| Lady K'abel | |
|---|---|
| Ajaw | |
 Lady K'abel's portrait on Stela 34 of El Perú | |
| Queen of El Perú with her husband, K'inich Bahlam II | |
| Reign | 672-692 |
| Born | Calakmul |
| Died | 702 or 711 El Perú |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | K'inich Bahlam II of El Perú |
| House | Snake dynasty |
| Father | Yuknoom Chʼeen II, King of Calakmul |
| Religion | Maya religion |
Lady K'abel (7th-century - between 702 and 711) was the queen regnant of the Maya Wak kingdom between 672 and 692 AD. She is also referred to by the names Lady Water Lily Hand and Lady Snake Lord.
She was a member of the powerful Snake dynasty of Calakmul. [1]
She married a man of lower rank named K'inich Bahlam II. [2] Together, they ruled El Perú, a vassal town of Calakmul. She was clearly given higher status and rank than her spouse. Regarding their respective stela, hers is more elaborate—she is depicted in full royal regalia and served by a slave, neither of which was the case for her husband, and she alone had the royal title Ix Kaloomte’ (which may mean something like ‘Lady Supreme Warlord’), a title more common among men and one of the highest royal titles. [3] She is speculated to have led armies against the Maya city of Tikal. [2]
She ruled El Perú between 672 and 692. However, the date for her death is contested and was probably between 702 and 711. [2]
In October 2012, the suspected tomb and remains of an important Maya queen were discovered at El Perú. Excavations led by David Freidel of Washington University in St. Louis uncovered a tomb in the city's main pyramid temple and it was identified as belonging to Lady K’abel, the military ruler of the Wak kingdom between 672 and 692 AD. [4] The body inside was buried with various offerings, including "ceramic vessels, jade jewellery, stone figurines, and a small alabaster jar carved in the shape of a conch shell, out of which the carved head and arms of an old woman emerge". [4] Maya hieroglyphs on the back of the jar include the names "Lady Water Lily Hand" and "Lady Snake Lord", according to the study team. Both names are thought to refer to Lady K'abel, who governed the Wak kingdom for her family, the empire-building Kan, or "Snake", dynasty, based in the Maya capital Calakmul. [4]
Palenque, also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ, was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. After its decline, it was overgrown by the jungle of cedar, mahogany, and sapodilla trees, but has since been excavated and restored. It is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, about 130 km south of Ciudad del Carmen, 150 meters (490 ft) above sea level. It averages a humid 26°C (79°F) with roughly 2,160 millimeters (85 in) of rain a year.
Dos Pilas is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in what is now the department of Petén, Guatemala. It dates to the Late Classic Period, and was founded by an offshoot of the dynasty of the great city of Tikal in AD 629 in order to control trade routes in the Petexbatún region, particularly the Pasión River. In AD 648 Dos Pilas broke away from Tikal and became a vassal state of Calakmul, although the first two kings of Dos Pilas continued to use the same emblem glyph that Tikal did. It was a predator state from the beginning, conquering Itzan, Arroyo de Piedra and Tamarindito. Dos Pilas and a nearby city, Aguateca, eventually became the twin capitals of a single ruling dynasty. The kingdom as a whole has been named as the Petexbatun Kingdom, after Lake Petexbatún, a body of water draining into the Pasión River.
Tikal is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tonina is a pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas, some 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the town of Ocosingo.
Naranjo is a Pre-Columbian Maya city in the Petén Basin region of Guatemala. It was occupied from about 500 BC to 950 AD, with its height in the Late Classic Period. The site is part of Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo National Park. The city lies along the Mopan and Holmul rivers, and is about 50 km east of the site of Tikal. Naranjo has been the victim of severe looting. The site is known for its polychrome ceramic style
Yohl Ikʼnal, also known as Lady Kan Ik and Lady Kʼanal Ikʼnal, was queen regnant of the Maya city-state of Palenque. She acceded to the throne on 23 December 583, and ruled until her death.
El Perú, is a pre-Columbian Maya archeological site occupied during the Preclassic and Classic cultural chronology periods. The site was the capital of a Maya city-state and is located near the banks of the San Pedro River in the Department of Petén of northern Guatemala. El Perú is 60 km (37 mi) west of Tikal.
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.
Maya kings were the centers of power for the Maya civilization. Each Maya city-state was controlled by a dynasty of kings. The position of king was usually inherited by the oldest son.
Lady Six Sky, also known as Lady Wac Chanil Ahau or Wak Chanil Ajaw, was a Maya queen of Naranjo who was born in Dos Pilas. She lived in Naranjo from 682 to her death in 741. During that time, she probably served as de facto ruler of the city; however, monuments such as Stela 24 suggest she was never formally recognized as such, since she continued to use the emblem glyph of Dos Pilas throughout her life.
Yaxun Bʼahlam IV, also called Bird Jaguar IV, was a Mayan king from Yaxchilan. He ruled from 752 until 768 AD, continuing the period of prosperity started by his father Itzamnaaj Bʼahlam III. He had to struggle to take and hold power, as he was not perceived to be the rightful heir to the throne.
During the 7th and 8th centuries in Mesoamerica, there was an evident shift in the roles women played in ancient Maya society as compared with the previous two centuries. It was during this time that there was a great deal of political complexity seen both in Maya royal houses as well as in the Maya area. Warfare was a significant factor in political competition and marriage was one of the ways that alliances were made between the different polities. This was accompanied by a shift in women's roles from wife and mother to playing integral parts in courtly life, such as participating in rituals involving the supernatural world and at times ruling individual polities.
Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil was a Maya king of Dos Pilas. He is also known as Ruler 1, Flint Sky God K and Malah Chan Kʼawil.
The known rulers of Tikal, a major centre of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization in modern-day Guatemala:
Yuknoom Chʼeen II, known as Yuknoom the Great, was a Maya ruler of the Kaan kingdom, which had its capital at Calakmul during the Classic Period of Mesoamerican chronology.
Yuknoom Yichʼaak Kʼahkʼ or Yuknoom Ixquiac was a Maya king of the Kaan kingdom, which had its capital at Calakmul during the Classic Period of Mesoamerican chronology.
Yuknoom Tookʼ Kʼawiil was a Maya ruler of the Kaan kingdom (Calakmul).
Uxul is an ancient Maya settlement in the Campeche region of Mexico. It was at the pinnacle of its existence in the classical period, and was located in a densely populated area between the larger Maya cities of El Mirador to the south and Calakmul to the northeast. Uxul is a Mayan term meaning “at the end”, signifying its remoteness, however this was not the original name for the settlement, but a name coined by the two men who rediscovered it in 1934, Karl Ruppert and John H. Denison.
The Second Tikal–Calakmul War was the second in a series of wars between Tikal and Calakmul known as The Tikal–Calakmul wars. Tikal and Calakmul were two of the most prosperous cities in Peten during the classic period of Mesoamerican chronology. After the classic came the post classic which was characterized by a decline in Maya Civilization. During that time both Tikal and Calakmul were abandoned.
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.