Tikal Stela 29: the earliest known Long Count date in the Maya lowlands
A king of Tikal raised a stela with his portrait and the Long Count date 8.12.14.8.15, which corresponds to July 292 — the earliest surviving Long Count date in the Maya lowlands and the earliest monument bearing Tikal’s emblem glyph. The Classic Maya period is defined largely by such dated monuments.
- Date
- between 6 July and 8 July 292exact date unknown: an interval is given
- Place
- Tikaltoday: Petén, Guatemala · Latin America
- Participants
- Maya civilization
- Threads
- Mesoamerica and South America in the 1st–10th centuries
- Also known as
- Stela 29; Tikal Stela 29; Foliated Jaguar; Earliest Long Count date; Стела 29; Лиственный Ягуар; 8.12.14.8.15
The stela shows the king facing right in rich regalia, holding a double-headed serpent bar and the head of an underworld jaguar god, one of the patron deities of the city; the so-called Jester God, a motif taken over from the giant masks on Preclassic pyramids, appears in his headdress. The Long Count date 8.12.14.8.15 corresponds to 6 July 292 in the standard GMT correlation (8 July with the alternative constant). The king’s name is not certain; he is often identified with Foliated Jaguar, a little-known early ruler of the dynasty that later texts trace back to its founder Yax Ehb Xook. Sharer and Traxler see the stela as the best evidence that Tikal had emerged as the capital of an independent kingdom, after the great Late Preclassic centres of the Mirador Basin had declined.
Probably in the 6th century or later the stela was deliberately smashed; its upper part was dragged away and dumped in a rubbish tip near Temple III, where archaeologists uncovered it in 1959. Long Count dates had been carved earlier outside the Maya lowlands — for example on La Mojarra Stela 1 (156) on the Gulf coast — but in the lowland heartland the Classic period, from about 250 to 900, is defined by the custom of raising monuments dated in the Long Count, and Stela 29 is the earliest known of them.
Connections
Related events
- La Mojarra Stela 1: an Epi-Olmec text dated 156156 · Latin AmericaAn earlier Long Count stela from the Gulf coast, dated 156
- Preclassic Maya collapse: El Mirador is abandonedc. 100 – c. 250 · Latin AmericaTikal rose as the great Preclassic centres of the Mirador Basin declined
Adjacent events in the thread
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800 · Latin America
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Establishment of the Tetrarchy1 March 293
Eastern Europe
- Kyiv culturec. 200 – between 400 and 430
- Chernyakhov culturebetween 200 and 250 – between 400 and 430
Middle East and Egypt
- Kartir’s inscriptions and the rise of the Zoroastrian priesthoodbetween 274 and 293
Africa
- Aksum begins to mint coinsbetween 270 and 300
Central and Northern Asia
- The Kushano-Sasanian kingdom in Bactriabetween 230 and 262 – between 350 and 370
- Toprak-Kala, palace of the kings of Khwarezm200–299
South Asia
- Mahasena builds the Jetavanaramayabetween 273 and 304
- Vijayapuri of the Ikshvakus: the monasteries of Nagarjunakondabetween 210 and 250 – between 300 and 350
East Asia
- Chen Shou writes the Records of the Three Kingdomsbetween 280 and 297
- Kofun period: the age of keyhole tombsbetween 250 and 300 – 538
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
- Gold pendant copying a coin of Antoninus Pius at Óc Eobetween 152 and 600
North America
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Tikal
- Wikipedia (English): Maya stelae
- Wikipedia (English): Classic period in Belize
- Wikipedia (English): Foliated Jaguar
- Wikipedia (English): Maya civilization
- Wikipedia (Russian): Тикаль
- Shook E. M. Tikal Stela 29 // Expedition. — 1960. — Vol. 2, no. 2. — P. 28–35.
- Martin S., Grube N. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. — 2nd ed. — London; New York: Thames & Hudson, 2008.
- Sharer R. J., Traxler L. P. The Ancient Maya. — 6th ed. — Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006.
- Беляев Д. Д. Тикаль // Большая российская энциклопедия. — Т. 32. — М., 2016. — С. 131.