I n this paper, we discuss the highly decorated façade of a Classic-period Maya temple un- covered at Holmul in 2013 by the Holmul Archaeological Project (Estrada-Belli 2013; Than 2013). Carved imagery and inscriptions elucidate the function and historical context of the structure. The hieroglyphic narrative also alludes to political processes at work in the southern Maya Lowlands during the transition from the Early to the Late Classic period. Holmul is a Maya city in northeastern Petén, Guatemala. It is situated on a ridge overlooking the mid course of the Holmul River, which flows east from the periphery of Tikal to Naranjo before turning north towards Holmul and the Bay of Chetumal. The residential periphery of the city stretched for several kilometers, blending with the neighboring centers of Hamontun and K’o (Figure 1). Holmul was first investigated between 1909 and 1911 by Raymond E. Merwin of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Har- vard University (Merwin and Vaillant 1932). Mer- win excavated several richly furnished Early and Late Classic tombs, but after three field seasons he had not discovered any inscribed monuments. As a result, archaeologists bypassed the site for almost a century. In 2000, the Holmul Archaeo- A KING’S APOTHEOSIS: ICONOGRAPHY, TEXT, AND POLITICS FROM A CLASSIC MAYA TEMPLE AT HOLMUL Francisco Estrada-Belli and Alexandre Tokovinine Excavations at the ancient Maya city of Holmul, Petén, have led to the discovery of a building decorated with an intricately carved and painted plaster frieze. The iconography of the frieze portrays seated lords, mountain spirits, feathered serpents, and gods of the underworld engaged in the apparent rebirth of rulers as sun gods. Large emblems carved on the side of the building identify the structure as a shrine for ancestor veneration. A dedicatory text carved along the bottom of the frieze contains a king list and references to the political and familial ties of the ruler who commissioned the temple. Together, the iconography and text of this structure provide evidence of function and meaning. They also shed new light on a century during Classic Maya history known as the Tikal “Hiatus,” for which a limited number of texts are available. The information derived from this monument also broadens our understanding of the nature of hegemonic relationships among Classic Maya states. El desarrollo de excavaciones en la antigua ciudad Maya de Holmul, Petén, llevó al descubrimiento de un edificio decorado con un friso elaboradamente esculpido y pintado. Su iconografía incluye representaciones de reyes, espíritus de la montaña, serpientes emplumadas y dioses del inframundo asistiendo al renacimiento de los gobernantes como dioses solares. Los emblemas modelados en las fachadas laterales del edificio permiten identificar su función como santuario para la veneración de los ancestros. Un texto dedicatorio inciso a lo largo del friso contiene una lista de reyes y referencias a los lazos políticos y familiares del comisionante del templo. Juntos, la iconografía y el texto asociados a esta estructura, nos proporcionan una serie de datos clave para entender su función y su significado. Asimismo, permiten aclarar una parte aún oscura de la historia de los reinos del sur de las tierras bajas mayas para la cual se dispone de muy pocos datos y que es usualmente conocida como el “Hiato de Tikal”. La información derivada de este monumento también nos proporciona nuevos indicios sobre las relaciones de carácter hegemónico entre los estados mayas del periodo Clásico. Francisco Estrada-Belli  Anthropology Department, Tulane University, 6823 Saint Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118 (festrad1@tulane.edu) Alexandre Tokovinine  Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138 (tokovin@fas.harvard.edu) Latin American Antiquity 27(2), 2016, pp. 149–168 Copyright © 2016 by the Society for American Archaeology DOI: 10.7183/1045-6635.27.2.149 149