K4118 depicts the mythic scene of the Jaguar War God’s defeat at the hands of one or more young men called the Chante’ Xib. Two other ceramic objects also depict this scene, K1299 and K4598, though those depict the Jaguar War God meeting a fiery demise, while the scene here on K4118 sees him trapped beneath a large boulder. A recreation of this mythical event is also described on Naranjo’s Stela 35, where the ruler impersonates the young men tormenting the Jaguar War God.

The Jaguar War God appears with his fairly usual traits. These include a large eye with a curled pupil, a jaguar ear, a singular T-shaped tooth, jaguar paw feet, as well as a tail, and lastly, the AK’AB ‘darkness’ glyph “god-markings” on his legs. Attached to both his head and his tail are the “flaming ajaw,” which often mark supernatural beings, especially deities. The boulder that traps the Jaguar War God is quite stylized, as it appears with a full face. The various designs on it, including those that resemble a cluster of grapes and the concentric circles with a dotted outer ring, are traits of TUUN ‘stone’ glyphs and identify this object as such. The boulder also appears to be wrapped with rope, suggesting that it was perhaps lifted up before being dropped down, as opposed to simply being rolled on top of the jaguar War God.

The Chan Te’ Xib, due to their scarce appearances, are poorly understood. The chan portion of the name may suggest that they are four in number, but only two appear in the scenes here and on K1299, and three appear on K4598. While they have been suggested to be supernaturals, they appear as regular men. While they are all marked by red body markings, these differ from the more glyphic “god-markings,” and the ones that they appear with may very well be painted onto their skin, and not a part of their being.

The significance of this scene in relation to the roles and purpose of the Jaguar War God will be further explored in the discussions of vessels K1299 and K4598. I suspect that this defeat of the Jaguar War God, whether by stone or by fire, derives from his role as representing the planet Venus at dusk, as the Evening Star.

Sources
Justin Kerr photograph collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, DC.
Chinchilla Mazeriegos, Oswaldo
2025 Mythical Paradigms and Paradoxes in Ancient Maya Kingship. In World Art, 13(2):67-94.
Lopes, Luis
2003 Some Notes on the Jaguar God of the Underworld.
Stone, Andrea, and Marc Zender
2011 Reading Maya Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Maya Painting and Sculpture. Thames & Hudson.