Copán Museum, Altar Q

Altar Q, one of the most celebrated monuments of Copan, is from the West Court of the Acropolis, at the base of Structure 16's staircase. As a tribute to the Copan dynasty, the 16th ruler Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat is shown seated on the right on the date of his accession to power, 6 Caban 10 Mol or July 2, 763. He symbolically receives the baton of office from the first ruler K'inich Yax K’uk' Mo’, and from his 14 other predecessors. Each ruler is seated above his name glyph, starting with the first and going chronologically clockwise around the monument.. The text carved on the top of the altar refers to historical events involving the Copan dynasty.

Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD. The city was located in the extreme southeast of the Mesoamerican cultural region, on the frontier with the Isthmo-Colombian cultural region, and was almost surrounded by non-Maya peoples.

Copán was occupied for more than two thousand years, from the Early Preclassic period right through to the Postclassic. The city developed a distinctive sculptural style within the tradition of the lowland Maya, perhaps to emphasize the Maya ethnicity of the city's rulers.

The city has a historical record that spans the greater part of the Classic period. Copán was a powerful city ruling a vast kingdom within the southern Maya area. The city suffered a major political disaster in AD 738 when Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil (18 Rabbit), one of the greatest kings in Copán's dynastic history, was captured and executed by his former vassal, the king of Quiriguá. This unexpected defeat resulted in a 17-year hiatus at the city, during which time Copán may have been subject to Quiriguá in a reversal of fortunes.

(source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cop%C3%A1n)

Altar Q is located in front of Temple 16. It was dedicated 27 February, 776. It is one of the best known sculpture masterpieces to have been carved in Copán. Carved on this Altar are the representations and names of the 16 dynastic rulers of Copán from 426 CE to around 822 CE. Starting the sequence is the founder of the dynasty Yax K'uk' Mo' (First Quetzal Macaw) who is seen giving the staff of office to the king who commissioned this altar, Yax Pasaj Chaan Yoaat (Yax Pac) (Rising Sun). The date shown between the two is Calendar Round 6 Kab'an 10 Mol, 2 July 763 CE, the date of the accession of Yax Pasaj. This is basically a public display of legitimization of power.

You can see the numbers for the date in the hieroglyphs between the two rulers. The top hieroglyph shows the number 6 (one dot and one bar) for 6 Kab'an. It has three dots, but the two outer ones have pieces cut out. They are shown only for balance, one single dot would not look good. The lower hieroglyph shows the number 10 (two bars) for 10 Mol.

On the four faces of the altar are in sequence the other fourteen recognized rulers of the dynasty, each one sitting on a glyph with his respective name. Some of these rulers are quite well known, while about others there is not much information. From some of these rulers the only thing we have is the glyph they are sitting on, this could be due to the fact that any sculpture or architecture that bore their name, deeds, or dates of ascension or period termination were destroyed, reused or recycled as monument fill for monumental architecture of later kings, as per the Maya's tradition.

The original of this altar is in the Sculpture Museum, in the Acropolis is a replica.