Yaxchilán, Chiapas, Mexico (now British Museum, London)

Yaxchilán Lintel 25, Structure 23: Lady Kʼabʼal Xook and the Vision Serpent, 681 C.E.

1247

c. October 681 C.E. (Late Classic Maya period)

Yaxchilán Lintel 25, carved c. October 681 CE and now in the British Museum, commemorates the bloodletting ritual of Queen Lady Kʼabʼal Xook: depicted in profile in a vision state induced by blood loss, a ceremonial Vision Serpent emerges from her open mouth carrying an ancestral warrior or supernatural entity — the figures intricately decorated with elaborate feathered headdresses, jade pectorals, woven garments, and complex earflaps — the composition framed by a reverse-oriented hieroglyphic text block in the upper left field detailing the royal accession date and titles.