Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat appears in the historical record as the ajaw of Quiriguá during the Classic Maya period. According to dated monuments, he assumed elevated titulary and regalia—recorded as taking the title kʼuhul ajaw on Altar M in 734 AD and receiving the K'awiil sceptre to signify formal accession—and thereby declared Quiriguá independent from its former overlord Copán. His accession and subsequent military victory over Copán in 738 AD are the defining events framing his rise in the archaeological and epigraphic record.
The supplied sources do not provide living-person physical descriptions in text. His likeness and regalia are preserved in large-scale carved stone monuments at Quiriguá: numerous stelae and zoomorphs produced during his reign celebrate him. Notably, Stele E — carved from a single stone and cited as the tallest Maya stele (approximately 10.7 m or 35 feet high) — is among the monumental works associated with his rule, and Zoomorph G is identified in the sources as a probable funerary marker associated with him.
Sources describe Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat in political and military terms: he issued a formal declaration of sovereignty by taking kʼuhul ajaw in 734, received the K'awiil sceptre as accession regalia, and led or commanded forces that defeated Copán and captured its ruler Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil in AD 738 (an event followed by the latter's execution). His reign corresponds with increased autonomy for Quiriguá, extensive monumental sculpture (stelae and zoomorphs), and control over important trade routes. The supplied materials do not ascribe supernatural powers to him; cosmological or theophoric readings of elements of his name appear in secondary popular accounts but are not presented in the documentary sources as literal personal supernatural abilities.
Acat
Acat is a Maya deity associated with the craft and ritual of tattooing, described in the cited sources as being invoked in relation to the tools, inks, and workspaces of tattoo artists and as steadying the artists' hands so tattoos made in the image of gods could confer those gods' power.
Ah Muzen Cab
Ah Muzen Cab is a Yucatán Maya divine figure associated with bees and honey, attested in summary sources as protector of Melipona bees and as a participant in Chilam Balam creation and ritual chapters. He is also linked in secondary accounts to the upside-down 'Descending' or 'Diving God' image found in Maya iconography at sites such as Tulum.
Akna
Akna is a female figure named in modern secondary sources as associated with childbirth and motherhood. The provided materials conflate brief mentions linking the name to both Maya and Inuit maternal goddesses; primary Maya iconographic or epigraphic evidence for a distinct Maya Akna is not supplied in the sources.
Alux (aluxoʼob)
The alux (plural aluxoʼob or aluxob) is a small, place-bound sprite or spirit in Maya tradition of the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, and Guatemala, conceived as knee-high, miniature, traditionally dressed Maya-like beings created by ancient gods and normally unseen but able to assume physical form to communicate or frighten humans.
Anteater (tradition)
In the provided sources, 'Anteater' refers to the real-world mammals of the suborder Vermilingua and to modern cultural/technical items named after that animal (games, software, student media). There is no documentation in these materials of an anteater as a supernatural entity within a traditional cosmology.
Awilix
Awilix is a principal deity of the Postclassic Kʼicheʼ Maya centered at Qʼumarkaj, serving as a lunar and night-associated patron of the Nijaʼibʼ lineage. The deity is linked with the moon, night, the Underworld, sickness and death, and is a patron of the Mesoamerican ballgame; sources record both feminine and possibly masculine identifications.
Bacab
In Yucatec Maya tradition the Bacab are a fourfold office of aged interior-earth deities who stand at the four cardinal points as holders of the world, associated with subterranean waters, thunder, rain, calendrical Year Bearer days, divination, and curing rituals.
Balam
Balam is a name that appears in modern secondary demonological compilations and in English-language reference listings as a demon-name; the supplied sources do not provide primary traditional descriptions, rites, or a sustained cosmology for a demon called Balam. The same lexical form (B'alam/Bahlam) is also a Maya-language word meaning 'jaguar' and occurs widely in Maya personal and place names, a distinct and unrelated usage.
Camazotz
Camazotz is a bat-associated spirit in Late Post‑Classic Kʼicheʼ Maya narrative (notably the Popol Vuh) and a recurring bat motif in Classic Maya iconography. In the Popol Vuh Camazotz appears as bat-like beings serving the lords of Xibalba who attack the Hero Twins; Classic imagery links leaf‑nosed bats to night, death, disease, and nahual (way‑spirit) functions.
Chaac
Chaac is the Maya god of rain, thunder, and lightning, a central agricultural deity who produces storms by striking clouds with a lightning axe. He appears as both a singular figure and as multiple directional Chaacs, is associated with subterranean waters (cenotes and caves), and is the focus of communal rain-request rituals and specialist rainmaker practices.
Chahk (Chac) — Classic Maya palace deity/manifestation
A Classic Maya divine figure depicted in late 8th-century palace art and associated with elite ritual contexts. In the provided sources the figure appears as a small, held effigy described as “a god of royalty,” notable for a serpent leg, grotesque head, and a smoking torch on its brow; textual references on the panel refer to an undefined ritual completed in 795.
Chaneque
Chaneques are small, place-bound sprite-like beings in Mexican and wider Mesoamerican folklore, described as owners or inhabitants of particular dangerous places and as guardians of nature and households. Traditions portray them ambivalently: they may protect harvests and homes when propitiated, yet can mislead travelers, displace souls, cause illness, or physically harass people in some accounts.
Community Record
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- [2]K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat - Wikidata. Wikidata entry Q6322437 for K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaatwiki
- [3]Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil - Wikipedia. Wikipedia contributors, 'Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil,' Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopediawiki
- [4]High King K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat - The Sounding Line. The Sounding Line, 'High King K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat'other
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- [7]The Mayan City of Quiriguá – A Stamp A Day. Stamp A Day blog post 'The Mayan City of Quiriguá'other
- [8]10 Ancient Maya Ruins You Can Visit | TheCollector. TheCollector, '10 Ancient Maya Ruins You Can Visit'other