National Geographic History - USA (2022-05 & 2022-06)

D

eep in the jungle in Mexico’s state

of Chiapas stands the ruins of a

Maya city known today as

Palenque. Surrounded by a thick

canopy of cedar and mahogany,

some 1,500 individual structures make up the

ancient complex, whose center is dominated by

a palace and ringed by temples.

Although Palenque is relative-

ly small compared with other

Maya sites such as Chichén

Itzá or Tikal, the fine detail and elegance of

its architecture has stunned visitors since its

seventh-century heyday. The slender walls of

its monuments were once coated with a layer

of stucco and painted with brilliant reds and

blues. Although these colors have long faded,

Palenque’s ornate friezes and stonework en-

dured. So too has its rich repository of inscrip-

tions, most notably on the panels in the city’s

largest stepped pyramid, known as the Temple

of the Inscriptions.

As historians sift through Palenque’s vi-

sual treasures and decode the intricacies of its

glyphs, they have learned how the city’s ruling

dynasty, architecture, and faith were all bound

together. They reflected the beliefs of the wider

Maya world while also proclaiming Palenque’s

own distinctive religious traditions and gods.

City Origins

“Maya” is a 20th-century term for the civiliza-

tion that flourished across southern Mexico’s

Yucatán Peninsula and modern-day Guatemala,

Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. It flourished

during what scholars called its Classic period,

from a.d. 250 to 900. Maya civilization was

hegemonic and consisted of numerous, inde-

pendent power centers unified by common lan-

guages, calendars, and a system of writing, as

well as religious rituals and customs. Palenque

belonged to this network. Despite these con-

nections, these cities often were in conflict with

each other. Palenque was no exception.

The name Palenque comes from a Spanish

word meaning “stockade.” The name was ini-

tially given by 16th-century Spanish settlers to

a nearby town, which over time became associ-

ated with the ruins themselves. Today, some

historians believe the people of Palenque may

have known the city as Lakamha, a Maya word

THE CITY

PAKAL

BUILT

First century b.c.

The first agricultural

community develops in

Palenque; inhabitants

combine farming with

hunting and fishing.

PACIFIC

OCEAN

Gulf of

Honduras

Gulf of

Mexico

Tulum

Mayapán Chichén Itzá

Uxmal

Jaina

Calakmul

Tikal

Yaxchilán

Comalcalco

Piedras

Negras

Quiriguá

Copán

Kaminaljuyú

Naranjo

Palenque

Toniná

Yucatán

Peninsula

Extent of the Maya civilization
(7th & 8th centuries)

AreaMap

AMERICASOUTH

AMERICANORTH

JADE DEATH MASK OF PAKAL THE GREAT,

SEVENTH CENTURY. NATIONAL MUSEUM

OF ANTHROPOLOGY, MEXICO CITY

CLASSIC

CULTURE

From a.d. 250-900,

Maya culture thrived

across the Yucatán

Peninsula (above).

Although linked by

language and religion,

Maya cities frequently

clashed..

GRADUAL MAPS/NG MAPS

CLICK ALPS/AWL IMAGES