There was a time when archaeologists believed the portraits depicted on the stelae of Maya sites were of astronomers and priests, of a totally impersonal nature and that the glyphs contained in the stelae were only information on sacred dates. Later on, the notion that these had been actual rulers became more obvious and archaeologists started elaborating on the subject and piecing the puzzle together. The following sequence of the Copan Dynastic Rulers is the product of different scientists' work, professionals who have dedicated many years of their lives to the study of glyphs and logographic and phonetic symbols found in Maya writing.

When the actual sound of a grapheme was not known, the logographs were interpreted as its name in English by archaeologists. Say, if a glyph depicted a rabbit's head with the numeral 18, the ruler would then be named 18 Rabbit… then named 18 Jog (Gopher) and now known as Waxaklajuun Ub'aah K'awiil. Hence names such as Mat Head, Stone Jaguar Hand and so on were given to the Rulers of Copan by archaeologists. As epigraphers advance in their quest to decipher Maya glyphs the names given to the rulers change to reflect the knowledge gained, until a consensus is reached or there is certainty on the proper reading of the particular glyphs involved.

Following you will find an approximation to Copan's Dynastic lineage, founded by K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo', his name as deciphered translates to Great Sun First Quetzal Macaw. We don't know who preceded him and on what dates they reigned in Copan, but there are references to previous ruler of the Valley before Yax K'uk' Mo'. The first date given for this Ruler's riegn of Copan is on 435 AD and the last ruler was in power on 822 AD by a pretender to the throne known as Ucit Took'. This is a complete account of all that is known about Copan's Dynastic Rulers as stated in Altar Q. The basic information known about each ruler is presented here.

This work was compiled by several arcaheologitst over the years. It appears on Simon Martin & Nicolai Grube's "Chronicles of Maya Kings & Queens" published by Thames & Hudson in 2000.

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