Yaxchilan Lintel 24

Yaxchilan Lintel 24 is housed in the British Museum in London, along with Lintels 25 and 26 from the same building, Structure 23 at the Maya site of Yaxchilan. The three lintels were removed from the site in the 19th century and have been in the British Museum's collection since.

The lintel depicts Lady Xoc, the principal wife of Maya King Itzamnaaj Bahlam III (Shield Jaguar), performing a bloodletting ritual by pulling a rope studded with thorns through her tongue. The king stands above her holding a torch, and the hieroglyphic text records the date of the event as approximately October 28, 709 CE.

Bloodletting was a central Maya royal ritual believed to open a portal to the supernatural realm and allow communication with gods and ancestors. In the case of Lady Xoc, the ritual is depicted in the accompanying lintels as producing a vision serpent, from which emerges a warrior ancestor, thereby legitimizing the king's rule.

Yaxchilan is located on the Usumacinta River in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico, on a bend of the river that forms part of the border between Mexico and Guatemala. The site was a major Classic-period Maya city that flourished during the 8th century CE under rulers like Itzamnaaj Bahlam III and his son Yaxuun Bahlam IV.