Yohl Ikʼnal
{{Short description|Queen of the Mayan city-state of Palenque from 583 to 604}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name =Lady Yohl Ikʼnal
| title =Ajaw
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| succession=Queen of Palenque
| reign =23 December 583 – 7 November 604
| coronation =
| full name =
| predecessor =Kan Bahlam I
| successor =Ajen Yohl Mat
| spouse = Janahb Pakal (possibly her son instead)
| issue =Ajen Yohl Mat
Janahb Pakal (possibly her husband instead)
Lady Sak Kʼukʼ
| royal house =
| father =Kʼan Joy Chitam I or Kan Bahlam I
| birth_date = Before 583
| birth_place = Palenque
| death_date = 7 November 604
| death_place = Palenque
| burial_place = Temple 20 of Palenque
| religion =Maya religion
| signature =Yohl Ik'nal.svg
|}}
Yohl IkʼnalThe ruler's name, when transcribed is IX-(Y)O꞉L-la IKʼ-NAL-la, translated as "Lady Heart of the Wind Place". ({{IPA|myn|johl ikʼnal}}), also known as Lady Kan Ik and Lady Kʼanal Ikʼnal, (died 7 November 604) was queen regnant of the Maya city-state of Palenque. 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.Stuart & Stuart 2008, pp. 139–142. Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 459. Skidmore 2010, p. 39.
Family
Yohl Ikʼnal was a grandmother or great-grandmother of Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I, Palenque's greatest king.Skidmore 2010, pp. 56–57. Webster 2002, p. 132. She was a descendant of Kʼukʼ Bahlam I, the founder of the Palenque dynasty and she came to power within a year of the death of her predecessor, Kan Bahlam I.Stuart & Stuart 2008, p. 139. Drew 1999, p. 264.
File:K'inich Janaab Pakal I.jpg, grandson or great-grandson of Yohl Ikʼnal]]
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.Stuart & Stuart 2008, p. 139. Martin & Grube 2000, p. 159. Drew 1999, p. 264. She must have come to the throne due to extremely unusual circumstances, the details of which have not survived.Stuart & Stuart 2008, p. 139. 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.Stuart & Stuart 2008, p. 238. Martin & Grube 2000, p. 159. Skidmore 2010, pp. 56–57.
Reign
During the reign of Yohl Ikʼnal, Palenque suffered an important defeat by Calakmul, 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.Stuart & Stuart 2008, pp. 140–142. After the defeat, Palenque apparently maintained its political identity but Yohl Ikʼnal probably had to pay tribute to the ajaw of Calakmul.Stuart & Stuart 2008, p. 142. There are indications that either Yohl Ikʼnal or her successor successfully rebelled against Calakmul's dominance before 611.Stuart & Stuart 2008, p. 144.
Archaeologist Merle Greene Robertson has suggested that a vaulted tomb under Temple 20 at Palenque is that of Queen Yohl Ikʼnal. She was considered important enough to be depicted twice on the sarcophagus of her grandson or great-grandson Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I and to be sculpted in stucco on the wall of his tomb.Stuart & Stuart 2008, pp. 177, 180. Skidmore 2010, pp. 56–57.
Notes
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Footnotes
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References
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- {{cite book |author=Drew, David |author-link=David Drew (archaeologist) |year=1999 |title=The Lost Chronicles of the Maya Kings |location=London |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=0-297-81699-3 |oclc=43401096 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/lostchroniclesof0000drew_j2y5 }}
- {{cite book |author=Martin, Simon |author-link=Simon Martin (Mayanist) |author2=Nikolai Grube |author2-link=Nikolai Grube |year=2000 |title=Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya |location=London and New York |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-500-05103-8 |oclc=47358325 |url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofmayak00mart }}
- {{cite book |author=Sharer, Robert J. |author-link=Robert Sharer |author2=Loa P. Traxler |year=2006 |title=The Ancient Maya |edition=6th (fully revised) |location=Stanford, CA |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-4817-9 |oclc=57577446 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientmaya0006shar }}
- {{cite book|last1=Skidmore|first1=Joel|title=The Rulers of Palenque|date=2010|publisher=Mesoweb Publications|page=39|edition=Fifth|url=http://www.mesoweb.com/palenque/resources/rulers/PalenqueRulers-05.pdf|access-date=12 October 2015}}
- {{cite book |author=Stuart, David |author-link=David Stuart (Mayanist) |author2=George Stuart |year=2008 |title=Palenque: Eternal City of the Maya |location=London |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-05156-6|oclc=227016561}}
- {{cite book |author=Webster, David L. |year=2002 |title=The Fall of the Ancient Maya: Solving the Mystery of the Maya Collapse |location=London |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-500-05113-5 |oclc=48753878 |url=https://archive.org/details/fallofancientmay0000webs }}
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{{succession box|title=Queen of Palenque | before= Kan Bahlam I|after=Ajen Yohl Mat|years=23 December 583 – 4 November 604}}
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{{Rulers of Palenque}}
{{Maya}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:6th-century women monarchs
Category:7th-century queens regnant
Category:7th-century monarchs in North America
Category:6th-century monarchs in North America