Palenque, also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamha, was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. After its decline, it was overgrown by 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 meters (490 ft) above sea level. It is adjacent to the modern town of Palenque, Chiapas. It averages a humid 26 °C (79 °F) with roughly 2,160 millimeters (85 in) of rain a year.
Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It is one of the most important sites of the Maya civilization, which was not excavated until the 19th century. The ruined citadel and imposing public squares reveal the three main stages of development before the city was abandoned in the early 10th century.
Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I, also known as Pacal or Pacal the Great, 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. Pakal reigned 68 years—the fifth-longest verified regnal period of any sovereign monarch in history, the longest in world history for more than a millennium, and still the longest reign of any monarch in the history of the Americas. During his long rule, Pakal was responsible for the construction or extension of some of Palenque's most notable surviving inscriptions and monumental architecture. He is perhaps best known in popular culture for his depiction on the carved lid of his sarcophagus, which has become the subject of pseudoarchaeological speculations.
Kʼinich Kan Bahlam II, also known as Chan Bahlum II, was ajaw of the Maya city-state of Palenque, in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico. He acceded to the throne in January, 684, several months after the death of his father and predecessor, Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal and ruled until his death.
Tonina is a pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas, some 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the town of Ocosingo.
Yohl Ikʼnal, also known as Lady Kan Ik and Lady Kʼanal Ikʼnal, was queen regnant of the Maya city-state of Palenque. She acceded to the throne on 23 December 583, and ruled until her death.
Kʼinich Yax Kʼukʼ Moʼ is named in Maya inscriptions as the founder and first ruler, kʼul ajaw, of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization polity centered at Copán, a major Maya site located in the southeastern Maya lowlands region in present-day Honduras. The motifs associated with his depiction on Copán monuments have a distinct resemblance to imagery associated with the height of the Classic-era center of Teotihuacan in the distant northern central Mexican region, and have been interpreted as intending to suggest his origins and association with that prestigious civilization. He is the founder of the Yax Kuk Mo Dynasty of rulers of Copan that lasted until 822 a.C. One of the most commonly cited motifs for this interpretation is the "goggle-eyed" headdress with which Yax Kʼukʼ Moʼ is commonly depicted; this is seemingly an allusion to the northern central Mexican rain deity known as Tlaloc by later peoples, such as the Aztecs. However, modern strontium isotope analysis of the human remains recovered from the tomb attributed to him indicate that Kʼinich Yax Kʼukʼ Moʼ spent his formative years much closer to Copán, at Tikal, and had not himself lived at Teotihuacan.
Linda Schele was an American Mesoamerican archaeologist who was an expert in the field of Maya epigraphy and iconography. She played a central role in the decoding of much of the Maya script. She produced a massive volume of drawings of stelae and inscriptions, which, following her wishes, are free for use to scholars. In 1978, she founded the annual Maya Meetings at The University of Texas at Austin.
The Mayan architecture of the Maya civilization spans across several thousands of years, several eras of political change, and architectural innovation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Often, the buildings most dramatic and easily recognizable as creations of the Maya peoples are the step pyramids of the Terminal Preclassic Maya period and beyond. Based in general Mesoamerican architectural traditions, the Maya utilized geometric proportions and intricate carving to build everything from simple houses to ornate temples. This article focuses on the more well-known pre-classic and classic examples of Maya architecture. The temples like the ones at Palenque, Tikal, and Uxmal represent a zenith of Maya art and architecture. Through the observation of numerous elements and stylistic distinctions, remnants of Maya architecture have become an important key to understanding their religious beliefs and culture as a whole.
Karl Andreas Taube is an American Mesoamericanist, Mayanist, iconographer and ethnohistorian, known for his publications and research into the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. He is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, University of California, Riverside. In 2008 he was named the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences distinguished lecturer.
Floyd Glenn Lounsbury was an American linguist, anthropologist and Mayanist scholar and epigrapher, best known for his work on linguistic and cultural systems of a variety of North and South American languages. Equally important were his contributions to understanding the hieroglyphs, culture and history of the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
B'alam, Balam, Balaam, B'ahlam, Bahlam, Bahlum or Bolom may refer to:
Maya monarchs, also known as Maya kings and queens, were the centers of power for the Maya civilization. Each Maya city-state was controlled by a dynasty of kings. The position of king was usually inherited by the oldest son.
"Casper", also known as 11 Rabbit,, was an ajaw of the Maya city of Palenque from August 9, 435, to 487. He was the immediate successor of Kʼukʼ Bahlam I, who founded the ruling dynasty.
During the 6th and 7th centuries in Mesoamerica, there was an evident shift in the roles women played in ancient Maya society as compared with the previous two centuries. It was during this time that there was a great deal of political complexity seen both in Maya royal houses as well as in the Maya area. Warfare was a significant factor in political competition and marriage was one of the ways that alliances were made between the different polities. This was accompanied by a shift in women's roles from wife and mother to playing integral parts in courtly life, such as participating in rituals involving the supernatural world and at times ruling individual polities.
The Temple of the Inscriptions is the largest Mesoamerican stepped pyramid structure at the pre-Columbian Maya civilization site of Palenque, located in the modern-day state of Chiapas, Mexico. The structure was specifically built as the funerary monument for Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal, ajaw or ruler of Palenque in the 7th century, whose reign over the polity lasted almost 70 years. Construction of this monument commenced in the last decade of his life, and was completed by his son and successor Kʼinich Kan Bahlam II. Within Palenque, the Temple of the Inscriptions is located in an area known as the Temple of the Inscriptions’ Court and stands at a right angle to the southeast of the palace. The Temple of the Inscriptions has been significant in the study of the ancient Maya, owing to the extraordinary sample of hieroglyphic text found on the Inscription Tablets, the impressive sculptural panels on the piers of the building, and the finds inside the tomb of Pakal.
Itzam Kʼan Ahk II, also known as Ruler 4, was an ajaw of Piedras Negras, an ancient Maya settlement in Guatemala. He ruled during the Late Classic Period, from 729 to 757 AD. Itzam Kʼan Ahk II ascended to the throne following the death of Kʼinich Yoʼnal Ahk II. Itzam Kʼan Ahk II may have fathered the following three kings of Piedras Negras: Yoʼnal Ahk III, Haʼ Kʼin Xook, and Kʼinich Yat Ahk II. Following Itzam Kʼan Ahk II's demise, he was succeeded by Yoʼnal Ahk III in 757 AD. Itzam Kʼan Ahk II left several monuments, including stelae at Piedras Negras and a large mortuary temple now known as Pyramid O-13. In addition, the details of his life and his Kʼatun-jubilee were commemorated on Panel 3, raised by Kʼinich Yat Ahk II several years following Itzam Kʼan Ahk II's death.
Pomona is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Tabasco, municipality of Tenosique, about 30 miles (50 km) east of Palenque. Its flowering was in the Late Classic period.
Moral-Reforma is a Maya archaeological site in Mexico, about 70 miles (110 km) northeast of Palenque.
Ek Chuah, also transliterated as Ek Chuaj and known as God M in the Schellhas-Zimmermann-Taube classification of codical gods, is a Postclassic Maya merchant deity and patron deity of cacao. Ek Chuah is part of a pantheon of Maya deities that have been depicted in hieroglyphs and artwork of various Maya sites and has been interpreted as a significant part of Maya religion.
