ART ON VIEW
70
of calendars and the formulation of a social structure
that was supported by religion. The system
of punishing or rewarding behavior that they developed
established the priests as the leaders of
the earliest public institutions of the region.
The exhibition approaches the subject of terrestrial
power through an examination of the tombs
of the main Moche and Lambayeque rulers that
have been excavated over the last thirty years. The
most emblematic of these tombs is undoubtedly
that of the Lord of Sipán, which Walter Alva1 discovered
in the Huaca Rajada funerary complex.
Alva found other tombs at this location, one of
which he attributed to the Owl Priest (person
“B”), distinct from that of the Lord, who is
also identifi ed as the Warrior Priest (person
“A”). He successfully compared the
emblems he found that were associated
with the body of person “A” with
iconographic representations known
as the “Presentation Theme.”2 This
discovery, a revelation in Peruvian
archaeology, confi rmed that Raimondi
Stele iconography did not, as had long
been thought, illustrate simple myths
or scenes of daily life, but rather depicts
specifi c rites and ceremonies in
fi shed from small boats with hooks and lines as
well as with nets. Fish was salted and preserved
and, like peppers, was traded with the inhabitants
of the Andean High Plateau.
The part of the exhibition devoted to celestial
power examines how the gods controlled the fi rst
complex societies, as well as the ways in which elite
groups used religion to affi rm and justify their own
power. Superb ceramic, stone, and metal sculptures
represent the faces of deities. One of these,
which dates from the early Cupisnique civilization,
represents the Staff God, who also appears on the
Raimondi Stele that was discovered at the Chavín
de Huantar site. He is similar to the God of the
Mountains among the Moche, to the Scepter
God in the Tiahuanaco and Huari cultures,
and to the Inca god Viracocha. This deity is
associated with water, thunder, mountains,
and, by extension, with agricultural fertility.
Cupisnique and Moche ceramic
representations of this god are also
featured in the installation.
The worship of the gods was overseen
by priests, who were among the fi rst
specialists in early complex societies,
since they were the keepers of knowledge
in that era. Among their most notable
achievements was the development
FIG. 5 (below): Figural
vessel depicting a demon
crab fi shing for a ray. Santa
Province, Peru.
100 BC–AD 700.
Terracotta, pigment. H: 21.7 cm.
Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques
Chirac, inv. 71.1878.2.99 a.
© Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques
Chirac. Photo: Claude Germain.
FIG. 6 (facing page, top):
Person with a club. Middle
Moche, Peru. AD 250–500.
Gilt copper. H: 27.7 cm.
Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán,
inv. s/T3-cu:35.
© Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques
Chirac. Photo: Eduardo Hirose.
© Lambayeque, Museo Tumbas
Reales de Sipán – Archivo, Ministère
de la Culture du Pérou.
FIG. 7 (facing page,
bottom): Nose ornament.
Middle Moche, Peru.
AD 250–500.
Gold, silver. H: 9 cm.
Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán,
inv. s/T3-0:2.
© Lambayeque, Museo Tumbas
Reales de Sipán – Archivo, Ministère
de la Culture du Pérou.