Anthropology 150

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Art

This week we are supposed to be talking about religion, as well as practices that are sometimes called “expressive culture.” The latter include art and literature. But I plan to do address those topics in a tangential way that also talks about religion, politics, and what we might call word view.

In talking about the concept of culture one of the key points we discussed was that culture in an integrated whole. So we have talked about subsistence, kinship, economic organization, political organization, and other topics in a way that artificially separates these topics. In reality, though, they are inseparable. Most anthropological studies in fact consist in analyzing the ways in which these various aspects of life fit together in various societies throughout the world. The subtle, or not so subtle, ways in which religion can affect subsistence, or politics, or the way in which cultural constructions of gender affect economics vary markedly throughout the world and even more throughout time.

Culture isn’t just customs and beliefs, it’s a way of looking at the world. So what I’d like to do with this “lecture” is to consider the world view of ancient Maya of Central America. And to look at the way, religion, politics and art all fit together. I really don’t have much to add to the discussion of religion given in the textbook, so I think a case study might be more illuminating. There are many images that accompany this discussion, so please review the Powerpoint presentation.

The Maya are interesting because their culture and their world view is so markedly different from our own. We can start with a consideration of the material and the spiritual worlds.

In western society since the Enlightenment the world is viewed as divided into the material and the spiritual. The material world is the purview of science. The supernatural or spiritual word is the territory of religion. To the Maya, and many other cultures, there was no such difference.

In your text, you can read about two different forms of religious views: animism and animatism. Animism is a belief in spiritual beings such as gods, goddesses, nymphs, imps, leprechauns. Animatism is the belief in an impersonal spirit that pervades all living things. These two perspectives are not conflict and many religions contain elements of both, although one tends to dominate in most cultures.

We have talked about the concept of mana in polynesia. Mana is a viewed as a life force that is present in all things. Rulers were rulers in ancient Hawaii, it was believed, because they had particularly strong mana. In ancient Mesoamerica there was a similar concept. It was called teo or teotl among the Aztec. Among the Maya, this animating spirit was known as Ik, which can also be translated as breath.

Like mana, ik is an animating spirit that pervades all things. It’s a sacred life force that is present in people, in animals, in plants. Ik can even be present in the earth, in the forces of nature, such as th wind, the rain, earthquakes and the like. Ik can in some circumstances be found in inanimate objects, such as rocks.

The Maya also had deities whom they worshiped and the ancestors were the focus of much domestic ritual. The Maya believed that ancestors continued to have influence on their

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lives even after they were dead. In brief, for the Maya their religion wasn’t something that was compartmentalized from

the rest of life; their world view is based on the idea that ik is everywhere. It was central to all aspects of life, but is especially salient in art and politics, which will be the focus of the following discussion.

Maya Cosmology The Maya believed, and still believe, that the universe exists on three primary planes: the

heavens, the middle world (where we live) and the underworld. These three levels are held in their proper places by a World Tree, which has its roots in the underworld and its uppermost branches in the heavens. In addition to “anchoring” cosmological order, the World Tree served as a conduit or portal between the different planes of the cosmos. Individuals with powerful life- force (ik) and proper ritual knowledge could travel between the planes or summon visions of beings from other planes. Ancestors were especially important objects of such visions.

People seeking spiritual knowledge could make the journey to another plane by means of spirit journey and divination. The spirit journey is often discussed as an aspect of shamanism, and part of shamanistic practice is to obtain sacred knowledge. Usually this is done by entering a trance state, and allowing the soul to leave the body. Such as journey is considered to be extremely dangerous; it requires not only powerful life force but also knowledge and a special “spirit companion” which is obtained by training and trancing. If any of you have read the Don Juan books by Carlos Casteñada, then you’ll recognize the scenario.

Maya rulership, religion, and shamanism The rulers of ancient Maya society bore the title of “Ajaw” (sometimes spelled “ahau”).

The title is usually translated as “lord.” As we discussed earlier in the course, all societies have a political ideology that either legitimizes or masks the existence of inequality. The Maya, so far was we can reconstruct their thought from texts, explained social inequality as a function of life- force. Rulers were rulers because they had powerful life-force and were able to do things that others could not, such as undertake the spirit journey and obtain sacred knowledge.

The place of art in maya life The things that we call Maya art and study as aesthetic expression weren’t things that

hung in living rooms to be looked at after dinner or things that were placed in museums to be admired casually on Saturday afternoons. Maya art was part of life and a very important part of politics.

These objects were the embodiment of the ik of important individuals. Temples were places where ik was channeled, where dangerous forces were confronted and controlled by powerful individuals. These places were filled with their own power; in a real sense they were alive.

All of these various types of art also made important political statements. One of the things that religion does in societies with social inequality is to legitimize that inequality. In Christianity, for instance, there is a hierarchy of god, angels, and saints. That hierarchy has been used as a model for human societies since at least the council of Nicea in 325 A.D. That is,

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human society has been said to mirror the celestial hierarchy. Hence you have kings, dukes, earls, commoners replicating the heavenly hierarchy of God, archangels, and angels.

In Maya society, the ruler or the Ajaw claimed to be sacred because of his superior spiritual force. He had more powerful ik than other people. By carrying out rituals, he could use that power to maintain the cycles of time and cosmic order.

Maya rulers and other royalty used art as a political tool. They depicted themselves doing powerful things: taking captives; sacrificing rival lords, letting their own blood. They even depicted themselves emerging after death into the heavens. They wrote lengthy texts describing in great details all of these feats so that there would be no doubt as to their right to rule.

The Maya were not unique in any of these practices; art has always been political. One of the defining criteria of civilization by some scholars is the presence of monumental art and architecture.

Practicing power Ideological claims such as those made by ancient Maya rulers can never be convincing if

they are only spoken. That is, it isn’t enough to simply makes such claims, they must be demonstrated. Ancient Maya art often depicts rulers performing acts that demonstrate their powerful life forces and their sacred knowledge.

The Powerpoint presentation contains images that depict rulers doing things that demonstrate their power. We’ll look at three types of such demonstrations: the vision quest, the taking of captives, and the transcendence of death.

The Maya lowlands The first series of slides shows the location of key sites in the Maya lowlands of Mexico

and Guatemala. We’re going to focus on three sites in particular; Yaxchilan, Bonampak and Palenque.

During the Classic Period (300-900 CE), the Maya lowlands was filled with a large number of city-states. Each of these city-states was politically independent and had its own ruler (ajaw). In the normal pattern, each city had a ruling dynasty and the position of ajaw passed from father to son. Women did rule on occasion, but it was not the norm.

The vision quest at Yaxchilan The first series of images shows the site of Yaxchilan, which is located on the western

edge of the Usumacinta River, the modern border between Mexico and Guatemala. Yaxchilan was a medium-sized city and controlled a region of about 200 square kilometers. It was competitive with the sites of Piedras Negras and Palenque, each of which also had its own ruling lineage.

Fronting the river there is a series of small temples that were decorated with carved lintels over the doorway. It is probable that the images depicted on the lintels represent rituals that were conducted in these very same temples. In these images the rulers of Yaxchilan demonstrate one of the types of power claimed by rulers: the ability to obtain visions.

The carvings depict rituals in which the ruler of Yaxchilan and his wife make offerings of their blood in order to obtain visions. Bloodletting was one part of the ritual in which rulers

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entered into trance states and obtained their visions. Other parts of such rituals included ingesting hallucinogens, such as mushrooms or drinking large quantities of alcohol.

In one image a ruler of Yaxchilan, Itzamnaj B’alam II, is shown with his principal wife. The scene probably takes place in the temple at night, because the ruler is shown with a torch, illuminating the offering of his wife. His wife, K’ab’al, is drawing blood from her tongue. She has perforated her tongue with a knife and is shown drawing a thorn-studded rope through the perforation in order to increase the blood flow. The blood is collected on bark paper in a bowl. The paper and blood were then burnt as an offering.

In the next slide the ruler himself is shown drawing blood from his penis. In a similar manner to his wife, he’s collecting the blood to be burnt.

The object of the exercise isn’t to induce pain. It is to use the pain to focus as a means of trancing, while at the same time making an offering to the supernatural that is sought in the vision. The final images show the pay-off: a vision serpent.

The vision is represented by a serpent rising out of the bowl with the offering of blood. Emerging from the mouth of the serpent is an image of Itzamnaj B’alam’s ancestor. By entering into a trance, the representation claims, Itzamnaj B’alam and his wife have obtained a vision of this ancestor who will impact sacred knowledge to them and who will intercede to influence events within the realm of Yaxchilan.

In these images Itzamnaj B’alam is presenting a justification for his rulership. He (and his wife) can undertake the rituals needed for the vision quest and live to tell about it. These rituals lay outside the powers of commoners because the lack both the power life-force (represented by blood) and the knowledge needed to gain the vision.

Rulership and Warfare Remember that the ancient Maya political landscape was complex; there were dozens of

cities with rulers who made claims similar to those of Itzamnaj B’alam. All these rulers claimed to have powerful life force and the ability to do things other people could not.

What better way could there be to test your powers than to go mano-a-mano with someone making the same claims. Maya rulers did that, and warfare was rampant during the Late Classic period (600-900 CE).

The next series of images come from the site of Bonampak, located not far from Yaxchilan. The images are preserved in the form of murals that decorate a series of three small temples on the Acropolis of the site. These murals commemorate the accession to power of a new ruler of Bonampak.

In the first room we see the ceremony. There is a procession of musicians and honored guests, then the new ruler is attended by his vassals.

The carved lintel over the doorway of Room 3 shows the aftermath of the ceremony. In order to confirm his new status as ruler, the Ajaw of Yaxchilan raids a nearby town and takes captives. By doing so, he demonstrates his superior life-force and his vitality.

The object of the raid was not to kill, but to capture. Its is thought that during most of the Classic period, Maya warfare was of the type we might call “status rivalry.” The goal was not to pillage or capture territory, it was to demonstrate your superior personal qualities by defeating a rival. The raids were undertaken by small groups for the most part, so the majority of the

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populace never witnessed the scene. In order to draw the maximum political benefit possible, Maya rulers would re-create

their victories in a ceremony that involved the Maya ballgame. There is a slide of a small ballcourt at Yaxchilan.

The Maya ballgame was somewhat like a combination of soccer and basketball. A rubber ball was played off the walls of the court without the use of hands. The object, we think, was to direct the ball to a goal.

The ballgame was loaded with religious and ideological implications because of the ballgame was linked to the creation of the universe. As related in the book “The Popol Vuh” the modern creation (there had been 4-5 previous worlds) was brought about through the actions of the Maize God. The Maize God was able to perform this act because his sons (the Hero Twins) had defeated the Lords of the Underworld in the ballgame. In short, when Maya rulers played the game, there were very strong ideological messages that linked their actions to those of the Maize God.

A series of depictions on the Hieroglyphic Stairway at Yaxchilan show a ruler playing the game. In this representation, his captive (a rival ruler) is shown bound within the ball. One reading of this image and the accompanying text is that the ruler re-created his victory on the battlefield via a ballgame performance. The idea is that the ruler played his rival in the ballgame before his home town. That way he validated his victory while at the same time allowing a much larger crowd to witness his triumph. The length of time that elapsed between the capture of his rival and the ritual ballgame leads many to think that the rival ruler had been subjected to abuse (starvation, possibly torture) in order to insure the outcome of the game. Following his victory in the ballgame, the ruler of Yaxchilan then completed his victory by sacrificing his rival.

With this cycle of raid, capture, ritual re-staging, and sacrifice the ruler of Yaxchilan has made a number of political points. First, he has demonstrated his powerful life-force by defeating a rival who claims the same power. Second, he has likened his own actions to those of the gods at the time of creation by a triumph in the ballgame. Third, he gets to whack a rival ruler. It’s good to be the king.

Triumphing over the Lords of Death The creation narrative of the Popol Vuh doesn’t end with the triumph of the Hero Twins.

Their victory in the ballgame over the Lords of the Underworld resurrected their father, the Maize God, who then brought the modern era into creation by raising the World Tree and lifting the heavens. Following the raising of the sky, however, the Hero Twins underwent an apotheosis of sorts, and became part of the sky themselves: the moon and the planet Venus.

Maya rulers often presented interpretations in which their actions were likened to those of the Maize God and his sons at the time of creation. In some works of art there are images that depict a narrative of an apotheosis similar to that of the Hero Twins. One such narrative is presented at the site of Palenque.

Palenque The site of Palenque was ruled by a single family for nearly 600 years. Our narrative

concerns the ruler Pakal and his sons, Kan Balam and Kan Xul. We need to review the art and

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texts of all three rulers to see the full narrative. Pakal was undoubtedly the greatest ruler of Palenque. He conquered many enemies and

was a powerful man. Upon his death his was buried in an enormous mausoleum within one of the largest structures of Palenque, the Temple of the Inscriptions. The temple takes its name from the lengthy text inscribed on its walls. That text relates the history of the universe from the Palenque perspective; it details the deeds of the gods at the time of creation and how those deeds were recapitulated by the actions of Palenques rulers. Palenque’s rulers made no claims of false modesty.

Rember the story of the creation: the Hero Twins defeated the Lords of the Underworld, resurrected their father, and were then themselves elevated to be objects in the sky.

The lid of the sarcophogus in which Pakal was buried depicts his own apotheosis. He is shown emerging from the underworld after his death. The underworld is represented by the “Earth Monster” below Pakal; the cross represents the World Tree which links the underworld, Middle World and the Heavens. The Heaven are represented by the “Celestial Bird” or “Muan bird” at the top of the cross. So, Pakal is shown here after having defeated the Lords of the Underworld and is in the process of ascending to the sky.

A similar story is told for Kan Balam, Pakal’s eldest son and his immediate heir. A panel within the Temple of the Foliated Cross shows Kan Balam undergoing the rites of investiture. He has gone into the temple and has obtained a vision of his father. In essence, he has demonstrated his powerful life-force in this ritual and is given the regalia of rulership by his father in a vision.

Kan Balam ruled for many years as king and died of apparently natural causes. A panel within the Temple of the Sun at Palenque depicts Kan Balam’s apotheosis. It shows him approximately six months after his death, as he is welcomed into the afterworld by his parents. Presumably, he has ascended to the sky as did his father.

After the death of Kan Balam his younger brother, Kan Xul became ruler of Palenque. He was not so fortunate as his father and brother. Kan Xul was captured in battle by a rival, the ruler of Tonina. A monument from Tonina shows Kan Xul stripped of his clothes and bound as a prisoner. On his leg is text that identifies his as “Kan Xul, Ajaw of Palenque.”

Summary This series of monuments and texts has shown three essential ways in which Maya rulers

justified their positions of power. They were able to undertake vision quests in which they obtained knowledge from the supernatural 2) they matched their personal power against other rulers 3) they triumphed over death and emerged from the underworld to take places in the sky. Ultimately, however, all three aspects of power were based upon their powerful life-force, their “ik.” This is a political interpretation of religious precepts common in Maya culture. We cannot be sure how many people in Maya society believed these claims; surely there were skeptics. The only texts and images that survive tell only the story of the rulers. It is testimony to the power of the images, however, that so many modern archaeologists believe that the texts are “true.”