Glass of God N (Pahuahtun)

Cylindrical glass polychrome decorated with the image of a God N (Pahuahtun) on a red background and framed by bands with designs in chevron. God N features of old, a conch shell on the back and wears headdress, earrings and necklace

Period: Classic Period
In the Mayan cosmovision, both the heavens and the earth were sustained for “chargers”, with the Bacabs (or Bacauob) the chargers of the earth plane (represented as gods of old with turtle shell) and the Pawahtunes (or Pawahtunob) chargers heaven (represented as gods of old emerging from snail shells). However, the chargers of the sky and of the earth could be represented as either turtles or snails.

Both the turtles and the snails are associated with the renaissance, being the turtle shell as a metaphor of the earth that separates the sky from the underworld. Snails -for its association with the water and their spiral shape – have connotations of fertility and life and usually give shape to a character known as God N.
Information and photos obtained from larutamaya.com.gt