K'inich Yat Ahk II

Kʼinich Yat Ahk II , also known as Ruler 7, was the last ajaw of Piedras Negras, It is possible that he was the son of Itzam Kʼan Ahk II, The ruler's name is a combination of two elements: a title and a predecessor's name. The title, kʼinich, translates to "red-faced", and is a reference to the settlement's rulers' belief that they were the "lords of the sun". The name portion, Yat Ahk, was not taken from one of Kʼinich Yat Ahk II's immediate predecessors, but rather from one of Piedras Negras's earliest rulers, Yat Ahk I. Kʼinich Yat Ahk II took up the throne at Piedras Negras on May 31, 781 (9.17.10.9.4 1 Kʼan 7 Yaxkʼin), almost a year following the death of his brother, Haʼ Kʼin Xook. Despite this lengthy gap, there is no evidence that anyone ruled Piedras Negras in the interim.

Capture

In AD 808, Piedras Negras's sworn enemy Yaxchilan, ruled by Kʼinich Tatbu Skull IV, conquered Piedras Negras and subjugated Kʼinich Yat Ahk II, ending his rule; Lintel 10 at Yaxchilan directly names Kʼinich Yat Ahk II as a captive of the Yaxchilan ajaw.

Monuments

Stelae

Several stelae have been found that were erected by Kʼinich Yat Ahk II, including Stelae 12 and 15, which were sculpted out of limestone. The monument bears some stylistic similarities to Haʼ Kʼin Xook's Stela 13, and given that Stela 15 is positioned above Stela 13 on the northwestern side of Pyramid O-13, it was likely that Stela 15 was erected to purposely associate Kʼinich Yat Ahk II with Haʼ Kʼin Xook.

The final stela to be erected was Stela 12 Houston et al. argue that this stela is a "monument of vengeance", redressing the defeat of Piedras Negras at the hands of Pomona in 554 AD. While the monument is not a niche stela, it makes reference to the style by showing the "seated ruler at the top ... and other people at lower levels", similar to Stelae 14 and 33.

Throne 1

Throne 1 of Piedras Negras, which details the transfer of power from Haʼ Kʼin Xook to Kʼinich Yat Ahk II.

Kʼinich Yat Ahk II likely commissioned the construction of Throne 1, |group="nb" which details either the death or abdication of Haʼ Kʼin Xook. Discovered in a special recess in J-6 (a gallery wing of the main Piedras Negras palace acropolis), the throne was in pieces, but has since been reconstructed. J. Eric S. Thompson proposed three hypotheses to explain its destruction: it had been destroyed in a peasant revolt, it was smashed by conquerors from Yaxchilan, or its destruction "was more recent and is attributable to superstitious fear".

Panel 3

Kʼinich Yat Ahk II also commissioned the carving of Panel 3, which was placed on the O-13 Pyramid. To this day, many archaeologists and Mayanists consider Panel 3 to be a "masterpiece of Maya art" due to its elucidating the life of Itzam Kʼan Ahk II and his servants, as well as providing information regarding rare grammatical structures in the Mayan glyphs.