Statue of Chaac Mol.
Dr. Le Plongeon, in speaking of the historical value of the statue, says Chaac Mol was one of the three brothers whom tradition declares were the co-rulers of Yucatan at a very ancient period. Chaac Mol and his beautiful queen Kinich-Kakmó were the powerful sovereigns of the kingdom of Chichen-Itza. Aac, one of the brothers, becoming enamored of his sister-in-law Kinich-Kakmó, slew Chaac Mol that he might make her his wife. The funeral-chamber, the mural paintings, the statues, and the monument of the murdered king found by the explorer, were memorials of the sad event which the faithful queen caused to be executed by the artisans and artists of the royal city. Dr. Le Plongeon remarks: “In the funeral-chamber, the terrible altercation between Aac and Chaac Mol, which had its termination in the murder of the latter by his brother, is represented by large figures, three-fourths life size. There Aac is painted holding three spears in his hands, typical of the three wounds he inflicted on the back of his brother. These wounds are indicated on the statue of the dying tiger (symbol of Chaac Mol) by two holes near the lumbar region, and one under the left scapula, proving that the blow was aimed at the heart from behind. The two wounds are also marked by two holes near each other in the lumbar region, on the bas-relief of the tiger eating a human heart that adorned the Chaac Mol mausoleum (see sculptured slab on [page 398]).”[570]
Mr. Stephen Salisbury, Jr., in his Maya Archæology, has reproduced one of Dr. and Mrs. Le Plongeon’s tracings of a mural painting in the funeral-chamber of the Chaac Mol monument at Chichen-Itza. Through the courtesy of Mr. Salisbury we have been permitted to copy it for this work. The Doctor interprets it as representing the queen Kinich-Kakmó when a child consulting an H-Men, one of the Maya wise men or astrologers, in order to know her destiny. The prediction is based upon the lines produced by fire on the shell of an armadillo or turtle, and is expressed in the colors of the elaborate scroll proceeding from the throat of the H-Men. Referring to his tracings of mural paintings at Chichen-Itza, Dr. Le Plongeon says “they represent war scenes with javelins flying in all directions, warriors fighting, shouting, assuming all sorts of athletic positions, scenes from domestic life, marriage ceremonies, temples with complete domes, proving that the Itza architects were acquainted with the circular arch, but made use of the triangular probably because it was the custom and style of architecture of the time and country.”[571] Besides the sculptures of long-bearded men seen by the explorer at Chichen-Itza mentioned on a preceding page, were tall figures of people with small heads, thick lips, and curly short hair or wool, regarded as negroes. “We always see them as standard or parasol bearers, but never engaged in actual warfare.”[572] He pronounces the features of the long-bearded men pictured on the walls of the queen’s chambers to be Assyrian in their type. On the Isla Mugeres (in the latter part of the year 1876), Dr. Le Plongeon exhumed portions of a female figure in terra-cotta, which indicate an advanced state of art among the ancient Mayas. The fragments of the statue, consisting of the head and feet, were probably attached to the front of a brasero or incense-burner used at the shrine of the Maya Venus, located on the southern extremity of the island. It was immediately in front of this shrine, visited by Cordova in 1516,[573] that the remains of the statue were found buried in the sand. The expression of the face is cruel and savage, the nostrils are perforated and also the pupils of the eyes. The teeth are filed as those of the statue Chaac Mol are said to be. The head is surmounted by a head-dress eight inches high. The fragments of this statue are now in the possession of Mr. Salisbury.[574]
Mural Painting from Chaac Mol Monument Chichen-Itza.—(From a copy by Dr. and Mrs. Le Plongeon.)
Terra-cotta Figure from Isla Mugeres.
Through the courtesy of the owner we are enabled to present a photographic reduction of the relics in the preceding cut.
