Stela 9

Location: Uncertain

Dates: 9.6.10.0.0 8 Ajaw 13 Pax / circa 564

Rulers: 10, 7

Measurements: Unknown

This stela was created by Moon Jaguar roughly midway through his reign. Unfortunately, it had previously been destroyed and was used as part of the base for Yax Pasaj’s Stela 8 (Schele 1987, 235). From the fragments, this stela is classified as Type IV, with three sides carved with glyphs and one figural side (Fash 2004, 259).

Interestingly, Moon Jaguar refers to himself as the “ninth child in the lineage of Copan” yet does not mention Yax K’uk’ Mo’ or use the typical succession title (MacLeod 1988, 339; Schele 1986a, 2).

However, while the tenth ruler does not name the Founder, he does name his father, which was not particularly common on Copan stelae (see Stela 63, Stela 10, and Stela N). Here, Moon Jaguar mentions the seventh ruler Bahlam Nehn, or Waterlily Jaguar, with the u ajaw or “child of the father” glyph (Schele 1986b, 59). Of particular note is that Moon Jaguar refers to his father with the “Ma K’inah” title usually reserved for Yax K’uk’ Mo’. Given that Bahlam Nehn is the only other king with “Jaguar” in his title, no other kings in the lineage present themselves as potential candidates. The text also describes the father as being a “one k’atun lord”, and given that Bahlam Nehn reigned from 524 - 532, he would have been within one k’atun (Schele 1986b, 59). Schele speculates that Wi Yohl K’inich and Ruler 9 were also sons of Bahlam Nehn (1987, 236). In the bloodletting glyphs associated with parentage - with the blood referring to the child - the glyphs are believed to have used the -tal suffix then popular in Copan and Palenque (MacLeod 1988, 340).

Of note, Stela E, a successor by Waxaklajuun Ubaah K’awiil also commemorates Bahlam Nehn, although the context is somewhat vague (Martin and Grube 2008, 197).

The hero of the stela’s text is not Moon Jaguar specifically, but U-Chac-Xib-Chac, a rain and lightning god in the Palenque Triad also known as G1 (Schele 1987, 236; Coe 1989, 182). The god’s name is written with a shell-fist glyph as is seen on Stela I. Interestingly, Bahlam Nehn also has a title using a shell-fist glyph (Schele 1987, 236). Through this stela, Moon Jaguar presents himself in the character of a god. The serpent bar is also present on this stela, showing his connection to and power over the divine (Schele 1987, 235).

While this stela does mention the Founder briefly, Moon Jaguar instead gives his father the greater honor and glorifies himself as a god in an impressive display of authority and inheritance.

Motifs

• Serpent bar
• Chac-Xib-Chaac

See Also:

• Stela 8
• Stela 63
• Stela 10
• Stela N
• Stela E
• Stela I
• Stela P
• Stela 1
• Stela 2
• Stela 7
• Stela 18

Sources:

• Coe, Michael D. 1989. "The Hero Twins: Myth and Image." In Maya Vase Book, The: A Corpus of Rollout Photographs of Maya Vases, 161-184. Vol. 1. New York: Kerr Associates.
• Fash, Barbara W. 2004. “Early Classic Sculptural Development at Copan.” In Understanding Early Copan, edited by Ellen E. Bell, Marcello A. Canuto, & Robert J. Sharer, 249-264. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
• MacLeod, Barbara. 1988. “Copan Note 50: The 'Ninth Child of the Lineage': An Alternative Dynastic Reference to Moon-Jaguar on Stela 9 at Copan” In Copan Notes, The, 339-346. Austin, TX: Copan Mosaic Project.
• Martin, Simon and Nikolai Grube. 2008. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. London: Thames and Hudson
• Schele, Linda. 1986a. “Copan Note 8: The Founders of Lineages at Copan and Other Maya Sites” In Copan Notes, The, 1-21. Austin, TX: Copan Mosaic Project.
• Schele, Linda. 1986b. “Copan Note 15: Moon-Jaguar, the 10th Successor of the Lineage of Yax-Kuk-Mo of Copan" In Copan Notes, The, 57-65. Austin, TX: Copan Mosaic Project.
• Schele, Linda. 1987. “Copan Note 33: The Surviving Fragments of Stela 9” In Copan Notes, The, 235-242. Austin, TX: Copan Mosaic Project, 1987.