Moche kings 83 FIG. 10 (right): Stirrup vessel, man suffering from leishmaniasis. Moche, tomb 2, Dos Cabezas, North Coast, Peru. Middle Moche, 6th–7th century. Terracotta. H: 18 cm. Museo de Sitio de Chan Chan, Trujillo. Inv. reg. nac. 0000095432. © MEG, J. Watts/Ministerio de Cultura del Perú, Lima. FIG. 11 (lower right): Stirrup vessel, “hippocamp.” Moche, tomb 2, Dos Cabezas, North Coast, Peru. Middle Moche, 6th–7th century. Terracotta. H: 20 cm. Museo de Sitio de Chan Chan, Trujillo. Inv. reg. nac. 0000095433. © MEG, J. Watts/Ministerio de Cultura del Perú, Lima. An Unprecedented Exhibition Buried in the saline soil of the desert for more than 1,500 years, the treasures in Les rois mochica have undergone a several-years-long process of restoration, performed by the staff of the Tumbas Reales de Sipán museum in the town of Lambayeque. This was made possible by financial support provided by the Swiss government and the city of Geneva through the intermediaries of the Federal Office of Culture in Bern and the MEG. Having regained their original splendor, the objects now on display at the MEG serve as a foundation for the examination of how the strategies implemented by the elites were used to legitimize their power and to consolidate their hold on a society in which profound inequalities prevailed. Fauna, flora, and even climatic phenomena like the El Niño, which brought drastic meteorological changes associated with the wrath of the gods that only human sacrifices could appease, were all used to reinforce their dominance. This is reflected in the art by such symbols as a man with the attributes of a feline, whose syncretic form indicated he was a mediator with the gods. The maintenance of the social order was built around a complex hierarchical system, one of the principal instruments of which was ritual. These often included sacrificial practices that conferred divine rights on rulers, including those of life and death
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