PALENQUE!!!

So here I am at Palenque (in the state of Chiapas). Palenque's original, ancient name was Lakamha' or 'Big Water'. There are supposedly many waterfalls and other water sources close to the site (I didn't see any) that gave it its name. Palenque was established around 200CE and the dynasty's founder (in 431CE) was from another, unknown center. Palenque flourished during the Classic period (250CE-900CE), particularly during the reign of one of Mesoamerica's most famous kings: K'inich Janaab Pacal ("Great Sun Shield"). Palenque was allied with Tikal and Copan and these sites fought against Calakmul and all of its allies. I loved the Temple of the Inscriptions which was the tomb or the funerary monument for Pacal. Pacal had this building constructed before he was dead so as to commemorate his own death (in 683CE, after 68 years as king). In 1952, an archaeologist, Alberto Ruz, came upon what must have been just an amazing moment in anyone's life (not just as an archaeologist but just as an admirer of the Maya civilization): the sarcophogus of Pacal, with the amazing lid with its iconography depicting Pacal's descent into the underworld after death. I loved being able to visit Palenque and even though I was sick and it was blistering outside, Palenque was incredible and fascinating!!

The Palace of Palenque, built by Pacal (I think he added onto what was already there, built originally in the Early Classic), is an interesting building. It has a main courtyard with a few relief sculptures and of course, this tower. There are a few underground passageways, one leading from the ruler's chambers to the courtyard. Another interesting thing about the Palace is that Pacal built one of the structures to resemble the ordinary and humble abode of the common people of Palenque. I think it's interesting because royal architecture (state architecture) included that of all people of the realm ('Baak' or bone). The Palace is quite a collection of buildings and passageways and I was very impressed with it.

Here are some images of the artwork etched in stucco at Palenque. The Maya that lived at Palenque were very lucky to live where they did: the limestone quarries in this area of the southern lowlands contained some of the finest limestone. All of these pics are from the Palace at Palenque. This second image is within the courtyard of the Palace and of all of these figures, perhaps one or two of them were scribes. I've included a pic of the tablet that showcases the enthronement of Pacal; his mother, Lady Sak K'uk ("Resplendent Quetzal") gives him the royal headgear. The story of Pacal's accession is quite interesting: he was born in 603CE and acceded to the throne at 12 years old, in 615CE. His father was not the king; Pacal claimed royal descent through his matrilineal ancestry, through his mother's bloodline. In fact, from 583-604CE Lady Yohl Ik'nal ruled; one of the only women that truly ruled (she was not a regent that controlled the throne until one of her sons could take it as was the case with Pacal's mother). Pacal ruled until his death in 683. I have also included a picture of the "corbeled vault" of the Maya (the Maya arch) and a pic of our guide, Feliciano (who knew quite a lot) in front of a relief sculpture on one of the columns of the Palace.

Here is one ballcourt at Palenque. It's kind of small but we still don't quite know all of the variations of how the game was played; all across Mesoamerica, it would seem that the ballgame was not homogenized. There were different rules, different equipment used and perhaps completely different ways of playing. Anyways, here are some pics of the group of the three temples: the Temple of the Cross, the Temple of the Foliated Cross and the Temple of the Sun (this group is known as the Cross group because when the site was first being explored a few centuries after the Spanish Invasion, the first explorers noticed the sign of the Christian cross found in several places on these buildings). At Palenque, written in the inscriptions, a date of genesis for the site is given: in 3309BCE there was the first creator god who created three deities who are the triad venerated at Palenque (the Maya believed that the creation of the world was on Aug 13 3114). There are still excavations and studies being done here because we do know a lot about Palenque but the site is quite large and extensive.

So after visiting the ruins we were given like 15mins at the museum! Not enough time to look at everything in depth but I was very glad to be in an air-conditioned building after spending 3hrs out in the hot and very humid air of Chiapas. Anyways, I like this facial carving (and I forget who this person is) because sometimes I can't quite imagine the Maya as actual human beings; people who remain somewhat mystical and mysterious to me are shown in a very humanistic way. I'm sure that somedays, these people that lived in the tropical rainforests of Chiapas were bored or just wanted to take a nap; they weren't always, everyday, creating this life of mystique. There were quotidian things that they did. I included a few pics of the Tablet of 96 Glyphs because it's quite impressive. Also, the last pic of these five is an incense burner; there were several found together, buried in the ground. Perhaps they were ritualistically "killed"; the Maya, just like other Mesoamerican cultures, believed that many objects that were created contained an animate substance.

And these last few images are quite interesting as well. The relief sculpture of the individual still has some of the original red and greenish-blue paint on it (almost all Maya buildings were painted red-it's difficult to imagine because now they all just look so whiteish-grey but more than a millennia and a half ago, these buildings jutted out of the landscape drenched in a blood-red color)!! This piece had been broken up into more than 300 fragments but with painstaking effort, a team was able to put it back together. I also like looking at the panel of hieroglyphs; very fascinating even though I can only recognize a few of the signs (and that doesn't mean that I know what they mean to say!). I truly enjoyed this adventure at Palenque. I would love to go back and be able to spend more time at the museum and the actual ruins. Maybe one day, they'll allow me to climb to the top of the Temple of Inscriptions and then descend below to view the sarcophagus of K'inich Janaab Pacal! Well, at least I can dream!