Untitled Document It’s not Mayan – it’s all of ours. Presenting 150 objects (including 70 never seen before in the U.S.), Lords Of Creation: The Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship explores the "divine kings" in the complex conurbations that existed 2,000 years ago in what’s currently Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and western Honduras. If your knowledge of Mayan rituals is solely "that staircase looking pyramid" or "those sun stone shirts they sell on Olvera Street," it may be time to meet Mictlantecuhtli (metaphorically, of course, as he’s the God of death.)

It is time for the Greek gods' hegemony to come to end. Everyone’s heard of Hades, Apollo, Ares – but what about Mictlantecuhtli? Quetzcoatl? Huitzilpochtli? The mythology is much the same and just as ripe for appropriation by hack postmodern poets.

At this exhibit, showcasing new discoveries in Maya archaeology, art history and hieroglyphic writing, LACMA does a phenomenal job exploring the cultural and philosophical foundations of the bygone empire – an empire where human rulers, before they were destroyed by Cortez, engaged with supernatural ("divine") beings and ruled accordingly. Our money may say it, and our ruler may quote it regarding intelligent design, but for the Mayans it was a complete culture of In God We Trust.

LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd., in Los Angeles. Museum Hours: Mon, Tue, Thu noon-8 p.m.; Fri noon-9 p.m.; Sat, Sun 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; closed Wed. Price: Adults $9; students 18+ with ID $5; admission (except to specially ticketed exhibitions) is free the second Tuesday of every month, and evenings after 5 p.m. For more information, call (323) 857-6000 or visit www.lacma.org.