Princeton Maya Vase with God L facts for kids
The Princeton Vase is a famous example of ancient Maya ceramics. It's a special type of pottery known as "codex style" because its paintings look like pages from old Maya books. This vase is kept at the Princeton University Art Museum.
Long ago, the Maya people used this vase as a drinking cup for chocolate. The paintings on it tell a story. You can see an old god, who wears an owl hat, sitting on a throne. Five young women are around him. In front of the throne, there's a captured person in a ritual scene with two masked figures. This scene was once thought to be about a story from the Popol Vuh, a famous Maya book of myths. The Princeton Vase is similar to another famous Maya vase, the Jaguar Baby vase, which is in New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
What the Princeton Vase Looks Like
This vase was made during the Late Classic period of Maya civilization, around the late 600s or early 700s AD. It has a creamy color with touches of orange and dark brown. You can also see tiny bits of a special blue paint called Maya blue.
The vase came from the Nakbé region in Guatemala. The first picture of it was published in a book in 1973.
Near the top edge of the vase, there are special writings. These words tell us that the vase was used for drinking chocolate. They also say who owned it: a lord named Muwaan K'uk'. The vase was probably used in fancy parties, much like the one shown in the painting. The main part of the vase has a beautiful painting with smooth, clear lines. It shows a dramatic scene from Maya mythology. The artist even used clever tricks, like one woman tapping another's foot, to make you turn the vase as you look at it. This helps you see the whole story unfold.
The Story on the Vase
The most important figure in the painting is known as god L. He was a Maya god connected to trade, magic, and war. This old god, who has no teeth, sits on a throne inside what looks like a palace. The palace has pillars and a decorative top part called a cornice. This cornice has two jaguars and a shark's face on it. Curtains are pulled back to show the god sitting there. You can tell it's god L because of his special woven shawl and his wide hat decorated with owl feathers and a stuffed owl.
Around the old god are five elegant women. They might be his companions. They look a bit like a goddess known as goddess I from another Maya book called the Dresden Codex. The old god is gently tying a bracelet on one of them. The women wear loose, flowing clothes called sarongs, or tight wrap-around cloths. These clothes have patterns that look like they were made with a special dyeing method called batik. Each woman also wears jewelry on her neck, ears, and wrists. One woman behind god L is pouring chocolate from a vessel that looks like the Princeton Vase itself. She's making the chocolate foamy in another cup.
Below the throne, a rabbit is sitting and writing in a book. This book has covers made from jaguar fur. Maybe the rabbit is writing down the scene happening in front of the throne. In that scene, two men wearing fancy masks are shown with a captured person. This captured person has symbols that suggest they were a writer or someone important who knew how to write. One of the masked men looks like the wind god, and the other wears a mask with a jaguar paw for a nose.
What Scholars Think the Story Means
For a long time, experts thought the pictures on the vase were about Maya myths. They believed the scene showed parts of the Popol Vuh, a very old story from the K'iche' Maya.
In this idea, the scene was thought to show a ritual where Vucub-Hunahpu, who was the uncle of the famous Hero Twins, was captured. This was ordered by god L, who was seen as the lord of the underworld (a place called Xibalba).
However, in 2004, some scholars named Miller and Martin suggested a different idea. They noticed that the two masked figures are wearing the same jaguar skirts and that one has a special headband. They thought these two figures might actually be the Hero Twins themselves. In their idea, the Hero Twins are shown with a lord from the underworld. This would be similar to a story where the Hero Twins tricked the underworld lords into asking to be captured.
These ideas are mostly guesses, and scholars are still trying to figure out the exact meaning. It's also possible that the scene might show real historical people, not just myths.
