Quiriguá is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the department of Izabal in south-eastern Guatemala. It is a medium-sized site covering approximately 3 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) along the lower Motagua River, with the ceremonial center about 1 km (0.6 mi) from the north bank. During the Maya Classic Period (AD 200–900), Quiriguá was situated at the juncture of several important trade routes. The site was occupied by 200, construction on the acropolis had begun by about 550, and an explosion of grander construction started in the 8th century. All construction had halted by about 850, except for a brief period of reoccupation in the Early Postclassic. Quiriguá shares its architectural and sculptural styles with the nearby Classic Period city of Copán, with whose history it is closely entwined.
Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands.
Kʼinich Yax Kʼukʼ Moʼ is named in Maya inscriptions as the founder and first ruler, kʼul ajaw, of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization polity centered at Copán, a major Maya site located in the southeastern Maya lowlands region in present-day Honduras. The motifs associated with his depiction on Copán monuments have a distinct resemblance to imagery associated with the height of the Classic-era center of Teotihuacan in the distant northern central Mexican region, and have been interpreted as intending to suggest his origins and association with that prestigious civilization. One of the most commonly cited motifs for this interpretation is the "goggle-eyed" headdress with which Yax Kʼukʼ Moʼ is commonly depicted; this is seemingly an allusion to the northern central Mexican rain deity known as Tlaloc by later peoples, such as the Aztecs. However, modern strontium isotope analysis of the human remains recovered from the tomb attributed to him indicate that Kʼinich Yax Kʼukʼ Moʼ spent his formative years much closer to Copán, at Tikal, and had not himself lived at Teotihuacan.
Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil, was the 13th ajaw or ruler of the powerful Maya polity associated with the site of Copán in modern Honduras. He ruled from January 2, 695, to May 3, 738.
Jasaw Chan Kʼawiil I also known as Ruler A, Ah Cacao and Sky Rain,, was an ajaw of the Maya city of Tikal. He took the throne on May 3, 682 and reigned until his death.
Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, previously known variously as Cauac Sky, Kawak Sky, Butsʼ Tiliw and Butzʼ Tiʼliw, was the greatest leader of the ancient Maya city-state of Quiriguá.
Yikʼin Chan Kʼawiil also known as Ruler B, Yaxkin Caan Chac and Sun Sky Rain,, was an ajaw of the Maya city of Tikal. He took the throne on December 8, 734.
Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil was a Maya ruler of Dos Pilas. He is also known as Ruler 1, Flint Sky God K and Malah Chan Kʼawil.
Jasaw Chan Kʼawiil II also known as Stela 11 Ruler,, was an ajaw of the Maya city of Tikal. He ruled c.869. The monuments associated with Jasaw Chan Kʼawiil II are: Stela 11 and Altar 11.
Maya stelae are monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. They consist of tall, sculpted stone shafts and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars, although their actual function is uncertain. Many stelae were sculpted in low relief, although plain monuments are found throughout the Maya region. The sculpting of these monuments spread throughout the Maya area during the Classic Period, and these pairings of sculpted stelae and circular altars are considered a hallmark of Classic Maya civilization. The earliest dated stela to have been found in situ in the Maya lowlands was recovered from the great city of Tikal in Guatemala. During the Classic Period almost every Maya kingdom in the southern lowlands raised stelae in its ceremonial centre.
Sihyaj Chan Kʼawiil II, also known as Storm Sky and Manikin Cleft Sky, was an ajaw of the Maya city of Tikal. He took the throne on November 26, 411 and reigned until his death. He was a son of his predecessor Yax Nuun Ahiin I and Lady Kʼinich, and a grandson of Spearthrower Owl. Stela 31, erected during his reign, describes the death of his grandfather in 439; other monuments associated with Sihyaj Chan Kʼawiil II are Stelae 1 and possibly Stelae 28. Tikal Temple 33 was Sihyaj Chan Kʼawiil II's funerary pyramid and his tomb was located beneath it.
Kʼakʼ Chan Yopaat was the eleventh dynastic ruler at Copán. He was crowned as king in AD 578, 24 days after the death of Tzi-Bʼalam. At the time of his rule Copán was undergoing an unprecedented rise in population, with residential land use spreading to all available land in the entire Copán Valley. The two surviving stelae of Kʼakʼ Chan Yopaat contain long hard-to-decipher hieroglyphic texts and are the oldest monuments at the site to survive without being either broken or buried. He had a long reign, ruling at Copán for 49 years, and he died on 5 February 628. His name is recorded on four stelae erected by his successors, one of which describes a rite performed with relics from his tomb in AD 730, almost a hundred years after his death.
Chan Imix Kʼawiil was the twelfth ruler of the Maya city state Copán. His nickname was Smoke Jaguar.
Kʼakʼ Yipyaj Chan Kʼawiil was a ruler of the Mayan city of Copán. He was the son of Kʼakʼ Joplaj Chan Kʼawiil. The early period of his rulership fell within Copán's hiatus but later on he began a programme of renewal in an effort to recover from the earlier disaster of the city. He built a new version of Temple 26, with the Hieroglyphic Stairway being reinstalled on the new stairway and doubled in length. Five life-size statues of seated rulers were installed seated upon the stairway. Kʼakʼ Yipyaj Chan Kʼawiil died in the early 760s and is likely to have been interred in Temple 11, although the tomb has not yet been excavated.
The Third Tikal–Calakmul War was the third in a series of wars between Tikal and Calakmul, two of the Major superpowers of the Maya Civilization during the classic period.
The Tikal–Calakmul wars were a series of wars, mainly between Tikal and Calakmul on the Yucatán Peninsula, but also with vassal states in the Petén Basin such as Copan, Dos Pilas, Naranjo, Sacul, Quiriguá, and briefly Yaxchilan had a role in initiating the first war.
The history of Maya civilization is divided into three principal periods: the Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic periods; these were preceded by the Archaic Period, which saw the first settled villages and early developments in agriculture. Modern scholars regard these periods as arbitrary divisions of chronology of the Maya civilization, rather than indicative of cultural evolution or decadence. Definitions of the start and end dates of period spans can vary by as much as a century, depending on the author. The Preclassic lasted from approximately 2000 BC to approximately 250 AD; this was followed by the Classic, from 250 AD to roughly 950 AD, then by the Postclassic, from 950 AD to the middle of the 16th century. Each period is further subdivided:
Sihyaj Chan Kʼawiil I, was ajaw ("lord") of the Maya city-state of Tikal. He was son of his predecessor Animal Headdress and Lady Skull. The monument associated with Sihyaj Chan Kʼawiil I is El Encanto Stela I.
Wak Chan Kʼawiil, also known as Double Bird, was an ajaw of the Maya city of Tikal. He took the throne on December 27, 537(?) and reigning probably until his death. He was son of Chak Tok Ichʼaak II and Lady Hand. He sponsored accession of Yajaw Teʼ Kʼinich II, ruler of Caracol in 553. The monument associated with Wak Chan Kʼawiil is Stelae 17.
