Who ruled the Mayas?
The king – or ruler – was the most important person in the community. The Mayas believed that he could talk with ancestors and the gods. Because he was such a special man, they built him a beautiful palace. When Yax K’uk Mo’ died, his son took his place and the Mayas built him a palace, too. It went like this for years, and in about the year 800, the little Maya village had turned into a big city with a population of more than 25,000 people. The rulers, who were very powerful, commanded artists to build enormous “stelae”, or carved blocks of stone.
