Yo'nal Ahk III

Yo'nal Ahk III
ajaw of Piedras Negras
Yo'nal Ahk III's glyph
Reign 758–767 AD
Predecessor Itzam K'an Ahk II
Successor Ha' K'in Xook
Father Itzam K'an Ahk II?
Religion Maya religion

Yo'nal Ahk III (Mayan pronunciation: [joːnal ahk]), 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.

Reign

Yo'nal Ahk III, also known as Ruler 5, was likely the son of Itzam K'an Ahk II, based on Yo'nal Ahk III's veneratiion of Itzam K'an Ahk II's mortuary temple.[1][2] Yo'nal Ahk III, whose name translates to "Black House Great Turtle",[2] ascended to the throne of Piedras Negras on March 10, 758 AD (9.16.6.17.1 7 Imix 19 Wo in the Long Count), following the death of Itzam K'an Ahk II.[1] Not much is known about either Yo'nal Ahk III or his successor Ha' K'in Xook, which led Flora Clancy to refer to both their reigns as "shadowy".[3] James L. Fitzsimmons argues that, politically, Yo'nal Ahk III was weaker than previous leaders of Piedras Negras, given that the ajaw erected only a handful of monuments and did not enforce his power beyond the existing Piedras Negras hegemony.[4]

Monuments at El Cayo record that Yo'nal Ahk III was involved in burial ceremonies for a sajal in 763 AD, although he was not involved in picking the leader's successor.[1] It is also known that during his reign, a k'ini' ajaw ("prince") of Piedras Negras, T'ul Chiik, was captured by Yaxun B'alam IV of Yaxchilan; it has been hypothesized that Yo'nal Ahk III's focus on smaller satellite kingdoms such as La Mar and Yax Niil was a tactic to build up a "base of support" to combat the growing threat that Yaxchilan posed.[1][5] Yo'nal Ahk III was succeeded by Ha' K'in Xook, who was possibly his brother.[6]

Monuments

Only two monuments that Yo'nal Ahk III erected survive today: Stelae 14 and 16. The first of these, Stela 14—which Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube called the "finest of all 'niche' monuments"—is the king's accession memorial. Raised c. AD 761, it depicts an effigy of the king in a small hollow (or "niche") scattering incense.[1] The monument was placed on the lower part of Structure O-13, and according to O'Neil, the stela's "form, imagery, and location acknowledged and responded to Structure O-13's participation in the processional circuit" of the site.[7] The front of the monument features not only the ajaw, but also his mother standing "as witness" to her son. Her positioning likely suggested that she has just arrived from the West Group Plaza via a sacred route.[7] Stela 14 also includes the names of several sculptors and artists. These names are difficult to translate, since many are unique and not found in any other extant Mayan glyphic texts.[8]

Stela 16 celebrates the accession of a local sajal (or lesser Maya leader) at the nearby satellite kingdom of La Mar. This stela caused Tatiana Proskouriakoff to misidentify the sixth ajaw of Piedras Negras as this sajal, instead of Ha' K'in Xook. The uniqueness of a La Mar ruler being celebrated on a Piedras Negras stela seems to signify that La Mar had, at the time of Yo'nal Ahk III and possibly earlier, attained a certain degree of importance "within the Piedras Negras hegemony".[1] The front of the stela is heavily weathered, but Megan O'Neil argues it likely featured a carving of Yo'nal Ahk III, based on comparisons with other stelae at Piedras Negras, like Stelae 6 and 11.[9]

References

Bibliography

Clancy, Flora (2009). The Monuments of Piedras Negras, an Ancient Maya City. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 9780826344519.
Fitzsimmons, James (2010). Death and the Classic Maya Kings. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292781986.
Martin, Simon; Grube, Nikolai (2000). Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500051030.
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). Pre-Columbian Society of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
Sharer, Robert; Traxler, Loa (2005). The Ancient Maya. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804748179.
Witschey, Walter Robert Thurmond; Brown, Clifford (2012). Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810871670.
Zender, Marc (ed.). "Yo'nal Ahk III". Mesoweb Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
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