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The PARI Journal Vol. XXI, No. 2 ThePARIJournal A quarterly publication of the Ancient Cultures Institute Volume XXI, No. 2, 2020 TheLitanyof RunawayKings: Another Look at Stela 12 of Naranjo, Guatemala In This Issue: CHRISTOPHE HELMKE University of Copenhagen DMITRI BELIAEV The Litany of Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow Runaway Kings: Another Look at SERGEI VEPRETSKII Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Moscow Stela 12 of Naranjo, Guatemala According to the hieroglyphic sources, Naranjo has allowed more in-depth by the eighteen months separating February comparisons to be made and has greatly Christophe Helmke AD 799 from August of the following year elucidated details of heretofore faint sec- Dmitri Beliaev and Sergei Vepretskii were particularly eventful, especially in tions of the text of Stela 12 (see Helmke et the greater Naranjo region of the eastern al. 2017:236-237, 2018:82-86). Spurred on PAGES 1-28 central lowlands. Until recently the by these promising leads, coupled with events that transpired were only known new photography of the extant fragments, Marc Zender from the lengthy text on the back of we have produced a new drawing of the Editor Stela 12 at Naranjo. Despite its relative glyphic text of Stela 12. Here we provide [email protected] length the text has suffered a fair degree background information on this monu- of erosion and in recent decades has suc- ment and describe the process by which Joel Skidmore cumbed to the depredations of looters. As we were able to produce a new draw- Associate Editor a result, much of the text is only partially ing, before turning to a more detailed [email protected] discernible, making many of the details clause-by-clause presentation of the text, difficult to grasp. With the discovery of providing a thorough exploration of the The PARI Journal the Komkom Vase at the site of Baking historical narrative. 202 Edgewood Avenue San Francisco, CA 94117 Pot in western Belize (some 25 km east of Naranjo), we are able to appreciate an- 415-664-8889 The Monument [email protected] other account of many of the same events, as related by the court of the Komkom, Stela 12 was first reported by Teobert Electronic version available at: allies of Naranjo (see Helmke et al. 2018). Maler in 1908 (Tozzer 1908:80-122), follow- www.precolumbia.org/ These events embroiled Naranjo against ing his exploration of Naranjo just three pari/journal/2102 bordering polities, particularly its larger years earlier (Figure 1). When found, Stela neighbor Yaxha (located some 19 km to 12 stood about 2 m tall and about 88 cm ISSN 1531-5398 the southwest). The hand of Tikal in its wide. It was located at the southern base allegiance with Yaxha is also perceptible of Structure B19, which defines the north- and resulted in reprisals by Naranjo. The ern side of the central plaza (Graham and martial repercussions greatly affected the von Euw 1975:7; Quintana and Wurster smaller settlements of the region, given 2001:Figs. 10 and 11, 158-161). This stela the many places that are said to have forms part of a set of three monuments, fallen under the axe or burned, perhaps designated Stelae 12 through 14 (from as plundering efforts that followed more west to east). Not surprisingly, the earliest formal military engagements. of the three is the central Stela 13, raised The remarkable duplication of along the primary axis of the structure. dates and places between the text of This monument was dedicated in AD 780 the Komkom Vase and monuments at on the occasion of the 9.17.10.0.0 lahuntun The PARI Journal 21(2):1-28 © 2020 Ancient Cultures Institute 1 Helmke, Beliaev, and Vepretskii The Litany of Runaway Kings Period Ending, by king K’ahk’ Kalom Chan Chaahk (r. AD 755–780+),1 providing the last known mention of this Coordinates Calendar Round Long Count / DN Gregorian monarch. Thereafter, Stela 14 was raised in AD 790 as part Clause 2 B1-C1: 13 Eb 5 Sip 9.17.0.2.12 17 Mar. 771 of the 9.18.0.0.0 PE, recording the accession of his son, C4-B6: + 1.8.8.0 “Itzamnaaj” K’awil2 in 784 and marking that king’s inau- gural monument. This was followed a decade later by the Clause 3 B7: 8 Eb 5 Woh 9.18.8.8.12 18 Feb. 799 dedication of Stela 12 itself, on the 9.18.10.0.0 lahuntun C8b: + 4 PE. This stela was dedicated concurrently with Stela 35, Clause 4 B9: 12 Kib 9 Woh 9.18.8.8.16 22 Feb. 799 which we will also touch upon below since some seg- C14a: + 2 ments provide parallels with the text of Stela 12. The triad Clause 5 C14b-B15a: 1 Etz’nab 11 Woh 9.18.8.8.18 24 Feb. 799 of monuments at the base of Str. B19 thus forms a neat D4b-E4: + 2.13 sequence, each separated by a decade (or half-katun), Clause 6 D5: 2 Chuwen 4 Sek 9.18.8.11.11 18 Apr. 799 with the stela of the father respectfully flanked by two stelae of his spirited son. D7b-E7: + 4.11 The calendrics of the relatively long text on the back Clause 7 D8: 2 Ik’ 15 Ch’en 9.18.8.16.2 18 Jul. 799 of the same stela were worked out early on by Sylvanus E10b-D11: + 2.11 Morley (1909:546-547). Morley did an impeccable job in Clause 8 E11: 1 Ben 6 Kej 9.18.9.0.13 07 Sep. 799 this regard and we have no amendments to make to his E14-D15a: + 8.15 chronological overview, reproducing it here in its entirety Clause 9 D15b-E15a: 7 Lamat 16 Woh 9.18.9.9.8 29 Feb. 800 (Table 1). Despite such a promising start, with Maler’s F3-G3a: + 4.7 flawless photographs and the calendrical resolution of the text, this stela, as so many more, had to wait until Clause 10 G3b-F4a: 3 Men 3 Yaxk’in 9.18.9.13.15 26 May 800 the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing before it F11b-G11: + 4.5 would gain the renewed attention of researchers. Clause 11: F12: 10 Ajaw 8 Sak 9.18.10.0.0 19 Aug. 800 Yet, while the monument lay dormant the site of Naranjo greatly suffered from the depredations of looters, resulting in the illicit excavation of all the major structures Table 1. Chronological overview of the historical narrative recorded on Stela 12. Note that Clause 1 and the indiscriminate splintering of monuments for sale refers to the caption describing the portrait of the king on the front of the stela, whereas the basal text on the illicit antiquities market. In response to the loot- (H1–M1) is designated as Clause 12. ing, the Instituto de Antropología e Historia undertook a salvage operation between 1972 and 1973, resorting to the 2009:30-45).3 The looting of monuments started in ear- from the back. The front was then sawn, more or less removal of 19 stelae from the site to safe locations (Fialko nest in 1964 and lasted for about a decade (Graham and neatly, into sections and exported, only to reappear on 2008:4). As such, some of the monuments are now housed von Euw 1975:8). This was followed by looting in search exhibit in Geneva, when it was said to be owned by a in the storerooms of the Parque Nacional Tikal and in of polychrome ceramics from tombs, which continued Belgian art collector (Mayer 1993:6). During the curation the Departamento de Monumentos Prehispánicos in unabated until 2001 when the Guatemalan authorities of the monument, the fragments were joined and the Melchor de Mencos, whereas Stela 24 was repatriated to gradually regained control of the site, building a camp lowest portion of the base, which probably splintered Guatemala and is now on exhibit in the Museo Nacional and initiating a large-scale research operation (Fialko during the looting, was rather crudely restored. de Arqueología y Etnología (see Mayer 2003; Barrios 2008:5-6). The front of the stela represents the king in splen- In the words of Ian Graham (Graham and von dor amidst a swirl of feathers and billowing smoke, Euw 1975:8), who has conducted the most intensive grasping a large bicephalic ceremonial bar from which 1 The name of this king is traditionally read as K’ahk’ Ukalaw epigraphic documentation of monuments from the site: deities emerge through open serpentine maws at either Chan Chaahk (Martin and Grube 2008:80) as its usual form represents end (Figure 1). The king stands triumphantly above a A tragic amount of sculpture was destroyed forever by loot- the head variant of the KALOMTE’ sign, which was considered to ers completely devoid of expertise trying to “thin” stelae for naked and crouching captive, the mark of a ruler’s mili- be a shortened version of the spelling K’AK’-u-{BROKEN.FLINT}-wa easy removal. tary prowess. Surprisingly, the captive appears to be a that appears on a scepter from Naranjo. However, after the discovery woman, her arms tied behind her back and her copious of Naranjo Stela 46 it is now clear that K’AK’-u-BROKEN.FLINT- Whereas many sections of monuments have disap- wa CHAN-na CHAK was the name of the seventh century king of bosom awkwardly forced onto the ground, a pose that Naranjo who was the father of K’ahk’ Tiliw Chan Chaahk (Martin peared in this manner, some have reappeared on the “may allude to a sensuality verging on sublimated eroti- et al.
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