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PALENQUE
A. Location
1. foot of northernmost hills of Chiapas
a) Sierra de Palenque
2. rainfall close to 3000 mm
3. southwestern periphery of Maya area
B. History
1. original investigation
a) Ramon Ordo§ez y Aguiar described site in 1773
b) explored in late 1700's
c) Dupaix, Waldeck, Stephens, Charnay
d) Seler, Morley, Blom, LaFarge
2. name means "stockade"
a) may come from walled-up doorways
b) Indians called it "Casas de Piedra"
c) may have originally been "Balan-ke"
1) Xbalanque = "dead sun"
2) Hunapu = "dead moon"
d) five emblem glyphs
1) wavy-bone
2) skeletal deer's head (may refer to eclipses)
3) skeletal rabbit may refer to moon and lunar eclipses
4) heron
5) vulture
3. excavation and restoration
a) Robert Rands
1) study of pottery-making zones
b) Mexican government
4. epigraphic and iconographic studies
a) Merle Greene Robertson
b) Lounsbury, Kelley, Mathews, Schele
1) worked out dynastic sequence
2) translated panels in Cross Group
C. Characteristics of site
1. absence of stelae and altars
2. multi-storied tower
D. Dynastic sequence at Palenque
1. Pacal (Shield)
a) born in 603
b) acceded in 615 at the age of 12
c) ruled for 68 years
1) 615-683
2) began construction of Temple ca. 675
d) died in 683
1) age of 80
e) Problems with Pacal's rule
1) inherited the throne from his mother in violation of the
normal patrilineal inheritance pattern
f) Pacal had linked ancient dynastic history with his own
1) name of First Mother linked to his own, Lady Zac-Kuk
2) king lists given on huge stone slabs in the temple
3) depictions of mother (Zak-Kuk) and great-grandmother
(Kanal-Ikal) appear twice on the sides of his sarcophagus
a> both are only women we are sure ruled as true kings
b> were legitimate because they were the children of kings
c> each time they inherited the kingship and passed it on to
their children, the throne descended through another
patriline
1> Palenque's kings belonged to three patrilines
4) Kanal-Ikal must have been charismatic woman
a> son Ac-Kan claimed rule after her
b> second son Pacal I died before he could take the throne
1> however, he is depicted on side of sarcophagus
2> was probably the father of Lady Zac Kuk
c> no contemporary inscriptions for Lady Kanal-Ikal or her
children
5) Third lineage was that of Pacal the Great
6) rulers also pictured along the sides of his coffin
a> shown as ancestral orchard
7) Pacal's strategy to hold the throne
a> was 12 when he acceded
b> mother had been ruling for three years
1> must have been a masterful politician
2> husband, a consort of the royal princess, must have helped
through own noble clan and deeds of valor
c> Zac-Kuk lived for 25 years after her son's accession
1> worked with husband to support son's rule
2> real power must have remained in her own hands
d> used architecture masterfully
1> double-galleried interior, multiple doors, trefoil vaults
2> produced largest volume and best lighting of Maya buildings
3> expanded rooms of the Palace
e> Temple of the Inscriptions
1> begun when Pacal was in his 70's
2> located at the foot of a sacred mountain
3> sarcophagus
a: shows images in ascending generations, moving from south to
north and from east to west
4> inscriptions
a: record accession of woman goddess who took the throne on
October 22, AD 612, when he was nine years old
b: uses name of a goddess to refer to his mother
c: by extension, he was the goddess' offspring
8) list later extended by son, Chan-Bahlum
a> improved upon father's strategy to legitimize rule
b> likened Zac-Kuk to the First Mother
c> asserted that Pacal was born on a day that exactly
replicated the temporal symmetry of that goddess' birth
1> implication was that king was made of divine substance
d> declared that their own inheritance of the throne through
Pacal's mother replicated the actions of the gods at the
beginning of creation
2. Chan Bahlum or Can Balam (Snake Jaguar) II
a) acceded to the throne when he was 48, 132 days after the
death of his father, on January 10, 684
b) responsible for finishing father's temple
1) used outer piers of temple summit
2) depict Pacal and three other adults presenting 6-year-old
Chan Bahlum
a> child has both human and divine qualities
b> serpent foot and smoking axe blade in head
c> depicted with six toes on each foot
c) built Group of the Cross
1) Temples of Cross, Foliated Cross, and Sun
2) recalls triadic arrangement of Late Preclassic royal
architecture
3) text tells us that presentation took place in AD 641
d) recorded legendary history of rulers at Palenque
1) found on monuments built by Chan Bahlum
2) dynasty recorded on tablets in Temple of the Cross
3) birth of first couple
a> First Mother born on Dec. 7, 3121 BC
1> recounted first on tablet
2> birth of first mother the pivot of his recreation
b> First Father (GI') born on June 16, 3122 BC
1> happened first but mentioned next
c> both born in previous creation
4) World Tree house of the North dedicated Feb. 5, 3112 BC
5) end of 13th Baktun and beginning of New Creation Aug. 13,
3114 BC
6) birth of principal gods to first mother
a> born 754 years into this creation
b> GI, child of First Mother is born on October 21, 2360 BC
1> had the same name as his father
2> fish-barbed with shell earflare
c> GIII, child of First Mother born on October 25, 2360 BC
1> Jaguar God also known as Ahau-Kin ("Lord Sun")
d> GII, child of First Mother is born on Nov. 8, 2360 BC
1> serpent-footed god who wears smoking axe through obsidian
mirror
7) thus places focus in accession monument on First Mother and
her relationship to the three principal gods
8) used to legitimize the ancestry of his father
a> date of father's birth linked to that of First Mother
1> 4 Ahau 8 Cumku
b> declares that First Mother was the first living being to be
crowned ruler in the new creation
1> crown she wore is represented glypically as Jester God
headband
2> also attributed with the first bloodletting
a: taught people how to offer blood to nourish life
b: linked to passing of bloodletter from Pacal to Chan-Bahlum
c> then goes on to name king U-Kix-Chan who was crowned at
Palenque in what would have been Olmec times (967 BC)
E. Gods of Palenque
1. GI
a) oldest of the triad siblings
b) associated with Venus
c) may also be associated with the sun
d) characteristics
1) shell earflare
2) often has shark's tooth in mouth
a> may be filed into T-shape
3) occasionally has water bird on headdress
e) alternative identity is Chac-Xib-Chac
2. GII
a) third born of the triad
b) also known as God K, Bolon Dzacab, and Manikin Scepter
c) particularly important to elite lineages
1) portrait often occurs in rulers' names
2) profoundly associated with sacrifice
d) characteristics
1) always zoomorphic and frequently has serpent-headed foot
2) forehead mirror with smoking cigar, torch, or torch holder
a> torch pronouced "tah", also the word for obsidian
b> can be referred to as the "obsidian mirror"
3. GIII
a) second born of Palenque triad
b) most complex glyphic and pictoral representation
c) named as "ahau kin" or "Lord Sun"
d) also called "Mah k'ina Tah Balam Ahau" or "Lord Torch Jaguar
Lord"
e) often identified with the sun god
f) appears in pectoral worn by royal persons
g) god of number 4 and daytime sun
h) Jaguar God of the Underworld
1) often shown with small beard
2) twisted device over eyes
3) rules the number 7
4) probably represents the sun in Xibalba
i) Baby Jaguar
j) Water-lily Jaguar
F. Buildings and monuments
1. Temple of the Inscriptions
a) 25 m (80 ft) high
b) rectangular, terraced platform
1) 69 steps
a> Pacal died in 69th year of reign
c) temple
1) five frontal doorways
d) investigations by Alberto Ruz
1) discovered passageway in floor of Temple in 1948
a> floor made of stone slabs
1> one with holes with stone stoppers
2> took two years to remove debris
2) reached and opened tomb in 1952
a> tomb of Pacal
1> psychoduct from temple to tomb
a: gave path to Vision Serpent
2> skeletons of six young people, one female
3> 10 X 4 m
4> vaulted ceiling over 7 m high
5> sarcophagus and lid
a: sarcophagus lid
1: almost fills room
2: carved from solid block of limestone
A. must have been in place before construction of temple
3: scene on lid
A. represents ruler falling into Underworld (Xibalba)
1. depicted at instant of death
2. represented by fleshless jaws
a) "maw of the underworld"
b) entrance to Xibalba
3. suggests apotheosis
B. Pacal
1. wears short beaded skirt
2. jade bead anklets and wristlets
3. serpent-turtle pectoral
4. belt with skull of spider monkey ("ahau" or sun god)
C. monster mask (Quadripartite God) below
1. Quadripartite Badge
a) crossed bands, stingray spine, and shell in bowl
D. tree of life depicted above
1. may represent ceiba
2. Celestial bird in tree
3. square-nosed serpents represent blood
E. celestial, two-headed serpent
1. represents Middleworld
2. Jester God emerges from right mouth
3. God K from left mouth
4: on sides
A. depictions of ancestors with fruit trees
B. includes great-grandmother Lady Kanal-Ikal
6> inscriptions
a: accession of Pacal on March 26, 603
1: was only 12 years old
b: record accession of Chan Bahlum
c: most extensive surviving Maya inscription
1: 617 glyphs
d: contents
1: histories of Katun 4 through Katun 13
A. proto-type of katun histories in Chilam Balam
B. selection of 9 katuns can be divided into three
sections of three each
2: katun histories presented in formulaic structure
A. Katuns 4-8
1. lead up to katun in which Pacal, builder of the temple,
was born
2. begins with Distance number recording elapsed time from
"seating"
3. example:
a) "it was 12 days, 14 uinals, and 9 tuns since she was seated
seated as lord, Lady K'anal-Ik'al, until the tun ended
on 5 Ahau 3 Ch'en"
B. katun of his mother's reign and three katun endings of his
own reign
C. katuns and other period endings which fall in the future
1. come after the construction of the temple and the design of
the inscriptions
7> burial
a: dishes, shells, jade earspools, beads, and a pearl
8> stucco figures
a: nine lords
1: covered with coat of lime that has been dripping from the
ceiling
b: Robertson believes these are some of finest stucco works at
site
e) constructed during reign of Chan Bahlum
1) mortuary shrine for Pacal
2. Cross Group
a) Temple of the Cross
1) central tablet
a> deceased ruler Pacal (left), successor Chan Bahlum (right)
1> Chan Bahlum
a: dressed in simple kilt and barefoot
2> Pacal
a: dress unique to these monuments
1: he has been dead for 132 days by the time of his son's
accession
b: holds Quadripartite Sun Monster scepter dripping blood
3> world tree same as that of Pacal's sarcophagus
4> Quadripartite Sun Monster
a: partly above and partly below the ground
b: enters the Underworld in daily journey through the cosmos
c: sun bowl a play on the idea of sunrise and bloodletting
1: the sign for bowl is pronounced "lak", which also means next
2: "kin" is the word for sun
3: "sun bowl" means "next sun"
4: also a glyphic spelling for "east"
2) outer tablets
a> left panel
1> Chan-Bahlum in ancient royal costume
a: same costume as on Leiden Plaque
1: royal belt chain
A. jaguar head and mat sign
B. three celts
C. refers to status as "balam pop" or holder of the Jaguar
Throne
D. rear chain supports effigy of Chac-Xib-Chac
2: ornate backrack
3: main zoomorph in headdress is serpent with stingray spine
A. may manifest name of U-Kix-Chan
1. legendary first human in Palenque's dynasty
b: holds stingray spine (part of Quadripartite monster)
dripping blood
1: same object that Pacal holds in the main panel
b> right panel
1> God L
a: lord of Xibalba, the underworld
b: wears Muan bird and tobacco headdress
1: smokes a large cigar
c: scroll between legs indicates double-headed serpent path
that the sun travels
1: may also indicate a kind of vision quest
d: next destination of the Sun Monster
e: interaction reiterates active role of kings in maintenance
of cosmic order
3) initial date
a> represents birth of mythical ancestress of Pacal and
Chan-Bahlum
b> multiple of seven periods
1> includes synodic period of Mars
c> inscription
1> birth of Lady "Beastie" on Dec. 7, 3121 BC
2> birth of First Father on June 16, 3122 BC
3> ending of the 13th baktun on August 13, 3114 BC
a: beginning of this era on 13.0.0.0.0
4> GI' entered the sky and dedicated the house named "wacah
chan xaman waxac na GI" ("world tree house of the north")
5> birth of GI on October 21, 2360 BC
6> Lady Beastie was first being in this creation to be crowned
as king on August 13, 2305 BC
a: helps establish legitimacy for female rule of Chan Bahlum's
predecessors
7> birth of U-Kix-Chan on March 11, 993
a: acceded to throne of Palenque on March 28, 967 BC
b: 26 years old when he took the throne
c: may not have been a real person
d: set during Olmec times to establish lineage
8> birth and accession of Bahlum-Kuk
a: March 31, AD 397
b: founder of Palenque dynasty
c: accedes to throne on March 11, AD 431
9> birth and accession of "Casper"
a: born Aug. 9, AD 422, accedes Aug. 10, AD 435
b: only 13 years old at accession
b) Temple of the Foliated Cross
1) positions of rulers reversed
a> position relates to cardinal directions, not scene
2) Maize Cross
a> ears of corn shown as human heads
1> tassels of corn silk hang down
b> topped with Celestial Bird
1> wears mask with water bird beak
3) Water-lily monster
a> wears "kan" sign in headdress
b> band of water with "la" signs below
4) inscription
a> birth of GII on November 8, 2360
b> bloodletting by Lady Beastie on Feb. 17, 2325 BC
1> 34 years after birth of GII
2> not only first ruler, but first to let blood
3> taught people how to let blood to nourish life
c> dedication of Ma K'ina Bahlum Kuk building in house of
Chan-Bahlum
d> bloodletting by Chan-Bahlum
e> accession of Chan-Bahlum on January 10, 692
1> at the age of 49 years, 6 months, and 4 days
f> conjunction of GI, GII, and GIII and their companion gods 6
years, 11 months, and 6 days after he had been seated
1> Jupiter, Mars, Satu