K0595 is a polychrome painted ceramic vessel from the Late Classic period, likely originating from the Naranjo area. The myth it depicts is the beginning portion of the Maize God’s rebirth and resurrection, in which he is rescued from the jaws of a shark monster by other deities.

At the center of the scene is the shark monster, and within its jaws is the Maize God (Figure 2). The shark can be recognized by its elongated upper jaw, T-shaped tooth, nose jewelry/piercings, and the fish-like tail. Its body is also marked with a line of dots and small circles; this pattern can be found on water-bands (Stone and Zender 2011:141), as well as several aquatic glyphs including HA’ ‘water’, NAHB ‘pool’, and POLAW ‘sea’.

Sitting on a mountain behind the shark is a spear-wielding Jaguar War God (Figure 3). The portion of the vase in which he appears is fairly damaged, but his key features can still be recognized, including the round eye with curled pupil, large tooth, jaguar pattern around the jaw, and jaguar ear. His identity can be verified by his appearance in other similar scenes, and by the fact that he does not appear elsewhere in the same scene. The Jaguar War God’s body is also marked with glyphs, but the damage has unfortunately made them illegible.

Directly across from the shark monster is God I of the Palenque Triad (Figure 4). Out of all of the various deities that appear in this scene, God I is the easiest to distinguish as this example clearly shows each of his specific iconographic traits. He has his T-shaped tooth, large, round eye with curled pupil, spondylus shell ear, and LEM ‘shiny’ glyph “god-markings” on his arms and legs. With his left hand, he holds a spear, and with his right, he is actively pulling the Maize God by his hair to free him from the jaws of the shark monster.

Behind God I is a small, crouched-down figure with some peculiar features (Figure 5). He has a leafy maize-like ear, K’IN ‘sun’ glyph “god-markings”, a looped fire-cord on his brow, and a large eye. The combination of these traits is interesting, typically only K’inich Ajaw appears with the K’IN glyph “god-markings,” and only the Jaguar War God appears with the twisted fire-cord. K’inich Ajaw is not known to appear in this episode of myth; the Jaguar War God is already in the scene (Figure 3), and neither has the leafy ear in their iconography. It is possible, though, that portions of this figure have been repainted, although to what extent I am not sure.

Next in line is the Pax God (Figure 6). While a few portions of the vessel’s surface have been chipped off, his large eye, missing lower jaw, and jaguar paw ear are still quite visible and are enough to confidently identify this figure as the Pax God. Like God I, he both holds a spear and has LEM ‘shiny’ glyph “god-markings”. It would appear that the spear he has actually pierced through the large fish that he holds.

The last figure in the scene can be found in the top right corner, high up on a mountain. His zoomorphic face, in combination with the axe he wields, would suggest his identity may be that of Chahk (Figure 7). While this is certainly not the clearest depiction of Chahk, he does appear in two related scenes, the Star War Vase (K6340) and K0731, which strengthens the likelihood that this figure is indeed Chahk.

Glyph	Transcription	Transliteration	Translation
M	hux ??	hux ??	03 Ik’
N	chum chik-ni	chum ch’ikin	00 ‘beginning? of’ Xul
O	jul-lu-la	juhlaj	is pierced
P01	ho’ mi?	ho’ mi?	05 mi?
P02	??	??	??
P03	xok	xok	shark

In front of God I, a short text can be found that describes the mythological event taking place (Figure 8, Table 1). It begins with the date of 03 Ik’ 00 Xul and then says that the shark was pierced, likely by God I. The name of the shark is not yet fully deciphered, but the XOK ‘shark’ glyph is.

K0595 has an impressive cast of characters: the Maize God, the shark, three of the T-shaped tooth deities: God I, the Jaguar War God, and the Pax God, as well as Chahk and an unknown deity. Out of the four proposed Venus and Mercury deities, only the Bloody-Mouthed God is missing. It may be that the unknown deity is merely a repainted version of him, but in no way can that be said for certain. Regardless, this is still an important vessel for the study of Maya myth as it shows more characters than either K1391 or K9152.

Sources
Justin Kerr photograph collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, DC.
Crim, Alexander
2026 Shark Hunters of the Horizon: Venus, Mercury, and the Rescue of the Maize God. Aztlander 6, no. 1 (2026): 14-16.
Looper, Matthew G. and Martha J. Macri
1991-2026 Maya Hieroglyphic Database. Department of Art and Art History, California State University, Chico. http://www.mayadatabase.org
Stone, Andrea, and Marc Zender
2011 Reading Maya Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Maya Painting and Sculpture. Thames & Hudson.