Ceremonial Handle () 7th-9th century Maya This is a fragment representing the handle of a Classic Maya (ca. AD 250-900) scepter. Scepters are some of the most important objects shown in royal portraits and found in royal burials. Analysis of the stone classified it as the hard mineral omphacitic jadeitite (composed of the elements silicon, aluminum, calcium, iron, and magnesium). The sculptor subtly created a fleshiness out of the jade by slightly bowing out the vertical lines that connotes a constriction by the horizontal bands lined with a ridge. The scepter terminates in the head of a serpent with round eyeballs, an open mouth with fangs, an upturned snout, and distinct eyebrows. Tiny biconical drill holes along the serpent’s bottom jaw would have allowed for beads or other danglers to be attached and perhaps make a lot of sound as the ruler employed the scepter in motion. The fragment probably represents the lower portion of an image of K’awiil, the god of lightning. Classic perio