Manikin scepters are objects that were held by

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

rulers to signify their power and authority.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 326. The term scepter is deceiving, because the object is too short to be held in the hand and touch the ground. Manikin scepters are normally clay or stone with intricate carvings and the face of a god. K'awiil was the most common god to be shown on them. All the manikin scepters held by the

Halach Uinik Halach uinik or halach uinic ( Yucatec Maya:'real man') was the name given to the supreme ruler, overlord or chief, as they were called in the colonial period of a Maya '' kuchkabal''. Most ''kuchkabal'' were run by a halach uinik, who ruled on ...

s of the

Kuchkabal A ''kuchkabal'' ( , ''kuchkabalo'ob'', 'province'), also known as an ''ah kuch-kab'' or ''ah cuch-cab'', was a system of social and political organisation common to Maya polities of the Maya Lowlands, in the Yucatán Peninsula, during the ...

s of

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...

show K'awiil.

Notes

References

* {{refend Maya civilization