Stela E

Location: West Side of the Main Plaza

Dates:: Uncertain

Kings: 13?, 12?, 7

Measurements: 11.26 feet x 2.03 feet x 1.44 feet, maximum relief depth 0.82 feet

Gus M. Stela E Copan, 2008, photograph. Flickr.

The commissioner of this stela has been in doubt for much of its study. Due to the numerous mentions of Bahlam Nehn and the 9.5.10.0.0 period ending, the seventh king seemed a likely candidate (Schele and Schele 1986, 69). However, later dates were found on both the altar - believed to have been the 9.9.5.0.0 hotun ending between Stela 7 and Stela P - and the stela itself with one possible date during the reign of twelfth ruler K’ahk Uti’ Witz’ K’awiil (Schele 1987, 177; Baudez 1991, 46). The absence of a Lord of Night as well as the current state of preservation of the date glyphs do obscure exact textual dating of the object (Schele 1987, 178).

More recently, thirteenth king Waxaklajuun Ubaah K’awiil has also been proposed as the commissioner (Martin and Grube 2008, 204). Given the stela’s ostentation, high relief, and height, the stela very well could have been his. Yet, the stela is also attributed to his predecessor who also worked with similar styles (Fash 2011, 55).

The monument itself is a Type IV stela with three sides of text and a figural king depiction on the eastern side (Fash 2004, 259; Schele and Schele 1986, 69). An altar was found broken nearby and assumed to have been the pair to this stela. Similarly, the top and base of the stela have since eroded with the face being completely broken off (Baudez 1991, 46). The figure is symmetrical and holds a serpent bar in his hands. The king’s headdress is composed of two masks, and rope and entwined serpent imagery surround the figure (Baudez 1991, 47-48). Two ancestors brandish an axe on either side of the king’s head, offering protection. Jaguar imagery and crossed bands are particularly prominent in this stela. A mask with waterlilies or a skull and vegetation variant also appears, as do lancets on the knee ornaments. Interestingly, the figure wears a loincloth with both jaguar and fishtail elements (Baudez 1994, 47). Fish elements typically referred to the water, perhaps literally evoking the aquatic Waterlily Jaguar, or Bahlam Nehn (Stone and Zender 2011, 191, 195). Baudez proposes that the elements in this stela depict a king allied with the jaguar, specifically the Pax Jaguar, who invokes the protection of the ancestors as well as the cycle of fertility (Baudez 1994, 48).

Interestingly, a jaguar head emerges from the one head of the serpent bar, reminiscent of Butz’ Chan’s depiction of the Paddler Gods emerging from the serpent bar’s heads in both Stela 7 and Stela P. The jaguar head here is reported as having a witz element as well as a torch in its head, differing from previous depictions (Baudez 1991, 47). Perhaps this head is another reference to the gods or a continued evocation of the jaguar imagery befitting the mention of Bahlam Nehn/a>. Also of note however is that both of Butz’ Chan’s stelae potentially invoke the jaguar god as patron and focus on a king’s divine abilities.

The text makes the stela particularly unique by describing Yax K’uk’ Mo’, the Founder himself, as a successor to a king named Smoke Codex God K (Schele 1986, 4). Of note, Yax K’uk’ Mo’ had also been called a successor on Stela 24, whose fragments had been discovered beneath Stela 7 (Schele and Stuart 1986, 48). Given the connections to the eleventh ruler and his work, perhaps Stela E was created by Butz’ Chan, or perhaps this is another stela paying homage to him. Waxaklajuun Ubaah K’awiil himself had honored the eleventh king on his Stela A (Fash 2011, 58).

Yax K’uk’ Mo’ depicted as successor may be ironic given the abundance of crossed band glyphs that appear in the imagery of this stela, which typically refer to the Founder (Taube 2004, 273). Or, perhaps this stela discusses the Founder’s rise to power overthrow of the previous king. In this way, the stela could describe Yax K’uk’ Mo’, and therefore the commissioner, as rightful king.

Unfortunately, lack of definite time and placement prevents us from discussing a specific political situation, but this stela does confirm the existence of a king before Yax K’uk’ Mo’, the importance of Bahlam Nehn, and the king’s divine authority.

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