Editing Damnatio memoriae (section)

== Americas ==
=== Ancient Maya ===
Several apparent ''damnatio memoriae'' incidents occurred within the [[Maya civilization]] during the [[Mesoamerican chronology|Classic period]] (AD 250–900) as a result of political conflicts between leaders of the local kingdoms.

One notable incident occurred in the kingdom of Paʼ Chan (modern-day [[Yaxchilan]], [[Mexico]]) in the middle of the 8th century. In June 742, the ''k'uhul [[ajaw]]'' (Holy Lord, i.e. king) of Pa' Chan, [[Itzamnaaj Bahlam III]], died after a 60-year-long rule, during which he turned his kingdom into one of great riches after a large number of military campaigns which were recorded and illustrated on multiple high-quality [[Maya stelae|stelae]], [[lintel]]s and [[Maya script|hieroglyphic]] steps of temples which he dedicated to his military success (e.g. Temple 44) and his family (e.g. Temple 23). Though he had a son who eventually ascended to the throne after his death, there was a mysterious decade-long ''[[interregnum]]'' period in which Pa' Chan did not record the existence of any king. Itzamnaaj Bahlam's son, [[Yaxun Bʼalam IV]], also known as Bird Jaguar IV, ascended to the throne in April 752, nearly ten years after his father's death.<ref name="Martin & Grube 2008">{{Cite book |last=Martin |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Martin (Mayanist) |title=Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens |last2=Grube |first2=Nikolai |author-link2=Nikolai Grube |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-500-28726-2 |edition=2nd |pages=119, 123–130}}</ref>

This ''interregnum'' period may be explained by a text from the nearby northern kingdom of Yokib (modern-day [[Piedras Negras (Maya site)|Piedras Negras]], [[Guatemala]]). Panel 3 of this city, largely regarded as one of the most beautiful pieces of [[Mayan art]], was carved approximately in 782 and illustrates an episode of the reign of [[Itzam Kʼan Ahk II]] (also known as Pawaaj Kʼan Ahk II), in which he celebrated his first ''[[kʼatun]]'' (period of 7200 days) as king, on 27 July 749. Panel 3 claims that the celebration {{qi|was witnessed by Sak Jukub Yopaat Bahlam, Holy Lord of Paʼ Chan.}} Also known as Yopaat Bahlam II, this mysterious ruler does not appear anywhere else in the historical record, not even in his supposed homeland. Moreoever, his respectful presence at a celebration in Yokib, Paʼ Chan's centuries-old and bitter rival (which had, in fact, scored a victory in battle against Itzamnaaj Bahlam III in 726), as well as the depiction of Itzam Kʼan Ahk apparently addressing a speech (now hardly readable, but probably involving an event of Paʼ Chan's past) toward a party from Paʼ Chan—which included his son and "heir to the throne" of Paʼ Chan (''chʼok paʼchan ajaw''), Sihyaj Ahkteʼ—, possibly indicate that he ruled as a vassal of Itzam Kʼan Ahk, or that he used the celebration as an opportunity to ask for Itzam Kʼan Ahk's support against Yaxun Bʼalam IV, his political rival.<ref name="García Juárez & Bernal Romero 2019">{{Cite journal |last=García Juárez |first=Sara Isabel |last2=Bernal Romero |first2=Guillermo |year=2019 |title=El Panel 3 de Piedras Negras. Historias desafiantes y recuerdos ignominiosos |trans-title=Panel 3 of Piedras Negras. Challenging stories and disgraceful memories |url=https://www.academia.edu/39216073 |journal=[[Arqueología Mexicana]] |language=es |volume=XXVI |issue=156 |pages=72–83 |issn=0188-8218 |access-date=31 May 2024}}</ref> This has led to the conclusion that if this man truly ruled Paʼ Chan, any records of his existence were destroyed during the reign of Yaxun Bʼalam IV, who notoriously led a massive propaganda campaign throughout his rule to claim legitimacy over the throne, which involved the rewriting of his kingdom's dynastic history and restoration of several historical records of previous kings. The immense texts writing Yaxun Bʼalam's own version of his kingdom's dynastic history may have been carved over existing records which would have been intentionally erased with [[plaster]], possibly destroying the records of the king (or kings) of the ''interregnum''.<ref name="Martin & Grube 2008" />

It is possible Yopaat Bahlam and his son lived the rest of their lives in exile at Yokib, and that the "heir to the throne" never rose to power. Yopaat Bahlam may have been buried in Burial 13 of the city, judging from a text carved on four ''[[Spondylus]] [[Spondylus limbatus|limbatus]]'' shells found within it which bears his name and mentions that he had previously visited the city in January 747, also within the ''interregnum''.<ref name="García Juárez & Bernal Romero 2019" />

=== New Spain ===
{{See also|Mexican Inquisition}}
[[File:Petroglifo de Moctezuma Xocoyotzin.jpg|thumb|The Chapultepec portrait of Moctezuma II, made in 1519 and intentionally damaged in the middle of the 18th century, is the only surviving Chapultepec portrait of a Mexica monarch.]]

Notorious incidents of ''damnatio memoriae'' occurred during the existence of the [[Viceroyalty of New Spain]], the [[Spanish colony]] that emerged after the [[Spanish conquest of Mexico]] in 1521. Various [[List of viceroys of New Spain|viceroys]] ordered the destruction of monuments and documents depicting certain episodes of [[pre-Columbian]] [[Mesoamerica]]n history and rebels to Spanish rule over the Americas.

For instance, [[Moctezuma I]] (not to be confused with his more famous great-grandson [[Moctezuma II]]), 15th-century ''[[Tlatoani|huei tlahtoani]]'' (Great Speaker, i.e. emperor) of the ''Excan Tlahtoloyan'' ({{lit}} Triple Capital),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Herrera Meza |first=María del Carmen |last2=López Austin |first2=Alfredo |last3=Martínez Baracs |first3=Rodrigo |year=2013 |title=El nombre náhuatl de la Triple Alianza |trans-title=The Nahuatl name of the Triple Alliance |url=https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0071-16752013000200002 |journal=Estudios de cultura náhuatl |language=es |volume=46 |pages=7–35 |issn=0071-1675 |access-date=31 May 2024}}</ref> known by historians as the Mexica or [[Aztec Empire]] (also known as the Aztec Triple Alliance, whose inhabitants referred to themselves as Culhua-Mexica), ordered the creation of a portrait of himself and of his military and political advisor [[Tlacaelel]] at [[Chapultepec]], a historically and naturally important site which nowadays is within [[Mexico City]]. This became a tradition among subsequent Mexica rulers, and portraits of [[Axayacatl]] and [[Ahuizotl]], two of Moctezuma's successors, were also made throughout the rest of the century ([[Tizoc]]'s absence may be explained by his sudden death from poisoning). Moctezuma II would create the last portrait of this kind in 1519 (which {{harvtxt|Hajovsky|2015|p=118}} believes might be {{qi|the last Aztec monument}}), at the eve of the Spanish conquest.

[[Antonio de León y Gama]], a distinguished Mexican intellectual, wrote in the late 18th century that these portraits were well preserved up until that century. León y Gama claimed that the only portrait he got to see himself was Moctezuma II's, before its destruction was ordered by the authorities in 1753 or 1754. He mentioned that Axayacatl's portrait still existed earlier in that century before it was {{qi|broken up and removed.}} Indeed, the remains of Moctezuma's portrait, approximately 2 meters (over 6 feet) high, reveal that its damage was not accidental or natural. It was carved on pink-to-gray [[andesite]], which is {{qi|slightly harder than [[marble]],}} according to Hajovsky. The markings in the damaged parts show that apparently its destruction was executed with the dropping of a boulder, and that deep holes were drilled {{qi|perhaps in order to pry the stone apart or blow it up.}}

In another notorious instance, Spanish [[bishop]] [[Juan de Zumárraga]] ordered the destruction of a portrait depicting [[Nezahualcoyotl (tlatoani)|Nezahualcoyotl]], king of [[Texcoco (altepetl)|Texcoco]], on 7 July 1539, along with various other sculptures at the Hill of [[Texcotzingo]] {{qi|in a manner such that they would no longer be remembered,}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hajovsky |first=Patrick Thomas |title=On the Lips of Others: Moteuczoma's Fame in Aztec Monuments and Rituals |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-292-76668-6 |location=[[Austin, Texas]] |pages=IX, 1, 118—119, 136 |doi=10.7560/766686}}</ref> a clear example of ''damnatio memoriae''.

During the [[Mexican War of Independence]], which started in 1810, one of the earliest revolutionary leaders, [[Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla]], nowadays remembered as a [[national Hero]], was executed by the Spanish authorities in 1811. After his execution, according to contemporary accounts, the authorities declared a ''damnatio memoriae''. According to one of Hidalgo's soldiers, Pedro García (1790–1873), {{qi|the fierce war against Hidalgo's memory and his ideas}} was done through strict censorship.
{{blockquote|It became illegal to speak about Hidalgo anywhere, it became a great crime that was severely punished. This is the reason why no portrait which resembles him at all is found anywhere in the country, since the prohibition lasted nearly ten years. Nobody felt safe speaking inside their homes.}}

The Spanish efforts to erase his memory, however, were in vain. The War of Independence continued, and the leaders who continued to revolution after Hidalgo's death made great efforts to commemorate his legacy. [[José María Morelos]], for example, declared in 1813 that 16 September, the anniversary of the beginning of the war, would be celebrated every year {{qi|remembering always the merit of the great Hero [[Don (honorific)|Don]] Miguel Hidalgo and his partner Don [[Ignacio Allende]].}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brenes Tencio |first=Guillermo |year=2010 |title=Miguel Hidalgo a la luz del arte: iconografía del héroe nacional — Padre de la Patria mexicana (siglos XIX y XX) |trans-title=Miguel Hidalgo under the light of art: iconography of the national Hero—Father of the Mexican Nation |url=https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/kanina/article/view/704 |journal=Káñina. Revista de Artes y Letras |language=es |publisher=[[University of Costa Rica]] |volume=XXXIV |issue=2 |pages=53–71 |issn=0378-0473 |access-date=31 May 2024}}</ref>