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By deciphering hieroglyphic inscriptions on centuries-old rocks, researchers have identified the name of a previously unknown Maya queen. Known as Ix Ch'ak Ch'een, she ruled Cobá, or the "city of choppy water," in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula in the sixth century, according to a translated statement from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
Cobá was a major urban center in the Maya world and was occupied from around 350 B.C. to the 14th century. It had a core of elite houses built around four lakes, along with thousands of residential structures, numerous white stone roads and several pyramids.
In 2024, archaeologists with INAH discovered an extensive hieroglyphic text carved into a stone staircase at Cobá, which they named the Foundation Rock, according to The Yucatan Times. Erosion had badly damaged the Foundation Rock, making it difficult to translate the 123 hieroglyph panels. But additional discoveries, including 23 stelae — freestanding inscribed stone pillars — have provided clues to help experts interpret the texts.
Ancient Mayan text experts David Stuart of the University of Texas at Austin and Octavio Esparza Olguín of the National Autonomous University of Mexico recently matched one panel from the Cobá Foundation Rock with two stelae from the site and realized they referred to the same person: Ix Ch'ak Ch'een.
Although the Foundation Rock mentions the coronation of Ix Ch'ak Ch'een, the specific dates for her reign are unclear. However, the Maya queen's name is mentioned in association with building projects that included a ball court, the construction of which is noted to have happened around the date 9.7.0.0.0 in the Maya calendar, or Dec. 8, 573.
The Foundation Rock from Cobá
(Image credit: Photogrammetric model by Salvador Medina and Francisco Luna; INAH)
Ix Ch'ak Ch'een may have been a particularly powerful queen, as the researchers have linked her to Testigo Cielo, a ruler of the politically and militarily influential Kaan kingdom that was part of the Maya civilization and known for its snake kings.
Female rulers among the Maya were rare — with only a couple dozen known compared to hundreds of kings — but during the Late Classic period (550 to 830), prominent women such as the "Red Queen" came to power. The Red Queen ruled the Maya city of Palenque in the mid-seventh century.
According to Esparza, research on the Foundation Rock has already provided essential information on dynastic rulers and historical events that happened at Cobá, but their investigation is ongoing.
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Kristina Killgrove is a staff writer at Live Science with a focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her articles have also appeared in venues such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Kristina holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology and an M.A. in classical archaeology from the University of North Carolina, as well as a B.A. in Latin from the University of Virginia, and she was formerly a university professor and researcher. She has received awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science writing.
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