The powerful ruler Lady of Blood left her legacy in Edzná

Edzná, Camp., The Lady of Blood ruled the powerful Mayan city of Edzná in the 7th century, its time of greatest splendor. His exploits are inscribed on monuments and steles that survive to this day, and are part of the great legacy he built.

Ixb’aah Pahk was a woman who exercised great political and military authority in the Mayan capital. Around the years 652-662 he held the highest hierarchical position, called once again. Its importance is recognized and investigated in the most recent works carried out in the pre-Hispanic area of ​​Edzná, in Campeche.

Archaeologist Sara Novelo Osorno explained to The Day that in stela number 20 found at that site, she she speaks, she gives her name: Lady of the Blood, because it is through her, her blood, that power is transmitted. It is not known if it was originally from the place or if it came from another region. It is very possible that he has a relationship with Calakmul and his arrival was due to a political issue..

The carved rock represents the ruler, “’the lady seed, the lady of the blood’. She comes to govern, not to be another ornament of the great me (sir, in Mayan). She has a higher title than her husband, the great king Chac, who was barely a me; she is once againa rank that not everyone can have: it is the maximum title known to date.”

Apogee

The researcher at the Campeche National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) added that women “come not as subordinates, but to give orders, to reign. Many times we women are left behind, we are told: ‘behind every great man, there is a great woman’, and it is difficult to find one of them on par with the man.

In this case, she ruled together with her husband at the height of Edzná, in the Classic period. This is one of the pieces that open our site museum, as we wanted to highlight its importance. The stele has traveled to many parts of the world and now we have it here so that it does not go away.

Novelo Osorno said that the museum’s museography and script highlight the importance of the Lady of Blood, not only giving life to all the inhabitants of Edzná, but also in the sphere of government, and so that visitors see that women are not an ornament or someone who follows men. We go together, we govern and give rise to the following rulers, hence her name: she is the one who gives the seed.

He added that “Edzná had a very close relationship with the political entity of Calakmul, that is why it is possible that Mrs. once again has come from there, but as long as we do not find his bones and DNA comparisons are not made, they are only assumptions.”

The reproduction of a portable altar dedicated to the ruler is also exhibited in the on-site museum. The original is kept in the Fuerte de San Miguel Museum. In the surroundings of the Lady of Blood, the presence of a dwarf draws attention, she is one of the few people who have her name. We assume that she had a close relationship with the lady and that is why they represent her next to her.

In the Mayan mentality, beings that present some physical difference are divine beings. That is why hunchbacks and dwarfs are associated with divinities and appear in representations of kings.

In the piece, the member of the nobility is portrayed richly dressed and wears a headdress with a flower from which a hummingbird drinks. In a hieroglyphic inscription, according to INAH epigraphers, it reads: “This is the stone altar of the Holy Lady, Lady Ixb’aah Pahk’, Lady Kaloomte”.

In the central complex of the archaeological zone there is a building that began to be investigated in the 80s and that was completed from 2023 to 2024. It is precisely the temple of Ix Kaloomté, the Lady of Blood. During the explorations of archaeologist Vicente Suárez, the aforementioned altar was found.

The building shows different temporalities due to its construction periods. Its staircase is late. We know this from the quality of the ashlars, which were also brought from somewhere else. It has representations of jaguars and characters carrying spears, but instead of standing, they are lying down; There are human faces, glyphs and fragments of stelae. They are elements that were taken from some other buildings and the staircase was made in the last stage.

Novelo Osorno explained that it is a species black worksince at the time the buildings had a stucco coating and paint that was generally red, although there could be other tones.