Dying to Rule: Sex and Power in Moche Society – 2007
Between two worlds
The lower part of this image depicts the World of the Dead and the upper part shows the World of the Ancestors. The World of the Dead is inhabited by skeletal beings, two of whom lie in their tombs. The scene is completed with an amputee riding a llama followed by a procession of dancers and flute players, and funerary vessels. A line separates the two worlds. Through a narrow opening the deceased Ruler is attempting to pass into the World of the Ancestors. Below, skeletal beings hold him back by the legs, while above others throw stones, a sign of rejection. Once the difficult transition is accomplished, an individual or the Ruler himself engages in anal copulation with a woman while a skeleton throws stones at them. An owl, a bat and a flute player with a mutilated face accompany the upper scene.