K1398, more commonly known as the Regal Rabbit Vase (Figure 1), is a cylindrical polychrome vessel from Late Classic Naranjo. As far as I know, the current location of this object is unknown, but it has been repaired/repainted in modern times. The Kerr rollout photograph was taken after this event, but Nicholas Hellmuth had taken a few photos of the object beforehand. Unlike the Vase of the Seven Gods, the restoration of this vessel seems to have had minimal damage on the main scene, if any. The only real difference between the before and after photos is some damage on the rim of the vessel that has since been filled in.

The vessel depicts two different, albeit closely related, scenes separated by columns of text. The left scene shows Itzamaat (God L) begging for his clothes from Rabbit, and the right scene shows Itzamaat asking K’inich Ajaw for Rabbit’s location. Unlike many of the other vases and scenes from this time period, the Regal Rabbit Vase features captions, or speech bubbles, that let us read the actual dialogue that these characters are speaking. In this post, I will only be covering the text that appears within the two scenes, as they relate to the myth and iconography. Others have already covered the rim and column texts in depth (Beliaev and Davletshin 2006, Carrasco and Wald 2018), and I do not have anything to add to that discussion at this time.

On the left side of the first scene is the mischievous Rabbit himself (Figure 2). In his arms, he holds the stolen regalia of Itzamaat, including his bird hat/companion Huxlajuun Chan Kuy. Susan Milbrath points out that Rabbit and Itzamaat (Figure 3) appear to have switched hands, suggesting that Rabbit stole Itzamaat’s hand as well (1999:214). The hand itself is interesting in that it seems to be a right hand even though it is on Rabbit’s left arm. I believe that this may have been done on purpose to emphasize that the hand is not original to Rabbit and that it is unnatural.

Facing Rabbit in the first scene is Itzamaat (God L) (Figure 3). He can be recognized by his elderly appearance, large eye with a curled pupil, jaguar ear, and a jaguar spot pattern around his jaw. Unfortunately for him, he appears naked in this scene, as Rabbit has stolen his clothes, regalia, and even his left hand.

Glyph	Transcription	Transliteration	Translation
F’	pu-lu	pulu’	burn
G’	a-jol	ajo’l	your head
H’	u-tz’u	uhtz’un	smell
I’	a-wi-ti	awit	your anus
J’1	k’u-li-si	k’ulis/k’usil	penis/liar
J’2	itzam-at-ti	itzam’aat	Itzam’aat
K’1	i-li-ki	ilik	if you look
K’2	ta ha	ta ha’an?	at that one?
K’3	ni	ha’an?	that one?
L’	ni-mam	nimaam	my grandson
M’	ba-ya	bay	where/thus
N’	ni-bu-ku	nibuhk	my clothes
O’1	ju’ ja	??	??
O’2	xa-ni	xani	I went
O’3	ni-bah	nibaah	myself

The first scene has two captions, one for Rabbit and one for Itzamaat (Figure 4). First, the rabbit insults Itzamaat: “Burn your head, smell your anus, you are a liar, Itzamaat.” Next, Itzamaat responds, although this passage is not fully deciphered, it probably goes something like this: “If you look, my grandson, where are my clothes?” The final portion suggests that he traveled somewhere, but the glyph at O’1 is still undeciphered.

Itzamaat appears again on the left side of the second scene (Figure 5). He appears nearly identical to his other appearance, except here he is kneeling, and he wears a headdress of some sort. Given his position, it is also hard to tell if he still has one of Rabbit’s hands instead of one of his own. He looks up to K’inich Ajaw, who sits atop a mountain in front of him.

Across from Itzamaat is the sun god K’inich Ajaw (Figure 6), who sits on a jaguar pelt throne. His iconographic features are fairly standard; they include the large eye with a square pupil, the large tooth, and K’IN ‘sun’ glyph “god-markings” on his arms and legs. On his head, he wears a centipede headdress similar to the ones he wears on the Vases of the Seven and Eleven Gods, as well as a torch attached to his forehead that may be a reference to his occasional name of Tajal Wahyab “Torchy Sorcerer.” Behind him, Rabbit hides from Itzamaat.

Glyph	Transcription	Transliteration	Translation
A’1	ajaw? wa	ajaw	lord
A’2	??	??	??
A’3	t’ul	t’uhl	rabbit
B’	u-ch’am-wa	uch’amaw	he takes it
C’	ni-uh?-ha	niyuuhal?	my necklace?
D’	ni-bu-ku	nibuk	my clothes
E’	ni-pa-ta	nipaat	my backrack?
T	ma-cha-ja	mahchaj	there is no
U	??	??	??
V	t’ul	t’uhl	rabbit
W	ta hi-na	ta hin	by that one?
X1	ni-mam	nimaam	my maternal grandfather
Y	hul-i-ya	huuliy	he/she arrived
X2	mok? yam?-ma	mok? yam?	Mok? Yam? Lem? Witznal
X3	lem? witz-nal	lem? witznal	Mok? Yam? Lem? Witznal
X4	xa-man-na	xaman	north
X5	ix uh	ix uh	Ix Uh

In this second scene, two more caption texts are present, one for Itzamaat and one for K’inich Ajaw. The first caption, from Itzamaat, likely goes something like this: “Lord ?? Rabbit takes my necklace, my clothes, and my backrack.” K’inich Ajaw responds with the following: “There is no Lord ?? Rabbit here, my grandfather, he has arrived at Mok Yam Lem Witznal in the North.” The quote then ends with Ix Uh, the name of the moon goddess.

The last items to be discussed are the two mountains (Figure 8). Rabbit stands atop the one on the left, and K’inich Ajaw has his jaguar pelt throne resting atop the one on the right. Both of these mountains are represented by Witz Monsters. These Witz Monster heads can be recognized by their elongated upper lip, lack of a lower jaw, and the WITZ ‘mountain’ glyph markings that resemble a cluster of grapes. Interesting, both heads feature a serpent emerging from within their mouths, one that seems quite interested in Itzamaat. Mallory Matsumoto suggests that these serpents are meant to act as a deterrent, to prevent Itzamaat from ascending these mountains (2026:54). K’inich Ajaw’s mountain also features a decapitated deer head, which is suggested to have quite the odor to it based on the scent scrolls emanating from it. Perhaps this is meant to further ward off Itzamaat, or may possibly have been an offering left by someone else.

Mythologically, the Regal Rabbit Vase, K1398, is quite an important scene. While portions of this same myth appear on other vessels, such as K1560 and K5166, this is the only one that features the dialogue between the different characters present. This vase also has a “sister,” K8622, which has the same background and rim colors, as well as the two horizontal black lines at the bottom of the scene (Beliaev and Davletshin 2006:29). Hopefully, other vessels from this workshop emerge in the hopes that they can further reveal the mythological narratives of the Classic Period.

Sources
Justin Kerr photograph collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, DC.
Nicholas Hellmuth Maya ceramic archive, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, DC.
Beliaev, Dimitri, and Albert Davletshin
2006 Los sujetos novelísticos y las palabras obscenas: los mitos, los cuentos y las anécdotas en los textos mayas sobre la cerámica del Período Clásico. In Sacred Books, Sacred Languages: Two Thousand Years of Ritual and Religious Maya Literature, Valencia Rivera, Rogelio; Le Fort, Geneviève, ed. Pp. 21-44.
Carrasco, Michael D., and Robert F. Wald
2018 Intertextuality in Classic Maya Ceramic Art and Writing: The Interplay of Myth and History on the Regal Rabbit Vase. In Yumi Park Huntington, Dean E. Arnold, and Johanna Minich (eds), Ceramics of Ancient America: Multidisciplinary Approaches. University Press of Florida.
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
Matsumoto, Mallory E
2026 The Maya Myths: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes and Ancestors. Thames & Hudson.
Milbrath, Susan
1999 Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars. University of Texas Press.