68 UNIT 1 PREHISPANIC MESOAMERICA
Figure 1.13 Newly discovered panel from The
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico
(INAH) investigations at Palenque depicting ruler
K’inich Janab Pakal II, on exhibit at the Palenque
Museum. Photo by Robert Rosenswig, courtesy of
Alfonso Morales.Pakal’s journey to the underworld (see Figure A.10 in the Introduction). The tomb
was reached by climbing down a narrow, vaulted stairway that begins at the top of the
temple.
Kan B’alaam built a triadic temple compound known as the Group of the Cross
(see Figure 14.3), which features magnificent panels chronicling the supernatural
sanctions of his accession to rule. His brother, K’inich K’an Joy Chitam II (Pre-
cious/Yellow Tied Peccary), added to Palenque’s splendor in his modifications to
the palace, but his reign was cut short when he was taken captive and presumably
killed by the city of Tonina. He left no heir, and four kings followed from a new royal
line at Palenque.
Recent investigations by Alfonso Morales and colleagues in Temples 18 and 19
behind the Group of the Cross have unearthed remarkable panels that show that
these kings continued to frame their rule in the city’s mythological origins. Signifi-
cant military activity defined the reign of Ahkal Mo’ Naab’ III (acceding in A.D. 721),
and the acts of a key war captain, Chak Suutz’, is recognized in a panel commemo-
rating events from A.D. 723–730. This war captain lived in a fine palace near
Palenque’s center, and his success illustrates the entry of nobles into dynastic records
at the end of the Classic Period. Ahkal Mo’ Naab’ III’s successor, K’inich Janaab Pakal
II, is depicted in a magnificent panel from Temple 19 (Figure 1.13). Palenque’s last