Certainly not all was war, sacrifice, and bloodletting among the Maya. Source 6.5, another rollout of a vase dating from the seventh or eighth century C.E., depicts a Maya king at leisure. Attended by courtiers and musicians, whose horns and conch-shell instruments are just visible to the far left of the image, he reclines against a white cushion within easy reach of pots used to hold chocolate, a popular drink among the Maya elite, and to ferment honey into an alcoholic drink. His attention is focused on a carved dwarf figure holding a mirror. Mirrors were often consulted as oracles by Maya rulers. Many of the glyphs above this scene have yet to be deciphered by experts, although scholars have established from the inscriptions that he ruled over Motul de San José in modern Guatemala.

Questions to consider as you examine the source:

Maya King at Leisure