COPÁN Because Copán, on the western border of Honduras, has
more hieroglyphic inscriptions and well-preserved carved monu-
ments than any other site in the Americas, it was one of the first
Maya sites excavated. It also has proved one of the richest in the
trove of architecture, sculpture, and artifacts recovered, and boasts
one of Mesoamerica’s best-preserved (and carefully restored) ball
courts (FIG. 14-8; see “The Mesoamerican Ball Game,” page 372).
Conspicuous plazas dominated the heart of Copán. In the city’s
Great Plaza, the Maya set up tall, sculpted stone stelae. Carved with
the portraits of the rulers who erected them, these stelae also
recorded their names, dates of reign, and notable achievements in
glyphs on the front, sides, or back. Stele D (FIG. 14-9), erected in
736 CE, represents one of the city’s foremost rulers, Waxaklajuun-
Ub’aah-K’awiil (r. 695–738), whose name means “18 are the appari-
tions of the god K’awiil.” Scholars often call him Ruler 13 in the
Copán dynastic sequence of 16 rulers. During his long reign, Copán
may have reached its greatest physical extent and range of political
influence. On Stele D, Ruler 13 wears an elaborate headdress and or-
namented kilt and sandals. He holds across his chest a double-
headed serpent bar, symbol of the sky and of his absolute power. His
features are distinctly Maya, although highly idealized. The Maya
elite tended to have themselves portrayed in a conventionalized
manner and as eternally youthful. The dense, deeply carved orna-
mental details that frame the face and figure in florid profusion
stand almost clear of the block and wrap around the sides of the
stele. The high relief, originally painted, gives the impression of a
freestanding statue, although a hieroglyphic text is carved on the flat
back side of the stele. Ruler 13 erected many stelae and buildings at
Copán, but the king of neighboring Quiriguá eventually captured
and beheaded the powerful Copán ruler.
TIKAL Another great Maya site of the Classic period is Tikal in
Guatemala, some 150 miles north of Copán. Tikal is one of the old-
est and largest of the Maya cities. Together with its suburbs, Tikal
originally covered some 75 square miles and served as the ceremo-
nial center of a population of perhaps 75,000. The Maya did not lay
out central Tikal on a grid plan as did the designers of contempora-
neous Teotihuacan. Instead, causeways connected irregular group-
ings. Modern surveys have uncovered the remains of as many as
3,000 separate structures in an area of about six square miles. The
site’s nucleus, the Great Plaza, is studded with stelae and defined by
numerous architectural complexes. The most prominent monu-
ments are the two soaring pyramids, taller than the surrounding rain
forest, that face each other across an open square. The larger pyra-
mid (FIG. 14-10), Temple I (also called the Temple of the Giant
Jaguar after a motif on one of its carved wooden lintels), reaches a
height of about 150 feet. It is the temple-mausoleum of a great Tikal
ruler, Hasaw Chan K’awiil, who died in 732 CE. His body rested in aMesoamerica 37314-10Temple I (Temple of the Giant Jaguar), Maya, Tikal, Guatemala,
ca. 732 CE.
Temple I at Tikal is a 150-foot-tall pyramid that was the temple-
mausoleum of Hasaw Chan K’awiil, who died in 732 CE. The nine tiers
of the pyramid probably symbolize the nine levels of the Underworld.14-9Stele D
portraying Ruler 13
(Waxaklajuun-
Ub’aah-K’awiil),
Maya, Great Plaza,
Copán, Honduras,
736 CE. Stone,
11 9 high.
Ruler 13 reigned
during the heyday
of Copán. On this
stele he wears an
elaborate headdress
and holds a double-
headed serpent bar,
symbol of the sky
and of his absolute
power.1 ft.14-10ATemple
of the Inscrip-
tions, Palenque,
ca. 675–690 CE.