There is a glyphic record that sometime before 731 a lord of Motul was captured by a lord (Ruler B) of Machaquilá. In 740, Machaquila attacked Motul de San José. Hieroglyphic Stairway 3 at Dos Pilas records that in 745 a lord of Motul was captured by K'awiil Chan K'inich of Dos Pilas. In the middle of the 8th century AD, Motul de San José was closely allied with the important city of Yaxchilan on the Usumacinta River, as demonstrated by the fact that the king of Yaxchilan Yaxun B'alam IV ("Bird Jaguar IV") who ruled from 752 to 768, took two wives from Motul de San José. They are named in inscriptions at Yaxchilan as Lady Wak Tuun and Lady Wak Jalam Chan Ajaw. Lady Wak Jalam Chan Ajaw is shown preparing her husband for a battle that took place in 755 on Yaxchilan Lintel 41, now in the British Museum in London. In fact, the alliance with Yaxchilan may date further back to the early 8th century since Yaxchilan Lintel 25 (dedicated in AD 723) used the so-called X-ray style of imagery that is closely associated with the Motul de San José polity. However, relations with Yaxchilan were not always peaceful and Hieroglyphic Stairway 5 at Yaxchilan records that Itzamnaaj B'alam III of Yaxchilan defeated the lord of Motul some time in the latter part of the 8th century.