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Here is the passage of the Temple of the Cross Tablet referring to B'utz'aj Sak Chiik. It exactly parallels the passages from this same monument referring to the two previous rulers. After a Distance Number in the first three blocks (18 days, 1 month, 8 years, and one twenty-year period or k'atun) is the verb for "birth". The next two glyph blocks (R5-S5) are the name of B'tuz'aj Sak Chiik. The left portion of R6 is read 'i, "and then", while the right portion is the verb for accession, spelled SAK-HUUN-K'AL, but with the normal reading order modified to produce ka'l sak huun, "the headband was tied (or held)." In the final two blocks are the Calendar Round date of the accession, 3 Etz'nab 11 Xul (9.2.12.6.18). Note that the Calendar Round for the birth date is missing, but it can be inferred by using the Distance Number to count backwards from the accession. Since there is no explicit tie to the Long Count (such as Casper's celebration of the ninth bak'tun) it would not be possible to locate B'utz'aj Sak Chiik precisely in time, since Calendar Round dates repeat every 52 years. But because this inscription follows Casper's, with its clear Long Count date, and precedes another with equal clarity, we can be certain of B'utz'aj Sak Chiik's position in time. |