Revised July 2003

The eighth ruler of Palenque was a woman. Although the Maya preferred that the right to rule pass down through the male line, Lady Yohl Ik'nal ruled Palenque in her own right for twenty years. This has been viewed as a troubled time in the kingdom's history, during which there was at least one attack on the city, although the re-dating of an important inscription may well alter this assessment. (To skip ahead to a complete consideration of this topic, click here or, for a summation, here.) It is possible that previous, unrecorded warfare had elminated male candidates for rulership, thereby accounting for the accession of this queen. She was probably a sister or daughter of Kan B'ahlam I.

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If you're relatively new to glyphs, you might want to start at the beginning of this essay, as an effort was made to present the concepts gradually.