Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea

As a passionate Mayanist, I was delighted to discover that a nearby museum was having a exhibition on the Maya.

Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea is a new exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum, (PEM) located on Essex St. in Salem Ma. As the Mayan civilization was surrounded by water, this exhibit makes a great connect between the Maya and the sea. And since the glyph of the "sea' was only translated in the late 1980's, our realization of the role of the sea is relatively fresh.

                                                               




 Incense Burner, Deity with Aquatic Elements

I attended the exhibit at the Museum this past Monday. I had high hopes for it, and they were not only met but surpassed. The Museum has done a fantastic job with the layout of the 90 artifacts, spreading them out over 6 rooms, with nothing feeling cramped nor rushed. I asked Whitney Riepe, Senior Public Relations Associate at PEM why this exhibit was important.

"Fiery Pool presents exquisitely rendered and extremely rare examples of Maya art, many of which have never before been seen in the United States.  Beyond the aesthetic delight, this exhibition offers an entirely new interpretation of Maya cosmology based on cutting-edge research.  It's immersive, it's dramatic, and it's not to be missed!"

                                                                                                          Jade Sculpture of a Jester God 

As you enter the Exhibit, you are greeted by a 5 foot tall statue of the deity Cha'ak, (Chaac in some spellings), god of rain and storms.Around the corner is the first room, and like most  of the others is a mix of stone friezes, pottery, jewelry and figurines. The pieces are spread out, and supplemented by some simple audio visual effects. For example, in the first room several screens hang overhead with rolling storm clouds projected on them. There is also the sound of rain in the background.

This fantastic exhibit pulls you in and lets you  reflect on Mayan cosmology. It is kid friendly, with a nice guide for families to use as they tour the artifacts One fun feature is a oval stand, with a top that is a touch screen computer. Shadow like forms of fish swim around in it, and by touching them, the information about the fish, and what it symbolized to the Maya, pops up. A group of kids just before us spent a lot of time sharing the information about different types of fish with each other.

Below is an example of one of the surprising pieces in the collection. It is a lobster effigy from about 1550 AD, discovered in what is now Belize. The face peering out is just so unexpected.

I can whole heartedly recommend this to anyone with even a passing interest in the Maya, or any ancient civilization. The artifacts are excellent: I am use to seeing stelae, figurines and glyphs in the jungle, here they are whole, clean and easily observed. Below is an example of one of the vessels on display. Since most of the Mayan pieces I have observed tend to be dull red clay pieces, the craftsmanship and preservation of the collection is astounding to me.This piece shows the world turtle, and we will revisit this image next blog.

This is a great exhibit, I encourage you all to go see it!

In my next blog I will share more about the exhibit, and where the title, "Fiery Pool" come from.

THE FIERY POOL, THE MAYA AND THE MYTHIC SEA
PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
27 MARCH-18 JULY 2010
WWW.PEM.ORG

Sculpture of a Pelican







J.T. Turner, Mayanist