Ek Balam

The kingdom

Ek Balam was the seat of a Maya kingdom for centuries

From the Preclassic until the Postclassic period, Ek Balam was the seat of a Maya kingdom. It lies 25 kilometres north of Valladolid. At its height, from 770 to 840 CE, it offers a rich resource for understanding northern Classic cities.

The walls

Two concentric walls guard the city, and a fourth was built in a hurry

The layout is surrounded by two concentric walls built as defense against attack. A fourth wall inside the city bisects the Great Plaza. It is less than a meter wide and made of poorly constructed rubble, and was clearly a last ditch effort at protection.

The Acropolis

The Acropolis holds the plastered tomb of the king Ukit Kan Lek Tok

The site is noted for the preserved plaster on the tomb of Ukit Kan Lek Tok, a king buried in the side of the largest pyramid. Excavations on the Acropolis began in 1998, when it was just a mound. The doorway of his temple, El Trono, is a monster-like mouth.

The murals

Wall paintings in the Acropolis include the Mural of the 96 Glyphs

Wall paintings with texts have been found in rooms of the Acropolis. One is the Mural of the 96 Glyphs, a masterwork of calligraphy comparable to the Tablet of the 96 Glyphs from Palenque. The paintings have been published only very inadequately.

96glyphs in the mural, a masterwork of calligraphy

Rediscovery

Charnay rediscovered it in the late 1800s, but digging came a century later

Désiré Charnay rediscovered and explored the site in the late 1800s, but extensive excavation did not take place until a century later. Bill Ringle and George Bey III mapped it in the late 1980s.