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If indeed Lady Yohl Ik'nal was omitted from the dynastic count, this may be simply a matter of an ancient Maya prejudice against female rulers. (The Lady of Tikal, who almost certainly ruled during Tikal's Middle Classic, seems to have been omitted from the numbered sequence of Tikal kings [Simon Martin 2003:24].) But K'inich Kan B'ahlam's esteem for Lady Yohl Ik'nal would naturally have been affected by any incursions of foreign powers testing Palenque's defences while a woman occupied its throne. And certainly Lady Yohl Ik'nal's reputation would only benefit if it turned out that she successfully safeguarded the kingdom throughout her twenty year reign. So it is in this context that we should review the dating of the Snake and Bonampak warfare events. It will be recalled that the evidence for the former comes from the Palace House C Hieroglyphic Stairway, seen in Alfred Maudslay's photograph above. This is a monument of K'inich Janahb' Pakal that records his birth and accession, the Snake attack on Palenque, and then the taking of a number of captives by Pakal. The intention seems to be to contrast Palenque's humiliation at the hands of Snake with Pakal's later military success (Grube 1996).

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