7. Ancient Struggles between Dynasties
It was in 2013 that a group of archaeologists manage to discover a stone monument that had lain hidden in Guatemala under a Mayan temple that was over 1,500 years old. They were able to track the existence of this monument all of the way back to the year AD 564. It gave details regarding what was an ancient struggle between two dynasties in the Mayan world that took place over the course of seven years.
The team of researchers managed to decipher the inscriptions that were found on the monument and it showed that it had been made to honour a Mayan king by the name of Chak Took Ich’aak also known as “Red Spark claw.” When he died, there was a significant amount of unrest politically and this is what is narrated upon the monument. After a number of years, this struggle came to an end and the son of Chak Took Ich’aak then received the throne. His name was King Wa’oom Uch’ab Tzi’kin or “He Who Stands Up the Offering of the Eagle.”
Unlike the likes of the Incas from the Andes or the Aztecs from Central Mexico, there was never a unified or single Maya empire that was controlled and organized from a single city. It was instead made up of a combination of city-states that were in the same area that had links of trade, language and similar cultures, but they were very often at war with one another due to influence, power or resources. One of the main targets during these raids were capturing men and women that could be used as slaves.
The major cities such as Caracol, Calakmul and Tikal were very often at war with each other or going after some of the smaller cities. They often conducted small but swift raids upon their enemies as it was rare for a powerful city to be fully defeated and overtaken. All warfare was led by the King of the given city and usually the highest council in these areas was made up of spiritual leaders and military leaders from the city. This made them lucrative targets for capture when their enemies attacked. Most of the bigger cities had significant armies that were well trained when it comes both to defense and attack.