K4598, a painted ceramic vessel from the Nakbe area, is one of three vessels that depict the Jaguar War God meeting his end at the hands of the Chan Te’ Xib. The previously discussed K4118 shows him being crushed to death by a large stone, while this vessel and K1299 show him meeting his demise via immolation. The scene here on K4598 shows the Jaguar War God seated on a stone altar, with his hands tied behind his back. To both his left and right, Chan Te’ Xib figures appear to be lighting him on fire with torches. A third Chan Te’ Xib appears on the far right of the scene, holding extra wood to be used as fuel for the fire.

The Jaguar War God is easily recognizable, with his jaguar ear, large tooth, long beard, and jaguar hands. While he seems to lack the twisted fire cord “cruller”, his eye is surrounded by a horseshoe shape that is likely referencing the eye glyph that often substitutes for the head glyph of the Jaguar War God. Additionally, his body is marked by two glyphic “god-markings”. Usually, AK’AB ‘darkness’ glyphs are used, but crossed bands are instead used here.

Despite the chan “four” portion of their name, only three of the Chan Te’ Xib appear in this depiction of the scene. While they may be supernatural, they appear to be humans, with pairs of marks, possibly representing body paint, across their bodies and faces. The sacrifice of the Jaguar War God would seem to be the only myth that these characters partake in, as they only appear on three Nakbe vessels, and are only mentioned on one stela, Naranjo’s Stela 35. The proximity of the sites of Nakbe and Naranjo and the scarce mentions of these characters would seem to imply that they were local, and not as widespread or important as the more famous Chahk, K’awiil, or Itzamnaaj.

While this specific myth involving the Jaguar War God may not have been as widespread as the deity himself, there are other examples where the Jaguar War God, or those impersonating him, are shown in similar scenes of defeat. Three other well-known examples include Monuments 155, 179, and 180 from Tonina, which show captives dressed as the deity. Chinchilla Mazariegos suggests that this fate of the Jaguar War God was the fate of warriors (2025:80-84). I suspect that this role of the Jaguar War God, as a defeated warrior, as well as his association with fire and warfare, stems directly from his association with Venus as the Evening Star (Crim 2025). A planet that meets a similar fate, being the last light of the day before it is consumed by the fires of the Sun at the end of its cycle, then several days later reappearing at dawn as the Morning Star, beginning the cycle anew.

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.
Crim, Alexander
2025 The Vases of the Seven and Eleven Gods: A New Interpretation. IMS Explorer 53, no. 9 (2025): 1, 3–4.
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.