# Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat

Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, previously known variously as Cauac Sky, Kawak Sky, Butsʼ Tiliw and Butzʼ Tiʼliw, was the leader of the ancient Maya city-state of Quiriguá.

## Reign

Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat ruled the city from 724 to 785 AD. The most significant event of his reign—and of Quiriguá's history—occurred in AD 738 (9.15.6.14.6 on the Mayan calendar), when his forces defeated the city of Copán. The ruler of Copán, Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil (formerly known as "18 Rabbit") was captured and later beheaded. It began when, In 734, on Altar M at Quirigua, Kʼak Tiliw Chan Yopaat gives himself the title kʼuhul ajaw, thus declaring Quirigua's independence from Copan. To formally declare his sovereignty, he received the K'awiil sceptre to signify his accession.
Before Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat's bold move, Quiriguá had been a vassal of Copán. The defeat of Copán led to its decline but heralded a golden age for its former dependent. For the next 38 years, stonecutters of Quiriguá created zoomorphs and stele celebrating their legendary king.
His monuments are significant as they refuted the European misconception that Indigenous populations were less advanced, showcasing their ability to create monumental and highly sophisticated civilizations. The tallest stele in the Maya world is stele E from Quiriguá, stretching 35 feet (10.7 metres high). His monumental achievements, including the towering stele E carved from a single stone, echo the grandeur and symbolic power of Egyptian obelisks.
Quiriguá became a fully autonomous city which controlled the main trade route from the Caribbean to the Maya world. Meanwhile, this incident was followed by a 20-year hiatus in inscriptions at Copán, as well as the disappearance of any further mention of 18 Rabbit.

### Characteristics

Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat, the ruler of Quirigua, has unique characteristics due to the remarkable similarities between his representations and Egyptian iconography. His portrayal on monuments, such as stele E and stele C, or the face emerging from a turtle shell on Zoomorph B, features a distinctive long goatee beard reminiscent of Egyptian pharaohs. Zoomorph B is believed to symbolize the water throne stone, one of the three hearth stones of creation associated with the Orion Constellation. The Maya creation myth at Quiriguá describes the birth of the "First Father" from a turtle shell, as depicted on Zoomorph B, shortly after the three creation stones were tied. This event is marked in the long count calendar as 13.0.0.0.0, corresponding to August 11, 3114 BCE. Additionally, Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat wore a unique double crown, paralleling the Pschent crown of Egypt's first pharaoh, Menes, symbolizing unification and divine rule of upper Egypt and lower Egypt. These features, combined with his long reign and the celestial alignment of his monuments reflecting Orion's Belt, evoke the pharaonic tradition.

### Death

Current evidence leads to the conclusion that Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat died in 785 AD. There remains a stone at Quiriguá, now identified as Zoomorph G, which seems to have served as his funeral marker.

### Succession

Two other rulers are known to have reigned at Quiriguá in ensuing years—Sky Xul and Jade Sky—each for about ten years.