Temple of the Inscriptions

683

It was built as the tomb of a ruler who reigned for almost 70 years

The temple was built as the funerary monument of Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal, ruler of Palenque in the 7th century, whose reign lasted almost 70 years. Building began in the last decade of his life. His son and successor Kʼinich Kan Bahlam II completed it, a short time after 683. A temple sits on an eight-stepped pyramid, nine levels in all, and a stairway inside leads down to the crypt with Pakal's sarcophagus.

1952

The tomb stayed hidden until 1952 under a slab in the temple floor

Palenque and the temple had been visited and studied for more than two hundred years, but the tomb of Pakal was not discovered until 1952. The Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier removed a stone slab from the floor of the temple and found a stairway filled with rubble. Two years later, when the stairway had been cleared, it led into the tomb.

617 glyphs

Three stone tablets carry one of the longest known Maya inscriptions

The temple gets its name from three hieroglyphic tablets on its inner walls: the East, the Central and the West Tablet. Together they hold 617 glyphs and are among the longest known Maya inscriptions. They stress that events of the past will be repeated on the same calendar date. They record events in Pakal's life, and the last two columns announce his death and name Kan B'alam II as heir.

617glyphs on the three tablets

The lid

The lid shows Pakal lying between the heavens and the underworld

On the lid of the sarcophagus Pakal lies on the earth monster. Below him are the open jaws of a jaguar, for Xibalba, and above him a Celestial Bird perches on the Cosmic Tree. His ancestors are lined up on the sarcophagus, six generations back. The only person to photograph the lid was Merle Greene Robertson, suspended from the ceiling. The tomb was then resealed and has not been reopened since.

Xibalba

Five sacrificed people were found at the entrance of the crypt

To keep the immense weight of the pyramid from collapsing the tomb, its builders used cross vaulting and recessed buttresses on the hut-shaped chamber. At the entrance of the crypt, five skeletons, both male and female, were found. They were sacrificial victims, meant to follow Pakal into Xibalba, the Maya underworld.