Editing Tikal (section)

===Stelae===

[[Maya stelae|Stelae]] are carved stone shafts, often sculpted with figures and hieroglyphs. A selection of the most notable stelae at Tikal follows:

'''Stela 1''' dates to the 5th century and depicts the king Siyaj Chan Kʼawiil II in a standing position.<ref>Miller 1999, p.153.</ref>

'''Stela 4''' is dated to AD 396, during the reign of Yax Nuun Ayiin after the intrusion of Teotihuacan in the Maya area.<ref>Miller 1999, p.94.</ref> The stela displays a mix of Maya and Teotihuacan qualities, and deities from both cultures. It has a portrait of the king with the Underworld Jaguar God under one arm and the Mexican Tláloc under the other. His helmet is a simplified version of the Teotihuacan War Serpent. Unusually for Maya sculpture, but typically for Teotihuacan, Yax Nuun Ayiin is depicted with a frontal face, rather than in profile.<ref>Miller 1999, p.95.</ref>

'''Stela 5''' was dedicated in 744 by Yikʼin Chan Kʼawiil.<ref name=m129>Miller 1999, p.129.</ref>

'''Stela 6''' is a badly damaged monument dating to 514 and bears the name of the "Lady of Tikal" who celebrated the end of the 4th Kʼatun in that year.<ref name=mg38>Martin & Grube 2000, p.38.</ref>

'''Stela 10''' is twinned with Stela 12 but is badly damaged. It described the accession of Kaloomteʼ Bʼalam in the early 6th century and earlier events in his career, including the capture of a prisoner depicted on the monument.<ref name=mg39>Martin & Grube 2000, p.39.</ref>

'''Stela 11''' was the last monument ever erected at Tikal; it was dedicated in 869 by Jasaw Chan Kʼawiil II.<ref name=mg53/>

'''Stela 12''' is linked to the queen known as the "Lady of Tikal" and king Kaloomteʼ Bʼalam. The queen is described as performing the year-ending rituals but the monument was dedicated in honor of the king.<ref name=mg38-9>Martin & Grube 2000, pp.38–9.</ref>

'''Stela 16''' was dedicated in 711, during the reign of Jasaw Chan Kʼawiil I. The sculpture, including a portrait of the king and a hieroglyphic text, are limited to the front face of the monument.<ref name=m129/> It was found in Complex N, west of Temple III.<ref name="Kelly 1996, p.137"/>

'''Stela 18''' was one of two stelae erected by Yax Nuun Ayiin I to celebrate the ''kʼatun''-ending of AD 396. It was re-erected at the base of Temple 34, his funerary shrine.<ref>Martin and Grube 2000, pp. 33–34.</ref>

'''Stela 19''' was dedicated in 790 by Yax Nuun Ayiin II.<ref name=m129/>

'''Stela 20''' was found in Complex P, in Group H, and was moved to the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología in Guatemala City.<ref name=k138/>

'''Stela 21''' was dedicated in 736 by Yikʼin Chan Kʼawiil.<ref name=m129/> Only the bottom of the stela is intact, the rest having been mutilated in ancient times. The surviving sculpture is of fine quality, consisting of the feet of a figure and of accompanying hieroglyphic text. The stela is associated with Altar 9 and is located in front of Temple VI.<ref name=k139/>

'''Stela 22''' was dedicated in 771 by Yax Nuun Ahiin II in the northern enclosure of Group Q, a twin-pyramid complex.<ref name=m129/> The face of the figure on the stela has been mutilated.<ref name=k139/>

'''Stela 23''' was broken in antiquity and was re-erected in a residential complex. The defaced portrait on the monument is that of the so-called "Lady of Tikal", a daughter of Chak Tok Ichʼaak II who became queen at the age of six but never ruled in her own right, being paired with male co-rulers. It dates to the early 6th century.<ref name=mg38/>

'''Stela 24''' was erected at the foot of Temple 3 in 810, accompanied by Altar 7. Both were broken into fragments in ancient times, although the name of Dark Sun survives on three fragments.<ref name=mg52/>

'''Stela 26''' was found in the summit shrine of Temple 34, underneath a broken masonry altar. The monument had originally been erected at the base of the temple during the Early Classic period and was later broken, probably at the beginning of the Late Classic. Its remains were then interred within the temple shrine.<ref>Coe 1967, 1988, p. 45.</ref>

'''Stela 29''' bears a Long Count (8.12.14.8.15) date equivalent to AD 292, the earliest surviving Long Count date from the Maya lowlands.<ref name="Martin & Grube 2000, p.27"/> The stela is also the earliest monument to bear the Tikal emblem glyph. It bears a sculpture of the king facing to the right, holding the head of an underworld jaguar god, one of the patron deities of the city. The stela was deliberately smashed during the 6th century or some time later, the upper portion was dragged away and dumped in a rubbish tip close to Temple III, to be uncovered by archaeologists in 1959.<ref>Miller 1999, p.91.</ref><ref>Drew 1999, pp.187–8.</ref>

'''Stela 30''' is the first surviving monument to be erected after the Hiatus. Its style and iconography is similar to that of Caracol, one of the more important of Tikal's enemies.<ref name=m129/>

[[File:Tikal Stela 31.jpg|thumb|upright|Stela 31, with the sculpted image of Siyaj Chan Kʼawiil II<ref name=m97>Miller 1999, p.97.</ref>]]
'''Stela 31''' is the accession monument of Siyaj Chan K'awiil II, also bearing two portraits of his father, Yax Nuun Ayiin, as a youth dressed as a Teotihuacan warrior. He carries a spearthrower in one hand and bears a shield decorated with the face of [[Tláloc]], the Teotihuacan [[war god]].<ref>Coe 1999, pp.91-2.</ref> In ancient times the sculpture was broken and the upper portion was moved to the summit of Temple 33 and ritually buried.<ref name=m96>Miller 1999, p.96.</ref> Stela 31 has been described as the greatest Early Classic sculpture to survive at Tikal. A long hieroglyphic text is carved onto the back of the monument, the longest to survive from the Early Classic,<ref name=m97/> which describes the arrival of Siyah Kʼakʼ at El Peru and Tikal in January 378.<ref name=d199>Drew 1999, p.199.</ref> It was also the first stela at Tikal to be carved on all four faces.<ref>Miller 1999, p.98.</ref>

'''Stela 32''' is a fragmented monument with a foreign Teotihuacan-style sculpture apparently depicting the lord of that city with the attributes of the central Mexican storm god Tláloc, including his goggle eyes and tasselled headdress.<ref>Martin & Grube 2000, p.31.</ref>

'''Stela 39''' is a broken monument that was erected in the Lost World complex. The upper portion of the stela is missing but the lower portion shows the lower body and legs of Chak Tok Ichʼaak, holding a flint axe in his left hand. He is trampling the figure of a bound, richly dressed captive. The monument is dated to AD 376. The text on the back of the monument describes a bloodletting ritual to celebrate a [[Kʼatun]]-ending.<ref name=d188>Drew 1999, p.188.</ref> The stela also names Chak Tok Ichʼaak I's father as Kʼinich Muwaan Jol.<ref name="Martin & Grube 2000, p.27"/>

'''Stela 40''' bears a portrait of Kan Chitam and dates to AD 468.<ref>Martin & Grube 2000, p.37.</ref>

'''Stela 43''' is paired with Altar 35. It is a plain monument at the base of the stairway of Temple IV.<ref name="Morales08p422"/>