LAGUNA DEL TIGRE NATIONAL PARK, GUATEMALA—Last year, excavators discovered the tomb of Lady K’abel, who ruled El Perú-Waka’ as a member of the imperial house of the Snake King. Now they have found a stela near her tomb that had been buried as an offering inside the site’s main temple. “The information in the text provides a new chapter in the history of the ancient kingdom of Waka’ and its political relations with the most powerful kingdoms in the Classic period lowland Maya world,” said David Freidel of the Washington University in St. Louis. The stela mentions for the first time Wak dynasty King Wa’oom Uch’ab Tzi’kin; King Chak Took Ich’aak, and a queen, Lady Ikoom. Lady Ikoom may have been a Snake dynasty princess from the north, who preceeded Lady K’abel, also known as the Supreme Warrior, and the Maya Holy Snake Lord, on the throne of El Perú-Waka’.
