K'inich Janaab' Pakal

King of Palenque who took the throne at age 12 and reigned for 68 years; his tomb beneath the Temple of the Inscriptions is one of the most famous royal tombs in the Americas.

Life

Child ruler in troubled times

Pakal was born in 603, when Palenque was repeatedly raided by Calakmul and its royal line was in turmoil. In 615 he took the throne at age 12; his mother, Sak K'uk', briefly ruled before his accession and served as regent while he was young. According to the inscriptions, he reigned for 68 years, making him one of the longest-reigning monarchs of the Classic Maya.

Revived Palenque

Under Pakal, Palenque revived from war. He expanded the complex known as the "Palace" and decorated temples with delicate stucco reliefs and long inscriptions. Through the inscriptions he emphasized his maternal lineage and connection to the gods, seeking legitimacy for a shaky succession, and he also captured nobles of neighboring states in his foreign wars.

Temple of the Inscriptions

Pakal died in 683 and was buried in a tomb beneath the Temple of the Inscriptions. In 1952 the Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier opened the tomb and found the finely carved sarcophagus lid and the jade mask covering his face. The lid, which shows Pakal falling from beneath the World Tree into the underworld, is often misread as an "ancient astronaut"; in fact it symbolizes the death and rebirth of the king in the Maya view of the cosmos.

Legacy

Pakal is one of the most famous monarchs of the Classic Maya. After foreign defeats he rebuilt royal power at Palenque and made it the cultural center of the western Maya lowlands; its palaces and temples are renowned for fine stucco reliefs and long inscriptions. The discovery of his tomb in 1952 overturned the scholarly view that Maya pyramids were only temples and not tombs, and the long texts of the Temple of the Inscriptions provided important material for deciphering Maya writing. The "ancient astronaut" theory has been rejected by scholars.

Major works & achievements

• Reigned about 68 years and revived Palenque
• Expanded Palenque's "Palace" complex
• Began building the Temple of the Inscriptions as his tomb, completed by his son
• Sarcophagus lid relief, a masterpiece of Maya art

Did you know? Early skeletal analysis suggested the tomb's occupant was only in his forties, at odds with the great age recorded in the inscriptions; later studies have mostly supported the inscriptions.

Key dates

• 603Born in Palenque
• 611Calakmul sacks Palenque again
• 615Took the throne at age 12
• 654Large-scale expansion of the Palace complex (approx.)
• 683Died; buried in the tomb beneath the Temple of the Inscriptions
• 1952Tomb discovered by archaeologists