This particular bowl features the likeness of the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xpalanque, whose exploits are central to Mayan mythology as written in the Popul Vuh, the Mayan creation myth. The twins are shown here swimming through the underworld of Xibalba. In Mayan mythology, the twins were the sons of a pair of older twins who were defeated by the Lords of Death in Xibalba. Despite hardship and childhood challenges, the Hero Twins eventually learned that they were destined to be ritual ballplayers as their fathers were before them. They retrieved their fathers' gear which their grandmother had hidden and took up the game, creating a racket that disturbed the lords of the underworld. They were then called to Xibalba to answer for their indiscretion, but unlike their ancestors, they defeated the lords despite a series of challenges and attempts to kill them. The twins finally outwitted their enemies by enthralling them with decapitations and dismemberments of animals that they then resurrected. The anxious lords of death in Xibalba insisted on becoming a part of the act and the twins willingly sacrificed them...but opted not bring them back to life. In this way the lords of death were defeated and hope was given to humankind. Any soul that was called to Xibalba therefore had the hope of defeating death and becoming an ancestor, one whose spirit lived on.

Classic Maya culture developed in three general regions in Mesoamerica. By far the most important and most complete urban developments occurred in the lowlands in the "central region" of southern Guatemala. The principal city in this region was Tikal, but the spread of urbanization extended south to Honduras; the southernmost Mayan frontier city was Copan in northern Honduras. In the Guatemalan highlands to the north, Mayan culture developed less fully. The highlands are more temperate and seem to have been the main suppliers of raw materials to the central urban centers. The largest and most complete urban center in this region was Palenque. The other major region of Mayan development was the Yucatan peninsula, which makes up the southern and eastern portions of modern-day Mexico. The Late Classic Period saw a gradual abandonment of the lowlands of southern Guatemala, perhaps due to famine brought on by overcrowding or changing religious beliefs that left the principally ceremonial cities unimportant. However, the Mayans continued in a diminished capacity in the Guatemalan highlands and in the Yucatan through the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th Century.

AGE: Late Classic, ca. 740-900 A.D.

CONDITION: Has a few stable stress cracks and some minor paint retouches on the rim, but intact and appears choice.