The Theonym Chanek’/Kanek’: A Short Exploration of Classic Maya

Inscriptions and Iconography

by Erik Boot (email: wukyabnal@hotmail.com). Rijswijk, the Netherlands.
November 18, 2009. First version.

During the preparations for the Advanced Workshop “The Inscriptions of Northern
Yucatan,” which was held during the 14th European Maya Conference at Jagiellonian
University, Cracow (Poland), I collected as large a corpus of Chochola-Maxcanu
ceramics as was possible through published and unpublished sources. Within this group
of ceramics two examples provided incised or sculpted panels with rare iconographic
representations, which are the subject of this essay (Figure 1).1

Figure 1 - Kerr No. 2774 and a sculpted panel from a plate in a private collection (photograph
provided by Donald Hales, not to be reproduced without written permission)

Boot, Erik
2009 The Theonym Chanek’/Kanek’: A Short Exploration of Classic Maya Inscriptions and Iconography.
XXXXXXXXXX. URL: http://www.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kerr No. 2774 is a small bowl, along the rim of which a dedicatory text can be found
(alay k’a[’]ljal yichi[y] yuxuli[l] ujay ch’ok ukit aj xo[h]te’ ba[h]kab). The two short
vertical columns provide a name-tag (ujay ch’ok kalomte’ ba[h]kab), most probably
referring to the same person mentioned in the dedicatory text.2
This vessel also has two iconographic panels, both showing supernatural
anthropomorphic beings emerging from the opened mouth of a serpent. One iconographic
panel is of particular interest here,3 as it shows an old god with an itzam headdress
(compare Stuart 1994). This old god is an Itz Mam (in the Postclassic this name was
contracted to Itzam, possibly due to a process of elision),4 through which the Classic
Maya identified a series of primordial old gods, paramount among which was Itz Mam
Nah. The serpent from which the Itz Mam emerges is clearly a rattle snake; the rattles are
set with two smoke scrolls. The body of the serpent is marked with three pairs of small
disks and is set with a large feather bundle. The body of the serpent coils around a large
star sign. A star sign can also be found in the eye of the serpent. I identify this serpent as
a star (ek’) serpent (chan, or kan), which can be rendered in Classic Maya as Chanek’.
The iconographic panel from a Chochola plate provides a very similar scene.5 An
old god with an itzam headdress, identifying him as an Itz Mam, emerges from the
opened mouth of a serpent. This serpent is, however, not a rattle snake and its body is
marked by continuous cross-hatching. Nor does this serpent have a large feather bundle.
But this serpent has a star sign in its eye and the body of the serpent moves through two
of the four disks that characterize a large star sign. Also this serpent I identify as a star
(ek’) serpent (chan, or kan) and rendered in Classic Maya this would be Chanek’.

These two examples come from the northwest of Yucatan,6 but there is an additional
example from the southern Maya lowlands. This example can be found at Xultun, in the
northeast of the Peten (Figure 2a).
The front of Xultun Stela 24 depicts the local king dressed in full regalia. In his
left arm he holds an undulating serpent which covers part of his upper torso, the head of
which is unfortunately eroded. However, the body pattern of the serpent (note the
absence of rattles) has survived erosion and shows a series of small star signs. I identify
this serpent (chan, or kan) set with star (ek’) signs as a Chanek’ (Boot 2005: 41). The
paramount title of Xultun (a.k.a. “Emblem Glyph,” central element of which is FLINT+
MOUNTAIN) can be found in a series of ceramics painted in a style closely related to the
Codex Style, known from the neighboring area of El Mirador-Nakbe-Calakmul. Two of
these painted ceramics mention the name Chanek’ (Figure 2b-c). Kerr Nos. 4387 and
4909 both contain a dedicatory text common to this style group. After the standardized
dedicatory texts one can find the name of the owner or patron of the vessel. On Kerr No.
4387 the titles and name are rendered Chak Ch’ok Kelem [?] Elk’in Ya[j] Mo’ Chanek’
(4-’e k’e). On Kerr No. 4909 the name is rendered K’anjal [?] Ch’enab(?) Chanek’
(CHAN-na ’e k’e). A third Xultun vessel provides yet another Chanek’ name (Figure 3).
This ceramic vessel, Kerr No. 8732, is not painted, but inscribed (carved). The name, in
full, is rendered as Sakun Ch’ok [Y]a[j] Mo’ Elk’in Ch’en Chanek’ (CHAN-na ’e-ke).

As I have demonstrated in earlier contributions, in yet another area in the central Peten,
the area around Lake Peten, the name Chanek’ is associated with the Classic and early
Colonial Itza (Boot 1995, 2005: 36-49). The Classic name may have been Chanek’, while
the early Colonial name of the kings of the ethnohistoric Itza between 1524-1697 was
Kanek’.7

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a

Figure 2 - Detail of the front of Xultun Stela 24 (drawing by Ian Graham; star signs
marked by arrows) and Kerr Nos. 4387 and 4909 (photographs by Justin Kerr)

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 Figure 3 - Rollout photograph of Kerr No. 8732 and drawing of the text panels
(photograph by Justin Kerr, drawings by the author)

These three nominal phrases at Xultun that contain the name Chanek’ follow a royal
name-giving paradigm first described by Colas (2004). Many Maya kings took the name
of particular manifestations of well-known gods as Itz Mam Nah, K’inich (Ajaw),
K’awil, and Chak.
Could it be possible, based on the two examples on the Chochola ceramics, that
Chanek’ is a god name as well? If so, the Itz Mam emerging from the Chanek’ (or
Kanek’) could render the theonym Itz Mam Chanek’ or Kanek’. Other theonyms (as
recorded in Classic Maya inscriptions and ethnohistoric sources) include Itz Mam Nah,
Itz Mam Nah K’inich Ajaw, Itz Mam Nah K’awil, Itz Mam Nah Balam, Itz Mam Kab
Ayin, Itz Mam K’an Akul, and Itz Mam K’abul.8 Various of these theonyms provide
examples of theopolymorphosis, the complete merging of two or more gods to create a
different supernatural entity (see Boot 2008). These Itz Mam names contain important
references to mythological entities and cosmological phenomena. For instance, Nah

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(“house”) may refer to the Abode of the Gods, K’inich Ajaw (“Hot Lord”) is the name of
the Sun, Kab Ayin is the Earth Alligator, K’awil is both Lightning and Abundance, K’an
Akul is the Precious Water Turtle.
What about the meaning of Chanek’ or Kanek’? In Itza Maya, Kanek’ refers to
Venus (as lucero, “bright star”) (Barrera Vasquez et al. 1980: 295).9 The name Chanek’
or Kanek’ “Serpent Star” does not describe a fixed position of Venus in the sky during its
circa 584 cycle, it describes the zig-zag serpentine motion of the planet through the sky
during its continuous cycles as Morning and Evening Star (Figure 4, after
www.oarval.org).

Figure 4 - The loop that Venus makes on its path through its cycle (with observational
data from Observatorio Arval, Caracas, Venezuela, March-November 2004;
cardinal directions added, ecliptic marked by the two red arrows)

The Xultun examples may be extended descriptive names of various manifestations of a

god named Kanek’, employed by Classic Maya royals. As such it may be possible that
the well-known Itza royal name Kanek’ actually is an abbreviated theonym. The
abbreviation of theonyms is a common practice among the Classic Maya, and apparently
thus also among the ethnohistoric Itza.
The name Kanek’ occurs at Chichen Itza, possibly three times (Figure 5). The
name can be found written KAN-na ’EK’ in the text on Las Monjas, Lintel 1 (Figure 5a),
demonstrating that the spellings ’e-ke indeed target the word ek’ for star. The Annex
Building at the Las Monjas complex also has a sculpted lintel with inscription. One of the
two texts on this lintel may show a variant spelling of the name Kanek’ employing a
skull-like or skeletesized serpent head (KAN) followed by a star sign (’EK’) (Figure 5b).
The South Building at the Great Ballcourt contains six pilasters; each pilaster provides
the portraits of four important individuals. Unfortunately, not all name glyphs have
survived, but on Pilaster 6, East Side, one can find the name written in what is commonly
referred to as “Mexicanized writing”: KAN-’EK’ for Kanek’ (Figure 5c).

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 a b

Figure 4 - The name Kanek’ at Chichen Itza, a) Kanek’ collocation, Las Monjas,
Lintel 1 (drawing by Ian Graham), b) Possible Kanek’ collocation at Las Monjas, Annex,
Lintel (2005 photograph by the author), c) Kanek’ at the Great Ballcourt, South Building,
Pilaster 6 (2005 photograph and 1995 drawing by the author)

The theonym Kanek’ at Chichen Itza is rendered within three scribal traditions, which I
designate here as Script A, B, and C (compare Boot 1999). In Script A, the scribes
followed conventionalized Classic Maya writing (most monumental texts at Chichen
Itza). In Script B, the scribes employed part of a calligraphic sign inventory common to
northwest Yucatan and reduced known signs to, probably, their most diagnostic element
(a reductionist process that can be described as extreme pars pro toto, e.g., the Annex
Lintel and fragmented stones at the High Priest’s Grave). In Script C, the scribe(s) use a
writing system in which common Maya (Yucatec) words (probably only nouns and
adjectives) were rendered in a “Mexicanized”, or more properly an “International,”
calligraphic style (e.g., examples at the Great Ballcourt, the Temple of the Warriors, the
Northwest Colonnade, and the Old Castillo).

Three Classic Maya iconographic examples provide a serpent (either a rattle snake or
plain snake; either feathered or not) combined with the star sign. Two of these examples
occur on Chochola ceramics. The third example appears on Xultun Stela 24 (also Xultun
Stela 25 depicts this star-serpent, but in a much lower state of preservation). The
association with an Itz Mam may indicate that Chanek’ or Kanek’ can be interpreted as a
theonym.

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 If so, the kings of the Classic Maya and ethnohistoric Itza had a theonym as their
name, which contained the part Chanek’ or Kanek’. This Chanek’ or Kanek’ may the
godly name of Venus. If correctly deduced, a re-analysis of the architectural, sculptural,
and iconographic programs at Chichen Itza and Mayapan may reveal a socio-religious
paradigm that is much older than the formerly presupposed “Mexicanization” of the Itza.
This paradigm may at least have its origin in the southern Maya lowlands, in a period
predating 595 A.D. when the first theonym Kanek’ occurred (Pusilha, Stela D; Boot
2005: 42-43).

The identification of Kanek’ as a theonym also may lead to a reinterpretation of the

arrival events at the archaeological site of Ek’ Balam, Yucatan, Mexico. On
*9.16.19.3.12, 11 Eb’ 10 Sotz’ (April 7, A.D. 770; 584,285, Julian) a person, probably
named Ek’ Balam, arrives. He is said to be the Bah Tz’am “First of the Throne” of a
certain Chak Jutuw Kanek’ (CHAK ju-tu-wi ka-na-’EK’; Lacadena 2002) (Figure 6).

Figure 6 - The name of the supervisor of the arrival event at Ek’ Balam in A.D. 770

What if this is a record of a human actor (named Ek’ Balam), who is in direct relationship
(as bah tz’am) with a god (or impersonator) named Chak Jutuw Kanek’ “Red (chak) is
the Born (jutuw) in the Sky (kan) Star (ek’).” The pivotal part, of course, is the
interpretation of the verb jut-. In colonial Yucatec Maya, the verb jutul is recorded as
“nacer los brutos, animales” (“Diccionario de Motul,” ca. 1570: fol. 202v, within the
section of the “H recia”; in Barrera Vasquez et al. 1980: 259). Based on this entry I
interpret the verb root jut- as “be born.”10
If this is correct, a correlation to yet another arrival event can be established,
which took place on a day 11 Eb as well: The arrival of Si[h]yaj K’ak’ “Born of Fire” at
Tikal. Si[h]yaj K’ak’ arrived on 8.17.1.4.12, 11 Eb 15 Mak (January 15, A.D. 378) and
he was entitled K’awil Ochk’in and Kalomte’ (Tikal Stela 31: C21-D22). Chak Jutuw
Kanek’ is specifically entitled Xaman Kalomte’ Bah Kab and he is further elevated
through the paramount title K’uhul Ajaw of a place that is identified by an opossum-like
animal.11 Is thus Chak Jutuw Kanek’ the supernatural supervisor (or a human
impersonator) of the arrival event recorded at Ek’ Balam, a site ultimately named after its
founder Ek’ Balam? Chak Jutuw Kan Ek’ oversees yet a second arrival event at Ek’
Balam by a certain Bak Balam K’an Bob Tok’ on *9.19.3.10.14, 3 Hix 17 Kumk’u’
(January 8, A.D. 814).12 As such, Chak Jutuw Kan Ek’ was active during some 44 years
at Ek’ Balam; at Tikal and surroundings (Rio Azul, Bejucal), Si[h]yaj K’ak’ was active
some 15 years, from A.D. 378 to A.D. 393 (see Boot 2005: Table 3.2).

A parentage statement at Edzna’, first identified by Carlos Pallan (e.g., Pallan 2009),
includes an important additional example (Figure 7). Edzna’ Stela 18 provides the
parentage for king Janab Yok K’inich. He is the “child of mother” (yal) of a certain

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K’uhul Ixik Jutu[w?] Kan Ek’, who is an Ixik Ajaw from Itzan. Possibly her name
Jutu[w] Kan Ek’ (Pallan prefers Jut? Chanek’), only if the identification of the part ju-tu
is correct, can be connected to the name Chak Jutuw Kanek’ at Ek’ Balam. The name
Jutu[w?] Kan Ek’ would mean, following the above suggestion that jut- is the root of the
verb “be born,” “Born (in the) Sky (kan) Star (ek’).” Although her arrival from Itzan is
not explicitly recorded, the fact she is the mother of the contemporary king of Edzna’ is
of importance. Janab Yok K’inich had a mother of royal descent, who had arrived from
the east and whose name may have referred to the planet Venus, Jutu[w?] Kan Ek’ “Born
(in the) Sky Star.”

Figure 7 - Edzna, Stela 18, detail of lower inscriptional panel, showing after ya-YAL
the titular phrase K’uhul Ixik Jutu[w?] Kan Ek’ Ixik “Itzan” Ajaw
(photograph by Lizardi Ramos, after Pallan 2009)

To summarize, two iconographic panels on Chochola ceramics may provide the

iconographic clue that the name Chanek’ or Kanek’ is a god name. An Itz Mam emerges
from the opened jaws of the Chanek’ or Kanek’. Kanek’, in Itza Maya, refers to the
planet Venus. Itz Mam Chanek’ or Kanek’ may be the name of a god. If correct, the name
Chanek’ or Kanek’ of the kings of the Itza refers to this particular god. Like the kings of
other Maya cities and areas, the Itza kings referred to a particular god.
The nominal phrase Chak Jutuw Kanek’ or Kan Ek’ at Ek’ Balam is the name of
the supervisor of two arrival events. His name conforms to the conventions employed in
theonyms all over the Maya area: noun + verb + SKY + GOD.NAME. Here Chak Jutuw
Kan Ek’ may contain the god name Kan Ek’, but which, within the grammar of personal
names of gods, has been re-interpreted. Chak Jutuw Kan Ek’: “Red (chak) is the Born
(jutuw) in the Sky (kan) Star (ek’).”13

The identification of Chanek’ and Kanek’ as a theonym has many additional

consequences, which I hope to address in upcoming research on the socio-religious and

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socio-political organization of the Classic and Postclassic Maya. This will, ultimately,
lead to a re-evaluation of supernatural sponsored arrival events throughout Mesoamerica,
if the above suggested interpretation of Chak Jutuw Kan Ek’ “Red is Born in the Sky
Star” is correct.

The last Maya who took on the name Kanek’ was the Yucatec leader of an uprising in the
eighteenth century in Yucatan. His name was Rey Jacinto Uc de los Santos Canek
Chichan Moctezuma (Bartolomé 1988: 170-178; González Navarro 1970: 34-37) and he
may have been the very last person who integrated the name of the god Kanek’ in his title
and name phrase. The uprising took place in Cisteil, close to Sotuta; however, Jacinto Uc
was born in Campeche, on the western fringe of the Maya area. Long after his death his
signature appears on one of the documents delivered by the leaders of the Guerra de
Castas (Boot 2005).

Acknowledgments
I thank Justin Kerr for making available a high resolution image of Kerr No. 2774, I thank
Donald Hales for his permission to include the image of the iconographic panel from a Chochola
plate. Additionally, I thank Carlos Pallan for making available the PPT that illustrated his paper
presented at the 14th EMC in Cracow, Poland, on November 14, 2009.

Notes
1) For the workshop a sourcebook was composed, which contained only a selection of the
materials collected during the preparations. Kerr No. 2774 is contained in the sourcebook, the
plate in a private collection is not (Boot 2009a). It was, however, presented during the
introduction of the workshop, to illustrate the opening hypothesis of this essay (Boot 2009b).

2) Transcriptions and transliteration follow the normal standards in Maya epigraphic studies, but
without the indication of complex vowels.

3) The other panel shows an other supernatural actor emerging from the opened serpent jaws. The
face of this character is marked by a large kaban or “earth” sign. The body of the serpent is set by
a repetitive pattern, seemingly indicating a skeletal body. Perhaps this is a conflation of a serpent
and a centipede.

4) Many different explanations have been presented to explain the part Itzam (e.g., Barrera
Vasquez et al. 1980: 272). I interpret Itzam as a contraction of Itz Mam, following a process of
elision through which the strong terminal consonant -tz in itz depleted the pronunciation of the
opening m- of the next word, mam (a voiceless alveolar versus a nasal dental). The separation of
itz and mam additionally explains the various different Old Gods that are referred to by the itzam
headdress, but who all are named differently. Additionally, it adds Itz Mam Nah to a group of old
gods, of which he is the paramount. The part itz could be an adjective (itz “enchanted”) or a noun
(itz “precious liquid from the sky”). Mam means “grandfather” and would explain the aged
appearance of these primordial gods.

5) This plate has two iconographic panels, and both have the same contents. The other panel,
unfortunately, has survived in a much worse state of preservation.

6) During the Late Classic period there is a strong influence of a Cholan linguistic paradigm upon
the northwest Yucatan inscriptional record (within morphology, syntax, lexicon, and phonology,

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as well as calendrical matters). At the same time, also socio-religious iconographic templates
undergo a strong influence from the southern Maya lowlands and illustrate scenes common to
Classic Maya civilization but executed in the local stylistic traditions.

7) Based on a Ch’olan paradigm, Classic Maya inscriptions may have been rendered in a Ch’olan
language. It is possible that already in the early Classic period the name was Kanek’ instead of
Chanek’. Without phonetic complementation and/or full phonetic substitution we can not be
certain of how this theonym was pronounced before circa A.D. 770.

8) These Itz Mam names are derived from a variety of sources, from early Yucatec Maya
dictionaries and ethnohistoric sources to Classic Maya inscriptions. Primary among the
ethnohistoric works are the “Vocabulario de Mayathan,” the Landa manuscript, Lizana and
Cogolludo. Of great importance for the Classic period are a variety of monuments and painted
ceramics, e.g., Palenque, Temple XIX, Bench; Quirigua, Stela C; the God D Court Vessel.

9) The Spanish name “lucero” for Venus is well chosen, as the planet Venus is the brightest
heavenly body after the Sun (magnitude at ca. -26) and the Moon (magnitude at ca. -13). Around
maximum elongation the magnitude of Venus is about -4,1; at maximum brightness the
magnitude of Venus is about -4,4.

10) The verb jutul is also recorded as “acento en la primera, caerse estas cosas dichas.” The verb
jut.tal means “yrse cayendo” (“Diccionario de Motul,” ca. 1570: fol. 202r, section for the “H
recia”). Itza Maya still has juut- as the verb for “derumbar/collapse” (Hofling and Tesucun 1997:
331), but seemingly has lost the meaning “be born.” Various other verbs, which have jut- as their
root, in colonial Yucatec Maya refer to the “uniting” objects of various kinds. In Ch’olti’, hutu is
recorded as “enjebrar abuja (enhebrar aguja)” (putting the thread through the hole of the needle)
(Boot 2004: 21), an action of uniting needle and thread.

11) Also Si[h]yaj K’ak’ is associated with an important title. On the Tikal Marcador the only
occurrence of his title of provenience can, in part, be transcribed ’AJ-[?-chu?]NAL. If the animal
in the paramount title at Ek’ Balam is an opossum, note that Maya languages (including
epigraphic or Classic Maya) provide the lexemes och and uch “opossum.” The opossum is the
direct agent in providing human kind with fire and pulque in Mesoamerican mythologies.
Additionally, och means “sustenance, food.”

12) And perhaps one can take an additional step: I interpret Chak Jutuw Kan Ek’ to be the full
name of Venus, and in the Postclassic period this extended name was contracted or abbreviated to
simply Chak Ek’ (Codex Dresden: Pages 44-50).

13) Other nominal phrases that include SKY are: Si[h]yaj K’in Chak, Si[h]yaj Chan K’awil,
Jasaw Chan K’awil, Bajlaj Chan K’awil, etc.

References
[To be added]

File History
First version: November 18, 2009
Corrections: November 15-18, 2009
This version: November 18, 2009

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