|
In his right arm K'uk B'ahlam holds a baby K'awiil, recognizeable for the fact that one leg is a serpent. In the other hand, K'uk' B'ahlam holds the serpent's head. (See drawing.) As Merle Greene Robertson observes, "The foot of the 'child' has six toes... This we believe is a portrait of Chan-Bahlum [Kan B'ahlam II], the king of Palenque who succeded his father, Pacal the Great. Apparently it was he who completed the Temple of the Inscriptions, notably the piers, after the death and interment of his father. ... The serpent on Pier B is the most completely intact serpent of the inscriptions Piers. The wide-open jaws are outlined with scales and are crosshatched on the underside of the lower jaw and under the eye. The upper jaw terminates in a series of undulating scrolls and volutes. All the characteristic features of the Maya serpent are shown, the head, body, belly markings, back markings, nose, nose scroll, incisor teeth, molar tooth, jaw, eye, supraorbital plate, earplug, ear ornament, curled fang, tongue, lower jaw and beard (Greene Robertson 1983)."
next
|
