Plate Depicting Maya Worldview

Exploring the Early Americas The Jay I. Kislak Collection

Pre-Contact America | Explorations and Encounters | Aftermath of the Encounter

Urban Landscapes | Ritual, Ceremonies, and Celebrations | Language and Context | Recording History | The Heavens and Time

Large polychrome tripod plate.
Guatemalan Lowlands. Maya, AD 600–900.
Painted orange-gloss ceramic.
Jay I. Kislak Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (27)
Photo ©Justin Kerr, Kerr Associates

This plate depicts pages of the Madrid Codex, one of the few surviving books of the ancient Maya, which details the Maya worldview. On this plate, the earth is seen from above as a four-sided temple with the “world” tree at the top and deities performing sacrifices and presenting offerings around the sides of the temple. In the center of the plate sits an image of the “Waterlily Jaguar,” marked with lines and dots representing water and wearing bits of foliage on the top of his head. In this instance, he may function as the day sun whose light illuminates the Earth. The original codex is in the Museo de América in Madrid, Spain.