Royal Maya Carvings at Holmul

Archaeologists workings at the Maya site of Holmul have unearthed this magnificent frieze, which seems to commemorate the installation of Och Chan Yopaat ("the storm god enters the sky") as king. Holmul had been a satellite of Tikal, but the king of Naranjo took it in a war and then installed his own man.

The frieze depicts many other figures, some apparently men and others gods. This figure, probably diving, is making a sacred food offering that the text on the frieze calls naaah waaj, or "first tamale."

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