Editing Copán (section)

===Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil===
[[File:Copan (3831024263).jpg|thumb|left|Stela H, depicting king Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil]]
[[Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil]] was crowned as the 13th&nbsp;king in the Copán dynasty in July&nbsp;695. He oversaw both the apogee of Copán's achievements and also one of the city's most catastrophic political disasters. During his reign, the sculptural style of the city evolved into the full in-the-round sculpture characteristic of Copán. In AD&nbsp;718, Copán attacked and defeated the unidentified site of Xkuy, recording its burning on an unusual stone cylinder. In AD&nbsp;724 Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil installed [[K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat]] as a [[vassal]] on the throne of [[Quiriguá]]. Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil was confident enough in his power to rank his city among the four most powerful states in the Maya region, together with Tikal, [[Calakmul]] and [[Palenque]], as recorded on Stela&nbsp;A. In contrast to his predecessor, Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil concentrated his monuments in the site core of the Copán; his first was Stela&nbsp;J, dated to AD&nbsp;702 and erected at the eastern entrance to the city.<ref name="Martin & Grube 2000, p. 203"/>

He continued to erect a further seven high-quality stelae until AD&nbsp;736, monuments that are considered masterpieces of Classic Maya sculpture with such mastery of detail that they represent the highest pinnacle of Maya artistic achievement.{{sfn|Martin|Grube|2000|pp=203–204}} The stelae depict king Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil ritually posed and bearing the attributes of a variety of deities, including B'olon K'awiil, K'uy Nik Ajaw and Mo' Witz Ajaw.<ref name="Martin & Grube 2000, p. 203"/> The king also carried out major construction works, including a new version of Temple&nbsp;26 that now bore the first version of the Hieroglyphic Stairway, plus two temples that have now been lost to the erosion of the Copán River. He also encased the Rosalila phase of Temple&nbsp;16 within a new phase of construction. He remodelled the ballcourt, then demolished it and built a new one in its place.<ref name="Martin & Grube 2000, pp. 204–205">{{harvnb|Martin|Grube|2000|pp=204–205}}.</ref>

Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil had only recently dedicated the new ballcourt in AD&nbsp;738 when a completely unexpected disaster befell the city. Twelve years earlier he had installed K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat on the throne of Quiriguá as his vassal.{{sfn|Martin|Grube|2000|pp=203, 205}} By 734 the king of Quiriguá had shown he was no longer an obedient subordinate when he began to refer to himself as ''k'ul [[ajaw]]'', "holy lord", rather than simply as a subordinate lord ''ajaw''.{{sfn|Drew|1999| p=241}} K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat appears to have taken advantage of wider political rivalries and allied himself with [[Calakmul]], the sworn enemy of Tikal. Copán was firmly allied with Tikal and Calakmul used its alliance with Quiriguá to undermine Tikal's key ally in the south.{{sfn|Looper|2003|p=79}}

Although the exact details are unknown, in April&nbsp;738 K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat captured Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil and burned two of Copán's patron deities. Six days later Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil was decapitated in Quiriguá.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|Grube|2000|p=204}}; {{harvnb|Looper|2003|p=76}}; {{harvnb|Miller|1999|pp=134–135}}.</ref> This coup does not seem to have physically affected either Copán or Quiriguá; there is no evidence that either city was attacked at this time and the victor seems not to have received any detectable tribute.<ref>{{harvnb|Drew|1999|p=286}}; {{harvnb|Looper|2003|p=78}}.</ref> All of this seems to imply that K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat managed to somehow ambush Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, rather than to have defeated him in outright battle. It has been suggested that Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil was attempting to attack another site to secure captives for [[Sacrifice in Maya culture|sacrifice]] in order to dedicate the new ballcourt when he was ambushed by K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat and his Quiriguá warriors.{{sfn|Looper|2003|p=78}}

In the Late Classic, alliance with Calakmul was frequently associated with the promise of military support. The fact that Copán, a much more powerful city than Quiriguá, failed to retaliate against its former vassal implies that it feared the military intervention of Calakmul. Calakmul was far enough away from Quiriguá that K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat was not afraid of falling directly under its power as a full vassal state, even though it is likely that Calakmul sent warriors to help in the defeat of Copán. The alliance instead seems to have been one of mutual advantage: Calakmul managed to weaken a powerful ally of Tikal while Quiriguá gained its independence.<ref>{{harvnb|Looper|1999|p=271}}; {{harvnb|Looper|2003|p=81}}.</ref> The disaster for Copán had long-lasting consequences; major construction ceased and no new monuments were raised for the next 17&nbsp;years.{{sfn|Martin|Grube|2000|p=206}}