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- The Maya, an ancient civilization

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that ruled huge
areas of Central America

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for more than two and
a half thousand years.

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- The classic Maya had been
one of the most successful

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societies in the
Americas, if not the world.

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- During their golden age or
classic period, 250 to 900 AD,

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there were more than 40 city-states

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and over 2 million people,
never united as one empire.

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- The classic period was a
time of intensive interaction

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between various
kingdoms, alliance networks,

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conflicts, intermarriages.

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- Powerful city-states rose, fought,

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and forged fragile alliances.

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Their rivalry tells the story

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of how this entire civilization fell,

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narratives carved in
their long forgotten ruins.

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- We read an amazing story.

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- I'm just thinking about
what that heat and flame

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and seeing the pyramids
burn would have looked like.

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- The classic period was dominated

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by a brutal 200-year-long battle

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for control of the Pete?n region
-.

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-two ancient
superpowers going head-to-head.

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- We have everything
that "Game of Thrones" has

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except the dragons.

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- During the early years,
Tikal, the Jaguar City, dominated.

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But its ruins speak of a
great rival, the Kaanul,

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otherwise known as the Snake Kings.

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There is no doubt that the
Kaanul Kings were intending to

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conquer all of Maya kingdoms.

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And in order to do that, they had to
secure all the kingdoms around Tikal.

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They speak of war.

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The term Star Wars,
it's associated with the

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act of catastrophic war.

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That's the climax, that's
the crescendo, that's what the

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whole inscription is building up to.

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Who would come out on top?

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This is the story of the
Serpent Kingdom's rise to power,

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their domination over the Mayan world.

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In the year 400 AD,

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the Maya were spread across
the Americas in great cities.

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Tikal ruled the lowlands, but
it wasn't the only great power.

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The Kaanul dynasty is
unusual in Maya history

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because of its power and influence.

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You cannot understand
classic Maya political history

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without understanding the
story of the state kingdom.

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As we rediscovered the ancient
Mayan world in the early 20th century,

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a snake symbol kept appearing
amongst Mayan inscriptions.

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Archaeologists found it
right across the Pite?n region
-.

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-The problem was, no
one knew what it meant.

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It took 50 years to
decipher its meaning.

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The place of snakes.

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It spoke of a great central
city of the Kaanul dynasty.

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In the 1990s, archaeologists
finally worked out where it was.

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Dzibanche?
-.

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-The name Kaanul is
associated with a place,

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and the place is Dzibanche?
-.

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-Nearly 200km north
-north-east of Tikal,

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It's in modern-day Mexico,
but near the border of Belize.

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Dzibanche? is a fascinating place
-.

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-If you compare it to other Maya
capitals in the early classic,

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it's actually very impressive.

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Its grand architecture and
sophisticated urban planning

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set Dzibanche? apart fro
-m
-other kingdoms with potentially

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the largest monumental

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zone and highest population
density of any Mayan city in

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the lowlands. This was

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a political powerhouse.

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At Dzibanche? we see a very powerfu
-l
-militaristic expansionistic dynasty.

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They're conquering their enemies. Some
of the earliest

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records of Maya warfare

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come from the site of
Cibanche and about the Kaanul kings.

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Monuments covered in inscriptions
make their military prowess clear,

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and one discovery in
particular shows the ruthless

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nature of its society.

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And the captives are
clearly in an altered state of

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consciousness because their hair

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is way out on the side.

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And that tells us that
they're in a dream state, they're

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in an altered state.

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Those people are being
prepared for sacrifice, or they're

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being prepared for slavery.

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Rituals were important to the
Maya, and one of the greatest

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offerings they could make

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to their gods was blood.

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Human blood.

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The more important
the sacrifice's role in

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society, the better.

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That's why these
prisoners were not mere warriors.

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They were rulers, the
kings of neighboring cities.

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The stairway of the captives
was therefore a ritual device,

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every visitor walking
over the symbolic bodies

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of defeated enemies.

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With each step, it
reaffirmed the superiority

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of the Kaanul Dynasty and
the greatness of its king,

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Yuknoom Cheen

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This is the first time we
have any real information about

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their political activities.

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and he's certainly claiming
a large number of captives

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and a large number of
places that he's conquering.

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- Yuknoom Cheen I laid the
foundations

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for the Kaanul's
territorial expansion.

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But despite its many victories,

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Sibanche remained
too weak to challenge

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the greatest power in
the Mayan world, Tikal.

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Instead, this conquest fell
to another serpent ruler.

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This sculpted stone monument tells us

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that in the year 544, a
new king came to the throne.

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His name was K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich

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- K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich was one of
the most important kings

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of the Kaanul Dynasty.

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He ascended to the title of Calomte,

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which is supreme leader or emperor.

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The first Kannul
leader to use that title,

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between 550 and 572.

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And it's interesting
because we didn't know about him

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until very recently.

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- Archeologists found the
first traces of this great ruler

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during a dig at Dzibanche?
-.

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-Carved upon lintel
three of building six,

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The team published
their results in 2017.

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- K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich, he is
the person who really

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tightens that noose
around Tikal's neck.

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- The first Kalomte of
the East, K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich,

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wanted to expand the Kaanul people

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further into Tikal
territory than ever before.

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A motive that's clear to see
within ancient inscriptions.

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There is no doubt that the
Kaanul Kings were intending to

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conquer all of Maya kingdoms.

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And Tikal being the
most powerful rival,

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they immediately realized
that this other empire in the

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south was a real threat.

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And so they had to defeat them.

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In order to do that, they had to
secure all the kingdoms around Tikal.

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first.

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The Kaanuls wanted to rule the
Mayan world, but to do so, they

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had to take out its heart,

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Tikal.

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As they moved through the
Pete?n region, they eventuall
-y

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-reached El Peru? Huaca, the so-calle
-d

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-city of sorcerers and a
strategic neighbor of Tikal.

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It's located at the top of a
cliff overlooking the junction of

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the San Pedro and San Juan

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rivers.

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Huaca was not a big city,
but it was an important city.

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It was a pilgrimage place.

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People would come there to
receive divination, to receive

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prophecies, like they went to oracles

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in ancient Greece.

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And as a result, everybody
wanted to control this place.

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Tikal wanted to control, Kaanul
wanted to control, they were

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competing to control Waka.

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Tikal was the closer neighbour
and the heart of a thriving trade

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network of which Waka was a part.

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In El Peru?-Waka, we suppos
-e
-they had a pretty close connection

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to Tikal, but that changes.

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In the ruins of Waka,
archaeologists discovered Stela 44.

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It tells of how the
Kano'ul king, K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich,

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had an impact here in 556 AD.

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- At Waka, we do see evidence

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for the accession of Waka's ruler,

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which happens under the
oversight of K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich.

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The ability for K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich
to have power over, authority

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over Waka at this time means

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that Waka has
shifted its

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alliance from Tikal
to K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich.

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That is a critical alliance shift.

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By losing Waka, Tikal had lost
one of its most valuable allies.

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But even more worryingly, the
archaeological record tells

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us that it was about to lose

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Teotihuaca?n was a
-n
-ancient powerhouse, not Mayan.

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It controlled trade
across all of Central America,

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reaching far beyond the Mayan realms.

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And it had ties with Tikal.

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Now what's interesting here is to
think about the timing of all of this

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in relationship to what's
going on at Teotihuaca?n
-.

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-Because at Teotihuaca?n, w
-e
-don't have written history,

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but the archaeology tells us
that around 550 A.D. more or less,

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we see a violent collapse,

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the burning of temples and
structures at Teotihuaca?n
-,

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-and a general abandonment

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of what had been the
greatest city in Mesoamerica.

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This was a fairly sudden event.

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After 850 years,

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and with more than 200,000
inhabitants at its peak,

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its peak, Teotihuaca?n was destroyed
-.

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-Places of worship desecrated.

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Its political structure collapsed.

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Experts can see the
devastation in the wreckage,

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00:14:31,834 --> 00:14:36,154
but as to why it
happened, that remains a mystery.

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00:14:38,074 --> 00:14:41,354
- People that work at
Teotihuaca?n cannot agree o
-n

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00:14:41,434 --> 00:14:43,194
-why did Teotihuaca?n collapse
-?

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00:14:43,274 --> 00:14:46,274
-A lot of people have debated
whether it's environmental,

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00:14:46,714 --> 00:14:50,074
internal politics. It doesn't look
like it was an external

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influence, a war or
something like that.

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I think for the community
living in Teotihuaca?n, it would hav
-e

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-been a chaos, right? The flames,

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the Gulf. I'm just thinking
about what that heat and flame and

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seeing the pyramids burn would have

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looked like and would have
completely ingrained into the eyes of

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the population of Teotihuaca?n itself
-.

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00:15:28,434 --> 00:15:31,954
-At this point in time, Tikal
was still an enclave of

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Teotihuaca?n. Despite being 1,00
-0

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-and kilometers apart, their
fates were closely bound.

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00:15:40,594 --> 00:15:43,034
- To me, it seems quite clear

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that the demise of Teotihuaca?
-n

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00:15:46,954 --> 00:15:49,754
-must have influenced
Tikal's own fortunes.

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00:15:50,274 --> 00:15:53,914
This may be the time
that the Kaanul kings

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took advantage of in
expanding their own network.

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00:16:01,754 --> 00:16:07,114
- By 562, K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich
had assembled allies

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00:16:07,434 --> 00:16:09,314
which surrounded Tikal.

212
00:16:09,954 --> 00:16:12,314
- They have Naranjo, they have Wakha,

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00:16:12,394 --> 00:16:14,634
they have Lakorun,
and they have Karakor.

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00:16:15,634 --> 00:16:19,474
And those lords
agreed to conquer Tikal.

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00:16:21,914 --> 00:16:26,034
- The survival of Tikal
rested on the military strategy

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00:16:26,114 --> 00:16:29,714
of its leader at the
time, Wak-Chan-Kawil,

217
00:16:30,274 --> 00:16:33,114
otherwise known as Double Bird.

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- Wakchan Kawil was the king of Tikal,

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and so he would be
direct rival to K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich.

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00:16:44,634 --> 00:16:48,594
- Stellar 17, an ancient
stone discovered in Tikal,

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00:16:48,954 --> 00:16:51,634
is the only monument that describes

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00:16:51,714 --> 00:16:53,674
the reign of Wakchan Kawil.

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It recounts his journey to the throne,

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but has no mention
of an impending war.

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Do I think Wak Chan K'awil
saw K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich coming?

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00:17:04,754 --> 00:17:05,514
Definitely.

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00:17:06,554 --> 00:17:12,514
Since the Teotihuaca?
-n
-invasion of Tikal in 378 AD, it had

228
00:17:12,594 --> 00:17:14,594
benefited from their military genius.

229
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Great defensive structures, walls
and ditches protected the city.

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Wak Chan K'awil,
Tikal's king, was prepared.

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00:17:25,154 --> 00:17:29,794
All of the defensive systems that
we see around the region of Tikal

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00:17:29,874 --> 00:17:33,354
is probable that
some of these features,

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00:17:33,434 --> 00:17:35,434
these trenches and walls that we see,

234
00:17:35,794 --> 00:17:39,754
were built around the time of
this conflict with the kaanul.

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00:18:14,194 --> 00:18:17,194
Archeologists have used a scanning
technique known as Lidar

236
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To study these defences more

237
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By firing laser pulses, they can
create maps with incredible precision,

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00:18:26,034 --> 00:18:28,274
revealing seemingly hidden structures.

239
00:18:42,634 --> 00:18:44,234
The defensive structures

240
00:18:44,594 --> 00:18:46,874
stretched 30
kilometers around the city.

241
00:18:47,874 --> 00:18:49,954
Fortresses to the north and south

242
00:18:50,394 --> 00:18:51,834
protected the trade routes.

243
00:18:52,874 --> 00:18:56,594
La Cuernavilla was an
entire fortified settlement

244
00:18:57,194 --> 00:18:59,554
with walls over seven meters high,

245
00:18:59,954 --> 00:19:02,794
watchtowers, moats, and slingshots.

246
00:19:03,554 --> 00:19:05,554
Everything indicates that Tikal

247
00:19:05,634 --> 00:19:08,314
was ready to
withstand a prolonged siege.

248
00:19:48,114 --> 00:19:50,514
the power the Serpent Kingdom wanted.

249
00:19:51,754 --> 00:19:54,954
There are inscriptions
going back hundreds of years

250
00:19:55,194 --> 00:19:58,114
that chart Kaanul
attempts to take on Tikal,

251
00:19:58,914 --> 00:20:01,274
every time the great city held.

252
00:20:02,674 --> 00:20:05,554
But would Kak
Tishish have more success?

253
00:20:07,714 --> 00:20:11,034
He gathered his armies in
the city of Choshkitam,

254
00:20:11,474 --> 00:20:14,634
ready to wage war on the nearby Tikal.

255
00:20:16,314 --> 00:20:21,154
The Maya have a hieroglyph
for warfare, general warfare.

256
00:20:22,034 --> 00:20:25,234
It's called a star war glyph.

257
00:20:27,314 --> 00:20:29,514
We've had recent
breakthroughs in

258
00:20:29,594 --> 00:20:31,154
understanding the glyph

259
00:20:31,554 --> 00:20:32,834
that's called Star Wars.

260
00:20:33,034 --> 00:20:37,754
It consists of a
bright celestial body.

261
00:20:37,834 --> 00:20:40,114
It's called a star,
but it could be a comet.

262
00:20:40,394 --> 00:20:41,794
It could be a meteor.

263
00:20:41,874 --> 00:20:43,314
It could be a constellation.

264
00:20:43,554 --> 00:20:45,434
It's a bright object in the sky.

265
00:21:00,954 --> 00:21:03,554
So what we now know that it means

266
00:21:03,634 --> 00:21:07,034
is deluge, as in a
great flood, a wipeout.

267
00:21:07,114 --> 00:21:08,074
We would say wipeout.

268
00:21:09,714 --> 00:21:12,354
- The term Star Wars, it's associated

269
00:21:12,594 --> 00:21:15,154
with the act of catastrophic war.

270
00:21:15,634 --> 00:21:18,434
And did K'ahk' Ti'
Ch'ich practice Star War?

271
00:21:18,514 --> 00:21:19,114
Yes, he did.

272
00:21:19,474 --> 00:21:21,274
Against Tikal, for sure.

273
00:21:23,114 --> 00:21:26,794
- On the 29th of April, 562 AD,

274
00:21:27,354 --> 00:21:31,034
K'ahk' Ti' Ch'ich and his
allies descended on Tikal

275
00:21:31,114 --> 00:21:33,754
with the aim of
destroying not only the people

276
00:21:33,834 --> 00:21:36,994
who lived there, but all
of its religious symbols.

277
00:21:37,874 --> 00:21:41,474
Tikal's leader,
Wapchankawil, was captured,

278
00:21:41,994 --> 00:21:44,354
the city forced into submission.

279
00:21:45,274 --> 00:21:47,834
There would be no
record of a new ruler

280
00:21:47,914 --> 00:21:49,754
for more than a hundred years.

281
00:21:50,874 --> 00:21:52,874
Altar 21 in Karakol,

282
00:21:53,194 --> 00:21:56,434
a city just 70
kilometers southeast of Tikal,

283
00:21:57,234 --> 00:21:58,994
commemorates the Kaanul victory

284
00:21:59,234 --> 00:22:02,594
and has revealed Wapchankawil's fate.

285
00:22:06,354 --> 00:22:09,834
- The defeat of Tikal was a
very important turning point

286
00:22:10,034 --> 00:22:13,954
because there was a lot of
conflict leading up to that

287
00:22:14,034 --> 00:22:15,514
in various parts of the Maya lowlands,

288
00:22:15,594 --> 00:22:18,394
especially in the
kingdoms around Tikal.

289
00:22:19,154 --> 00:22:22,914
But after that, there was a
relative peace and stability

290
00:22:23,474 --> 00:22:26,714
because the Kaanul had
defeated the most important rival.

291
00:22:29,154 --> 00:22:32,474
- Archeologists have
estimated that the Serpent Kings

292
00:22:32,554 --> 00:22:35,874
ruled the lowlands for some 130 years.

293
00:22:36,834 --> 00:22:41,514
Within that time, it appears no
kingdom dared to challenge Dzibanche?
-.

294
00:22:42,834 --> 00:22:46,394
-But as is always the case,
nothing can last forever.

295
00:22:47,514 --> 00:22:50,554
Wars of succession were
to be their downfall.

296
00:22:51,834 --> 00:22:57,154
Particularly, the appearance
of Yuknum -Chin II, also known

297
00:22:57,234 --> 00:22:59,034
as Yuknum the Great.

298
00:23:01,074 --> 00:23:05,474
He emerges around 600 in the
early years of the 7th century

299
00:23:05,554 --> 00:23:09,954
as a powerful Kaanul ruler.

300
00:23:10,594 --> 00:23:17,154
But there seems to be a conflict, an
internal conflict, between him and it

301
00:23:17,234 --> 00:23:18,954
might be a rival to
the Kaanul throne.

302
00:23:20,954 --> 00:23:24,434
Experts aren't exactly sure
of Yakhnum Sheen's heritage.

303
00:23:24,954 --> 00:23:27,194
But he wasn't in line
for the throne of the Kaanul

304
00:23:27,274 --> 00:23:28,674
capital, Dzibanche?
-.

305
00:23:31,034 --> 00:23:34,634
-Instead, he was likely
the son of a king and queen

306
00:23:34,714 --> 00:23:36,154
from another Kaanul city.

307
00:23:37,674 --> 00:23:41,634
- This pitched two
characters, Nyup Nong Ch'en II,

308
00:23:42,194 --> 00:23:45,994
against the
legitimate king of Sipan Che.

309
00:23:47,514 --> 00:23:49,514
- The Kaanuls had a unique system

310
00:23:49,594 --> 00:23:51,634
to avoid conflict over the throne.

311
00:23:52,474 --> 00:23:54,634
Two kings ruled at the same time.

312
00:23:55,474 --> 00:23:58,154
The more senior
managed foreign affairs,

313
00:23:58,554 --> 00:24:01,874
whilst the other took care of
the day-to-day administration

314
00:24:01,954 --> 00:24:04,074
and importantly, warfare.

315
00:24:04,914 --> 00:24:06,754
When the more senior died,

316
00:24:07,114 --> 00:24:08,874
the deputy took his place

317
00:24:09,154 --> 00:24:11,914
and then chose his
own future successor.

318
00:24:13,234 --> 00:24:16,714
But Yuknum the Great
refused to follow these rules.

319
00:24:17,794 --> 00:24:20,834
- My father's king, my
mother's queen, I will rule.

320
00:24:21,074 --> 00:24:22,754
So there was a civil war.

321
00:24:26,274 --> 00:24:29,914
The Civil War is recounted on
many hieroglyphic texts in the

322
00:24:29,994 --> 00:24:32,234
Maya world, which is absolutely

323
00:24:32,314 --> 00:24:36,194
wonderful, because it gives us
a sense of these people as real

324
00:24:36,274 --> 00:24:37,794
human beings, motivated

325
00:24:37,874 --> 00:24:42,634
by pride and by anger and by
strategy, to fight each other.

326
00:24:42,714 --> 00:24:44,394
And we really see the human side.

327
00:24:48,994 --> 00:24:53,434
They were fighting up until
636, and this is when there seems

328
00:24:53,514 --> 00:24:55,114
to be a decisive victory.

329
00:24:55,474 --> 00:24:59,514
And Yuknong Chen II is the
person who has this success.

330
00:25:02,754 --> 00:25:05,474
- But civil war weakened the Kaanul.

331
00:25:06,354 --> 00:25:08,434
- Sibancay failed after that.

332
00:25:11,034 --> 00:25:12,754
It was diminished in power.

333
00:25:12,834 --> 00:25:14,834
It became inconsequential.

334
00:25:15,074 --> 00:25:18,954
And Yuknong the Great, he
moved the capital to Calakmul.

335
00:25:21,994 --> 00:25:24,914
- Calakmul, a city approximately

336
00:25:24,994 --> 00:25:28,594
130 kilometers
southwest of the old capital.

337
00:25:33,834 --> 00:25:37,474
- Yukong Chen probably
decided to move his capital

338
00:25:37,554 --> 00:25:39,834
to Kuala Lumpur for
several different reasons.

339
00:25:40,514 --> 00:25:42,514
His mother was a Kuala Lumpur princess

340
00:25:42,834 --> 00:25:46,914
and she had strong
family ties to this area.

341
00:25:48,714 --> 00:25:51,674
But secondly, and
probably equally importantly,

342
00:25:52,114 --> 00:25:57,514
- Calakmul was already a
vastly wealthy city at that time.

343
00:25:57,874 --> 00:26:00,234
And as we all know, wars cost money.

344
00:26:00,314 --> 00:26:02,514
And so he might've
needed the resources

345
00:26:02,594 --> 00:26:05,154
in order to expand the Kainu influence

346
00:26:05,234 --> 00:26:06,474
throughout the Maya lowlands.

347
00:26:08,434 --> 00:26:10,954
- This was the dawn of a new era.

348
00:26:11,754 --> 00:26:15,354
Calakmul was to become a new
great power in the region.

349
00:26:15,914 --> 00:26:19,194
And Yakunum the Great,
a king like no other.

350
00:26:19,754 --> 00:26:23,354
a master manipulator
and political genius.

351
00:26:24,714 --> 00:26:27,954
Details of his reign are
documented upon Stele 33,

352
00:26:28,594 --> 00:26:30,634
a stone found in Kalakmul.

353
00:26:31,154 --> 00:26:34,554
It shows Yuknum as an almighty ruler.

354
00:26:36,194 --> 00:26:39,394
- Yuknum the Great
certainly declared himself

355
00:26:39,474 --> 00:26:42,594
to be a kalamte, a supreme overlord.

356
00:26:46,354 --> 00:26:48,474
But you know, it's really, in my view,

357
00:26:48,554 --> 00:26:52,754
likely that people of Kaanul
thought of Yuknum Chen as a god,

358
00:26:52,834 --> 00:26:54,314
because they called him Ka-wil.

359
00:26:56,234 --> 00:26:59,474
- Ka-wil is a deity
associated with power,

360
00:26:59,874 --> 00:27:01,594
fertility, and lightning.

361
00:27:02,354 --> 00:27:05,514
The scepter of Ka-wil,
a means by which kings

362
00:27:05,594 --> 00:27:07,994
could harness the
power of this great god.

363
00:27:08,674 --> 00:27:12,034
A power that Yuknum the
Great appears to have gained.

364
00:27:19,314 --> 00:27:25,394
During Yuknung Chen's lifetime,
the city seems to have expanded.

365
00:27:25,634 --> 00:27:29,834
What we see in the outlying
areas is fairly astonishing.

366
00:27:35,314 --> 00:27:39,954
So what had already been
big, they make even bigger.

367
00:27:41,754 --> 00:27:44,394
They had a boom in
construction of palaces.

368
00:27:44,634 --> 00:27:48,234
They built palaces in Calakmul
that were grander than any of the

369
00:27:48,314 --> 00:27:50,194
palaces elsewhere in the Maya world.

370
00:28:02,114 --> 00:28:06,834
We can imagine Calakmul itself
growing from a densely urban

371
00:28:07,034 --> 00:28:10,714
area to a large megalopolis

372
00:28:10,794 --> 00:28:13,514
where you have much
sprawl throughout the region,

373
00:28:13,594 --> 00:28:16,754
region, taking advantages
of new areas for farming

374
00:28:17,234 --> 00:28:19,794
to supply this magnificent city.

375
00:28:22,554 --> 00:28:26,114
The remains of this
expansion are clear to this day.

376
00:28:28,674 --> 00:28:32,274
I'm sitting here on
top of Structure 2,

377
00:28:32,674 --> 00:28:36,314
and I'm wondering what the
Kaanul kings must have thought

378
00:28:36,394 --> 00:28:39,074
as they looked out
over this vast kingdom.

379
00:28:41,794 --> 00:28:44,874
At its peak, Calakmul controlled

380
00:28:44,954 --> 00:28:47,274
about 13,000 square kilometers.

381
00:28:48,354 --> 00:28:51,514
That's an area 10 times
the size of Los Angeles.

382
00:28:52,994 --> 00:28:56,194
It became a new center
of political, commercial,

383
00:28:56,634 --> 00:28:59,514
and religious power
throughout the Pete?n region
-.

384
00:29:01,874 --> 00:29:05,154
- This structure is
-considered the heart

385
00:29:05,754 --> 00:29:10,234
of the Qanun dynasty
during its time at Calakmul

386
00:29:10,514 --> 00:29:15,794
because of its prominent
location in the heart of the city.

387
00:29:15,874 --> 00:29:18,554
It is the largest
structure in the city,

388
00:29:18,834 --> 00:29:21,554
the most prominent
structure in the city,

389
00:29:21,634 --> 00:29:23,074
and would have been the focus

390
00:29:23,154 --> 00:29:25,714
of major ritual
activities in the city.

391
00:29:26,034 --> 00:29:30,314
It's also on a plaza where
many people from within the city,

392
00:29:30,394 --> 00:29:32,714
as well as dignitaries
from throughout the kingdom,

393
00:29:32,954 --> 00:29:35,274
would have been able to
watch the performances.

394
00:29:38,274 --> 00:29:41,234
Yachnun the Great
would have welcomed nobles

395
00:29:41,314 --> 00:29:44,914
from allied cities,
performing rituals to prove his power.

396
00:29:45,394 --> 00:29:46,874
And this was important.

397
00:29:47,594 --> 00:29:51,754
Calakmul's allegiances with
Ziranche, the previous capital,

398
00:29:52,434 --> 00:29:54,954
protected the north-south
trade routes in the region,

399
00:29:55,394 --> 00:29:58,474
and Karakol and Naranjo took care

400
00:29:58,554 --> 00:30:00,234
of those traveling east-west.

401
00:30:01,194 --> 00:30:03,674
But just how strong
were these alliances?

402
00:30:04,874 --> 00:30:06,994
- It's easy to conquer someone,

403
00:30:07,074 --> 00:30:09,514
but they don't
necessarily become your allies.

404
00:30:09,874 --> 00:30:13,674
It's much more important to
bring somebody in willingly,

405
00:30:13,754 --> 00:30:17,234
to be your ally, to engage in building

406
00:30:17,314 --> 00:30:18,554
long-term relationships.

407
00:30:28,474 --> 00:30:30,714
Something very particular is happening

408
00:30:30,794 --> 00:30:33,634
at Calakmul, which
doesn't happen everywhere

409
00:30:33,714 --> 00:30:35,554
and doesn't happen possibly anywhere.

410
00:31:07,674 --> 00:31:11,994
The heirs to the throne of many
other places, who were due to

411
00:31:12,074 --> 00:31:14,274
become the kings of these

412
00:31:14,634 --> 00:31:18,514
subject polities, go
to live at Calakmul.

413
00:31:33,834 --> 00:31:37,354
- With the idea that
this is going to solidify

414
00:31:38,114 --> 00:31:40,914
political control, but in any case,

415
00:31:40,994 --> 00:31:43,154
it means you have a
collection of hostages.

416
00:32:06,554 --> 00:32:09,714
It wasn't just about
allying with Calakmul,

417
00:32:09,794 --> 00:32:15,434
but it was about creating a greater
alliance within the Maya region for

418
00:32:15,514 --> 00:32:17,314
trade and prosperity for everyone.

419
00:32:21,394 --> 00:32:26,194
And because of this, not only
was it the height of his reign

420
00:32:26,274 --> 00:32:28,274
here at Calakmul, but I think

421
00:32:28,354 --> 00:32:31,954
it also was the height of the Kanuul
influence throughout the Maya region.

422
00:32:39,234 --> 00:32:42,834
But when we start to really get
into his story, we can see that

423
00:32:42,914 --> 00:32:45,194
he has a problem, and the

424
00:32:45,274 --> 00:32:48,154
The problem is the revival of Tikal.

425
00:32:49,474 --> 00:32:52,274
- Tikal, the Jaguar Kingdom.

426
00:32:53,594 --> 00:32:55,794
Despite being badly damaged,

427
00:32:56,194 --> 00:33:00,114
it was not
completely destroyed in 562.

428
00:33:01,434 --> 00:33:04,074
There is a gap of
around a hundred years

429
00:33:04,154 --> 00:33:07,674
where archeologists find
no evidence of inscriptions

430
00:33:07,754 --> 00:33:08,754
or monument building,

431
00:33:09,274 --> 00:33:12,194
but it's believed the
city continued to function,

432
00:33:12,994 --> 00:33:14,994
likely subordinate to the Kanu?l
-,

433
00:33:15,234 --> 00:33:17,394
-but not ruled by them directly.

434
00:33:19,074 --> 00:33:22,794
After this period,
Tikal rose from the ashes.

435
00:33:23,874 --> 00:33:26,034
It was still the only kingdom

436
00:33:26,434 --> 00:33:29,314
capable of
overthrowing the Serpent Empire,

437
00:33:29,994 --> 00:33:32,834
and Yakhnu?m the Grea
-t
-did not control it.

438
00:34:09,874 --> 00:34:14,274
Tikal had never previously
completely submitted to the Kanoor.

439
00:34:14,874 --> 00:34:18,274
This time, Yuknum the Great seized

440
00:34:18,354 --> 00:34:21,474
an extraordinary
opportunity to establish control

441
00:34:21,554 --> 00:34:23,674
over his rival once and for all.

442
00:34:24,954 --> 00:34:26,754
Whilst Tikal had grown stronger

443
00:34:27,034 --> 00:34:28,914
and was now a threat to the Kanoor,

444
00:34:29,674 --> 00:34:32,394
experts have found
evidence that Yuknum the Great,

445
00:34:32,674 --> 00:34:35,034
the political mastermind that he was,

446
00:34:35,754 --> 00:34:39,594
found a way to influence
the internal affairs of Tikal

447
00:34:39,874 --> 00:34:42,794
by creating conflict
within its nobility.

448
00:34:44,234 --> 00:34:48,874
- Our understanding of this
complicated political situation

449
00:34:48,954 --> 00:34:51,114
and the story of Yukonomche?n
-,

450
00:34:51,194 --> 00:34:55,474
-a lot of this crystallized
many years ago, back in 1990.

451
00:34:55,914 --> 00:34:57,914
The excavations we were conducting

452
00:34:57,994 --> 00:35:00,114
at the site of Dos Pilas in Guatemala,

453
00:35:00,354 --> 00:35:02,674
that we found a new inscription.

454
00:35:03,154 --> 00:35:05,874
It was an inscription on a staircase.

455
00:35:06,954 --> 00:35:08,954
And it was very close to the surface.

456
00:35:09,034 --> 00:35:12,394
In fact, it just had to
brush away some dirt in order

457
00:35:12,474 --> 00:35:13,634
to see the hieroglyphs.

458
00:35:14,234 --> 00:35:17,954
And in that extraordinary
moment, over a few weeks,

459
00:35:18,714 --> 00:35:21,514
we read an amazing story.

460
00:35:25,954 --> 00:35:30,354
And this is all taking
place in the mid-7th century.

461
00:35:34,314 --> 00:35:38,794
So you had a prince of Tikal
living in Dos Pilas, and a prince

462
00:35:38,874 --> 00:35:41,034
of Tikal living in Tikal.

463
00:35:41,834 --> 00:35:47,274
The one in Tikal is named Nunuholchak,
and the one living in Dos

464
00:35:47,354 --> 00:35:49,194
Pilas is Balachan Kawil.

465
00:35:52,354 --> 00:35:58,434
Balachan Kawil was established at Dos
Pilas as a satellite

466
00:35:58,514 --> 00:36:00,394
kingdom, as kind of an arm

467
00:36:00,474 --> 00:36:01,794
of the Tikal dynasty.

468
00:36:04,074 --> 00:36:06,794
- When the father of
these two boys died,

469
00:36:07,034 --> 00:36:09,474
Balachan Kawil, the
prince of Dos Pilas,

470
00:36:10,074 --> 00:36:12,114
thought he should
become the king of Tikal.

471
00:36:13,914 --> 00:36:18,994
- The steps of Dos Pilas
tell us that in 648 AD,

472
00:36:19,354 --> 00:36:22,794
Prince Balachan Kawil, then aged 21,

473
00:36:23,074 --> 00:36:25,794
gave Yakhnum the Great
what he'd been waiting for,

474
00:36:25,874 --> 00:36:27,914
a way to take Tikal.

475
00:36:28,714 --> 00:36:31,234
And it started with betrayal.

476
00:36:32,674 --> 00:36:36,074
- Balacang Coahuila
started traveling back to Tikal

477
00:36:36,314 --> 00:36:39,554
to contest in the
court against his brother,

478
00:36:39,914 --> 00:36:41,314
who was taking the throne.

479
00:36:42,394 --> 00:36:46,834
He was met on the way by
a group of Tikal lords,

480
00:36:46,914 --> 00:36:48,154
including members of his family.

481
00:37:26,194 --> 00:37:28,674
A Tikal lord of his family was killed.

482
00:37:32,554 --> 00:37:35,674
And that ended it
because it meant that

483
00:37:35,754 --> 00:37:37,754
now Balachankawil was outlaw.

484
00:37:37,834 --> 00:37:39,434
He could not return to Tikal

485
00:37:39,514 --> 00:37:41,514
and his brother would take the throne.

486
00:37:41,994 --> 00:37:43,674
Well, they became great enemies.

487
00:37:49,954 --> 00:37:54,874
- So Balachankawil is a
member of the court of Tikal

488
00:37:56,274 --> 00:38:00,194
of the Mutul dynasty, yet
he switches his alliance

489
00:38:00,274 --> 00:38:02,194
to fight his own family.

490
00:38:03,874 --> 00:38:07,314
- We found the name
Yuknum the Great inscribed

491
00:38:07,394 --> 00:38:09,034
on the Dos Pilas staircase.

492
00:38:10,234 --> 00:38:13,074
It tells us that he became
involved in the conflict,

493
00:38:13,794 --> 00:38:18,234
taking advantage of the
situation in the year 650 AD.

494
00:38:19,954 --> 00:38:21,754
- Balachanka wheel was weak.

495
00:38:22,114 --> 00:38:24,514
He was angry, he was in Dos Pilas.

496
00:38:24,794 --> 00:38:29,394
Yuknum the Great came down
and put siege on his town.

497
00:38:42,874 --> 00:38:47,554
Yuknum Chen, he said, "Let me
make you an offer you can't refuse.

498
00:38:49,154 --> 00:38:53,194
"I'm going to give you the
armies to defeat your brother and

499
00:38:53,274 --> 00:38:56,754
you will be my vassal.

500
00:38:56,834 --> 00:38:59,834
Is that a good deal?"
And Balachankawil said,

501
00:38:59,914 --> 00:39:02,994
"Yes, that's a good deal."

502
00:39:04,594 --> 00:39:08,354
Yakhnoom the Great was
instigating a war that he himself

503
00:39:08,434 --> 00:39:09,714
need not be part of.

504
00:39:10,594 --> 00:39:14,994
He was about to take on Tikal
without committing all of his forces.

505
00:39:17,154 --> 00:39:20,234
And so Balacan Kawil became
the general of the armies in the

506
00:39:20,314 --> 00:39:24,434
southwest for Kaanul and he attacked

507
00:39:24,514 --> 00:39:28,394
against his brother Nunu Holcak
and they fought each other for

508
00:39:28,474 --> 00:39:30,554
years and years back and forth.

509
00:39:37,154 --> 00:39:42,594
In total the war raged on for
almost 10 years, battlefields

510
00:39:42,674 --> 00:39:45,274
spanning the entire Peten region.

511
00:39:57,394 --> 00:40:01,074
- In 657, Kahnul came into Tikal

512
00:40:01,154 --> 00:40:05,194
and drove Nunu Holchak, the
king of Tikal, out of Tikal.

513
00:40:06,714 --> 00:40:09,114
- Nunu Holchak has to escape.

514
00:40:09,194 --> 00:40:12,594
He's ejected and he is an exile.

515
00:40:14,714 --> 00:40:17,754
But the consequence of that 6-5-7 war

516
00:40:18,034 --> 00:40:22,634
seemed to come a little
bit later in maybe 662

517
00:40:22,714 --> 00:40:23,914
or somewhere around there,

518
00:40:24,394 --> 00:40:27,634
where the kings of Dos Pilas
and Tikal are brought together.

519
00:40:28,954 --> 00:40:33,354
- Eukenom went down south
of Tikal to a neutral zone.

520
00:40:33,434 --> 00:40:36,194
And he had those guys
together and he said,

521
00:40:36,274 --> 00:40:37,714
"Okay, here's what's gonna happen.

522
00:40:38,314 --> 00:40:41,194
"You and
Balachankuil, you're my vassal,

523
00:40:41,274 --> 00:40:43,354
"you're the general of
the armies in the west.

524
00:40:43,954 --> 00:40:47,234
"You, Nunu-Holchak, are my conquest.

525
00:40:47,314 --> 00:40:49,994
"I can kill you if I
want, but I won't.

526
00:40:50,074 --> 00:40:51,074
"I'm not going to kill you.

527
00:40:51,354 --> 00:40:55,434
"I'm going to marry you
to a woman of my side."

528
00:40:57,314 --> 00:41:00,154
- We tend to interpret
that as some sort of attempt

529
00:41:00,354 --> 00:41:05,754
to impose Calakmul
control over the whole region.

530
00:41:07,794 --> 00:41:10,114
- Yaknum the Great held all the power,

531
00:41:10,394 --> 00:41:14,554
Yet the rivalry between the
two brothers was not yet over.

532
00:41:18,434 --> 00:41:20,714
- The grand summation of all this,

533
00:41:20,794 --> 00:41:22,874
and we keep hearing bits and pieces

534
00:41:22,954 --> 00:41:24,274
about what Calakmul is doing,

535
00:41:24,834 --> 00:41:30,714
is Bala Cankawil saying that
he defeats Nunu Holcak in 679.

536
00:41:36,354 --> 00:41:39,154
- So Nunu Holcak was
decisively defeated

537
00:41:39,234 --> 00:41:42,594
by Balachankawil with
the forces from Kaanul.

538
00:41:44,674 --> 00:41:47,794
- The brothers and their
armies had battled for years,

539
00:41:48,634 --> 00:41:52,594
yet in 679, there
was finally a victor.

540
00:41:55,594 --> 00:41:57,594
The inscriptions make it clear

541
00:41:57,674 --> 00:42:01,034
that Balachankawil beat Nunu Holchak.

542
00:42:03,634 --> 00:42:06,354
The Kaanuls had won once and for all.

543
00:42:07,114 --> 00:42:08,714
Tikal was defeated.

544
00:42:10,994 --> 00:42:15,074
That's the climax, that's
the crescendo, that's what the

545
00:42:15,154 --> 00:42:16,874
whole inscription is building

546
00:42:16,954 --> 00:42:17,554
up to.

547
00:42:19,194 --> 00:42:22,954
And the hieroglyphic
staircase commemorating this at Dos

548
00:42:23,034 --> 00:42:25,074
Pilas says, "And they pooled

549
00:42:25,154 --> 00:42:28,194
the blood, and they piled the skulls."

550
00:42:29,874 --> 00:42:34,514
These great piles of skulls
were part war trophy, part

551
00:42:34,594 --> 00:42:37,234
religious sacrifice, part show

552
00:42:37,314 --> 00:42:41,874
of political power. Not only a very
visible symbol of the

553
00:42:41,954 --> 00:42:44,834
Kaanul victory, they would have

554
00:42:44,914 --> 00:42:50,914
also represented cosmic order being
restored, an offering to the gods.

555
00:42:54,474 --> 00:43:00,394
It describes how there is a
mass execution of captives, of

556
00:43:00,474 --> 00:43:01,914
prisoners taken in battle.

557
00:43:04,514 --> 00:43:07,074
And again, Tikal is subdued.

558
00:43:07,154 --> 00:43:08,754
And this can only have happened

559
00:43:08,834 --> 00:43:10,074
with the help of Calakmul,

560
00:43:10,154 --> 00:43:13,914
who is mentioned multiple
times in this narrative.

561
00:43:13,994 --> 00:43:18,354
This is Yuknob-Chen, who
is the real victors here.

562
00:43:21,234 --> 00:43:23,994
- Like the Kaanul King
a century before him,

563
00:43:24,314 --> 00:43:27,674
Yuknum the Great
gained victory over Tikal.

564
00:43:28,434 --> 00:43:30,634
Inscriptions commemorating the event,

565
00:43:30,954 --> 00:43:33,034
cementing his place in history.

566
00:43:36,354 --> 00:43:39,354
- One of the last records we have

567
00:43:39,434 --> 00:43:43,194
is of a grand
celebration that takes place,

568
00:43:43,594 --> 00:43:44,794
probably at Calakmul.

569
00:43:45,394 --> 00:43:49,314
It's a celebration, I think,
of this victory over Tikal,

570
00:43:49,394 --> 00:43:51,674
over Nun Uholchak.

571
00:43:52,314 --> 00:43:56,474
The King of Kaanul and the
King of Dos Pilas dance.

572
00:43:56,754 --> 00:43:58,394
They perform a dance together.

573
00:44:14,114 --> 00:44:19,674
In Mayan culture, dance was seen
as a way to connect to the gods.

574
00:44:20,834 --> 00:44:24,994
And it shows him wearing the
regalia with a back rack of

575
00:44:25,074 --> 00:44:27,914
feathers and a god, the regalia

576
00:44:27,994 --> 00:44:28,754
of alliance.

577
00:44:30,114 --> 00:44:32,674
- When kings danced
together in alliance,

578
00:44:32,754 --> 00:44:34,314
they danced with the backpacks.

579
00:44:35,514 --> 00:44:38,194
And they celebrated the
maze god's resurrection.

580
00:44:42,274 --> 00:44:43,514
- But it's still not the end.

581
00:44:45,594 --> 00:44:47,994
- In a reign lasting 50 years,

582
00:44:48,274 --> 00:44:52,194
Yuknum the Great led the
kingdom of the serpents to its peak.

583
00:44:53,074 --> 00:44:55,474
He forged alliances further afield

584
00:44:55,554 --> 00:44:57,394
than any king had ever done before.

585
00:44:58,194 --> 00:45:01,474
But in the depths of
a beaten down Tikal,

586
00:45:01,914 --> 00:45:07,074
a new king emerged, one
who was after revenge.

587
00:45:10,274 --> 00:45:12,954
- Game of Thrones, I mean, this is,

588
00:45:13,034 --> 00:45:15,874
you don't get more Game of
Thrones than this story.

589
00:45:17,234 --> 00:45:21,034
- The great rivalry
between Tikal and the Kaanul

590
00:45:21,314 --> 00:45:22,674
reaches a climax.

591
00:45:23,034 --> 00:45:26,874
But it's not all about
epic battles and bloodshed.

592
00:45:26,954 --> 00:45:31,354
This was a time of political power
moves and manipulation