Chak Mo'ol

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Chac Mo'ol from Chichén Itzá in the National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico)
Chac Mo'ol in the Museum of Tlaxcala
Chac Mo'ol in the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlán

As Chac Mo'ol (also Chaac M'ol ; Maya as "Red Jaguar" or "Big Jaguar") is a group of approximately 40 stone sculptures in Mesoamerika designated. The name goes back to the American archaeologist Augustus Le Plongeon , who assigned it to a statue found in Chichén Itzá in 1875 . They have nothing to do with the important Maya god Chaak , whereas relationships with the central Mexican rain god Tlaloc have been repeatedly formulated.

description

A Chak Mo'ol is always a fully three-dimensional, monolithic sculpture of a human figure lying on his back, who on the one hand has turned his head to the side (always outward), and on the other hand leans on her elbows and at the same time bent her legs. The chest is often decorated with a pectoral . She either holds a bowl on her stomach or there is a depression. A decorated cap (often with rectangular ears protruding at right angles) serves as a headdress. All figures were probably painted in color. Her uncomfortable sitting posture makes you think of prisoners, but arm or ankle cuffs are not recognizable.

history

Chac-Mo'ol figures only appear in post-classical Mesoamerica (approx. 900–1200); They are unknown in the classic cult centers of the central Mexican highlands such as Teotihuacán , Xochicalco , Monte Alban and even in the other places of the Guatemalan or Yucatec Maya lowlands such as Tikal , Copán or Palenque or Uxmal or Mayapán . The earliest examples were probably made around the same time in the cities of Chichén Itzá (14 sculptures) and Tula (12 sculptures); two late specimens each were found in Tenochtitlán and in Tazumal . Before and during the rule of the Aztecs , they spread to Michoacán in the north and to Nicaragua and Costa Rica in the south.

function

Eduard Seler noted that most of the Chak-Mo'ol figures were found in front of or in the entrance areas of the temples, but never in the temple itself - they are therefore not deities. Nevertheless, they were regularly in a higher position and were therefore only visible and accessible to the priests (kings). It is probable, but not proven, that the depressions or bowls on the belly of the figures were used to receive offerings (including human hearts ).

Others

The bizarre-creepy story Chac Mool by the Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes appeared in 1954 in the collection of stories "Veiled Days" (Los días enmascarados) . The central topic is the after-effects of pre-Columbian ideas and beliefs in Central America.

literature

Web links

Commons : Chac Mool  - Collection of images, videos and audio files