Quiriguá captures and beheads the king of Copán

Copán, on the south-eastern edge of the Maya world and one of Tikal’s oldest allies, flourished under Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil, who came to the throne in 695: between 711 and 736 he raised the celebrated stelae of its Great Plaza, and in 738 he dedicated a new ballcourt. Quiriguá, 48 km to the north on the lower Motagua River, lay in his domain, and in 724 he installed Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat there as his vassal. In 734, however, the new king gave himself the title of ‘holy lord’ on Altar M, and in 736 he received a visit from Wamaw Kʼawiil, the king of distant Calakmul — a visit which, historians believe, strongly suggests that Calakmul sponsored the rebellion to weaken Tikal and to gain access to the trade of the Motagua valley.

In April 738 Quiriguá captured Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil; an inscription at Quiriguá, difficult to interpret, suggests that it also seized and burned the wooden images of Copán’s patron gods. Six days later, on 9.15.6.14.6 6 Kimi 4 Sek — 27 or 29 April 738 in the Julian calendar, depending on the correlation constant, or 1 or 3 May in the proleptic Gregorian calendar (3 May, with the constant 584285, is the date usually given by Mayanists) — the king of Copán was decapitated in a public ritual at Quiriguá.

Quiriguá took over the trade in jade and obsidian that passed through the Motagua valley and grew rich. Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, who ruled until 785, enlarged the city, and for decades its sculptors carved giant stelae and zoomorphs in his honour, among them Stela E, dedicated in 771: its shaft is 10.6 m long, including the buried base, and weighs some 65 tonnes — the largest stone ever quarried by the Maya. Copán raised no new monuments for almost two decades, but recovered under later kings, who in 755 rebuilt and enlarged the Hieroglyphic Stairway.