Introduction
The Ak’ab God is the lesser-known nightly counterpart to the sun god, K’inich Ajaw. While he does not appear in any mythic scenes or narratives, his existence still manages to provide valuable insights into the worldview and cosmology of the Classic Period Maya.

Iconographic Traits
Iconographically, the Ak’ab God appears nearly identical to K’inich Ajaw, with one exception. Instead of K’IN ‘sun’ glyphs in the forehead mirror and “god-markings”, the Ak’ab God has AK’AB ‘darkness’ glyphs, hence his nickname. Otherwise, he shares the large eye with a square pupil, the singular T-shaped tooth, the barbel at the corner of his mouth, and the presence of both “god-markings” and a forehead mirror.

Extended Names and Titles
The name of the Ak’ab God, assuming he had one, is unknown. If his similarities with K’inich Ajaw carry over to his name, perhaps it could be something along the lines of Ak’ab Ajaw, though the Ak’ab God may just be an aspect of K’inich Ajaw himself.

Glyph Uses
The head glyph of the Ak’ab God has several uses. When used calendrically, it can represent the month of Mol or the day Ak’bal. It can also be used as a substitute for the AK’AB glyph, much in the same way that K’inich Ajaw’s head glyph can be used as a substitute for K’IN. Lastly, the head glyph of the Ak’ab God can also be used in a variant of the TZ’AK glyph, where it is placed next to the head glyph of K’inich Ajaw (Figure 1D-G). In this context, the Ak’ab God and K’inich Ajaw represent the successive nature of night and day, as the meaning of tz’ak deals with counting, order, and succession.

Known Myths
While the Ak’ab God is not depicted in any mythic scenes, there are a few full-figure depictions of him. In the objects he appears on, he is usually depicted opposite K’inich Ajaw. These objects include Quirigua’s Zoomorph P (Figure 1C), where the opposite depiction of K’inich Ajaw is unfortunately eroded, and Copan’s Skyband Bench, where the opposing K’inich Ajaw is still visible (Figures 1A and 1B). This Skyband Bench uses the Ak’ab God and K’inich Ajaw as personified versions of the AK’AB and K’IN glyphs, as these are glyphs that are frequently paired together in skybands.

The existence of this nightly counterpart to K’inich Ajaw acts as evidence against the idea that the Jaguar War God is the sun at night in the underworld. David Stuart points out that the two are not to be confused with one another, and that while the Ak’ab God is more clearly the night sun, the Jaguar War God still has nocturnal connections. Karen Bassie-Sweet suggests that if the Jaguar War God were the underworld or night sun, we would instead see the Jaguar God of War in opposition to K’inich Ajaw, not the Ak’ab God (2019:55, 76 n. 3). I agree with both of these ideas, especially given that the Jaguar War God has clearer connections to Venus as the Evening Star than he does to the Sun.

Sources
Bassie-Sweet, Karen
2019 Classic Maya Gods of Flint and Obsidian. In Seeking Conflict: Approaches and Interpretations in Maya and Mesoamerican Studies, ed. Shawn Morton and Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown, pp. 47-76. University Press of Colorado.
Schele, Linda
2000 The Linda Schele Drawings Collection.
Stuart, David
2005 The Inscriptions from Temple XIX at Palenque: A Commentary. The Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute.