Waka'

El Perú (also known as Waka' ), is a pre-Columbian Maya archeological site occupied during the Preclassic and Classic cultural chronology periods (roughly 500 BC to 800 AD). The site was the capital of a Maya city-state and is located near the banks of the San Pedro River in the Department of Petén of northern Guatemala. El Perú is 60 km (37 mi) west of Tikal.

The Maya city of Waka' was rediscovered by oil prospectors in the 1960s. In the 1970s Ian Graham, a Harvard researcher, documented monuments at the site. Then in 2003 David Freidel, of Southern Methodist University, and Héctor Escobedo, of the University of San Carlos, began to excavate Waka'.

The site was named "El Perú" when rediscovered in the twentieth century. Hieroglyphs identified and deciphered at the site have indicated that the ancient name for the site was Waka'. While both names are currently used interchangeably, El Perú predominates on extant maps. In the published literature, a conflated name is generally used, El Perú-Waka'.

The first recorded meeting between Teotihuacan and the Maya occurred at Waka' in 378, 10 days prior to their arrival at Tikal. This moment is known among Mesoamerican archaeologists as “La Entrada.” During the early phases of the Early Classic, Waka’ was allied with Tikal.

Waka’, however, later betrayed Tikal and forged an alliance with Calakmul. This alliance was solidified by K'inich Balam (“Sun Faced Jaguar”), who ruled from the late 7th century to the early 8th century and was married to Lady T'abi, a royal princess from Calakmul, capital of the Kan dynasty at the time. This union was a political maneuver that linked El Peru (K’inich Balam) to Calakmul and its leader Yuknom Cheen in a military alliance. Lady T’abi was later given the title ix kaloomté ("empress" or "warlord”), a high title used in ancient Maya texts. Yuknom Cheen was attempting to gather several Maya kingdoms into a larger polity

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