The Vase of the Seven Gods, K2796 in the Kerr database, depicts a very full scene. In Part I, I discussed the seven characters depicted, but now it is time to discuss the scene itself. This includes the sky-bands, the bundled objects and stela, the crossed bones and eyes, the Witz Monsters, and even the crocodile-like creature in the upper right.

At the very top of the scene (Figure 1), just below the rim glyphs, is a sky-band composed of several different types of glyphs arranged in pairs. From left to right, they are HA’ ‘water’ glyphs, CHAN ‘sky’ glyphs, K’AN ‘yellow/ripe’ glyphs, MUYAL ‘cloud’ glyphs (they may instead be a simplified form of the Square-Nosed Serpent, whose head can also appear in skybands), and lastly EK’ ‘star’ glyphs. Each of these glyphs has celestial associations, which provide an interesting contrast to the mountain and cave motifs that will be explored further on. A second horizontal band goes through a portion of the middle of the scene; however, this one is composed only of disembodied eyes, with a texture below them that might be supposed to resemble bone.

In various parts of the scene, three bundles can be found. Two can be found at the front of either row of figures facing God L, and the last can be found behind God L himself (Figure 2). These first two are labeled with three glyphs, one is the number nine, one is EK’ ‘star’ and the last is KAB ‘earth’. While this has previously been read as baluun ek’ kab “many stars and many lands” (Zender 2020:62), I am unsure if the EK’ and KAB are meant to be read as individual glyphs, or as a single combined glyph resembling the “star war” verb. Though, as Carl Callaway points out, they are missing the “water stacks” trickling off of the EK’ glyph (2011:182). The last bundle, situated on the jaguar pelt throne behind God L, also features glyphs. These can be read as ikatz “cargo/burden” (Stuart 2008:130).

A fourth bundled object (Figure 3) can also be found within the scene depicted on the Vase of the Seven Gods. This object can be seen directly in front of the unknown skeletal figure at the front of the lower row of characters. Carl Callaway suggests that this may actually be a stela that has been wrapped. An act thought to be commonly done to stela after their creation and before their dedication (2011:183).

In the top right corner, sitting directly above God L, is a strange-looking creature with the head of a crocodile and a hairy body (Figure 4). Around its neck, this creature wears a “death collar” composed of eyeballs, and attached to its head is the ear of a deer. Based on these traits, Karl Taube has suggested that this may be an example of the Starry Deer Crocodile (2010:206). This creature has one more interesting characteristic as well, a HA’ ‘water’ glyph attached to its reverse end.

Witz Monsters, also referred to as Cauac or Earth Monsters, act as the personified form of the WITZ ‘mountain’ glyph. Their presence often suggests that the scene in which they appear takes place on or within a mountain. In this case, since not only is there one at the bottom but several more stacked along the edge to the top of the scene (Figure 5), this event is likely taking place within the earth itself. These Witz Monster heads can be recognized by their elongated upper lip, lack of a lower jaw, and the WITZ glyph markings that resemble a cluster of grapes.

The presence of crossed bones and two disembodied eyes (Figure 6) furthers the idea that this scene takes place within a mountainous cave. The eyes can appear by themselves as the CH’EEN ‘cave’ glyph (Stone & Zender 2011:133), so their inclusion here is no surprise.

The most prominent feature of the background, though, is the black color, one associated with darkness and the west. The four-sided Vase of the Eleven Gods (K7750) includes this black background on two sides and a red background on the others. In contrast to the example seen here on K2796, the New Vase of the Eleven Gods, which is also cylindrical, features an entirely red background. The contrast of these two colors, one of which is associated with dusk and the west and the other with dawn and the east, is especially interesting as it may hint that this event is taking place at the horizon or just below it. This location may also help explain why the five T-shaped tooth deities discussed in the previous article on this vase are present, as they represent the Sun, Venus, and Mercury, the latter two of which can only be seen near the horizon at either dawn or at dusk.

Sources
Justin Kerr photograph collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, DC.
Callaway, Carl
2011 A Catalogue of Maya Era Day Inscriptions. La Trobe University.
Coe, Michael D.
1973 The Maya Scribe and His World. The Grolier Club.
Stone, Andrea, and Marc Zender
2011 Reading Maya Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Maya Painting and Sculpture. Thames & Hudson.
Stuart, David
2006 Jade and Chocolate: Bundles of Wealth in Classic Maya Economics and Ritual. In Sacred Bundles: Ritual Acts of Wrapping and Binding in Mesoamerica, edited by Julia Guernsey and F. Kent Reilly, pp. 127-144. Boundary End Archaeological Research Center.
Taube, Karl
2010 Where Earth and Sky Meet: The Sea in Ancient and Contemporary Maya Cosmology. In Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea, edited by Daniel Finnamore and Stephen D. Houston, pp. 202-219. Peabody Essex Museum.
Zender, Marc
2020 Disaster, Deluge, and Destruction on the Star War Vase. The Mayanist 2(1):57-76.