Created for Lords of Creation: The Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship (LACMA 2005)

The ancient Maya inhabited the territories now known as Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and portions of southern Mexico. During the course of nine hundred years, the Maya civilization developed into a complex network of scattered city states ruled by individual divine lords.  Straddling a secular and sacred authoritative role, divine lords interceded on behalf of their communities with the supernatural world to secure agricultural fertility and abundance for their people.  The city states, connected via trade and tribute alliances, exchanged such precious commodities as maize, cacao, jade, and obsidian across vast expanses of land.  

Map © Adrian Kitzinger