Uaxactun Emblem Glyph: the evolution of the Classic Maya royal title

Abstract

The research of Uaxactun monuments (Peten, Guatemala) in 2000s made it possible to reconstruct the dynastic history of this Classic Maya political center (300-900). The study of inscriptions is complicated by the poor preservation of stone monuments, therefore, digital methods currently help in the analysis of monuments (photogrammetry, 3D modeling). This allowed us to determine also the royal title of the local dynasty and the main stages of its evolution. The analysis of the inscriptions identified about 20 examples of Uaxactun Emblem Glyph (a marker of the independent Maya polity) and related toponyms. It can be concluded that in the Early Classic after 300 AD Uaxactun lords used the traditional Emblem Glyph “king of Kʹanwitz”, which toponym Kʹanwitz (“Flat hill”) possibly was associated with the Group A of the site - the early ceremonial center located on a top of the high hill. Then, after 378, the usual Emblem Glyph disappears from inscriptions, what was caused by the Uaxactun subordination to the Teotihuacan power. Then until the early 6th cent. the dynasty began to be associated with another toponym Kʹan…kok (complete reading is unclear), which meant the neighboring architectural complex - Group B. After the Uaxactun hiatus period in the 6th-7th cent. the dynasty was revived again around 700 and its kings used the new title “king of Kʹan…kok”, adding the royal title ʹajaw to the Early Classic toponym. Finally at the last stage of the city’s history after 800, during the collapse of the Classic Maya political system, the kings of Uaxactun added the title kʹuhul (“sacred”) to their Emblem Glyph, equating themselves with the most authoritative dynasties of the Classic epoch.

Keywords

• maya
• uaxactun
• hieroglyphic writing
• monuments
• epigraphy
• royal title
• toponym