Tortuguero (Maya site)

Because of its mid-20th century destruction, little is known about the dynastic lineage of this site. Its history is linked to that of the kingdom of Palenque, as the rulers of Tortuguero used the same emblem glyph as Palenque.{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2015/tortuguero|website=metmuseum.org|publisher=The Met|title="The Blood Was Pooled, the Skulls Were Piled": Maya Star Wars and a Misconstrued Doomsday|last=Doyle|first=James|date=2015-05-29}} Known is that Bahlam Ajaw ruled from 644-679 CE,{{verification needed|date=July 2023}} achieving a victory in a star war against an unknown polity in 644. The result of this war was poetically and tragically commemorated with the sentence "the blood was pooled, the skulls were piled." In 649 CE Bahlam Ajaw conquered Comalcalco, one of the westernmost sites in the Maya world.

Monument 6 from Tortuguero has recently generated discussion as it includes the only known inscription depicting the end of the current 13-Bak'tun era in 2012.Gronemeyer & MacLeod (2010)Schele & Freidel (1990), p. 446 Grube, Martin and Zender have statedGrube, Martin & Zender (2002), (pp. 112-113) it refers to “the end of the 13th b’ahktun which we will see in the year 2012” and as to what will happen, they say, “...utom, 'it will happen' (O4) followed by something that we cannot read (P4) and he 'will descend' yem (O5). The last glyph begins with ta followed by something. However, this is not the end of the world.”

This happy interpretation is supported by Markus Eberl and Christian Prager. They identify the fragmentary word translated above as "descent" seems to be the same one used during building dedications. They also point to a panel on Temple XIV at Palenque, which shows that a positive event took place on July 29, 931,449 BCE involving a vision serpent named Sak Baak Na' Chapat and his deity K'awiil, which was overseen by B'olon Yokte' K'uh.Eberl & Prager (2005) (p.32)

Gillespie and JoyceGillespie & Joyce (1998) (p.291) and also Houston and StuartHouston & Stuart (1996) (p.301) have concurred that the inscription on Monument 6 concerns the god(s) Bolon Yokte’ K’uh - specifically “…a calendrical event in the early 21st century AD, at which time, apparently, the god may 'descend'.” Stuart has given a more complete translation: “"The Thirteenth Bak'tun" will be finished (on) Four Ahaw, the Third of K'ank'in. ? will occur. (It will be) the descent(?) of the Nine Support (?) God(s) to the ?."University of Texas Mesoamerica Center Discussion Board All prophecy seekers may be warned that he later explained in his Blog that monument 6 is not stating a prophecy and never featured the 2012 period ending, except to refer to the future Bak’tun ending in order to temporally orient a more significant here-and-now happening of Tortuguero’s local history.David Stuart`s blog entry

Gronemeyer gives an epigraphic analysis and calendrical reconstruction of Monument 6 in his Master’s thesis,Gronemeyer (2004) (pp. 136-160) with illustrations. It has been indicated that 'Bolon Yokte' K'Uh' could refer to the 9 Lords of the Night who featured in both Aztec and Mayan calendars yet remained unnamed in the latter, as the Nine Lords of the Underworld were known as 'Bolon ti ku'.{{Cite web |url=http://www.pauahtun.org/Calendar/gglyph.html |title=The G and F Glyphs of the Lunar Supplementary Series |access-date=2011-12-06 |archive-date=2006-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060222011801/http://www.pauahtun.org/Calendar/gglyph.html |url-status=dead }}

Most recently, Gronemeyer and MacLeod have scrutinized Monument 6 again and offer a new interpretation of the passage dealing with the 13-Bak'tun ending. According to them,Gronemeyer & MacLeod (2010) (p. 8) the inscription announces the witnessing of the deity Bolon Yokte' K'uh who will be publicly displayed by the occasion of his investiture. By applying several linguistic and ethnographic parallels, this may happen by the enrobing and/or parading of an effigy of the said deity.

• Lords of the Night

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin|indent=yes}}

• {{cite book |author=Eberl, Markus |author2=Christian Prager |year=2005 |chapter=B’olon Yokte’ K’uh. Maya conceptions of war, conflict, and the underworld. |title=Wars and conflicts in prehispanic Mesoamerica and the Andes : selected proceedings of the conference organized by the Société des Américanistes de Belgique with the collaboration of Wayeb (European Association of Mayanists), Brussels, 16–17 November 2002 |editor=Peter Eeckhout |editor2=Geneviève Le Fort |series=British Archaeological Reports International Series, no. 1385 |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=John and Erika Hedges Ltd. |pages=28–36 |isbn=1-84171-706-1 |oclc=254728446}}
• {{cite journal |author=Gillespie, Susan. D. |author-link=Susan D. Gillespie |author2=Rosemary A. Joyce |author2-link=Rosemary A. Joyce | date= 1998 |title=Deity Relationships in Mesoamerican Cosmologies: The Case of the Maya God L |journal=Ancient Mesoamerica |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=279–296|location=London and New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi= 10.1017/s0956536100001991|s2cid=162779217 |issn=0956-5361 |oclc=93505861}}
• {{cite book |author=Gronemeyer, Sven |year=2004 |title=Tortuguero, Tabasco, Mexiko: Geschichte einer klassischen Maya-Stadt, dargestellt an ihren Inschriften |url=http://www.hausarbeiten.de/faecher/vorschau/51770.html |edition=Master's thesis, submitted to Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn — Institut für Altamerikanistik und Ethnologie (IAK) |location=Munich |publisher=GRIN Publishing OHG |isbn=978-3-638-47653-9 |oclc=255322883 |access-date=2008-10-20|language=de}}
• {{cite book |author=Gronemeyer, Sven |year=2006 |title=The Maya site of Tortuguero, Tabasco, Mexico: its history and inscriptions |url=http://www.sven-gronemeyer.de/download/acta-mesoamericana_17.pdf |series=Acta Mesoamericana vol. 17 |location=Markt Schwaben, Germany |publisher=Verlag Anton Saurwein |isbn=3-931419-13-4 |oclc=68805001}}
• {{cite journal |author=Gronemeyer, Sven |author2=Barbara MacLeod |author2-link=Barbara MacLeod | date= 2010 |title=What Could Happen in 2012: A Re-Analysis of the 13-Bak'tun Prophecy on Tortuguero Monument 6 |journal=Wayeb Notes |url=http://www.wayeb.org/notes/wayeb_notes0034.pdf |volume=34 |pages=1–68 |publisher=European Association of Mayanists |issn=1379-8286 |oclc=298471525}}
• {{cite book|author=Grube, Nikolai |author-link=Nikolai Grube |author2=Simon Martin |author2-link=Simon Martin (Mayanist) |author3=Martin Zender |year=2002 |title=The Proceedings of the Maya Hieroglyphic Workshop, March 9–10, 2002, University of Texas at Austin: "Palenque and its Neighbors" |editor=Phil Wanyerka |location=United States |publisher=s.n. |oclc=50900637}}
• {{cite journal |author=Houston, Stephen |author-link=Stephen D. Houston |author2=David Stuart |author-link2=David Stuart (Mayanist) | date=June 1996 |title=Of gods, glyphs and kings: divinity and rulership among the Classic Maya |url=http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/ant/070/Ant0700289.htm |journal=Antiquity |volume=70 |issue=268 |pages=289–312|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Antiquity Publications |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00083289 |s2cid=162561423 |issn=0003-598X |oclc=206025348}}
• {{cite book |author=Martin, Simon |author-link=Simon Martin (Mayanist) |author2=Nikolai Grube |author2-link=Nikolai Grube |year=2000 |title=Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London and New York |isbn=0-500-05103-8 |oclc=47358325 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofmayak00mart }}
• {{cite book |author=Schele, Linda |author-link=Linda Schele |author2=David Freidel |year=1990 |title=A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya |url=https://archive.org/details/forestofkingsunt0034sche |url-access=registration |publisher=William Morrow |location=New York |isbn=0-688-11204-8}}
• {{cite journal |author=Zender, Marc |author2=Stanley Guenter | date=Spring 2000 |title=Three Kings of Late Classic Tortuguero |url=http://www.mesoweb.com/pari/publications/news_archive/31/ThreeKings.html |format=PDF |journal=PARI Newsletter |volume=30 |pages=6–8|location=San Francisco, CA |publisher=Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute |issn=1531-5398 |oclc=44780248}}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.wayeb.org/notes/wayeb_notes0034.pdf Wayeb Notes, No. 34]. (Sven Gronemeyer's and Barbara MacLeod's discussion of the 2012 passage on Tortuguero Monument 6.)
• [http://groups.google.com/group/utmesoamerica/browse_thread/thread/2ad64b039cb60983/0396cfd4957fd61e#0396cfd4957fd61e UT Mesoamerica Center Discussion Board]. (David Stuart's translation of Monument 6 at Tortuguero.)
• [http://decipherment.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/more-on-tortugueros-monument-6-and-the-prophecy-that-wasnt/] (David Stuart`s blog entry)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060222011801/http://www.pauahtun.org/Calendar/gglyph.html]

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Category:Maya sites in Tabasco

Category:Former populated places in Mexico