Yaxchilan lintel
- Audio guide stop: 145
- Gallery: Room 27
- Culture: Classic Maya
- Date: 723-726
- Object type: lintel
- Materials: limestone
- Museum number: Am1923,Maud.4
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
This is Lintel 24 of the Yaxchilan Lintels, created by the Classic Maya. Carved from limestone and painted in red and blue, it shows a bloodletting ritual performed by Lady K'ab’al Xook. Her husband, the ruler of Yaxchilan, Itzaamnaj B’ahlam, holds a flaming torch over her while she pulls a sharp rope through her tongue. Blood spirals around her mouth.
The scene dates to AD 709 and is set above a doorway of Structure 23 at Yaxchilan. The top glyphs mention the event and the city's name in Maya hieroglyphs, while the left side identifies Lady K'ab’al Xook and her titles.
Royal figures often played key roles in rituals meant to bring favor from the gods. The blue pigment used, known as Maya Blue, was made from clay and indigo, a sophisticated material that has helped preserve the imagery for centuries.
See it in person
Yaxchilan lintel is on display in Room 27 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 145, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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