K'inich Janaab' Pakal

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K'inich Janaab Pakal I
Ajaw of Palenque
PacalII.svg
Pacal the Great.
ReignJuly, 615 – August, 683
Predecessor Sak K'uk' (his mother)
Successor K'inich Kan Bahlam II
Regent Sak K'uk' (his mother)
Born9.8.9.13.0 — 21 March 603
Died9.12.11.5.18 — 26 August 683 age 80
Burial
Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque
SpouseLady Tz'akbu Ajaw
Issue K'inich Kan Bahlam II
K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II
Tiwol Chan Mat?
Father K'an Mo' Hix
Mother Sak K'uk'
Religion Maya religion

K'inich Janaab Pakal I [N 1] (Mayan pronunciation:  [k’ihniʧ xanaːɓ pakal] , also known as Pacal, Pacal the Great, 8 Ahau and Sun Shield (March 603 – August 683), [1] was ajaw of the Maya city-state of Palenque in the Late Classic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. He acceded to the throne in July 615 and ruled until his death. During a reign of 68 years, the longest known regnal period in the history of the Americas, the 30th longest worldwide and longest until Frederick III in the 15th century, Pakal was responsible for the construction or extension of some of Palenque's most notable surviving inscriptions and monumental architecture. [N 2] [2] [3]

Ajaw

Ajaw or Ahau ('Lord') is a pre-Columbian Maya political title attested from epigraphic inscriptions. It is also the name of the 20th day of the tzolkʼin, the Maya divinatory calendar, on which a king's kʼatun-ending rituals would fall.

Maya civilization Mesoamerican civilization

The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peoples, and noted for its logosyllabic script—the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in pre-Columbian Americas—as well as for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya civilization developed in an area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. This region consists of the northern lowlands encompassing the Yucatán Peninsula, and the highlands of the Sierra Madre, running from the Mexican state of Chiapas, across southern Guatemala and onwards into El Salvador, and the southern lowlands of the Pacific littoral plain.

Palenque former city state in Central Amrica in present-day southern Mexico

Palenque, also anciently known as Lakamha, was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. AD 799. After its decline, it was absorbed into the jungle of cedar, mahogany, and sapodilla trees, but has since been excavated and restored. It is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, about 130 km (81 mi) south of Ciudad del Carmen, 150 m (164 yd) above sea level. It averages a humid 26 °C (79 °F) with roughly 2160 mm (85 in) of rain a year.

Contents

Name

K'inich Janaab' Pakal.svg
PakalImage2a.jpg
K'inich Janaab Pakal I's glyphs.

Before his name was securely deciphered from extant Maya inscriptions, this ruler had been known by an assortment of nicknames and approximations, including Pakal or Pacal, Sun Shield, 8 Ahau, and (familiarly) as Pacal the Great. The word pakal means "shield" in the Classic Maya language. [4]

Maya script writing system of the Maya civilization

Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs, was the writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica and is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found which are identifiably Maya date to the 3rd century BCE in San Bartolo, Guatemala. Maya writing was in continuous use throughout Mesoamerica until the Spanish conquest of the Maya in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Shield item of armour carried to intercept attacks or projectiles

A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand or mounted on the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of active blocks, as well as to provide passive protection by closing one or more lines of engagement during combat.

Classic Maya language oldest attested Mayan language family member

Classic Maya is the oldest historically attested member of the Mayan language family. It is the main language documented in the pre-Columbian inscriptions of the Classic Era Maya civilization.

In modern sources his name is also sometimes appended with a regnal number, [N 3] to distinguish him from other rulers with this name, that either preceded or followed him in the dynastic lineage of Palenque. Confusingly, he has at times been referred to as either "Pakal I" or "Pakal II". Reference to him as Pakal II alludes to his maternal grandfather (who died c.612) also being named Janahb Pakal. However, although his grandfather was a personage of ajaw ranking, he does not himself appear to have been a king. When instead the name Pakal I is used, this serves to distinguish him from two later known successors to the Palenque rulership, K'inich Janaab Pakal II (ruled c. 742) and Janaab Pakal III, the last-known Palenque ruler (ruled c.799). [5]

Regnal numbers are ordinal numbers used to distinguish among persons with the same name who held the same office. Most importantly, they are used to distinguish monarchs. An ordinal is the number placed after a monarch's regnal name to differentiate between a number of kings, queens or princes reigning the same territory with the same regnal name.

Janahb Pakal also known as Janaab Pakal, Pakal I or Pakal the Elder,, was a nobleman and possible ajaw of the Maya city-state of Palenque.

Early life

Mounted funerary jewelry of K'inich Janaab Pakal I. Palenque - Grabschmuck des Pakal.jpg
Mounted funerary jewelry of K'inich Janaab Pakal I.

K'inich Janaab Pakal I was born on 9.8.9.13.0 - March 603. This was a particularly violent time in the history of Palenque; two years later, in 605, Palenque was attacked by the Mayan state of Kaan, and a new ruler was instated. Then again Kaan sacked Palenque when he was eight and nine (in 610 and 611). Pakal ascended the throne at age 12 and lived to the age of 80. He was preceded as ruler of Palenque by his mother, Lady Sak K'uk' as the Palenque dynasty seems to have had Queens only when there was no eligible male heir; Sak K'uk' transferred rulership to her son upon his official maturity. [6]

Mesoamerican Long Count calendar non-repeating base-20 and base-18 calendar used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, including the Maya

The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating, vigesimal (base-20) and base-18 calendar used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya. For this reason, it is often known as the MayaLong Count calendar. Using a modified vigesimal tally, the Long Count calendar identifies a day by counting the number of days passed since a mythical creation date that corresponds to August 11, 3114 BCE in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar. The Long Count calendar was widely used on monuments.

In 626 Pakal married Ix Tz'akbu Ajaw who was born in Uxte'k'uh. Tz'akbu Ajaw was a descendant of the Toktahn dynasty, the original dynasty of Palenque.

Reign

Pakal expanded Palenque's power in the western part of the Maya states and initiated a building program at his capital that produced some of Maya civilization's finest art and architecture.

In 628, one of Pakal's officials (aj k'uhuun), was captured by Piedras Negras. Six days later Nuun Ujol Chaak, ajaw of Santa Elena, was captured and taken to Palenque. Santa Elena became a tributary of Palenque. Having been appointed ajaw at the age of twelve, Pakal's mother was a regent to him. Over the years she slowly ceded power until she died in September 640. In 659 Pakal captured six prisoners, One of them, Ahiin Chan Ahk, was from Pipa', generally associated with Pomona. In 663 Pakal killed another lord of Pipa'. At this time he also captured six people from Santa Elena. [7]

The Palace of Palenque. Grosser Tempel in Palenque.jpg
The Palace of Palenque.

In 647 K'inich Janaab Pakal began his first construction project (he was 44 at the time). The first project was a temple called El Olvidado, sometimes called the forgotten temple because it's far away from Lakamha'. Of all Pakal's construction projects, perhaps the most accomplished is the Palace of Palenque. The building was already in existence, but Pakal made it much larger than it was. Pakal started his construction by adding monument rooms onto the old level of the building. He then built sak nuk naah which translates to "White Skin House", also called building E, it was the only building in the palace painted white and not red. The east court of the palace is a ceremonial area marking military triumphs. Houses B and C were built in 661 and house A in 668. House A is covered with frescos of prisoners captured in 662. [8] [9]

The monuments and text associated with K'inich Janaab Pakal I are: Oval Palace Tablet, Hieroglyphic Stairway, House C texts, Subterranean Thrones and Tableritos, Olvidado piers and sarcophagus texts. [10]

Burial

A reconstruction of Pakal's tomb in the Museo Nacional de Antropologia. Ajuar funerario de Pakal el Grande (Museo Nacional de Antropologia).JPG
A reconstruction of Pakal's tomb in the Museo Nacional de Antropología.

After his death, Pakal was succeeded by his son K'inich Kan B'alam II. A younger son, K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II, succeeded his brother K'inich Kan B'alam II. After his death, Pakal was deified and was said to communicate with his descendants; he was buried within the Temple of Inscriptions. Though Palenque had been examined by archaeologists before, the secret to opening his tomb — closed off by a stone slab with stone plugs in the holes, which had until then escaped the attention of archaeologists—was discovered by Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier in 1948. It took four years to clear the rubble from the stairway leading down to Pakal’s tomb, but it was finally uncovered in 1952. [11] His skeletal remains were still lying in his coffin, wearing a jade mask and bead necklaces, surrounded by sculptures and stucco reliefs depicting the ruler's transition to divinity and figures from Maya mythology. Traces of pigment show that these were once colorfully painted, common of much Maya sculpture at the time. [12]

The Temple of the Inscriptions. Temple of Inscriptions, Palenque (2088170629).jpg
The Temple of the Inscriptions.

Whether the bones in the tomb are really those of Pakal is under debate because analysis of the wear on the skeleton’s teeth places the age of the owner at death as 40 years younger than Pakal would have been at his death. Epigraphers insist that the inscriptions on the tomb indicate that it is indeed K'inich Janaab' Pakal entombed within, and that he died at the age of 80 after ruling for around 70 years. Some contest that the glyphs refer to two people with the same name or that an unusual method for recording time was used, but other experts in the field say that allowing for such possibilities would go against everything else that is known about the Maya calendar and records of events. The most commonly accepted explanation for the irregularity is that Pakal, being an aristocrat, had access to softer, less abrasive food than the average person so that his teeth naturally acquired less wear. [13]

An underground water tunnel was found under the Temple of Inscriptions (tomb of Pakal) in Palenque in 2016. Later on, a mask of Pakal was discovered in August 2018. [14] [15]

Iconography of Pakal's sarcophagus lid

Carved lid of the tomb of K'inich Janaab Pakal I in the Temple of the Inscriptions. Pacal the Great tomb lid.svg
Carved lid of the tomb of K'inich Janaab Pakal I in the Temple of the Inscriptions.

The large carved stone sarcophagus lid in the Temple of Inscriptions is a unique piece of Classic Maya art. Iconographically, however, it is closely related to the large wall panels of the temples of the Cross and the Foliated Cross centered on world trees. Around the edges of the lid is a band with cosmological signs, including those for sun, moon, and star, as well as the heads of six named noblemen of varying rank. [16] The central image is that of a cruciform world tree. Beneath Pakal is one of the heads of a celestial two-headed serpent viewed frontally. Both the king and the serpent head on which he seems to rest are framed by the open jaws of a funerary serpent, a common iconographic device for signalling entrance into, or residence in, the realm(s) of the dead. The king himself wears the attributes of the Tonsured maize god - in particular a turtle ornament on the breast - and is shown in a peculiar posture that may denote rebirth. [17] Interpretation of the lid has raised controversy. Linda Schele saw Pakal falling down the Milky Way into the southern horizon. [18]

Pseudoarchaeology

Pakal’s tomb has been the subject of ancient astronaut hypotheses since its appearance in Erich von Däniken's 1968 best seller, Chariots of the Gods? . Von Däniken reproduced a drawing of the sarcophagus lid, incorrectly labeling it as being from "Copán" and comparing Pacal's pose to that of Project Mercury astronauts in the 1960s. Von Däniken interprets drawings underneath him as rockets, and offers it as possible evidence of an extraterrestrial influence on the ancient Maya. [19]

In the center of that frame is a man sitting, bending forward. He has a mask on his nose, he uses his two hands to manipulate some controls, and the heel of his left foot is on a kind of pedal with different adjustments. The rear portion is separated from him; he is sitting on a complicated chair, and outside of this whole frame, you see a little flame like an exhaust. [20]

Another example of this carving's manifestation in pseudoarchaeology is the identification by José Argüelles of "Pacal Votan" as an incarnation named "Valum Votan," who would act as a "closer of the cycle" in 2012 (an event that is also significant on Argüelles' "13 Moon" calendar). Daniel Pinchbeck, in his book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl (2006), also uses the name "Votan" in reference to Pakal.

Notes

  1. ↑ The ruler's name, when transcribed is K'INICH-JANA:B-PAKAL-la, translated "Radiant ? Shield", Martin & Grube 2008, p. 162.
  2. ↑ These are the dates indicated on the Maya inscriptions in Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, Born: 9.8.9.13.0 8 Ahaw 13 Pop, Acceded: 9.9.2.4.8 5 Lamat 1 Mol and Died: 9.12.11.5.18 6 Etz'nab 11 Yax, Martin & Grube 2008, p. 162.
  3. ↑ Maya rulership titles and name glyphs themselves do not use regnal numbers, they are a convenience only of modern scholars.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 9.8.9.13.0 and 9.12.11.5.18 (Tiesler & Cucina 2004, p. 40)
  2. ↑ Skidmore 2010, p. 71.
  3. ↑ Martin & Grube 2008, pp. 162-168.
  4. ↑ Skidmore 2010, pp. 71-73.
  5. ↑ Skidmore 2010, pp. 56-57, pp. 71-73, p. 83, p. 91.
  6. ↑ Martin & Grube 2008, pp. 162-165.
  7. ↑ Skidmore 2010, pp. 71-73.
  8. ↑ Martin & Grube 2008, pp. 162-168.
  9. ↑ Skidmore 2010, pp. 71-73.
  10. ↑ Martin & Grube 2008, p. 162.
  11. ↑ Mathews, p. 1.
  12. ↑ Stokstad, p. 388.
  13. ↑ Mathews, p. 1.
  14. ↑ "Incredible Maya discovery: Ancient king's mask uncovered in Mexico". Fox News. 29 August 2018.
  15. ↑ "This Haunting Mask Could Be The Face of The Longest-Reigning Ancient Maya King". Science Alert. 30 August 2018.
  16. ↑ Schele & Mathews 1998, pp. 111-112.
  17. ↑ Stuart & Stuart 2008, pp. 174-177
  18. ↑ Freidel, Schele & Parker 1993, pp. 76-77
  19. ↑ Finley, p.1
  20. ↑ von Däniken, pp. 100-101, line drawing between pp. 78-79.

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References

Regnal titles
Preceded by
Sak K'uk' 		King of Palenque
July 26, 615 – August 28, 683		Succeeded by
K'inich Kan Bahlam II
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