Ajaw

Ajaw ( in older, Spanish letters also: Ahau ) is the title of Maya kings in the time of the Classic Maya culture. The meaning of the title is played with "Lord ", " ruler ", " king", rarely " chief ". As part of their name is " Ajaw " also translated as adjectives, as in Balam Ajaw, a ruler of Tikal, whose name is rendered into German as " decorated Jaguar ".

The title is used mostly inscriptions for the male person (usually in the Classical city-state ) exerted the highest recognized rule over an existing political unit of the Maya. The name is also found in female rulers, however, the commonly used term for female rulers was Ix (such as " mistress ").

The word is commonly used with smaller phonetic variations in many Mayan languages ​​, both in the classical period as well as in the present. " Ajaw " is the spelling modernized in orthography, as they ( Academia de lenguas Maya ) was developed in 1994 by the Guatemalan Academy of Mayan languages ​​and was taken up today by most Maya - researchers. Previously, for " Ajaw " the letters " Ahau " common, according to the orthography of the Yucatecan Maya ( Maya Than ) from the 16th century in Spanish transcription.

In the post- classical period, especially in Yucatan, was the title of the highest territorial princes Halach Huinik, which transferred to the German language most likely to be "True Man " would be translated.

Both titles, " Ajaw " and " Halah Huinik " was inherited patrilineally.

• Maya
• Ruler title
• Title of nobility