Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat, also known as Yax Pasaj Chan Yoaat, Yax Pac and Yax Pasah, was ruler of the

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

kingdom of Xukpi from 763 to 810 or later. This is on the site of the city of

Copán Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. This ancient Maya city mirrors the beauty of the physical landscape in which it flourished—a fer ...

in western

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. He is the king who made

Altar Q An altar is a Table (furniture), table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of wo ...

. He was the sixteenth and last king in line, whose name translates as 'New son on the Horizon'. He was the son of Smoke Shell and a noble woman of

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. ...

, and as soon as he had been crowned in AD 763 he began a program of artistic and architectural improvement of the city, which included the renovation of the structures built by his predecessors and the encouragement of the work of scientists and scribes. Moreover, he was also responsible for a series of agricultural improvements which led to a great increase in population. It was this king who commissioned

. In a frieze he is depicted receiving the royal scepter from the founder of the dynasty K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo'. By the time of his death in 800, nearly all the structures still visible on the Acropolis of the city today were standing complete. After his death

begun to sink into a period of decline, due to ineffective ruling authority. This resulted in the emigration of Copan's people to other city states.

References

8th-century births 9th-century deaths Rulers of Copán 8th-century monarchs in North America 8th century in the Maya civilization {{Mesoamerica-stub