Ruler 16: Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat

AKA Yax Pac, Yax Pasaj, Yax Pasaj Chan Yoaat, Madrugada, New Sun at Horizon, Yax Sun at Horizon, New Dawn, Rising Sun, First Dawned Lightning God, First Dawn Sky Penis

Reign: 763 - around 810

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

Succeeded (?) by: Ukit Took’

Structures:

Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat, creator of Altar Q, was the last of the official kings in Yax K’uk’ Mo’ lineage. The final king may have been as young as nine years old when he acceeded the throne two years after his predecessor K’ahk’ Yipyaj Chan K’awiil (Martin and Grube 2008, 209).

While he would have many monuments attributed to him, the bulk of these would be embellishments to existing structures such as doorjambs, incensarios, benches, and altars rather than stelae or complete structural renovations (Martin and Grube 2008, 209). Three stelae are credited to the sixteenth king, although one of these - Stela 11 - is credited posthumously and another - Stela 8 - is largely destroyed or obscured, limiting discussion of his style in stelae (Baudez 1994, 139). He would also build Temple 16 final superstructure on at 10L-16 (Fash 2011, 67).

Yax Pasaj’s familial structure was also of particular note. References to his mother appear on not one but two monuments - Stela 8 and Altar U (Schele and Grube 1987, 153). References to a king’s mother are far from common at Copan, and what is particularly interesting is that this woman - Lady Chak Ni Ye’ Xook - was a member of Palenque nobility (Martin and Grube 2008, 209). There has been some debate as to whether Yax Pasaj’s father was K’ahk’ Yipyaj Chan K’awiil. The fifteenth king may have married into Palenque - one of the core Maya lowland cities - nobility to strengthen Copan’s royal line (Fash 1991, 153). Yet, Yax Pasaj only definitively refers to his father once, and the text is inconclusive as to his identity (Martin and Grube 2008, 209). According to Stela N, K’ahk’ Yipyaj Chan K’awiil recognized his heir regardless of whether Yax Pasaj was his child (Baudez 1994, 86-87). Regardless of his parentage, the fact that Yax Pasaj needed to legitimize his right to rule through his mother’s foreign status is telling of the political situation in Copan at his accession.

Like his predecessor before him, Yax Pasaj would create a grand tribute to his ancestors, albeit on a smaller scale. For his most famous example, in 776 he dedicated Altar Q, one of the most complete king lists found in the Maya region. This monument includes all sixteen kings in Yax K’uk’ Mo’s lineage along with their names, though some have eroded or have yet to be understood. The altar was placed at the base of Structure 10L-16, a Temple to and tomb of the Founder. The text itself both honors the Founder and legitimizes Yax Pasaj’s right to rule by portraying himself taking K’awiil from Yax K’uk’ Mo’ (Martin and Grube 2008, 209). Similarly, Yax Pasaj would depict himself associating and performing rituals with kingly characters who were likely deities (Martin and Grube 2008, 210).

Yet, Altar Q and its offering had structural flaws that hint at Copan’s decline. While Yax Pasaj impressively sacrificed fifteen jaguars to invoke his ancestors as protectors of the city, two of these jaguars had not yet reached adulthood (Fash 1991, 170). Copan did not have the resources to offer a perfect sacrifice. On the altar itself, text had been forced to fit on the space provided with a few grammatical quirks, and one date in particular is impossible for the time period, indicating a carving mistake (Sdouz 2015, 83-85). The apparent flaws on this altar highlights the lack of care able to be afforded to previous kings’ monuments.

During Yax Pasaj’s reign, a number of residential areas and outlying vassals began erecting their own monuments, sometimes but not always with reference to the king. Nobles began commissioning elaborately carved, full figured benches instead of the usual smooth, plain benches. One in Las Sepulturas comemorates a ritual performed by the sixteenth king and mentions the residential leader’s service to Yax Pasaj’s father, K’ahk’ Yipyaj Chan K’awiil (Fash 2011, 133). Los Higos - a city previously under Copan’s control - in 781 was erecting its own stelae and featuring its local ruler (Martin and Grube 2008, 210; Fash 1991, 166). This trend may have been the result of both a political move by Yax Pasaj to attempt to pacify the over twenty elite substructures as well as evidence that the sixteenth king was rapidly losing political control (Fash 1991, 172; Martin and Grube 2008, 210).

Yax Pasaj is mentioned briefly on Quirigua’s Structure 1-B-1 as participating in a “scattering event” for the k’atun ending in 810 (Fash 1991, 171; Martin and Grube 2008, 212). While the details are unclear, the fact that the then king of Quirigua Jade Sky mentioned the Copan king on this structure suggests that the two cities had reached a sort of truce during these difficult times. Quirigua itself would not survive beyond a few more years, though a new settlement would establish itself there soon after (Martin and Grube 2008, 225).

Yax Pasaj’s tomb was fairly out of character for the city both in content and in quality. Temple 18 was both small and militaristic (Martin and Grube 2008, 212). Whereas kings had been invoked as warriors in the Late Classic period, Yax Pasaj’s tomb was another matter. Depictions of sacrifice of war captives is highly overt including a presentation of the king as holding trophy heads (Fash 1991, 170). Though more intense, this depiction of the king as warrior continues the attempt to reestablish authority by claiming military prowess. His burial stela - Stela 11 - reflects this loss of authority. The stela could not even stand on its own but instead was carved into a pillar (Martin and Grube 2008, 212). The text mentions the “fall of the Foundation House” and both Yax Pasaj and Yax K’uk’ Mo’s names, indicating that the sixteenth king would be the last in the lineage. Sometime circa the century following his death, his tomb would be looted (Fash 1991, 178). Like Quirigua, Copan would not last long after Yax Pasaj’s reign, succumbing to poor health due to overpopulation, deforestation and lack of resources, and unrest among the growing nobility (Martin and Grube 2008, 213).

Yet, Yax Pasaj was not the last man who would claim to be king. In 822, Altar L would appear unfinished, depicting Yax Pasaj sitting across from the next supposed king Ukit Took’. Though his legitimacy is far from secure, the city’s story would not officially end with Yax Pasaj’s death.

Though Yax Pasaj’s reign was shortly followed by the collapse of Classic Copan, his monuments reflect the city’s admirable ability to work with what they had, from Yax K’uk’ Mo’ and the pre-existing structure of a city to the Late Classic kings developing the ability to craft volcanic tuff like stucco to invoking the city’s ancestors rather than succumbing to a crushing defeat.


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