In Stela 31, the glyps at G5-G6 probably are the ending of the ascension event which starts at E28. Reading uhtiy UNKNOWN-nal chan ch'en, where the unknown glyph seems to be a Jaguar variant of Rain God Chak, they simply state the location of an event preceding it, now lost. Since the god head at H5 is the same as the one held by the king in his arm in stela's imposing front figure, crowned there with the "king of Tikal" glyph, glyphs at G5-G6 can easily be seen as the location of his ascension, therefore ending the anonymous ascension event 8.18.15.11.0 (November 24, 411) which starts at E28-F28, right before the stone has been broken and the actual description of the ascension ceremony lost.
Interestingly, this otherwise robust interpretation leaves the Katun ending of 416 without mention in the stela, even if lesser half-Katun endings before (406) and after (426) it are listed and it took place during the current king's reign. We already noticed how the stone binding ceremony of king's father in 403 is also left without mention.
This possibly hints at an unclear political situation in Tikal before Siyaj Chan K'awil "wrapped the headband" on his 15th year of reign in 426 (H8) and established his authority beyond mere nominal rule. Whoever was in charge of 416 Katun ending - and probably also the missing stonebinding for Yax Nun Ahiin in 403 - was simply left without mention, along with the events he oversaw, his memory removed from the pages of history. This gives room for some interesting analysis about Tikal Stela 39, but more about that a little later.
Towards the beginning of the text, we have another part cut off mid-event. The start of the chronologically first event is at A26-B26 right before the stone has been broken. Katun ending dedication utz'akbuji[l] u kabjiy clearly survives the damage. When the text again continues with glyphs at C5-C7 in the beginning of the second paragraph, it says something had taken place in a location related to the legendary "Chi-Throne" (C7). The concrete nature of "Chi-Throne" is shrouded in history, but it is often associated with ur-events taking place deep in history, listed at the start of chronological narratives. Glyphs C5-C7 are thus probably the ending of the period ending event that starts at A26-B26. So, it looks like Stela 31 records just one Katun ending before the one overseen by Ix Unen K'awiil Bahlam ("Baby Jaguar") in 317, listed right after the first one (D7-D11).
The order of glyphs at C5-C7 appears to resemble the final part of the later Baktun ending event of 435 in the last paragraph (H20-G24). Whereas the glyphs at C5-C7 mention the legendary "Waterlily Jaguar" titled as Kalomte followed by a location, the glyphs at H20-G24 conclude with the name of Spearthrowing Owl titled as Kalomte, also followed by a location. The Baktun ending was possibly a re-staging of the earlier legendary event which started the original narrative, with king Siyaj Chan K'awiil performing a period ending ceremony in the company of ancestor's spirit and the powerful Kalomte, just like his forefather long time ago. Noteworthy in this light is how the "water-lilied" or foliated yax glyph of C5 has been placed over Siyaj Chan K'awiil glyph in his headdress, linking the king to a participant of the legendary event.
Although no date survives for the first Katun ending ceremony, the possible link to the Baktun ending gives us a good chance of proposing one. Noteworthy in the text is how the Tzolkin date is emphasized for each Katun and half-Katun ending. Having a closer look makes it seem that the two legendary or semi-legendary Katun endings and the contemporary ones were connected to each other due to respective Tzolkin anniversaries.
We can look for an example outside Tikal. Stela K of Pusilhá celebrates a Katun ending of 9.12.0.0.0 (June 26, 672), linking it to an earlier legendary one that took place in 8.6.0.0.0 (December 17, 159). No straightforward explanation for their connection is given. However, they both had the Tzolkin date 10 Ajaw, making the latter the 720th Tzolkin anniversary of the first. We also see a similar connection in Tikal Stela 31, where the currently celebrated half-Katun of 9.0.10.0.0 (October 16, 445) was the 180th Tzolkin anniversary of the second-mentioned Katun ending tended by Baby Jaguar (8.14.0.0.0).
Thus, it looks feasible to assume that the great Baktun ending of 9.0.0.0.0 was a similar Tzolkin anniversary of the first listed legendary period ending that took place at the all-important Chi-Throne place. If we go backwards checking which Katun ending had the same Tzolkin date 8 Ajaw, it takes us back to 8.7.0.0.0 (September 3, 179). Assuming we are correct here, the Baktun ending was the 360th Tzolkin anniversary of the 8.7.0.0.0 ending, just as the half-Katun ending following it was the 180th Tzolkin anniversary of the 8.14.0.0.0 ending. This way, the presence of both early Katun endings in the text is well explained.
Having a better understanding now what is and what is not included in Stela 31, we can take a closer look at Tikal king Nun Yax Ahiin, the father of Siyaj Chan K'awiil. Very little is known about him, and he seems to have died at a young age.
At G20-F21, the king is said to have died when 1.5.2.5 days passed since something spelled out as ku-yu-TE had taken place, quite likely the same word which is spelled as yu-ku-TE at D25, where it appears in reference to the funerary event of the earlier king Chak Tok Ich'aak.
Lacking further usage of the term in other sources, but without more elaboration, the phrase ku-yu-TE/yu-ku-TE is usually regarded as the distance from the deceased royal's ascension to the thrown. Since Nun Yax Ahiin ascended on the throne on 8.17.2.16.17 (September 10, 379), that would date his death at 8.18.8.1.2 (June 15, 404). We get back to examining the correctness of this date a bit later.
Stela 31 says at both F19 and I2 that Nun Yax Ahiin was a "one-Katun king" or "Katun king". This term seems to refer to the number of Katun endings that the individual had experienced during his entire lifetime. For example, the Yaxchilan king Bird Jaguar IV was said to have been a three-Katun king; he was born 709 and ruled during 752-768 until his death, thus living through three Katun endings of 711, 731 and 751.
The Katun ending we know Nun Yax Ahiin lived to see was the one in 396 which he oversaw in the capacity of the king, as stated in Stela 31 (F13-F18) and Stela 4. We could thus conclude that Nun Yax Ahiin was born no earlier than October 19, 376 (8.17.0.0.1) and lived no longer than March 21, 416 (8.18.19.17.19). Since his ascension took place September 10, 379, he was basically just a toddler back then and other people exercised the real power on his behalf.
To assess if Nun Yax Ahiin really was no older than an infant at the time of his ascension, we can have a look at the births and deaths of his descendants. The birthday of his son Siyaj Chan K'awiil is unknown, but he's known to have died in 9.1.0.8.0 (February 1, 456). According to somewhat eroded Tikal Stela 40, Siyaj Chan K'awiil's son K'an Chitam was born either 8.18.18.12.2 (November 30, 414) or 8.18.19.12.1 (November 24, 415). If we just throw a guess that Siyaj Chan K'awiil was born in 396, his father Nun Yax Ahiin was then no more than 20 years old, and Siyaj Chan K'awiil himself was 18/19 years old when his own son was born, later dying at the age of 60.
Good questions are why and how was Nun Yax Ahiin made the king if he was just a small boy. There is no evidence that he was a member of the royal family, unless distantly related - but extant sources don't claim even remote blood relation.
A significant factor is the involvement of Siyaj K'ak'. In Stela 31, almost 70 years after Nun Yax Ahiin's ascension, Tikal royalty still publicly praised Siyaj K'ak's central role in making him the king. This was politically secure and understandable since, like we earlier concluded, Siyaj K'ak' was the original Mayan name for Spearthrowing Owl, who is given as Nun Yax Ahiin's father in two occasions in Stela 31 (K4-L4, M3-N3). Thus, Siyaj K'ak' was the paternal grandfather of the then king Siyaj Chan K'awiil. In a most unsurprising move, upon assuming the real power, Siyaj K'ak' apparently made his own son the nominal king and ruled on his behalf in the background. After Chak Tok Ich'aak's death (or possibly even before that) and through unknown events, Siyaj K'ak' must have become the highest authority in the city state and wielded the power to arrange the situation to his liking, finding the new king no farther than from his own household.
Noteworthy is that even if the boy king was unrelated to the earlier royal family, there is no sign in later sources that the old dynasty was regarded as broken or a new dynasty established. There is no sign that the memory of the deceased king Chak Tok Ich'aak was suppressed or tarnished; quite contrary, the late king is treated with utmost respect in the inscriptions that remain, and his old palace was turned into a place of worship.
We can compare Nun Yax Ahiin's ascension to the events in the early 6th century when Tikal was ruled by an enigmatic "Lady of Tikal", a young girl, probably the daughter of the earlier king Chak Tok Ich'aak II. Although vested with many royal honours, she was never regarded as the "real" monarch which was a position reserved for men only. Therefore two of her escorts were listed as official rulers in the dynastic count on her behalf. Apparently marrying to the female line was regarded sufficient to become king if no suitable male heir existed.
We can suspect that something very similar took place in 378. Siyaj K'ak' married his young son off to the young daughter of the dead king, resorting to an acceptable way of continuing the dynasty while keeping the real power in his own hands.
Pointing to this conclusion is also the royal title of Nun Yax Ahiin's wife "Lady K'inich". The mother of Nun Yax Ahiin's son and successor Siyaj Chan K’awiil, was given the rare "GI title" in Stela 31 (A24-B24), repeated also in Marcador monument at G8. GI title is known to have been worn only by a handful of other women: the earlier mentioned "Lady of Tikal", another royal Tikal spouse Lady Tzutz Nik(?) and Lady Sak K’uk’ of Palenque. As in the case with Nun Yax Ahiin's wife, no indisputable information survives of their backgrounds, but they all seem to have had their hand in matrilineal descent of royal dynasties. Let us take a closer look.
In the most apparent looking case, Lady of Tikal seems to have continued the royal dynasty on the matrilineal line and enabled her escorts' authority thru' herself. No other reason could easily justify why a six-year-old girl had presence in the state hierarchy. Noteworthy is also that she did not ascend on the throne because the male line was extinct: her surviving brother or half-brother Wak Chan K'awiil became the king years later.
Lady Tzutz Nik was the wife of Tikal king K'an Chitam who was the son of king Siyaj Chan K'awiil II. She did not belong to the Tikal royal family before her marriage and the dynasty continued uninterrupted on the male line. Her GI title was thus unrelated to succession in Tikal. Instead, she seems to have created a connection to the ruling house of the near-by Naranjo. A royal title specific to Naranjo, sak chuwen, appears in Tikal Stela 3 related to K'an Chitam and later resurfaces in connection to his son Chak Tok Ich'aak II, possibly indicating a dynastic claim to Naranjo rulership which the Tikal kings had started to regard as their own by marrying a Naranjo Lady Tzutz Nik.
The family relations of Lady Sak K’uk’ of Palenque remain murky, but she seems to have played a key role in continuing the local dynasty as the mother of king K’inich Janahb Pakal I.
In the light of these three ladies, it looks possible that when the same GI title was granted to the wife of Nun Yax Ahiin, it indicated she was regarded as the legitimate heir to Chak Tok Ich'aak, her father, and was thus able to make her spouse the king, just as happened later in the case of Lady of Tikal. This would also give a hassle-free explanation why the dynastic count never broke and why there appears to have been no hostility towards the former king. Everything remained in the family.
Another small detail in stela 31 points to this conclusion as well. Every royal name mentioned in the text before Nun Yax Ahiin shares a pointy jaguar's ear (C5, D8, D13). The same jaguar ear is also rendered in his wife's name (A25), connecting her with all who had gone before her.
Figure 5.2. Jaguar-eared individuals in Stela 31. a) "Waterlily Jaguar" at C5. b) Ix Bahlam Unen K'awiil ("Baby Jaguar") at D8. c) Part of Chak Tok Ich'aak's nominal sequence at D13. c) Part of Nun Yax Ahiin's wife's nominal sequence at A25.
A very visible rendering of Lady K'inich's glyph is also added to the belt of the imposing front figure of his son, parallel with the glyph of legendary Baby Jaguar, both female figures possibly having played a role in continuing the royal house through matrilineal descent.
Overall, it looks feasible that, at a very young age, Nun Yax Ahiin was married to the deceased king's surviving little daughter, neither having a say about the arrangement. In older age, they had at least one son together, the future king Siyaj Chan K'awiil, sharing the name of his paternal grandfather Siyaj K'ak'. Chak Tok Ich'aak may or may not have been survived by sons as well, but quite probably not anyone adult, making it effortless for Siyaj K'ak' to become the regent and arrange his own son to marry to the royal house and be made king. As was with the case of Lady of Tikal, political necessities seemed to justify dynasties to continue through female line even if the male line was also available. There indeed are indicators that in the early 5th century, after the untimely death of Nun Yax Ahiin, a son of Chak Tok Ich'aak, perhaps from another wife of his, became a prominent figure in Tikal but was eventually overcome by his nephew king Siyaj Chan K'awiil and forced to leave Tikal. More about that later.
We don't know how old Chak Tok Ich'aak was at the time of his death, but we seem to be able to reconstruct he had a small daughter and possibly a small son. Having ruled already for 18 years by then, it seems he was a small boy himself at the time of his ascension in 360. Nun Yax Ahiin was also an infant when he was made a king, and his own son no man yet when he died. Tikal seemed to have had a period of almost 70 years when boy-kings sat on the throne and various strongmen exercised the power on their behalf.
When reading Mayan texts, we need to remember that all that survives is just a fraction of everything which was written down. And what remains is almost all public propaganda, telling things as the ruling class wanted the general population to understand and remember things. Main signs of internal trouble appear in sources mostly as void, and what was written for the public seldom bears any memory of infighting. The losing side just disappeared.
We need to return to the significance of two important stone-bindings missing from the narrative of Stela 31. For a reason or another, but certainly for some reason, they were not events that people were to be reminded of.
Like we earlier saw, there is no mention of the stone binding for the death of king Nun Yax Ahiin, the reigning king's father, only an abrupt remark that he died (E22). This definitely was not out of disrespect to the king, since he's given plenty of space and praise in the monument elsewhere. There is also no mention of the stone binding for the 8.19.0.0.0 Katun ending (416), which took place during the king's own reign. Both half-Katun endings before and after it are nevertheless mentioned. Omitting these two stone bindings might not be because they did not take place, but rather because the person who conducted them was erased from the archives and none of his undertakings were put on stone; the events were simply skipped over not to remind anyone of the outcast.
Overall, reading between the lines, we can see that something was off in Tikal after the death of Nun Yax Ahiin in 403. At the time of the death of his father, Siyaj Chan K'awiil was probably very young, and was not made the king but years later in 411; even then he does not seem to have been able to exercise real power before 426, when stela 31 defiantly states he "wrapped the headband" (H8) during the Katun ending ceremony, a common ascension related term.
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