Copan's King 18 Rabbit Captured by Quirigua (738)

In AD 738 Waxaklajuun Ub’aah K’awiil, the king of Copan long known as 18 Rabbit, was captured and beheaded by K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, ruler of the small neighbouring city of Quirigua. 18 Rabbit had been one of the most ambitious builders in Maya history, filling Copan’s Great Plaza with superb sculpture. His death at the hands of a former vassal was one of the most dramatic reversals of the Classic Maya world.

Copan before 18 Rabbit

Copan lies in a fertile valley in western Honduras, at the south-eastern edge of the Maya world. Its royal dynasty traced its origins to K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo’, who founded it in AD 426.

By the late 7th century Copan was a wealthy regional capital. Its 12th king, K’ahk’ Uti’ Witz’ K’awiil, ruled for almost 67 years, from 628 to 695, and extended Copan’s influence across the south-eastern Maya area. Quirigua, about 50 kilometres to the north in the Motagua valley of Guatemala, was one of the places under Copan’s control.

A builder king

18 Rabbit became king in July AD 695. His name, once read from its glyphs as “18 Rabbit”, is now translated as Eighteen Images of K’awiil, after a god associated with royal power.

His reign was a golden age for Copan’s art. Between 711 and 736 he erected a series of stelae in the Great Plaza, including Stelae C, F, 4, H, A, B and D. They show the king in elaborate costume, carved in deep relief that comes close to full sculpture in the round. Many still carry traces of red paint.

Stela A, dedicated in 731, names four great kingdoms, apparently Copan, Tikal, Calakmul and Palenque, as the pillars of the Maya world. Including his own city in that list shows how highly 18 Rabbit ranked it.

He also built Temple 22, completed in 715 to mark his first twenty years as king, an early version of the Hieroglyphic Stairway and the final remodelling of the main ballcourt, dedicated in 738, only months before his death.

Quirigua’s revolt

In AD 724 K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat became ruler of Quirigua. Quirigua’s own inscriptions say his accession took place under the authority of 18 Rabbit, which suggests he was a junior ally or vassal.

Quirigua’s position on the Motagua river gave it access to valuable trade, including jade from the upper Motagua valley and goods moving between the highlands and the Caribbean. Control of this route may have been one motive for rebellion.

An inscription at Quirigua also seems to record a link with Calakmul, the powerful Snake dynasty kingdom far to the north, in the 730s. Some scholars suggest Calakmul encouraged Quirigua to break away from Copan, which had ties with Tikal, but this interpretation remains debated.

Capture and execution in 738

On 3 May AD 738, according to Quirigua’s monuments, K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat captured 18 Rabbit and the Copan king was decapitated. The texts describe the event in triumphant terms and repeat it on several later monuments.

How the capture happened is unknown. There is no sign that Quirigua conquered or sacked Copan. Many historians think 18 Rabbit was seized during a raid or a ritual expedition away from his capital, perhaps to collect captives or tribute himself.

Copan’s later Hieroglyphic Stairway also mentions his death, in a brief and restrained way, without dwelling on the defeat.

Consequences for Copan

The shock was severe but not fatal. Copan’s next king, K’ak’ Joplaj Chan K’awiil, reigned from 738 to 749 and erected no major monuments that survive, suggesting a period of weakness.

Copan’s elite responded by sharing power more openly. Around 746 a council house, the Popol Nah (Structure 22A), was built, decorated with symbols of noble lineages. In 755 King K’ak’ Yipyaj Chan K’awiil completed the Hieroglyphic Stairway, with more than 2,000 glyphs, the longest known Maya inscription, celebrating the dynasty’s continuity.

Copan remained important for decades but declined in the early 9th century as part of the wider Classic Maya collapse.

The rise of Quirigua

For Quirigua, the victory opened a period of independence and ambitious building. K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat ruled until 785 and raised a series of huge sandstone stelae and zoomorphs, boulders carved as mythical animals.

Stela E, erected in AD 771, is over 10 metres long including the part set below ground and is often described as the tallest free-standing stone monument of the Maya world. Quirigua and Copan were both added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, Copan in 1980 and Quirigua in 1981.

Key people

• Waxaklajuun Ub’aah K’awiil (18 Rabbit): 13th king of Copan (695–738), great patron of sculpture and architecture.
• K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat: ruler of Quirigua (724–785), first a client of Copan, then its conqueror’s equal.
• K’ahk’ Uti’ Witz’ K’awiil: 18 Rabbit’s predecessor, whose long reign made Copan a regional power.
• K’ak’ Joplaj Chan K’awiil: 14th king of Copan, who ruled in the difficult years after 738.
• K’ak’ Yipyaj Chan K’awiil: 15th king, who completed the Hieroglyphic Stairway in 755.

Myths and facts

• Myth: Quirigua conquered and sacked Copan. There is no archaeological sign of destruction at Copan in 738; the city kept its dynasty and continued to build.
• Myth: “18 Rabbit” was the king’s real name. It is a nickname from an early reading of his name glyphs. The correct reading is Waxaklajuun Ub’aah K’awiil.
• Myth: Stela E is the tallest stela in the world. It is the tallest known Maya stela, but tall carved stone monuments exist elsewhere, such as the stelae of Aksum in Ethiopia.

Archaeology and rediscovery

Copan’s ruins were described by the Spanish official Diego García de Palacio in 1576 and made famous by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, who visited in 1839. Stephens famously bought the site for 50 dollars. Quirigua was also visited and drawn by Catherwood in 1840.

In the 20th century, projects by the Carnegie Institution, Harvard’s Peabody Museum, the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History and the University of Pennsylvania excavated both sites. Tunnels dug beneath Copan’s Acropolis revealed earlier buildings, while the decipherment of Maya script from the 1970s onward allowed historians to read the events of 738 directly.

By the numbers

Timeline

• AD 426: K’inich Yax K’uk’ Mo’ founds Copan’s dynasty.
• AD 695, July: Waxaklajuun Ub’aah K’awiil (18 Rabbit) becomes king of Copan.
• AD 715: Temple 22 is completed.
• AD 724: K’ak’ Tiliw Chan Yopaat becomes ruler of Quirigua under 18 Rabbit’s authority.
• AD 731: Stela A names four great Maya kingdoms.
• AD 738, 3 May: 18 Rabbit is captured and beheaded by Quirigua.
• c. AD 746: Copan’s council house, the Popol Nah, is built.
• AD 755: The Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copan is completed.
• AD 771: Quirigua erects Stela E.

Why it matters

The fall of 18 Rabbit shows how fragile Maya kingship could be, even at the height of a city’s wealth and artistic achievement. It also shows how inscriptions from two rival cities can be read side by side to reconstruct a real political event. The sculptures he commissioned remain the main reason Copan is celebrated as the artistic capital of the Maya world.