Editing Quiriguá (section)

===Apogee===
Quiriguá traditionally had been subordinate to its southern neighbour, Copán, and in 724 Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, king of Copán, installed K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat upon Quiriguá's throne as his vassal.<ref name="Drew241"/><ref name="Loop79"/> As early as 734, however, K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat had shown that he was no longer an obedient subordinate of Copán when he started to refer to himself as ''k'ul [[ajaw|ahaw]]'', holy lord, instead of using the lesser term ''ahaw'', subordinate lord; at the same time he began to use his own Quiriguá [[Maya script#Emblem glyphs|emblem glyph]].<ref name="Drew241">Drew 1999, p.241.</ref> These early assertions of independence can only have been made if Quiriguá had managed to form an external alliance.<ref name="Drew241"/>

[[File:Quirigua Stela C.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=A stela with the prominent sculpture of a king surrounded by elaborate decoration. The monument is covered by a thatched roof supported on wooden poles.|Stela C, south face, representing K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat<ref>Looper 2003, pp.158, 184.</ref>]]

Indeed, this local act of rebellion appears to have been part of the larger struggle between the two Maya "superpowers", the great cities of Tikal and Calakmul. In 736, only two years later, K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat received a visit from Wamaw K'awiil, the high king of distant Calakmul, while Copán was one of Tikal's oldest allies. The timing of this visit by the king of Calakmul is highly significant, falling between the accession of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat to the throne of Quiriguá as a vassal of Copán and the outright rebellion that was to follow. This strongly suggests that Calakmul sponsored Quiriguá's rebellion in order to weaken Tikal and to gain access to the rich trade route of the Motagua Valley.<ref name="Loop79">Looper 2003, p.79.</ref><ref name="Sharer482"/> It is likely that contact with Calakmul had been initiated soon after K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat acceded to the throne, since Quiriguá experienced rapid growth soon after, suggesting that Quiriguá already was receiving external support.<ref name="Loop79"/>

In 738 the interlinked fortunes of Quiriguá and Copán took a stunning change of direction when K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat, reigning lord of Quiriguá, captured the powerful, but elderly 13th king of Copán, Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil,<ref name="Web300">Webster 2002, p.300.</ref> who had installed him on his throne in 725.<ref name="Drew240"/> This coup does not seem to have affected either Copán or Quiriguá physically, there is no evidence that either city was attacked at this time and the victor seems not to have received any detectable tribute.<ref name="Drew 1999, p.286">Drew 1999, p.286.</ref><ref name="Loop78"/> Quiriguá seems rather to have gained its independence and the control of important trade routes.<ref name="Drew 1999, p.286"/> An inscription at Quiriguá, although difficult to interpret, suggests that the capture took place on 27 April 738, when Quiriguá seized and burned the wooden images of Copán's patron [[deity|deities]].<ref name="Loop78"/> 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. In the Classic Period the statues of [[List of Maya gods and supernatural beings|Maya deities]] often were carried into battle on [[Litter (vehicle)|palanquins]], facilitating their capture in the event of defeat. It has been suggested that the king of Copán was attempting to attack another site in order to secure captives for [[Sacrifice in Maya culture|sacrifice]], and was ambushed by K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat and his Quiriguá warriors.<ref name="Loop78">Looper 2003, p.78.</ref>

The captured lord was taken back to Quiriguá and on 3 May 738 he was decapitated in a public ritual.<ref name="Miller1345"/><ref name="Loop76"/> The sacrificial offering of the blood of such a powerful overlord greatly enhanced the standing of Quiriguá and its royal family throughout the region and it proclaimed Quiriguá as the new capital of the south-eastern Maya region.<ref name="Drew241"/><ref name="Loop76">Looper 2003, p.76.</ref> After this, Quiriguá engaged in a major monument-building programme, closely mimicking the sculptural style of Copán, possibly using captured Copán sculptors to carry out the work.<ref name="Miller1345">Miller 1999, pp.134&ndash;35.</ref> The population of Quiriguá and of other sites in the valley rapidly increased after the events of 738, although Quiriguá was always a small centre and its total population probably never exceeded 2,000.<ref>Martin & Grube 2000, p.219. Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.688.</ref>

[[File:Quirigua Altar M.jpg|thumb|alt=Stone sculpture shaped like the head of an animal looking to the left|Altar M, dating to 734. It has been identified variously as feline, a crocodile, and a snake. It may be a three-dimensional representation of a rare [[wikt:toponym|toponymic]] glyph.<ref>Looper 2003, pp.58–61.</ref>]]

In the Late Classic (''c''. 600&nbsp;&ndash; ''c''. 900), alliance with Calakmul frequently was 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 itself 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>Looper 1999, p.271.</ref><ref>Looper 2003, p.81.</ref>

In 718, the city of Xkuy&nbsp;– an as yet undiscovered site&nbsp;– was attacked and burned by Copán under the leadership of king Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil. After the king of Copán was sacrificed in 738, Xkuy seems to have become a loyal vassal of Quiriguá and in 762 K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat supervised the accession of "Sunraiser Jaguar" to the subservient city's throne.<ref>Martin & Grube 2000, pp.203, 221.</ref>

K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat, who had so dramatically changed the destiny of his city, died on 27&nbsp;July 785. [[Zoomorph]]&nbsp;G is his memorial stone and it describes how he was buried 10&nbsp;days later in the ''13&nbsp;Kawak House'', a building that has not been identified. The great king was succeeded by "Sky Xul", a king whose name has not been properly identified. "Sky&nbsp;Xul" became the reigning lord of Quiriguá 78&nbsp;days after the death of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat, who is thought to have been his father.<ref name="Sharer494">Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.494</ref> His reign lasted from 10 to 15&nbsp;years and was a period of continued activity. In most of the Maya region cities already were suffering terminal decline, engulfed by the [[Classic Maya collapse]], but in Quiriguá "Sky&nbsp;Xul" dedicated three great zoomorph sculptures and two [[altar]]s, considered marvels of Maya stoneworking. "Sky&nbsp;Xul" died some time between 795 and 800.<ref>Martin & Grube 2000, pp.222&ndash;24.</ref>