Pages:  53-72 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp2365372

The paper is dedicated to a previously unrecognized Classic Maya ritual (3rd—10th centuries CE). Several examples have been located in hieroglyphic texts so far and two of them describe the ritual in some detail. Palenque texts tell us that the six-year-old prince and future king K’ihnich Kan B’ahlam II “went up to an enclosed place surrounded by wooden walls”. He remained there for 537 days, “descended” in the company of “two youths (boys)” and received the title ɂokteɂ of unclear etymology. La Corona texts tell us that the sons of the Kanuɂl king Yuknoɂm Ch’eeɂn II “were raised by the hands of seven youths (boys)”, and 520 days later “came out”. The elder son Yuknoɂm Yich’aak K’ahk’ was 24 years old when the ritual started; the age of his younger brother is unknown.
The comparison of the texts under discussion indicates that young princes were in isolation from adults at least 520 days (two cycles of the 260 day calendar) and that there they obtained their rights to ascend the throne. The youths or boys who accompanied the princes were members of subordinate dynasties, who also received a new status upon completion of the ritual. The analyzed texts are the first epigraphic evidence about initiation rituals of the Ancient Maya.

Keywords: rites of passage, initiation, kingship ideology, Mesoamerica, Ancient Maya, epigraphy

Information about authors:

Albert Davletshin (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Russian State University for the Humanities. Miusskaya Sq., 6, Moscow, 125993, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-1080-5614
Sergei Vepretskii (Moscow, Russian Federation). N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Lenin Ave., 32А, Moscow, 119334, Russian Federation; Russian State University for the Humanities. Miusskaya Sq., 6, Moscow, 125993, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-2550-6799