It is this institution that, in effect, defines the Maya Holy Lord; the k’uhul ajaw (ka-HOOL a-HOW). The question thus arises of how it is that they ascended to that level. It is contrary to modern sensibilities that any person should come under this kind of rule except very much against their will. But there may prove to be an element of choice of the people in the ascension of leaders to the divine level that characterizes the Maya Holy Lords. The k’uhul ajaw’s earliest antecedents earned their power, and had the will of the people inasmuch as the will of the gods.
Before the Holy Lords
The Pre-Classic Maya (2000 BCE to 300 CE) have been characterized as small chiefdoms, with merit-based leaders providing a coordinating centre to normal, day-to-day activities.
However, as time went on, agriculture led to population increase and larger settlements. This meant a greater demand for tools and other crafts, and this would have led to the rise of specialist craftspeople since the farmers were doing more intensive work. It seems to have led to the development of large public works: temples, plazas and irrigation canals. Crucially, the plazas as of the mid-Pre-Classic have a very open design, and are interpreted to be truly public works, accessible to anyone in the community.
Treasures and Prestige
Along with spiritual concerns came material ones: from the Pre-Classic on, many of the most powerful and majestic Maya states were those at the intersection of trade routes. They host passing merchants and achieve a cut of the profits in jade, feathers, obsidian, cacao, and other commodities precious to the Maya, raising the prestige and reputation of their leaders. Connections with the riches and symbols of faraway places were a frequent motif for Maya rulers to legitimate their power. Another way that a lord could elevate himself was to seize control of goods, land and trade routes through warfare, conquering his neighbors. He could exalt himself through memorable generalship.
Spiritual Mystique
But the final element that made lords ‘holy’ was the possession or control of arcane knowledge. The magical associations with jade and obsidian overlapped the commercial and spiritual aspects of power. The elite few who could read the portents in the stars, read the Maya hieroglyphic writing became specialists in deducing the whims of the gods and communicating this to the masses, also an excellent way to have their will done. They could certainly motivate the masses to build temples. Certain of their temples are oriented to mark the sunrise and sunset on the solstices (this type of structure is called an E-Group) and it would indicate that the Maya calendar was being developed. Those who had learned architecture and how to interpret the movements of the stars and planets could have come to exert great influence in Pre-Classic society. Temple complexes just before and during the Classic Period became much more walled-in and secluded, and incorporated palatial residences.
Conclusion
Priests learned in the calendar, engineers who could build temples, merchants who brought in the business of surrounding lands, and warriors who could maintain and expand the prestige of the centre all formed into an upper-crust aristocracy. All of them together, and the ability to record the merits of individuals, and would eventually lead to the enshrining of a chief/high priest/general. At the end of the Pre-Classic, the glyph first appears for a Holy Lord, called in Mayan a k’ahul ajaw.
Bibliography
Brown, Kathryn M. And James F. Garber, “Preclassic Architecture, Ritual, and the Emergence of Cultural Complexity: A Diachronic Perspective from the Belize Valley,” in Lords of Creation: the Origin of Sacred Maya Kingship. Edited by Virgina M. Fields and Dorie Reents-Budet. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 2005
Evans, Susan Toby, Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History. Thames and Hudson Ltd., London, 2004.
Harrison, Peter D., Lords of Tikal: Rulers of an AncientMayaCity. Thames and Hudson Ltd., London, 1999.
Schele, Linda. A Forest of Kings : the Untold Story of the Ancient Maya.Morrow, New York, 1990.
Sharer, Robert J., The Ancient Maya: 6th Edition. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2006.
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