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Palenque

Palenque is a classic Maya site and kingdom in the southern state of Chiapas in mexico. Its florescence was during the late classic period, ca. a.d. 600–800, and after its decline and abandonment it became enveloped by dense forest until it was rediscovered in the late-eighteenth century. During the nineteenth century, the beauty of its architecture and art made the site famous, and during the twentieth century, excavations and mapping at the site have revealed an extensive city. The discovery in 1952 of a royal tomb beneath the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque was one of the greatest Maya archaeological finds.

Palenque’s early history was not particularly stellar. A king list extending back to the early fifth century exists at the site, and some early remains have been found dating from Palenque’s early years. Nevertheless, most of Palenque’s archaeological remains excavated thus far date to the period after a.d. 600.

Shortly before and after that date, Palenque was devastated by a series of defeats in war. It appears that the capital itself was invaded, and a series of royal deaths around this time indicates that the kingdom was rocked to its foundations. The new king to emerge from this period of upheaval was a man called Hanab’-Pakal. He came to the throne in a.d. 615, at the age of twelve, and proceeded to guide his kingdom to a period of stability and power. By the time he died in 683, Palenque was one of the greatest kingdoms in the Maya area.

Hanab’-Pakal achieved that stability by consolidating the eastern frontier of his kingdom with military victories over his old enemies while a probable kinsman of his simultaneously extended the kingdom to the west. With his kingdom stabilized, Hanab’-Pakal turned his attention to his capital city and embarked on a major building program. Much of the palace at Palenque was his work, and he also began work on his most famous monument, the Temple of the Inscriptions. This temple pyramid, which contains the tomb of Hanab’-Pakal, has an interior stairway (filled in and covered in antiquity) leading to the temple above. Hanab’-Pakal was buried in a beautifully carved stone sarcophagus upon his death at the age of eighty.

Hanab’-Pakal was succeeded by his oldest son, Kan-Balam II, who extended his father’s building program, building most notably the famous “Group of the Cross,” an arrangement of three temples that are widely considered to be among the most elegant of all Maya buildings.

Palenque’s fortunes waxed and waned over the following decades, but by a.d. 800, the site was in decline. Late construction at Palenque consisted of such work as poorly built walls subdividing the elegant chambers of the palace—a sad conclusion to Palenque’s great architectural tradition.

In addition to its beautiful architecture (which features the widest corbeled vaults in the Maya area), Palenque is famous for its elegant art. Many of the temples have beautiful scenes in modeled stucco adorning their outer facades. Stone carving at Palenque was mostly done using flat panels of finely grained limestone rather than the upright, free-standing stelae that typify other sites. These panels were carved and then set on walls in the interior of buildings, so for the most part they have been