Yohl IkʼnalThe ruler's name, when transcribed is IX-(Y)O꞉L-la IKʼ-NAL-la, translated as "Lady Heart of the Wind Place". (), also known as Lady Kan Ik and Lady Kʼanal Ikʼnal, (died 7 November 604) was

queen regnant A queen regnant (: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort, who is married to a reigning ...

of the

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

city-state of

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamha ("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 ...

. She acceded to the throne on 23 December 583, and ruled until her death.These are the dates indicated on the Maya inscriptions in Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Acceded: 9.7.10.3.8 9 Lamat 1 Muwan and Died: 9.8.11.6.12 2 Eb 20 Keh, using the GMT+2 correlation and the proleptic Gregorian calendar.

Family

Yohl Ikʼnal was a grandmother or great-grandmother of Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I, Palenque's greatest king. She was a descendant of

Kʼukʼ Bahlam I Kʼukʼ Bahlam I,The ruler's name, when transcribed is KʼUKʼ AHLAM translated "Quetzal Jaguar". also known as Kuk and Bahlum Kʼukʼ, (March 30, 397 – 435?), was a founder and ''ajaw'' of the ruling dynasty at the Maya civilization, Maya cit ...

, the founder of the Palenque dynasty and she came to power within a year of the death of her predecessor, Kan Bahlam I. She was the first female ruler in recorded Maya history and was one of a very few female rulers known from Maya history to have borne a full royal

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

. She must have come to the throne due to extremely unusual circumstances, the details of which have not survived. She was the one of two women to have ruled Palenque, second was her daughter or granddaughter Sak Kʼukʼ and was likely to have been either the sister or, more likely, the daughter of Kan Bahlam, who left no male heir. Her husband or her son was

Janahb Pakal Janahb Pakal also known as Janaab Pakal, Pakal I or Pakal the Elder, (died 6 March 612), was a nobleman and possible ''ajaw'' of the Maya city-state of Palenque. Biography Pakal’s dynastic position is not entirely certain, though he may have b ...

Reign

During the reign of Yohl Ikʼnal, Palenque suffered an important defeat by

Calakmul Calakmul (; also Kalakmul and other less frequent variants) is a Maya civilization, Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul w ...

, one of the two great Maya powers of the Classic Period.Stuart & Stuart 2008, p. 140. The battle took place on 23 April 599 but Yohl Ikʼnal reigned for several years more and died in 604. After the defeat, Palenque apparently maintained its political identity but Yohl Ikʼnal probably had to pay tribute to the

ajaw Ajaw or Ahau ('Lord') is a pre-Columbian Maya civilization, Maya political title attested from epigraphy, epigraphic inscriptions. It is also the name of the 20th day of the ''tzolkʼin'', the Maya divinatory calendar, on which a ruler's ''kʼatu ...

. There are indications that either Yohl Ikʼnal or her successor successfully rebelled against Calakmul's dominance before 611. Archaeologist

Merle Greene Robertson Merle Greene Robertson (August 30, 1913 – April 22, 2011) was an American artist, art historian, archaeologist, lecturer and Mayanist researcher, renowned for her extensive work towards the investigation and preservation of the art, iconog ...

has suggested that a vaulted tomb under

Temple 20 Temple 20 (or Temple XX) is a pyramidal building, dated to between AD 430 and 600 ( Early Classic period), located at the Maya city of Palenque in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico with a funerary chamber that contains remains of a high ran ...

at Palenque is that of Queen Yohl Ikʼnal. She was considered important enough to be depicted twice on the

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

of her grandson or great-grandson Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I and to be sculpted in

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

on the wall of his tomb.Stuart & Stuart 2008, pp. 177, 180. Skidmore 2010, pp. 56–57.

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * {{Authority control 6th-century births 604 deaths Maya queens 6th-century women monarchs 7th-century queens regnant 7th-century monarchs in North America 6th-century monarchs in North America Monarchs of Palenque 6th-century Maya people 7th-century Maya people