La Estela Ruz Buenfil del Museo Nacional de Antropología

Abstract

For mayas from the Classical period, one of the purposes of stela’s raising was to track specific calendar cycles, because they were thought to capture and embody the passage of time. Stelae also commemorated ritual activities carried out by rulers and thus, assert their divine power. With this perspective and under theses canonical principles, Alberto Ruz Lhuillier, author of the script for the Maya exhibition hall of the Anthropology Museum, developed the design of what was going to be opening stela for the new Museum. In this paper, we recall this foundational moment and those actors that participated in it, thus showing that the registered date does not correspond to the one of the Museum’s inauguration, but to another event: the birth of Alberto Ruz Buenfil. In this paper we will also analyze the calendaric content of the so called “Ruz Buenfil’s Stelae” to disclose its own narrative. Finally, we delve into the nature and meaning of stelae in order to understand the context in which this specific stela took part and keeps on interacting with visitors/audience nowadays.