K'inich Yat Ahk II

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K'inich Yat Ahk II
Ajaw of Piedras Negras
K'inich Yat Ahk II.svg
K'inich Yat Ahk II's glyph, from Stela 15
Reign 781–808 AD
Predecessor Ha' K'in Xook
Father Itzam K'an Ahk II?
T'ul Chiik?
Mother Lady Bird
Religion Maya religion

K'inich Yat Ahk II (Mayan pronunciation:  [kʼinitʃ jat akh] ), also known as Ruler 7, was the last ajaw of Piedras Negras, [1] an ancient Maya settlement in Guatemala. He ruled during the Late Classic Period, from 781 to roughly 808 AD. Possibly a descendant of Itzam K'an Ahk II, K'inich Yat Ahk II ascended the throne upon the death of his brother, the sixth ajaw of the site, Ha' K'in Xook. While K'inich Yat Ahk II presided over the destruction of the rival Maya site Pomona, his reign likely ended with K'inich Tatbu Skull IV of Yaxchilan capturing and subjugating Piedras Negras. Itzam K'an Ahk II left behind several monuments, including stelae at Piedras Negras, a stone seat known as Throne 1 which records either the death or abdication of Ha' K'in Xook, and Panel 3 which recounts the exploits of Itzam K'an Ahk II.

Ajaw

Ajaw or Ahau ('Lord') is a pre-Columbian Maya political title attested from epigraphic inscriptions. It is also the name of the 20th day of the tzolkʼin, the Maya divinatory calendar, on which a king's kʼatun-ending rituals would fall.

Piedras Negras (Maya site) ruined city of pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Guatemala

Piedras Negras is the modern name for a ruined city of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization located on the north bank of the Usumacinta River in the Petén department of northeastern Guatemala. Piedras Negras is one of the most powerful of the Usumacinta ancient Maya urban centers. Occupation at Piedras Negras is known from the Late Preclassic period onward, based on dates retrieved from epigraphic information found on multiple stelae and altars at the site. Piedras Negras is an archaeological site known for its large sculptural output when compared to other ancient Maya sites. The wealth of sculpture, in conjunction with the precise chronological information associated with the lives of elites of Piedras Negras, has allowed archaeologists to reconstruct the political history of the Piedras Negras polity and its geopolitical footprint.

Maya civilization Mesoamerican civilization

The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peoples, and noted for its logosyllabic script—the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in pre-Columbian Americas—as well as for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya civilization developed in an area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. This region consists of the northern lowlands encompassing the Yucatán Peninsula, and the highlands of the Sierra Madre, running from the Mexican state of Chiapas, across southern Guatemala and onwards into El Salvador, and the southern lowlands of the Pacific littoral plain.

Contents

Biography

Reign of Piedras Negras

K'inich Yat Ahk II is known to have engaged in two wars against the Maya polity Pomona (pictured). Pomona3.JPG
K'inich Yat Ahk II is known to have engaged in two wars against the Maya polity Pomona (pictured).

Likely the final ajaw of Piedras Negras, K'inich Yat Ahk II (also known as Ruler 7) was the son of Lady Bird, and was born on April 7, 750 AD (9.15.18.16.7 12 Manki' 5 Sotz' in the Long Count). [2] It is possible that he was the son of Itzam K'an Ahk II, [2] or perhaps T'ul Chiik, a prince of Piedras Negras. [1] The ruler's name is a combination of two elements: a title and a predecessor's name. The title, k'inich, translates to "red-faced", and is a reference to the settlement's rulers' belief that they were the "lords of the sun". The name portion, Yat Ahk, was not taken from one of K'inich Yat Ahk II's immediate predecessors, but rather from one of Piedras Negras's earliest rulers, Yat Ahk I. [3] [4] K'inich Yat Ahk II took up the throne at Piedras Negras on May 31, 781 (9.17.10.9.4 1 K'an 7 Yaxk'in), almost a year following the death of his brother, Ha' K'in Xook. Despite this lengthy gap, there is no evidence that anyone ruled Piedras Negras in the interim. [5]

Mesoamerican Long Count calendar non-repeating base-20 and base-18 calendar used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, including the Maya

The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating, vigesimal (base-20) and base-18 calendar used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya. For this reason, it is often known as the MayaLong Count calendar. Using a modified vigesimal tally, the Long Count calendar identifies a day by counting the number of days passed since a mythical creation date that corresponds to August 11, 3114 BCE in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar. The Long Count calendar was widely used on monuments.

Yat Ahk I

Yat Ahk I was the third king of Mayan city-state Piedras Negras in Guatemala. He is also known as Ah Cauac Ah K'in, and by the English translation of his name, Turtle Tooth.

Acts of aggression

K'inich Yat Ahk II first took military action against his opponents in August of 787 AD, capturing a yajaw k'ahk (a "lord of fire") from Santa Elena Poco Uinic. [2] Then, in both 792 and 794 AD, K'inich Yat Ahk II carried out two "star wars" (that is, wars planned to coincide with key astronomical events) against the rival Maya settlement Pomona, the latter of the two resulting in Pomona being decisively defeated and subordinated. [2] K'inich Yat Ahk II was aided in both of these wars by his ally, Parrot Chaak of La Mar. [2] [6]

Santa Elena Poco Uinic

Santa Elena Poco Uinic is a Classic Maya site in Chiapas, Mexico. It contains Stela 3, that has the date 9.17.19.13.16 5 K'ib' 14 Ch'en and a glyph that indicates an eclipse. An eclipse occurred on July 16, 790 CE O.S., so that has frequently been proposed as a way of establishing a correlation between the Maya Calendar and the Julian Calendar.

Pomona, Tabasco

Pomona is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Tabasco, municipality of Tenosique, about 30 miles east of Palenque. Its flowering was in the Late Classic period.

Parrot Chaak was a ruler of La Mar, an ancient Maya settlement in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

Capture

In AD 808, Piedras Negras's sworn enemy Yaxchilan, ruled by K'inich Tatbu Skull IV, conquered Piedras Negras and subjugated K'inich Yat Ahk II, ending his rule; Lintel 10 at Yaxchilan directly names K'inich Yat Ahk II as a captive of the Yaxchilan ajaw. [2] There is evidence that troops from Yaxchilan attacked Piedras Negras and razed it, as debris and burnt artifacts have been documented throughout the site, and it appeared that Throne 1 was deliberately dismantled. [2] In the 1930s, certain researchers argued that this evidence suggested that the ruling class had been overthrown in a "peasants revolt" but modern scholars largely reject this idea. [2] Regardless, Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, and Mayanist Stephen D. Houston argue that the Piedras Negras dynasty may have survived for a time after the capture and death of K'inich Yat Ahk II, but its power was severely curtailed and fizzled out around c. 810 AD. Afterwards, Piedras Negras declined in importance and was eventually abandoned to the jungles of Guatemala. [2] [7]

Yaxchilan human settlement

Yaxchilan is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta River, with Piedras Negras as its major rival. Architectural styles in subordinate sites in the Usumacinta region demonstrate clear differences that mark a clear boundary between the two kingdoms.

Simon Martin is a British epigrapher, historian, writer and Mayanist scholar. He is best known for his contributions to the study and decipherment of the Maya script, the writing system used by the pre-Columbian Maya civilisation of Mesoamerica. As one of the leading epigraphers active in contemporary Mayanist research, Martin has specialised in the study of the political interactions and dynastic histories of Classic-era Maya polities. A former honorary research fellow at the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, as of 2018 Martin holds a position at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology where he is an Associate Curator and Keeper in the American Section and is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Nikolai Grube German Mesoamericanist

Nikolai Grube is a German epigrapher. He was born in Bonn in 1962. Grube entered the University of Hamburg in 1982 and graduated in 1985. His doctoral thesis was published at the same university in 1990. After he received his doctorate, Grube moved to the University of Bonn. Nikolai Grube has been heavily involved in the decipherment of the Maya hieroglyphic script.

Monuments

Stelae

Several stelae have been found that were erected by K'inich Yat Ahk II, including Stelae 12 and 15, which were sculpted out of limestone. [8] The first to be raised was Stela 15, which celebrated K'inich Yat Ahk II's first hotun ending as ajaw of Piedras Negras. The monument, positioned on the upper terrace of Pyramid O-13, [5] is "innovative", because it is almost a three-dimensional depiction of the leader. This innovation was the result of Piedras Negras sculptors fine-tuning their technical skills and marked "the closest [the sculptors of Piedras Negras] came to releasing the body from the stone block", according to O'Neil. [5] [8] The monument bears some stylistic similarities to Ha' K'in Xook's Stela 13, and given that Stela 15 is positioned above Stela 13 on the northwestern side of Pyramid O-13, it was likely that Stela 15 was erected to purposely associate K'inich Yat Ahk II with Ha' K'in Xook. [5]

Limestone Sedimentary rocks made of calcium carbonate

Limestone is a carbonate sedimentary rock that is often composed of the skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, foraminifera, and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). A closely related rock is dolostone, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. In fact, in old USGS publications, dolostone was referred to as magnesian limestone, a term now reserved for magnesium-deficient dolostones or magnesium-rich limestones.

Stela 12 details K'inich Yat Ahk II's victory over Pomona. PiedrasNegrasStela12.jpg
Stela 12 details K'inich Yat Ahk II's victory over Pomona.

The final stela to be erected was Stela 12 [5] and details K'inich Yat Ahk II's aforementioned victory over Pomona, showing K'Inich Yat Ahk II above military leaders and captives (of which a few are named). [9] [10] [11] Stylistically, the stela is more reminiscent of panels found at Piedras Negras, due to its "shallow relief[s]". [10] According to O'Neil, this style is evidence that at this time, "the sculptors … favored multi-figural pictorial narrative over the divine ruler's singular embodiment or three-dimensional presence." [10] Houston et al. argue that this stela is a "monument of vengeance", redressing the defeat of Piedras Negras at the hands of Pomona in 554 AD. [9] While the monument is not a niche stela, it makes reference to the style by showing the "seated ruler at the top ... and other people at lower levels", similar to Stelae 14 and 33. [10] The stela faces southwest, but this is because the monument was installed on the O-13 pyramid, which already faced in this direction. O'Neil has proposed, however, that the orientation was also purposeful, and that K'inich Yat Ahk II was trying to connect his stela with those of his forefathers. [10] Stela 12 is in a relatively poor state of preservation, as exposure has weathered it down. [11]

According to O'Neil, Stelae 15 and 12 show two different versions of what it means to be a "proper ruler": Stela 15 depicts K'inich Yat Ahk II as a devout practitioner of religion who does his sacred duty. Stela 12, on the other hand, depicts the ajaw as a conqueror, defeating enemies and subjugating rivals. [10] In addition, both Stelae 15 and 12 include the names of several sculptors and artists, one of whom worked on both stelae. [10] [11] These names are difficult to translate because many are unique when compared to extant Mayan glyphic texts. [11]

Throne 1

Throne 1 of Piedras Negras, which details the transfer of power from Ha' K'in Xook to K'inich Yat Ahk II. Piedrasnegrastrono.jpg
Throne 1 of Piedras Negras, which details the transfer of power from Ha' K'in Xook to K'inich Yat Ahk II.

K'inich Yat Ahk II likely commissioned the construction of Throne 1, [12] [nb 1] which details either the death or abdication of Ha' K'in Xook. [12] The entire throne is covered in images and glyphs, with a prominent zoomorphic face featured on the back. [14] Discovered in a special recess in J-6 (a gallery wing of the main Piedras Negras palace acropolis), the throne was in pieces, but has since been reconstructed. [12] J. Eric S. Thompson proposed three hypotheses to explain its destruction: it had been destroyed in a peasant revolt, it was smashed by conquerors from Yaxchilan, or its destruction "was more recent and is attributable to superstitious fear". [15]

Panel 3

K'inich Yat Ahk II also commissioned the carving of Panel 3, which was placed on the O-13 Pyramid. [16] The panel is both an intricate narrative of daily life in the palace, as well as a documentation of a 749 AD K'atun celebration thrown by the previous ruler Itzam K'an Ahk II. [16] [17] According to the artifact, the celebration was attended by many dignitaries, including a b'aah sajal ("first ruler") named K'an Mo' Te' who had served K'inich Yo'nal Ahk II, as well as the interim ruler of Yaxchilan, Yopaat Bahlam II. When Panel 3 was erected, Piedras Negras had begun to decline in importance. Thus, K'inich Yat Ahk II likely erected it recall the time when Piedras Negras held supremacy over the region. [16] [18] To this day, many archaeologists and Mayanists consider Panel 3 to be a "masterpiece of Maya art" due to its elucidating the life of Itzam K'an Ahk II and his servants, as well as providing information regarding rare grammatical structures in the Mayan glyphs. [16] [17]

Notes

  1. ↑ Due to Parrot Chaak's name appearing on the back of Throne, Stephen Houston proposed that the artifact may have been a gift commissioned by the La Mar leader and given to K'inich Yat Ahk II. [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 Zender, "Piedras Negras Ruler 7", (n.d.).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Martin & Grube (2000), pp. 152–153.
  3. ↑ O'Neil (2014), p. 147.
  4. ↑ O'Neil (2014), p. 9.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 O'Neil (2014), p. 142.
  6. ↑ Zender, "Pomona", (n.d.).
  7. ↑ Houston et al. (1999), pp. 8–17.
  8. 1 2 O'Neil (2014), pp. 87–88.
  9. 1 2 Houston et al. (2000), pp. 97–110.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 O'Neil (2014), p. 145.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Nelson (2005), 171–186.
  12. 1 2 3 Pitts (2011), pp. 162–170.
  13. ↑ Houston (2004), p. 271.
  14. ↑ O'Neil (2014), p. 19.
  15. ↑ O'Neil (2014), p. 49.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Martin & Grube (2000), p. 149.
  17. 1 2 Pitts (2011), pp. 129–145.
  18. ↑ Martin & Grube (2000), p. 153.

Bibliography

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Houston, Stephen, Héctor Escobedo, Richard Terry, David Webster, George Veni, and Kitty F. Emery (1999). "Among the River Kings: Archaeological Research at Piedras Negras, Guatemala". Mexicon. 22 (1). 
Houston, Stephen; Escobedo, H.; Child, M.; Golden, C.; Terry, R.; Webster, D (2000). "In the Land of the Turtle Lords: Archaeological Investigations at Piedras Negras, Guatemala". Mexicon. 22 (5). 
Martin, Simon; Grube, Nikolai (2000). Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Thames & Hudson. ISBN   9780500051030. 
Nelson, Zachary (2005). Settlement and Population at Piedras Negras, Guatemala (PDF) (Ph.D.). The University of Pennsylvania . Retrieved February 21, 2014. 
O'Neil, Megan (2014). Engaging Ancient Maya Sculpture at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN   9780806188362. 
Pitts, Mark (2011). A Brief History of Piedras Negras as Told by the Ancient Maya: History Revealed in Maya Glyphs (PDF). University of Pennsylvania . Retrieved March 2, 2014. 
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Zender, Marc (ed.). "Pomona". Mesoweb Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 6, 2014. 
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