A Moche Depiction Of A Crucifixion

By Clifford C. Richey

August 2009
 Illustration 1: A Moche Crucifixion

This scene1 appears to be one of a Moche crucifixion of a male figure (dictionary definition: an
extremely difficult and painful trial, torturous suffering). The Imagery sign for wood is “Y” shaped
(brown) and was, very likely, based on the branching of a tree trunk. The specific sign has a “V”
branching and a complete Trunk. The combination is a compound of “V” an opening and the Trunk as
a long vertical place sign. The meaning, below the Imagery level, is that of a vertical place with an
opening at the top. Defeated warriors may have been tied to such tree trunks and left out in the desert
sun to die of dehydration. The idea behind such behavior may have been that it was the the Great Sun
that killed the warriors as opposed to their being directly dispatched by man. We can only see the top
and one side of the sign for wood. This type of treatment of captives also made the point that it was the
water in man that kept him alive. Once the water left his body his spirit left also.

The overall scene depicts a known occurrence in the Moche culture otherwise it could not have been
easily conceived and drawn. However it does not depict any specific event or individual. Its overall
meaning is one of painful trial. The scene may actually depict a scene from the after-life where the

1 I have been unable to ascertain the the source of this illustration nor the vessel upon which it was found. If anyone could
provide that information I will be pleased to credit the original source.
spirit of the deceased has undergone a painful trial and is awaiting re-birth or resurrection. The Face
(as he appears) of the figure is blackened which means deep and/or dark. The Head imagery is one of
a Skull meaning death. The hair on his scalp is standing up – a universal human response to a grave or
imminent threat. In other words the individual is fearful. The (black) rounded Square attached to the
Head is the sign for a Dark House or Domain. The House has a face within it –thus a spirit-house or
the dark domain of the spirit. The Eyes and Mouth of the spirit can be further broken down into a
Straight Line (red) that means the surface (of the earth) and the Eyes (also red) are created from the
sign for a broken surface or a break in the surface.

The Four Birds represent the earth's four directions and are also the sign for flight or flying. The Birds
also appear to be Vultures and this Imagery probably represents an idea such as, the one's who eat the
flesh. The Birds are black in color and this would mean deep and/or dark which serves to reinforce the
impression that this Imagery was intended to only create the idea of painful trial and that this suffering
was located in the underworld. The combined message is the arrival of the Vultures, flying in the
darkness from all directions, the one's who eat the flesh.

His
Torturous Suffering

Illustration 2: His Face

His Face, As He Appears

in Death
Fearful
In the
Dark House, The Domain
of
The Spirit

Illustration 3: The
House
On the Surface of the Earth
The Break in its Surface
The Black Square is the sign for a house and the long (red) line represents the earth's surface. The two angled Eyes
 represent a break or opening in the ground's surface. The Finger (green) pointing toward the figure's throat (a tube
like structure) represents, here. The curved line (blue) is the sign for ascending. The White Circle with the Black
Center is the sign for a hole in the ground.
Here
Ascending
to a
Hole in the Surface
The Mouth of the Earth-Female,
a Spring
A Mouth, any Mouth, represents a source of water or moisture. In this case the earth-female sign ( light green) is in
the Mouth so there can be no mistake that what is being referred to here is a water-hole or spring.

Illustration 4: Face Signs

The Locations of the Hills Places

in
All Directions, Everywhere

The Teeth are the signs for hills (4) meaning in all directions.
The Rectangular place signs (4), the places in all directions -all over.

Here at the Throat

The Polliwogs, The Changelings

The Bird's Heads are made up of the Imagery of a Polliwogs and Wavy signs for a flow or flowing. The Polliwog was
used to indicate something that originally had one form and then transformed into another form. Because we are
talking about a spring here it naturally follows that a pool would contain polliwogs waiting to transform into frogs.
There are also location-female-flowing signs next to the Eye of the polliwog which is the hole sign. The double lines
outside of a third internal line of the Bird's Beak is the sign for an unseen pathway. The unseen pathway is the Throat
or tunnel that leads down below.

At the
Location
of the
Earth-Female's
Flowing

The Portals on the Side

of the
Earth-Female

The signs for a doorway or portal are on the side of the figure's Head (the Hair in the Imagery). The double lines are
 the portals and the single lines represent the Stance for, on-the-side.

The Long Journey

on the
Side
of the
Earth-Female

At the back of the figure's Head is the imagery of a Leg and Foot meaning, a long-journey. The Toe of the Foot
touches the Triangular earth-female sign.

Illustration 5: The Arms

Here
The Many Hands,
The Many Stewards
(of the Sun)
The Many Locations, Places
on the
Earth-Female
They Sit
Awaiting Flight

Here
On Her
Side
The Great Bowl
Places
Here is where the Two Arms which are Two Large Fingers pointing a direction upward or above. The Fingers point
to the figure's Hands. The Hands are in the gesture sign for flight. Between the Hands is the Imagery of a Bird (shades
of blue with a yellow beak) that is sitting. Later we will see that this relates to the human figure with its lower trunk
being in the Stance of a person sitting. For now, the Bird Imagery looks like a Duck sitting on the water.
Each Hand has only three Fingers and a Thumb. The three Fingers are composed of location-place signs and the
number three is gesture sign short hand for many (beyond the plural of the number two). The Imagery sign for Wood
or a Tree was modified with a more rounded branching than the normal “V” shape. This rounding changes the
meaning from an opening to that of a bowl. The upper two parts of the wood imagery are large places signs. The light
blue sign that makes up the Bird's Neck and Breast is unknown. The (darker blue) signs are a Finger pointing at a
earth-female sign that is lying on its side. Thus, The bowl- here on the earth-female's side.

By now we we are aware that the subject matter was not that of one person undergoing crucifixion but rather many
 persons undergoing great suffering in the underworld and awaiting transformation.

Illustration 6: The Body

The Many Levels

Each cord appears to represent a level of the under-world. They are depicted as in three separate areas, meaning,
many. The Bird's Beak on the left touches the brown area which has the Form of an Axe. The Beak is its handle and
the signs state an unseen pathway. There is a small hill sign (red) and the upper Beak ( mouth-a source of water). The
Upper Beak's line represents the surface. The Belly of the figure represents a place. Below the figure is sitting on an
Image of a Seat (brown)

The Axe, The Sun

His Place
His Seat
It is difficult to determine whether the Sun that is referenced is the actual Sun or the Person who represents the Sun. It
is likely that it is the person because the size of the Axe is relatively small.

The Cord, The Tie

That Binds
Together
The two lengths of cord side by side
a
Multitude of Places
all the place signs within the cords
The Unseen Pathways
The Beak of the Bird signs touching the cord (its internal signs)
of
The Polliwogs, The Changelings
The Head of the Bird as Polliwog Imagery and there are more than one. The meaning of the doubled cords is
unknown. Perhaps they were considered as double lines which would mean hidden or unseen.
The Cord, The Ties
That Bind
Him
to where
He Sits, He Waits
This a repeat of the concept of the bird sitting in the Bowl (a pool?) and the entire theme is one of
 suffering and waiting
The Doorway, The Portal
On the Side
(Stance of the portal sign)
The portal or door sign (green) is placed in the genital area to make the sign for male in the Imagery. It is leaning to
emphasize that it is on the side of the surface (the upper line of the Leg) of the earth.
The Cord, The Tie
That
Binds the Journeys
in the
Many Places Below
The cord holds or binds the Legs (long) and Feet (journeys). The Feet are place signs and the Three Toes mean, many.
Below is relative to the cord.
from
The West and the East
The gesture signs indicate direction through the hands. The East is the left hand while the right hand represents the
West. One reads as if one's back is to the North
We have seen that the heads of the Vultures are in the Image of polliwogs. The Bird's bodies are also
compound signs that can be further broken down to reveal additional meaning. The meaning of each
Birds is only slightly different so only one Bird will be translated here.

Illustration 7: The Vulture

In the above illustration we can see that the head of the Polliwog is at the mouth of a ceramic vessel.
The Wing of the Bird is a Female-Earth sign. Thus the vessel whose Mouth (a source of water) is in
the form of the sign for a Bowl ( the Polliwog or Changeling is held as in a bowl of water – a pool).
Below the vessel is the sign for a place. The Bird's Leg (an unseen, as it is drawn with double lines,
journey that holds down as in a bowl). The Head, as we have seen is made up for the signs for a hole
and flowing (flowing water). The Beak as the sign for an unseen-pathway. The Tail is a place sign
-below.

We are now able to understand the full meaning of the Moche crucifixion. The great suffering takes
place within the container, the vessel, which is earth-female or earth-woman. All of the Bird's body is
actually drawn in black so the activity depicted is dark and deep within the earth. Only two phases of a
very complex cosmology is represented by this composition. That part of the afterlife that entails a
journey through the underworld and its culmination with the spirit of the deceased waiting in the flow
of a spring, and its pool, for his next transformation that will lead him to the sky and his final abode
among the stars. We know from previous translations that his next transformation will allow him to
make the great leap to the sky. This is his transformation from a “polliwog” to a “frog” (the one who
leaps-upward).