Pakal at a Glance
- Name
- Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I, Pakal the Great.
- Title
- Kʼuhul ajaw of Bʼaakal (Palenque).
- Reign
- AD 615–683, 68 years.
- Mother
- Lady Sak Kʼukʼ, queen regent.
- Tomb
- Temple of the Inscriptions, found 1952 by Ruz Lhuillier.
I. Overview
Pakal took the throne aged 12 on 29 July 615 when Palenque lay broken after sackings by Calakmul in 599 and 611. His mother Lady Sak Kʼukʼ gave him the crown. Over 68 years he and his sons made Palenque the loveliest city of the west — Palace, Cross Group temples, aqueducts (WHE, Palenque; Britannica).
His sarcophagus lid showing him falling to the underworld with the World Tree rising is the most famous Maya image. Its sides list seven generations of ancestors.
II. Timeline
The Boy King
Born 603, crowned 29 July 615 by his mother. Palenque had been sacked twice by Calakmul. Pakal rebuilt alliances, reconsecrated shrines, and turned a broken town into a kingdom again.
The Great Building
Palace with tower-observatory, House E throne room, Cross Group temples by his son Kan Bʼalam. Sculptors carved limestone portraits; the Otolum aqueduct ran beneath plazas. White stucco pyramids shone over jungle.
Death and Discovery
Died 28 Aug 683 aged 80, buried down a secret stair in the Temple of the Inscriptions with jade and cinnabar. In 1952 Alberto Ruz cleared the stair to find the intact sarcophagus — greatest Maya find of the century.
III. Gallery
IV. Watch
V. Sources
Sources
- WHE — Palenque.
https://www.worldhistory.org/Palenque/ - Britannica — Palenque.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Palenque - Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/
He is the flower of the shield, tower of Bʼaakal.— Temple of the Inscriptions