Cobá Part 5- Ball Court 2 in Grupo D

 

Classic-era statue of a Maya ball player. The player is crouched on one knee, ready to use his upper arm or shoulder to receive the ball and propel it back down the field. The sculptor managed to convey the player's sense of tension as he poised for action. However, the sculptor exaggerated--probably for effect--the protective gear around his mid-section. There is no way a ball player dressed like this could have maintained the necessary speed and agility the game required. 

Part 3 of this series covered Grupo Cobá's Ball Court 1 and explained how the game was played and its deep social, political, and religious meanings. In this posting I will focus on Ball Court 2 in Grupo D, the largest and most important court at Cobá. In addition to its size, Ball Court 2 is important because of who built it and when. It is also significant for the large hieroglyph panel set into the court's sloping wall. This panel contains information about several key rulers in Cobá's Early Classic history.

Overview

Site map of Cobá showing the location of Ball Court 2.  Grupo D is located between Grupo Cobá on the west and Grupo Nohoch Mul on the east. Sacbe #4, one of Cobá's internal "white roads", runs between these two groups of structures. Ball Court 2 is located near the eastern end of Sacbe #4, where it is marked Juego de Pelota ("Ball Game"). Ball Court 1, also labeled as Juego de Pelota is located in Grupo Cobá, near the western end of Sacbe #4. To find the Cobá archeological zone in Yucatan, see Part 1 of this series.

The playing field

View of the Ball Court, looking east. Its structure is similar to Ball Court 1, with a relatively narrow alley running between two sloping walls. Each wall is topped by a stone ring about half-way down the court. Tourists in the alley provide a sense of scale. I haven't been able to determine the dimensions of this court, except that it is larger than Ball Court 1. On the top of each side of the court are are multiple rooms with rectangular columns. These were the  viewing areas set aside for the elite spectators of Cobá and those of the visiting team. These viewing areas were ancient versions of the "skyboxes" in modern stadiums.

Ball Court 2 was built by Ix Ch'ak Cheen, one of several powerful women who ruled Cobá during the Classic era. She was the first of Cobá's rulers to be awarded the title of kaloomte' ("Supreme Warrior" or "King of Kings"). This meant that her rule extended beyond Cobá to a broader realm of towns and cities. The achievement of this title was a statement that Cobá had emerged as a major player in the ancient Maya world. Recently, a large panel was discovered in another part of Cobá. Its glyphs indicate that Ix Ch'ak Cheen was connected to Ut Chanal of Dzibanche's Kaaan Dynasty, a major Maya power. 

Field marker in the alley between the sloping walls. This one can be found in the middle of the western end of the alley (see previous photo, lower right). Inside the circle is a figure that has been variously described as a decapitated man, a jaguar, or a squirrel. The function of the marker in the game is unclear. 

A weather-worn stone skull is situated in the center of the alley. In the photo showing the playing field, this marker is half-way down the alley, just to the left of the man wearing blue shorts. This marker, like the one in the previous photo, is probably a reference to sacrifice. In the Maya myth about the Hero Twins, their father Hun Hunahpu (the Maiz God) was decapitated after losing a ball game with the Lords of the Underworld (Xibalba). The Hero Twins' myth dates all the way back to Pre-Classic times (400 BC-100 AD), as much as a thousand years before this court was built.

Plaques on Ball Court's sloping walls

Two panels are set into the sloping wall on the court's south side. On the left is a small, heavily-worn panel containing what may be the image of a captive. On the right, under the stone ring, is a much larger panel containing more than 70 glyphs. These inscriptions provide historical information about early rulers, as well as the city's original ancient name. 

Note the stone ring at the top of the wall. Imagine the difficulty in propelling a rubber ball through such a small opening. Since the use of hands or feet by players was prohibited, passing a ball through the ring would have been a rare event. Consequently, the players would have scored in other ways, such as preventing the opposing team from returning the ball down the court.

The glyphs on the panel contain information about the city and its early rulers. Unlike other sites that we have visited in Mexico, Cobá's original name is known. The ancient name Ko-b'a-a appears at least three times on this panel. Archeologists disputed among themselves about whether Ko-b'a-a referred to a toponym (place name) or a supernatural being. However, epigraphers (people who study ancient glyphs) recently determined that this was the city's original name because it was used in the context of the arrival of the ruling dynasty to Cobá.

The glyphs on the panel also mention Junnpiktook, the founder of Cobá's Dynasty in 494 AD. The glyphs contain at least three dates. The first, 505 AD, is the date Juunpiktook dedicated Ball Court 1. The second, 573 AD, is the date when an unnamed successor dedicated Ball Court 2. The successor's name, Ix Ch'ak Cheen, was recently found on a different panel near the Ixmoja pyramid. She dedicated the Ball Court shortly before her death. The third date, 574 AD, refers to her successor, Kak' Ti' Balam. His wife was Ix Che'enal, a Kaan Dynasty princess, who was briefly kaloomte' before abdicating. 

Plaque of a captive on the slope of the north wall. The captive is seen in profile, kneeling with his arms raised and bound at the wrist. Although in better condition than the captive image on the south wall, this panel is also badly worn from centuries of exposure. Human sacrifice was sometimes a part of the rituals associated with this deeply symbolic game. Those sacrificed were generally war captives but sometimes included players. Whether they were the losers or the winners of the game is a matter of dispute among archeologists. Although hard to believe from a modern perspective, human sacrifice was sometimes considered an honor in the ancient Maya world.

Dzibanche also displayed images of captives on its monuments. These were statements of power and military prowess. Their inclusion on Cobá's panels and stelae demonstrates the strong cultural influence of the Kaan Dynasty. That dynasty, first based in Dzibanche and later at Calakmul, was one of the two great powers during the Classic era. Its great rival was Tikal, in northern Guatemala. During their centuries-long struggle for dominance, both cities assembled broad coalitions of client states and allies. Cobá was allied to the Kaan Dynasty through political marriages like the one between Kak' Ti' Balam and Ix Che'enal. 

West end of Ball Court 2

Southwest corner of the ball court. The overall structure has four levels and includes two small stairways, one at this end and one at the east end. The stairway on this end has a large tree growing out of its steps. The six initial steps rise to a small platform. From the platform, more steps lead up to the top-level rooms lined with the rectangular columns. The staircases on the south half of the Ball Court are much smaller and less impressive than those on the northern half. This leads me to believe that this half was intended for the visiting team.

West end of the northern half of the court. There is a room with two columns on this end, possibly for the use of the officiating priests or for storage of game equipment. A semi-circular structure is attached to the wall in the right foreground. It has no apparent entrance, so its purpose is unclear. The sloping north wall of the court is visible above. The angle of a ball court's slope affected the speed of the ball when it bounced off. The sharper the angle, the greater the speed. In this case the angle is fairly gentle. At Chichen Itza, the Ball Court walls are vertical.

The north side of the Ball Court has a broad staircase. The existence of this grand staircase suggests that it was intended for large processions by Cobá's ruling elite. No such staircase exists on the southern half of the Ball Court, which again suggests that the southern half was intended for the visiting team's elite spectators. Similar to Ball Court 1, this grand staircase has thirteen steps, possibly related to the thirteen levels of heaven. Everything related to a ball court, and to the game itself, carried deep religious meaning.

East end of Ball Court 2

The east end of the Ball Court. The woman standing at the entrance of the alley provides a sense of scale. To the right is the northern side of the court, while the southern side can be seen in the distance. The large rectangular columns lining the top of the southern side supported a roof to protect the spectators from the sun or rain. The end of the southern structure contains a narrow set of steps that winds up to the top.

View of the eastern end of the southern half of the court. The steps leading up turn several times before they reach the top. There is only room for a single file of people to climb up the steps. This precluded any opportunity for the elite spectators on this side to mount a grand procession. Perhaps the design was intended as a bit of psychological warfare? The sloping wall of the court's northern half, also topped with columns, can be seen at the right side of the photo. While the  encroaching jungle seems to hem in the structures above, this area would have been clear of vegetation in ancient times.

A partially-excavated structure stands near the eastern end of the Ball Court's alley.. There is a broad, four-step staircase along the southern side. I have found only one mention of this structure in the literature, but no explanation of its purpose. Since it stands so close to the court, it is likely to have some relation to the game. Perhaps it was for the performance of rituals associated with the game. It also might have provided a slightly-elevated viewing area for lesser mortals who weren't allowed on the top levels of the court.

This completes Part 5 of my Cobá series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim