AD 626 – 636
Caracol and Naranjo
Aj Wosal, installed at Naranjo by the Kaanul king Tuun K'ab Hix in AD 546, rules for decades. Around 600 he has a building with a large stucco frieze raised at nearby Holmul. After his death Naranjo breaks away from the Kaanul kings.
At Caracol, K'an II, a son of Yajaw Te' K'inich II, takes the throne in 618. His monuments record the accession of the Kaanul king Tajoom Uk'ab K'ahk' in 622 and a gift from him in 627. Caracol defeats Naranjo in May 626 and again in 627.
Restored buildings at Naranjo, Petén, Guatemala, 2014Wikimedia Commons, Rudy Canales, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Sitio el naranjo 1.jpg)
Tajoom Uk'ab K'ahk' dies in 630, and in 631 his successor Yuknoom Head brings Naranjo back under Kaanul rule. Caracol records this as a "star war" won together with Yuknoom Head. The texts say that the king of Naranjo is already a captive at Calakmul on the day his city is taken, and that he is punished the same day. The word used, k'uxaj, means "tortured" or "eaten".
The "star war" glyph as written on the Naranjo Hieroglyphic Stairway for the war of 631Wikimedia Commons, Not recorded, Public domain (Star war glyph Naranjo.png)
A fourth war follows in 636, and Caracol prospers under K'an II, who reigns for forty years: its causeways are extended, its population grows and a building boom begins. A hieroglyphic stairway on Structure B-18 at Naranjo tells the story of these wars. By the older reading K'an II sets it up in the defeated city. Alexandre Tokovinine reads it as a monument first built at Caracol and carried to Naranjo later.
Sources
- Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens (2000), pp. 91 to 92 and 106.
- Diane Chase and Arlen Chase, Texts and Contexts in Maya Warfare: A Brief Consideration of Epigraphy and Archaeology at Caracol, Belize, in Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare (2003), pp. 171 to 188.
- Alexandre Tokovinine, Of Snake Kings and Cannibals: A Fresh Look at the Naranjo Hieroglyphic Stairway, The PARI Journal (2007).
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