K0731 is a polychrome cylindrical vessel from the Classic Period currently housed in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Unfortunately, it is not only damaged but also appears to have quite a bit of repainting. The scene it depicts shows the Maize God emerging from the earth with several deities following behind in canoes.

Juun Ixim, the Maize God, can be found in the far left of the scene (Figure 2). He wears a headdress with the shark variant of the Jester God, much like the one he wears on the Star War Vase. In his hands, he holds a bag of maize seeds and a gourd of water (Stone and Zender 2011:207). His legs have “god-markings”, likely LEM ‘shiny’ glyphs, but it is difficult to know for certain. He is actively rising out of the earth, represented by a split turtle shell with God Ns emerging on either side. Facing the Maize God to his left is a small animal, possibly an agouti.

Behind Juun Ixim are three other deities riding in individual canoes, the first of whom is Chahk (Figure 3). He has his usual zoomorphic face, spondylus shell ear, and serpent pattern markings across his body. In addition, he wears an ak’ab vase necklace with eyeballs and a headband with another AK’AB ‘darkness’ glyph. He can also be seen wielding a large stone, ready to strike the turtle shell in front of him in order to split it open and free Juun Ixim.

The second deity in a canoe is more enigmatic. He has a large eye with a curled pupil, a large T-shaped tooth, glyphic “god-markings” cover his body, and he wears the same headdress as Juun Ixim. In his arms, he holds an antler and a turtle shell drum, which has led Marc Zender to suggest that this figure may share his identity with the bird-bodied figure who holds the same objects on the Star War Vase (Zender 2020:65). While I think that the figure from the Star War Vase may be the Bloody-Mouthed God, I am not sure about this one. I would say that the repainting is to blame for the ambiguity of this figure; however, a potsherd from Copan shows a figure nearly identical to the one on this vase that would suggest that the repainting has not significantly altered this figure’s iconography (Reents-Budent 1994:207).

Last in line is the Jaguar War God (Figure 5). He has the large eye, jaguar ear, jaw, and hands, as well as AK’AB ‘darkness’ glyph “god-markings” on his arms and legs. Interestingly, he wears the same ak’ab vase and eyeball necklace that Chahk does, which is unusual for the Jaguar War God. He also wields a paddle, which makes sense given that he is in a canoe, but it has led others to instead suggest that this is the Jaguar Paddler.

Each of these figures participated in the rebirth and resurrection of the Maize God, Chahk appears in quite a few scenes, usually splitting the earth as he does in this one, but he also appears in the shark hunting scene on K0595. The unknown deity appears on the previously mentioned potsherd from Copan, and if he is the Bloody-Mouthed God, then he appears in other related scenes as well. The Jaguar War God also frequently appears in the scenes depicting this myth, often with his companion, the Pax God. He appears both in shark hunting scenes, such as K0595, and in others where the Maize God can be seen ascending to the surface on the back of a decapitated shark head. While the scene is damaged and has some possible repainting, the iconography is fortunately still trustworthy, especially given the comparison to the Copan potsherd.

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.
Reents-Budet, Dorie
1994 Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Cermics of the Classic Period
Stone, Andrea, and Marc Zender
2011 Reading Maya Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Maya Painting and Sculpture. Thames & Hudson.
Zender, Marc
2020 Disaster, Deluge, and Destruction on the Star War Vase. The Mayanist 2(1):57-76.