Rescuing the Origins of Dos Pilas Dynasty:
A Salvage of Hieroglyphic Stairway #2, Structure L5-49

Central Section

As stated before the Central Section has six steps labeled from six (6 the upper most) to one (1 at plaza level). The average length of the stone blocks of each step is 2.60cm with an average height of .42cm. The width varies from .91cm in Step 2 to .34cm in Step 4 (Castellanos et al., 2001). Only Step 1 shows a different length because the block is fractured with a partial length of 1.51cm; a second uncarved rectangular stone and three smaller but finely quarried blocks fill in the space which replaces the piece that was removed in ancient times.

Step 6 (Figure 5)

The uppermost step with a glyphic text begins the inscription with a distance number of 2 k’in, 7 winal (?) and 2 tun. This last glyph has the "ya" postfix indicating that these time periods should be counted before the expression which follows: "u-ti-ya" and the "TAL-na LAM" or half period sign. The date that follows sure enough is 2 AJAW 13 POP (9.9.10.0.0).

The next glyph is the initial sign used in ceramic inscriptions and is related to the 8 IK’ 5 KEH date of 9.9.12.11.2 which Houston (1993) and Martin and Grube (2000) had intuitively given as the birth date of Ruler 1 of Dos Pilas because of the references to a third katun anniversary which appears in Stairway 4, Step 1 at block J1 and the "ox-wi KATUN AJAW" in Step 5 at M1 of the same Stairway as well as at F6 of Step 2, Stairway 2, West. The use of the initial AY-(a) word gives special emphasis to the birth date of the ruler.

Step six of this newly discovered section of Stairway 2 confirms the birth date with the use of the "SIH-ya-ja" for the word "was born", followed by the nominal ba-la-ja CHAN K’AWIIL. In this manner the stairway proves conclusively that the ruler’s birth was on the 15^th of October 625. Further evidence comes from Aguateca Stela 5 which reads that on 692 the ruler was a 4 Katun Ajaw. Houston (1993) however, cautioned that texts from Naranjo, where Ruler 1 sent his daughter have different calculations regarding his birth. The new step from Dos Pilas now proves the correct date.

Ruler 1, then, lives close to 70 years or a little more. His birth happens three years before the death of the Tikal Ruler named K’INCH WAAW according to Guenter (personal communication) or K’INICH-?-te’ by Martin and Grube (2000) or Animal Skull as he is known by other authors (Harrison, 1995; Schele and Freidel, 1990; Schele and Grube, 1994; Schele and Mathews, 1998; Jones and Satterhwaite, 1982). Recently Marc Zender has suggested that the name of his son is K’INICH MUWAAHN JOL II (e-mails: Martin, 2002; Guenter, 2002). This ruler is known to be the 24^th in the line of succession and could have been the father of ba-la-ja CHAN K’AWIIL as seen in Dos Pilas Panel 6. This would make BALAK CHAN K’AWIIL also brother of NUUN U JOL CHAK of Tikal known as the 25^th ruler.

The events at that period are still the subject of much speculation. Very little is known of Tikal Rulers 23^rd and 24^th whose reigns would have been between 628 and 657. But it is during that period that some dynastic crisis could have occurred since part of the royal family and of the elite migrates to Dos Pilas some 115 kilometers to the southwest eventually becoming a source of irritation, danger and eventually even war against Tikal. The possibility that the Dos Pilas polity was deliberately founded as a safe haven for the Tikal royal lineage since the defeat of 562 or because the family need to secure a southern flank in the region is very strong since Tikal’s interest in the southwest of Petén was strong during that time.

There is still no knowledge if the age of ba-la-ja CHAN K’AWIIL was the reason for his migration and the denial of his rights in Tikal if any or if it was for other reasons. Stanley Guenter (e-mail 1/11/2002) believes he was a second son of the Tikal ruler, but Nikolai Grube (e-mail 12/28/2001) cautions that he could have been from Dos Pilas. What is true is that a great part of his life is spent in continuous warfare trying to establish his power against unhappy neighbors and which since the mid-seventh century to the end of his days includes wars against Tikal and the capture and possible sacrifice of his brother NUUN (u) JOL CHAAK, the twenty-fifth ruler of that site, or of an important subordinate of his (Martin and Grube, 2000).

Step 5 (Figure 6)

The text of this step begins with a very eroded distance number but shows the "K’IN" sign as a head variant with two crossed bones in place of an eye which is also the way it is carved in Step 4. The day arrived at is 1 AJAW 8 K’AYAB which corresponds to the Mayan date 9.10.0.0.0 (633). This is used as an anchor date. The next glyph merely reiterates this date since it is the number 10 and the katun sign.

Immediately after and without a new distance number the date 7 BEN 16 XUL (629) indicates although eroded the arrival (HULI) of Ruler 1 at Dos Pilas. The event happened four years earlier than the anchor date and that moment he was but a child of four years. He must have traveled with a group of loyal court members who took care of him during the dangerous trip since they considered him a potential legitimate heir of the throne given that Calakmul was beginning to show interest in the area and thus becoming a threat to Tikal’s interests.

The inscription is quite clear with the verb "HULI", translated as "arrival" and the date when the event occurs. Several other steps in the Dos Pilas stairways show this expression as well as the expressions LOK’ and XANI which in some sense refer to actions involving movement to and from sites. In the case of Step 5 the pertinent situation for the reader was to make sure that the arrival event took place when the ruler was only four years old.

Universal history is full of examples of quarrels, indeed civil wars, between ruling houses. This is particularly true when a potential heir to a throne happens to be a younger brother such as this case of a four year old child. Tikal’s Ruler 21^st, known as WAK CHAN K’AWIIL or Double Bird, was himself probably a victim of earlier palace intrigues which in some way must have weakened the power of the city. In fact in 562 this ruler, or perhaps even the city, could have been overrun in a "star war" attack (Martin and Grube, 2000; Guenter, e-mail 1/14/2002). The successor, the 22^nd Ruler may not have been from the old royal house although his mother appears prominently in the ceramic inscriptions that form his historical data. At any rate Animal Skull or K’INICH WAAW probably died around 628 as seen in an inscription in Altar de Sacrificios which Houston has pointed out (Schele, 1994). This probable date could be but a few years after the birth of ba-la-ja CHAN K’AWIIL of Dos Pilas and coupled with the 21^th successor’s problems made Tikal ripe for uncertainty and strife.

Step 4 (Figure 7)

Step 4 begins with a distance number 17 k’in and 7 winal followed by the sign "u-ti-yi" and the date 2 AJAW 13 PAX equivalent to the year 636 and acting as the anchor date for the events to follows.

On the date 2 AJAW which marked the end of the three tuns after 9.10.0.0.0 an expression that can be transcribed as T16.44: 528.528 appears next. This is part of an end of 3 tun ceremony. The expression "yax tzi-pi" appears also on Lintel 3 of Tikal’s Temple 1 before an event that happens 158 days later when the TOK-PAKAL of the ruler of Calakmul is brought down. In Dos Pilas exactly 162 days later on 7 CABAN 10 XUL the placing of the royal band on the forehead, "YAX TZUK-ja" occurs. This is the ruler’s enthronement at the age of eleven years old. However the expression can also be read as "YAX K’AL-ja" which can mean a first burning ceremony and which could be consistent also with an accession ceremony.

Before the nominal of Ruler 1 ends the inscription, there is glyph that appears twice on Stairway 4, steps four and five at J2 and L2 as part of his titles. It consists of the prefix "li" followed by a head which has a hand instead of the eye and a "NAL" sign as a superfix. The "NAL" sign is associated with place names so it can mean that this is a toponym related to his name.

The interesting aspect that ends the inscription is that following the nominal of the ruler, the place where all the activities in this step take place, is a clear MUTUL sign preceded by the sign "ut". In all the other steps the Dos Pilas emblem glyph used is the T716 variant with the face of an animal bound by two cords or bands. Therefore it seems that the intent expressed in this particular step is to make reference to Mutul (Tikal) and to a legitimation of the line of ruleship. If Ruler 1 was sent from Tikal to establish a new state to be a safe place, given Calakmul’s aggressiveness in 562, then the enthronement ceremony could indeed have taken place in Tikal under a Tikal ruler which is not mentioned but which must have been K’INICH MUWAAHN JOL IX.

Step 3 (Figure 8)

This step seems to break the time sequence that had been used since the events portrayed occur two years before those of Step 4. This leads to a potential problem in the order of the discourse which also happens in relation to Steps 2 and 1 in this same stairway. One possible explanation is that the steps were removed, at the time of the construction of the defensive walls around the center of the city, and then replaced back but in different order because those responsible were not interested in the exact order but just to rebuild the stairway.

Another possible explanation is that each step refers to specific events not necessarily related in a time sequence. This, of course, is not customary in Maya inscriptions particularly when the reading order would be so visible as the reader walked up the steps.

At any rate Step 3 begins again with a distance number of 19 k’in, 2 winal and 2 tun, which if it were to be counted back from the date 9.10.0.0.0 would reach a date of 9.9.17.15.1, which has no connection to any other known date in Dos Pilas.

The Period Ending date of 9.10.0.0.0 1 AJAW 8 K’AYAB (623) appears as the anchor date just as it was used on Step 5. This time however the event that follows happens one year later, in 634, on the day 11 KAWAK 17 WO and it involves the LOK’ verb (Grube, 1991; La Cadena, 1993) meaning "to escape, to leave". This verb is used several times in Stairway 2, East and West and in Stairway 4, Step III. It is mostly associated with war events both by and against Tikal and Dos Pilas. The last time the expression occurs in the Petexbatún area is on Tamarindito Stairway 2 where Dos Pilas Ruler 4 seems to have been forced to leave and probably killed in 761 (Houston, 1993; Schele and Grube, 1994).

The passage does not include the war expression common in these types of events as stated earlier nor the "u KAHI" glyphs so it is possible that this was a skirmish with one of the surrounding neighbors that resented the establishing of this new polity in their midst and not a full scale war.

The glyph that should inform the reader where the ruler goes to is however unfortunately eroded and therefore cannot be read. The inscription ends as usual with the name of Ruler 1 and the Dos Pilas emblem glyph.

Thus the fact that this step refers to an event that happens before the formal accession of Ruler 1 as expressed in Step 4 has the implication that uncertainty was still the case for Dos Pilas at that point probably because the ruler was still only nine years old and insecure in this new domain.

Step 2 (Figure 9)

This step takes the reader seven years later after the flight of Ruler 1 from Dos Pilas and five years after his accession. The step begins with the usual distance number 2 k’in and 17 winal leading to the anchor date 13 AJAW 18 KANK’IN (9.10.10.0.0) with the half period glyph emphasizing the date. These forms of expressing the anchor dates are common on both the East and West sections of Stairway 2 and in Stairway 4 and leave no doubt of the intention of the sculptors as to securing a moment from which to recount the main events in the steps.

The inscription continues with the date 4 IK’ 15 MAC equivalent to 9.10.10.17.3 or 643, followed by the CH’AM K’AWIIL verb. This is a ceremony that is related to displaying the royal scepter although the verb is really to "receive". Probably on certain occasions this event involved receiving the god image from a high ranking courtier or priest and then publicly displaying it in front of the population of the site.

The glyphs following are two titles "ba-t(e)" and "pi-tzi-li" that Ruler 1 uses, also on Stairway 4, Steps 4 and 5, and which relate to being a warrior and a ball player. The ruler was only 16 years old but it appears that the use of these titles made clear his life long desire to make a mark on his people and his neighbors as to what his role was to be.

Step 1 (Figure 10)

The final Step of the Central section of the stairway is unfortunately broken in half and the western part of the step was replaced with an un-carved block that is also very eroded so that the verbal part of the message is practically impossible to read.

The step begins with the number 5 k’in 7 winal and the expression "u-ti-yi" and the new date 6 AJAW 13 MAK which was the half period 9.10.15.0.0 equivalent to 647 A.D. The next two glyphs confirm this date since it states that a HOTUN is lacking. The next date is problematic since the month glyph is eroded but seems to be 18 PAX. However the day is clearly 6 CHICCHAN which would be coherent followed by the verbal phrase that begins with a prefix probably "yo" which then has a head with the superfix "wa", probably therefore AJAW – wa and an eroded post-fix. The rest of the expression is destroyed but if it were to follow the way of the other steps and the last block, it should have had the Dos Pilas emblem glyph and the nominal of Ruler 1 and perhaps part of the verbal expression and or other titles.

Commentary

The newly discovered Central Section of Stairway 2 of Structure L5-49 recounts the early life of ba-la-ja CHAN K’AWIIL commonly known as Ruler 1 of Dos Pilas. As will be seen in the following sections of the stairways, the events in them continue the history of Dos Pilas up to 689 A.D. with the third Katun anniversary of the Ruler’s birth which is now known for certain as having happened on 9.9.12.11.2 8 IK 5 KEH or October 15^th 625. His life span therefore reached as many as 61 years of age or even slightly more.

Because ITZAMNAAJ K’AWIIL, known mistakenly as Ruler 2, acceded to the throne in 698 A.D. there is a gap of some 12 years between the last mention of Ruler 1 on Dos Pilas Panel 7 (686) and the next accession event on Stela 8. This period surely involved ITZAMNAAJ B’ALAM whose name is on Stairway 2, West, Step 1. He is the ruler that followed, for a brief time, ba-la-ja CHAN K’AWIIL. As such, the steps mention two Dos Pilas rulers and the wife of one and mother of another.

The importance of the new discovery resides in the fact that now there is information that confirms previous suppositions and deductions or adds new events such as the arrival in Dos Pilas and accession of Ruler 1.

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