Pomona is a

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 popul ...

archaeological site in the Mexican state of

Tabasco Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in ...

, municipality of

Tenosique Tenosique is a town located in Tenosique Municipality in the southeastern corner of the state of Tabasco, in Mexico. Its official name is Tenosique de Pino Suárez. The town had a 2020 census population of 34,946 inhabitants (the fourth-largest ...

, about 30 miles (50 km) east of

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. ...

. Its flowering was in the Late Classic period.

Site

Pomona is a dispersed settlement built in a fertile, hilly region and belonging to the

Usumacinta The Usumacinta River (; named after the howler monkey) is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz (in Guatemala) and the Salinas ...

river sites. It was discovered in 1959 and has been investigated, albeit only very partially, between 1986 and 1988. It consists of a total of six archaeological complexes, only the northernmost one of which, a quadrangular plaza with 13 buildings, has been explored.

History

There are texts at Pomona referring to dates as early as 297 CE, but little more is known from this time period. In 659 CE, Palenque captured six lords in battle. One was said to be from Pipa', a location associated with the site of Pomona. Another Pipa' lord was said to have died in 663. A king of Pomona rose to the throne under the supervision of K'inich Kan Bahlam III of Palenque in 751 CE. In March 792 CE,

Piedras Negras Piedras Negras may refer to: * Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a city in the state of Coahuila, Mexico ** Piedras Negras Municipality, a municipality in Mexico, with the center in the eponymous city * Piedras Negras (Maya site) Piedras Negras is the ...

attacked Pomona and took prisoners (depicted on Piedras Negras stela 12); the same happened two years later. The defeated king at Pomona was named Kuch' Bahlam.

Artistic legacy

Pomona is renowned for the delicacy and beauty of its relief sculpture, which shows similarities with that of Jonuta and Palenque. Panel 1 (Fig. 3) shows two of originally four young princes wearing the aquatic attributes of the

Bacab Bacab () is the generic Yucatec Maya name for the four prehispanic aged deities of the interior of the earth and its water deposits. The Bacabs have more recent counterparts in the lecherous, drunken old thunder deities of the Gulf Coast regions. ...

s and holding Year Bearer days in their hands.Stuart (n.d.), pp. 34.

References

Bibliography

* David Stuart, New Year Recordings in Classic Maya Inscriptions, pp. 3–4. ''PARI Online Publications''. * {{Coord, 17.2905, N, 91.3413, W, source:wikidata, display=title Maya sites in Tabasco Maya sites