NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 73scene on the lid, but most scholars
agree that the central figure depicts
1 Pakal transformed into the god
of maize, fertility, and abundance.
Behind him is the 2 Maya World
Tree; some scholars believe Pakal isfalling down the tree into the under-
world, while others have posited that
he is preparing to ascend it. Beneath
Pakal is the 3 Earth Monster, from
which Pakal may be emerging as he
is reborn. Around the edges of the lidSARCOPHAGUS LID
FEATURING A RENDERING
OF THE POSSIBLE
COLORS USED WHEN IT
WAS CREATED IN THE
SEVENTH CENTURY
FOR PAKAL’S TOMB.
NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF ANTHROPOLOGY,
MEXICO CITY
ILLUSTRATION: TRASANCOS 3D11
33
are 4 adornments representing the sky
and celestial objects, as well as Pakal’s
ancestors. Through this impressive lid,
Pakal wanted to leave a record of the
prosperity that his dynasty had brought
to the city.