. It’s different from what other civilized societies where doing.

A road sign from the Chiapas region. It’s from the 600 – 900 AD period and it was placed along a route from Palenque with a secondary village.

The Maya ball games are well known. This stone is from Chiapas, made from limestone and dated 17 May 591 AD. It’s called Chinkultik Disc as it represents a ruler of Chinkultik playing with a ball.

Funerary mask from Dzibanche, from the classic period 600 – 900 AD. The tombs of the rulers were inside the temples and there were offerings. The masks were placed on the ruler’s face to preserve their imagine through time.

Chen Mul style censer represents a young wind god or a priest. The clothes are elaborate with lots of symbols. The statue is relatively new, made after 1200 AD.

I’ll finish my post with a couple of pieces of jewellery.

It is an interesting exhibition, don’t miss it.