Yaxun B'alam IV

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For his grandfather-namesake, see Yaxun B'alam III.
Yaxun B’alam IV
High King of Yaxchilan

British Museum Yaxchilan lintel 16.jpg

Lintel 16 from Yaxchilan depicts king Yaxun B'alam IV with his slave
Reign 752–768
Predecessor Itzamnaaj B'alam II
Successor Itzamnaaj B'alam III
Born 709
Died 768
Spouse 4 queens
Issue Itzamnaaj B'alam III
Father Itzamnaaj B'alam II
Mother Lady Eveningstar

Yaxun B’alam IV[ pronunciation? ], 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 B'alam II. He had to struggle to take and hold power, as he was not perceived to be the rightful heir to the throne.

Maya rulers

Maya kings were the centers of power for the Maya civilization. Each Maya city-state was controlled by a dynasty of kings.Also the position of king was usually inherited by the oldest son

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.

Contents

Early life

Yaxun B’alam was the son of Itzamnaaj B'alam and Lady Eveningstar. Lady Eveningstar was not the first wife of Itzamnaaj B'alam and was from Calakmul.

Lady Eveningstar politician

Lady Eveningstar was a Maya queen consort, wife of Itzamnaaj B'alam II, a Maya king of Yaxchilan. Their son, Yaxun B'alam IV - "Bird Jaguar", succeeded his father as king.

Calakmul archaeological site

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.

As Bird Jaguar was not the son of Lady Xoc (Itzamnaaj B'alam's first wife-aunt), he was not completely of the royal blood and would have difficulty acquiring the throne. Itzamnaaj B'alam commissioned a stele to be carved showing both Yaxun B'alam and Lady Xoc in the same panel, thus legitimating Yaxun.

Lady Xoc

Lady Kʻabʻal Xook[kʼaɓal ʃoːk] or Lady Xoc was a Maya Queen consort of Yaxchilan and is considered to have been one of the most powerful and prominent women in Maya civilization. She was the principal wife and aunt of King Itzamnaaj B'alam II, who ruled the prominent kingdom of Yaxchilan from AD 681 to 742. She is believed by many to have been the sister of Lady Pacal.

Incest sexual activity between family members or close relatives

Incest is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity, and sometimes those related by affinity, adoption, clan, or lineage.

A royal descent is a genealogical line of descent from a past or present monarch.

Accession

There is a ten-year gap between the death of Itzamnaaj B'alam II and the beginning of the reign of Yaxun B’alam, indicating a possible struggle for the throne of Yaxchilan. Yaxun B'alam took the throne on May 3, 752, but he had problems even after he succeeded. [1] In order to legitimize his claim to the throne, Yaxun B'alam had a series of steles created that pictured him with his father (including Stele 11).

An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next, and the concepts of interregnum and regency therefore overlap. Historically, the longer and heavier interregna were typically accompanied by widespread unrest, civil and succession wars between warlords, and power vacuums filled by foreign invasions or the emergence of a new power. A failed state is usually in interregnum.

Throne seat of state of a potentate or dignitary

A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monarchy or the Crown itself, an instance of metonymy, and is also used in many expressions such as "the power behind the throne". The expression "ascend (mount) the throne" takes its meaning from the steps leading up to the dais or platform, on which the throne is placed, being formerly comprised in the word's significance.

Reign

Several buildings were constructed during the reign of Yaxun B’alam, including Temple 33 and Temple 21. During his life, he captured at least 21 people, as evidenced by the statement on Yaxchilan Stela 11. His seventeen-year reign was much shorter than that of his father’s, and he died in 768. Within a generation of his death, the building projects at Yaxchilan had ceased. He was succeeded by his son Itzamnaaj B'alam III in 769.

Temple structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities

A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. It is typically used for such buildings belonging to all faiths where a more specific term such as church, mosque or synagogue is not generally used in English. These include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism among religions with many modern followers, as well as other ancient religions such as Ancient Egyptian religion.

Building structure, typically with a roof and walls, standing more or less permanently in one place

A building, or edifice, is a structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for a wide number of factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, land prices, ground conditions, specific uses, and aesthetic reasons. To better understand the term building compare the list of nonbuilding structures.

Marriages

Yaxun B'alam had married Lady Great Skull, Lady Wak Tuun of Motul de San José, Lady Wak Jalam Chan Ajaw of Motul de San José, Lady Mut Bahlam of Hix Witz. [2]

Motul de San José

Motul de San José is an ancient Maya site located just north of Lake Petén Itzá in the Petén Basin region of the southern Maya lowlands. It is a few kilometres from the modern village of San José, in Guatemala's northern department of Petén. A medium-sized civic-ceremonial centre, it was an important political and economic centre during the Late Classic period (AD 650–950).

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Dos Pilas human settlement

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, being 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.

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

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Yaxchilan Lintel 24

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Ucanal

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Itzamnaaj Bʻalam II was a Maya king who ruled in Yaxchilan from 681 until he died in the year 742. He is also called Shield Jaguar II by modern writers and commonly referred to simply as Shield Jaguar based on his name glyph before the phonetic name was deciphered.

Yaxun Balam III King of Yaxchilan

Yaxun Bʻalam III (also known as 6-Tun-Bird-Jaguar) was a high king of the Mayan city Yaxchilan from 631 until 681.

Rulers of Yaxchilan were leaders of the Maya civilization polity of Yaxchilan during its existence as a prominent city-state. The first high king (ahau) was Yat Balam in the year 320. The dynasty probably ended in the late 9th century with the decline of Yaxchilan. The greatest of the high kings were Itzamnaaj B'alam II and his son Yaxun B'alam IV.

Women rulers in Maya society

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.

Balaj Chan Kawiil King of Dos Pilas

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Itzamnaaj Kawiil King of Dos Pilas

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Uchaan Kin Balam Mayan king of Dos Pilas

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Lady of Itzan was a queen of Dos Pilas.

Kawiil Chan Kinich Maya king of Dos Pilas

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Yonal Ahk III

Yo'nal Ahk III, also known as Ruler 5, was an ajaw of Piedras Negras, an ancient Maya settlement in Guatemala. He ruled during the Late Classic Period, from 758 to 767 AD. Yo'nal Ahk III ascended to the throne upon the death of Itzam K'an Ahk II, who may have been Yo'nal Ahk's father. He was succeeded by his probable brother, Ha' K'in Xook in around 767 AD. Yo'nal Ahk III left behind two surviving stelae at Piedras Negras, namely Stelae 14 and 16, the former of which has been called one of the finest niche stelae, according to Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube.

Lady Pacal Maya Queen consort

Lady Pakal was a Maya Queen consort of Yaxchilan in Mexico.

References

  1. James L. Fitzsimmons. Death and the Classic Maya Kings. University of Texas Press. p. 120. ISBN   978-0-292-78198-6 . Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  2. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens by Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube
Montgomery, John (2002–2007). "Dictionary of Maya Hieroglyphs" (online version). Maya Hieroglyphic writing: Dictionaries. with revisions by Peter Mathews and Christophe Helmke. Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc (FAMSI). 
Schele, Linda; David Freidel (1992). A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya (pbk reprint ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN   0-688-11204-8. OCLC   145324300. 
Preceded by
Itzamnaaj B'alam II
High Kings of Yaxchilan
752–768
Succeeded by
Itzamnaaj B'alam III