Three Serpent Dynasty Reliefs Discovered at Mayan Stadium

Three facades with elaborate reliefs were discovered on a court in the ancient Mayan city of Jibanche in southeastern Mexico. They date from the Early Classic period (500-600 AD) and depict symbols and ancestors of the powerful Canur (snake) dynasty.

Stucco reliefs decorate the two platforms of Ball Game II. The three facades, which average approximately 10 by 5 feet in size, still retain traces of the original red, blue, yellow and black color paint. These are the first reliefs found at the Dzibanche Stadium, and archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) were surprised to find such an important image on a more modest building.

The first scene shows two guardians standing on either side of the pedestal where the sculpture once stood. The graphic symbols on this dais allude to the rulers of the Kanur dynasty. The second work shows images of figures representing Maya ancestors in the night sky, accompanied by patterns of stars, snakes and other features characteristic of Maya and Teotihuacan iconography. The absence of the central sculpture suggests that it may have been removed by city residents centuries ago. The third scene shows a group of mythical animals associated with the constellations.

A common element in all three scenes is the representation of entwined snakes, “suggesting that we are looking for images of the Dibanche rulers trying to reaffirm their lineage. In pre-Hispanic Maya society, the hierarchy was seen as the gods of the earth representative,” explained Balanzario Granados.

The city-state of Calakmul was the main center of power of the Kanur dynasty in the classical period. It had a population of 50,000 at its peak and dominated a population of 1.5 million in its secondary centers and rural areas. Dzibanche is located 125 miles northeast of Calakmul and is not part of the immediate environment of the polity, but the earliest inscriptions explicitly mentioning King Kanur have been found at Dzibanche. They date back to the 5th century AD, testifying to the city’s importance during the period from 250 to 650 AD when it was under the direct rule of the Qanur dynasty kings. An inscription found on a royal tomb in Belize tells the history of the Serpent Dynasty and documents that Dzibanche was not just an early center of power, but the city from which the Serpent Dynasty originated.