Muwaan Bahlam as a Captive Impersonating the Jaguar Deity in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2022

Title: Muwaan Bahlam as captive impersonating jaguar deity

Date: ca. 700

Geography: Mexico, Chiapas, Tonina

Culture: Maya

Medium: Sandstone

Dimensions: H. 22 13/16 × W. 17 5/16 × D. 4 5/16 in., 176.4 lb. (58 × 44 × 11 cm, 80 kg)

Classification: Stone-Sculpture

Credit Line: Museo de Sitio de Toniná, Mexico, Secretaría de Cultura–Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia

Accession Number: SL.2.2022.20.4

According to the inscription on his belly, this unfortunate warrior, Muwaan Bahlam, was captured on September 7, 695. By recording this high-ranking prisoner’s name on the monument, the king of Tonina, who commissioned these reliefs, highlighted his own victory and cast his triumph as analogous to the deeds of deities. Muwaan Bahlam was likely killed in a sacrificial ritual where he was compelled to impersonate the powerful jaguar god, reenacting that deity’s defeat.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/843770