Ruler 14: K’ahk’ Joplaj Chan K’awiil

AKA: Smoke Monkey, Three Death

Reign: 738 - 749

Preceded by: Waxaklajuun Ubaah K’awiil

Succeeded by: K’ahk’ Yipyaj Chan K’awiil

Structures

Unlike his predecessor and successor, K’ahk’ Joplaj Chan K’awiil did not produce any grand monuments in his own name. Taking the throne after the decapitation of Waxaklajuun Ubaah K’awiil, morale in Copan was low to say the least. The city had humiliatingly lost its ruler, its vassal, and its control in the Motagua Valley. According to the Hieroglyphic Stairway, K’ahk’ Joplaj Chan K’awiil erected “no altars, no pyramids”, nor would any be erected until seventeen years after Waxaklajuun Ubaah K’awiil’s death (Martin and Grube 2008, 206).

What was devastating for Copan was a massive boon to Quirigua. K’ahk’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat or Cauac Sky, the Quirigua king who captured the thirteenth ruler, may have even laid claim to Copan’s legacy given his reference to himself as the “Fourteenth Ruler” (Martin and Grube 2008, 219).

However, while K’ahk’ Joplaj Chan K’awiil may not have erected any stelae, altars, or large scale structures, this king may have developed Structure 10L-22, adding on a banquet hall and meeting space for the eight local statesmen and other representatives in 746 (Fash 1991, 134). This development signals both a shift in government away from a consolidated royal authority and also a political strategy to strengthen ties with neighboring towns under Copan’s control. A glimpse of this shift could be spotted during K’ahk Uti’ Witz’ K’awiil’s reign based on one interpretation of the dates for the Rio Amarillo altars (Schele 1987, 264). This shift would ultimately come to a head in Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat’s reign with the end of Yax K’uk’ Mo’s lineage.

Sources