The Greatest Maya Tomb Ever Discovered

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:06]One of Mexico's most famous ancient sites is Palenke. The ruins of this massive city are a marvel to behold, but the site's importance extends far beyond its architectural splendor and sophisticated urban planning. The city has provided scholars with some of the most detailed hieroglyphic inscriptions ever discovered in the Maya world, allowing them to reconstruct the history of this amazing place. A history that includes the reign of probably the most famous of all Maya rulers, Pakal the Great. You may know him from his appearance on his sarcophagus lid, found in his amazing tomb, discovered intact in 1952. Join me as I visit Palenke in person and relate to you the full history of this fabulous city that has revolutionized our understanding of ancient Maya society.

[00:01:02]Located in the tropical forests of Chiapas, Mexico, the ancient Maya city known today as Palenke bore the indigenous name Lakama, which translates to big water in the Ita Maya dialect, which probably refers to the abundant water sources that characterize this region. The site, I might add, contains remains of a sophisticated hydraulic engineering system that the inhabitants developed to manage the numerous streams, springs, and seasonal water flows that traverse the site. The Maya also knew the city by the name Bach or Baal, meaning bone in the Yucata dialect, which refers to the ruling dynasty. When Spanish colonial authorities first encountered the ruins in the 16th century, they applied the Spanish term pelenke, which derives from a word meaning fortified place. The site is large, occupying over 600 acres of undulating terrain. The Maya skillfully incorporated their urban planning into the natural terraces. The hieroglyphic inscriptions found throughout Palenke constitute one of the largest and most important corpora of Maya writing ever discovered. The quality and quantity of textual material have made it possible for scholars to reconstruct detailed biographies of individual rulers. So let me tell you the history of the city. The earliest ceramic remains found at the site go back to the 3rd century BCE. So people were living here at that time.

[00:02:32]But it wasn't until the early classic period which began around 250 CE that we get the first monumental architecture.

[00:02:41]The Picot complex is our earliest evidence for this. The Motipa complex slightly later but still in the early classic period shows how the settlement was growing and consolidating. It was at this time that we have the emergence of the Bach or bone dynasty. One of the most extensively documented royal dynasties in the Maya world. Its founder was Kuk Balam I who reigned from 431 to 435. He formally established the city and the dynasty which would govern for the next four centuries. The early rulers of Palenke began the process of monumental construction that would define the site's architectural legacy and grew the city into a major regional power. However, the city state of Palenke experienced a period of severe instability in the early 7th century that threatened the very survival of the ruling dynasty. The troubles began during the reign of Yol Eknal, who holds the distinction of being one of the few female rulers documented in Maya history. In 599, troops from Kalakmu, the great snake kingdom that dominated much of the Maya lands during this period, invaded and sacked Palenke. This was an unprecedented humiliation for the city. The situation deteriorated further under Yol Iknal's successor, her son Aet Yol Mat. In 611, Kalakm achieved a second devastating victory. And this time, the king of Kalakmul himself entered Palenke in person to rub it in.

[00:04:17]Following the death of Aet Yulmat in 612, the legitimate mechanisms of royal succession appear to have been disrupted by the military catastrophes that had befallen the city. The glyphs relate that some fundamental annual religious ceremonies were not performed in 613. At this critical point, we are told that the divine lady was lost and the king was lost.

[00:04:42]This cryptic statement reflects a moment of profound crisis for Penke. Into this breach stepped the king's daughter, Sak Kuk, who governed as queen for three years from 612 to 615 until her son reached the age considered sufficient for rule. The accession of a female ruler represented an unusual and temporary solution to the crisis of legitimate male succession which the Maya preferred. Now let's talk about her son. Kinich Hanab Pal was born in 603.

[00:05:16]His father was Kan Mohish, a nobleman who held significant status but was not himself ever a king. This paternal lineage would later become a matter requiring justification as other noble families could claim more direct descent from previous rulers and therefore potentially challenge the legitimacy of Pal's rule. Palceed to the throne on July 29th, 615 when he was just 12 years old. The circumstances of the succession were carefully documented on the famous oval palace tablet. A remarkable relief sculpture carved to serve as the back rest for his throne in the palace. It depicts his mother Saku presenting him with the drum major headdress decorated with the jester god of rulership that symbolized his assumption of royal authority. The unusual circumstance of his succession through the maternal line necessitated the creation of elaborate genealogical narratives that would trace PLL's ancestry back to mythological ancestors who ruled in supernatural eras thousands of years before the actual foundation of the historical dynasty.

[00:06:23]The painted text panel above the Oval Palace tablet, though badly damaged, appears to record a date falling several hundred,000 years in the past, effectively projecting Palenkee's history back to the very dawn of time.

[00:06:38]Pal's most famous likeness is a masterful head made of stucco that scholars believe was originally part of a bust or full-sized figure on a building facade. They found it in his tomb. Across the rest of the Maya world, kings projected impersonal images of youth and vigor, a formal idealism stripped of individuality.

[00:06:58]But portraits of pall, although still stylized according to Maya artistic conventions, are more naturalistic.

[00:07:06]Note the prominent nose, full lips, and slightly asymmetrical face. This is a highly individualized image of a king.

[00:07:15]How would you like to see the ancient ruins of India? Most people see pictures of India, but they never actually go there. And those who do often miss the best stuff. I'm Dr. David Mo. I'm a historian of the ancient world, and I'd like to take you on a journey that goes far beyond what most tourists will ever experience. For more than 25 years, I've been teaching people the secrets of antiquity. But these days, I also take seekers out of the classroom and into the ancient world itself. In my upcoming journey, we'll delve deep into the history of ancient India as I take you to each amazing site. I will share its history, its significance, and answer the questions that surround it. We'll be immersed in the history, the culture, and the natural surroundings of India and even go on a tiger safari. Spaces are limited and already filling up fast.

[00:08:04]But if you feel ready, if you feel called to come and walk in the footsteps of the ancients, join me in India for this unforgettable transformational experience. In 626, 11 years into his reign, Pal married Ish Takbu Ao, a descendant of the former ruling Tokan dynasty from Penke's satellite settlement.

[00:08:27]Pall and Takbu Aao remained married for more than 50 years until her death in 672. and together they had at least three sons who would play crucial roles in Palankkee's continued development.

[00:08:39]The political circumstances surrounding Pal's accession meant that his mother Sakuk continued to wield considerable influence over the government even after formerly transferring power to her son.

[00:08:51]The inscriptions at Penke record that she remained an important political force for the first 25 years of Pal's reign. Lady Sakuuk died in 640 and only after her death did PLL exercise fully independent authority. Reigning a whopping 68 years, Pal or Pal the Great as we sometimes call him transformed the modest citystate of Penke into one of the most powerful and culturally sophisticated centers of the classic Maya world. In the conflict between the major city states of Tekkal and Kalakmul, Pal allied himself with Tekkal, the great power of the central Paten region and Yashchelan not far from here. The alliance was able to capture six enemy kings. Though the details of these victories and their exact dates remain obscure because of damage to the inscriptions. Most of the palaces and temples visible at Palenke today, the Ottoum complex, which we are standing in right now, were either constructed or substantially enlarged during Pal's reign. His building program established architectural and artistic standards that would influence Maya construction throughout the region for generations.

[00:10:06]These include parallel vaultting techniques, integration of architecture and sculpture, personal portraiture and royal art, complex iconographic programs, and sophisticated stucco work.

[00:10:18]The palace complex is a highlight. It consists of multiple buildings and courtyards. It was where the king lived and was the administrative center of the state. It also served as a site for various public ceremonies. PLL enlarged it at least three times during his reign. Note the distinctive four-story tower, which was possibly used for astronomical observation. The palace's large corbell arched interiors demonstrate advanced structural engineering, and an elaborate aqueduct system delivered fresh water to baths and water features in the complex. The locally available dense fine grained limestone, possibly the finest of ancient Meso America, enabled Penke's artist to create boss reliefs with crisply cut edges and buttery smooth surfaces. Their expertise in the making and manipulation of Stuckco plaster, which dried slowly and became flint hard when set, gave them full expression in three-dimensional sculpture. Traces of murals suggest a once rich corpus of painting. They made the river to go in another direction >> to finish the the construction of the palace.

[00:11:27]>> He said also that they made a they they harnessed the water to go in the pipe.

[00:11:30]>> Exactly.

[00:11:32]>> And goes under too. There's like a a flushing toilet and a fountain.

[00:11:35]>> So because it allowed the the it goes big and then it goes smaller which builds up the pressure.

[00:11:40]>> Rapid.

[00:11:42]>> Uh-huh. Yeah. They had um they had running water.

[00:11:45]>> Near the palace is the tomb of the red queen as it's called today. The tomb contained the remains of a woman buried with rich offerings including jade ornaments and covered with cineabar powder associated with blood and the life force. Hence the name the red queen. Based on analysis of the skeletal remains and comparison with hieroglyphic records, many scholars believe the red queen was I ishaku aa pal's wife and the mother of his heirs. The two eldest sons of Pal would themselves become rulers of Palenke continuing the dynasty. their father had worked so hard to legitimize.

[00:12:22]The first was Kinich Khan Balam II. His first major project was finishing the tomb that Pal had begun constructing for himself. Here we are at the temple of inscriptions, the most famous monument here at Palenke. And uh this is the temple under which Pal the Great is interred. Right at the very bottom down at the below there is his tomb. That's where the great sarcophagus of Pal was found. And you wonder how they got it in there, but the fact is they actually built the tomb around the sarcophagus and then the building around that. This uh several construction phases extending even past his reign, but they finally finished it. And it's called the temple of inscriptions because there are three hieroglyphic panels in there uh recounting the history of the dynasty of Pal establishing his legitimacy and showing how his lineage traces back to these illustrious ancestors uh many of whom are mythical. This nine-level stepped pyramid known at the time as the house of the nine sharpened spears represents a unique example of Mayaerary architecture specifically designed as a royal moselum. The nine levels represent the nine levels of the underworld in Maya cosmology. The Temple of the Inscriptions derives its modern name from three large hieroglyphic panels installed in the temple structure at top the pyramid containing a total of 617 glyph blocks that constitute the second longest hieroglyphic text known from the Maya world. The three tablets record approximately 180 years of Penke's history. The west panel includes the crucial date of Pal's death, which in our calendar comes out to August 29th, 683. The building contains an 80 foot long stairway descending into the pyramid's interior. Behind a massive triangular stone slab was the tomb chamber found intact. Within it was an enormous limestone sarcophagus, nine stucco attendants representing the lords of the underworld, a jade mosaic funeral mask, sculptured heads representing pal and other precious objects. A psycheduct that is a hollow tube runs from the tomb chamber up alongside the stairs to the temple floor. This feature suggests that the temple of the inscriptions was designed to facilitate ongoing ritual communication between the living king above and the dead king intombed below.

[00:14:47]The sarcophagus lid depicts Pal in a reclining position at the base of a world tree, falling backward into the open jaws of the underworld, while above him rises the cosmic tree surmounted by the celestial bird. The world tree takes the form of a cross, a shape that had profound religious significance in Maya cosmology long before European contact.

[00:15:11]A double-headed vision serpent that served as a portal between the worlds winds through the branches of the tree with gods emerging from its open jaws at either end. The inscriptions on pal sarcopagus provide additional crucial information about his life and reign.

[00:15:38]Kinich Khan Balam II also constructed the buildings known as the cross group consisting of three main temples arranged around a plaza to honor the three deities of the plank triad. We don't have their names so we call them G1, G2 and G3 as placeholders. Here we are in the cross group and we have three main temples here each related to a level of the celestial sphere. We have over here the temple representing the underworld. So it's the lowest level of the universe. Here we have the mid level on this side. This is the associated with the earth and agriculture and uh warfare. And then here uh this temple the biggest one is associated with sun and kingship. And it's here as a bit of propaganda for Kinich Balam II. This is the son of Pakal the Great. Up at the top, we're going to see some amazing uh artwork depicting him and also some glyphs. And I'll tell you more about them when we get up to the top.

[00:16:50]Each panel depicts Kbalam and two guises as a child and as an adult flanking representations of the gods themselves.

[00:16:58]This innovative iconographic program continued the pattern established by Pall of associating the ruler's personal history with supernatural events and demonstrating that human kings participated in the eternal cycles of death and rebirth that governed the cosmos as a young guy and as a mature >> Oh, I see. So, two different uh Yeah, >> because >> they do this in Egypt, too. They show them young and old. And it makes more sense because Kinish Kambalan was the one who built the cross and he was an architect. He was a very good architect because he had to wait 40 years for for his father to receive the the power and become a king. 40 years he had to wait.

[00:17:45]So he had time to go to university, study >> like King Charles had to wait a long time.

[00:17:52]>> Yeah. This is a shield with two flint in in the center.

[00:17:59]It's a war symbol symbol of >> maybe I can use my flash.

[00:18:02]>> Khan Balam's brother Kan Hoy Chetam I succeeded him and continued the family's commitment to monumental architecture and political expansion. but he was taken prisoner by the city of Tonina and presumably executed there, marking a decisive blow to the dynasty's prestige.

[00:18:22]Just south of the cross group are another group of temples. This is temple 19 which was erected during the reign of the next king Akal Moab III. Some amazing reliefs were discovered here, the originals of which are in the site museum. These are replicas. Here you can see the king and note how the blue paint is still preserved. This is what it looked like when it was found. His father was a son of Pal but never himself a king.

[00:18:50]>> The len triads and see this is the back rack. See I was telling you see it goes way here he is and here's his buddy and this guy with a mustache. We're going to see this in the museum. Right.

[00:19:00]>> The hieroglyphs on this decorated platform indicate akal multab began ruling in 721. The last date given here is 7:36. So we know he reigned at least until then. This amazing relief on the platform depicts the king in the center with attendants on either side of him.

[00:19:20]The ones facing him are clearly the more important ones. They do have their names recorded here, but we don't recognize them. The person directly in front of him is a man named Hanab Aalo, and he's dressed as the bird gods.

[00:19:34]We think he may be the king's first cousin. Oh, this isn't even newer. This is Temple 21.

[00:19:39]>> Yeah.

[00:19:40]>> Oh, and look at on front. Who is this?

[00:19:44]>> Oh, it's Mona. Oh, I'm sorry. It's Kinich Ako Monab III. Oh, this is the same one as Temple 19, the same ruler.

[00:19:50]And what is he carrying in this hand?

[00:19:51]>> It's a war banner. He's a beaten captive, a c. And that's the emblem. His It's his flag.

[00:19:59]>> What's telling you that he's a captive?

[00:20:00]Couldn't anybody be carrying a banner?

[00:20:02]>> Well, but this is a destroyed banner.

[00:20:04]Oh, >> it's got the holes punched in it.

[00:20:06]>> And there probably was another one on that side.

[00:20:08]>> Yeah. Is there anything over there?

[00:20:09]>> No, it's destroyed. Uh, this was built in 736 CE.

[00:20:14]>> 736.

[00:20:22]>> But But now it's not like that.

[00:20:30]>> Look at this.

[00:20:39]Very nice.

[00:20:40]>> So hot.

[00:20:44]>> The decline of Palenke began in the mid 8th century, coinciding with the political instability and environmental stress that affected other Maya city states. At the same time, hostilities with the rival citystate of Tonina Na contributed to Palenkee's weakening political position. But you know what? I want to give you an idea of what this rival city was like. So, I'm going to show you a bit of Tony Na right now.

[00:21:08]Now, you may have heard that the Tony Na archaeological zone is closed right now.

[00:21:12]The site is on private land and the owner of the property is currently in dispute with the government over money.

[00:21:18]So, the gates are closed. However, the great acropolis of the site sits right on the boundary with the neighbors property and we were allowed to look at the site from there. Not only that, we got permission to visit the site museum, which they opened up specially for us.

[00:21:32]And I want to show you some of the amazing artifacts from the site. It took us 4 hours to drive up the mountain.

[00:21:38]Winding roads going all the way up. But they opened the site special for us.

[00:21:43]This place is closed, but we get to go inside. And look at behind me. Huh? The Great Pyramid of Tonina at the Acropolis. And we're going to go up there, climb all the way up to the top.

[00:21:55]So come on. The mountainous terrain that separates Tonina Na from its greatest rival, Palenke, located approximately 40 miles to the north, created natural boundaries that helped define the territorial limits of these competing myapolities. But Tonina had a different personality from Palenke. It was a much more aggressive military power and one that treated its captives harshly. It successfully challenged major lowland centers like Palenke, ultimately becoming the dominant city in this region before decline set in for everyone. The name Tonina is modern. It comes from the Tal language spoken by local Maya communities today and translates to house of stone. The ancient name was Po or Popo, which seems to be related to lunar cycles and timekeeping. And the site's monuments do seem to be preoccupied with recording precise dates and period endings. So maybe there is something to that. Tony Na features what may be the tallest pyramid structure in Mexico at approximately 75 m 243 to 246 ft in height, making it taller than the famous Pyramid of the Sun at Teayot Wakan. I don't know if it's right to refer to it as a pyramid because it isn't really just one building. It has seven ascending terraces that house eight palaces, 13 temples, and numerous smaller structures, sculptures, panels, courtyards, and terraces. It's also integrated into the topography rather than being entirely a construction.

[00:23:25]Usually, it's called the Great Acropolis. The late classic period marked Tony Na's emergence as an aggressive military power. The ball court at Tonina contains hieroglyphic inscriptions indicating it was dedicated in 699 with a later commemorative event recorded in 776 celebrating a military victory over a lord of Palenke. There are 260 steps leading from the bottom to the top of the Acropolis, a number that corresponds exactly to the 260 days of the Maya ritual calendar. The seven levels of the great Acropolis create a symbolic mountain that mirrors Maya concepts of cosmic geography. Each level served specific ceremonial functions. A highlight is level five, which contains one of Tony Na's most remarkable artistic achievements, the freeze of the dreamlords. It's one of the best preserved examples of Maya Stuckco art in existence and provides insights into Maya mythological concepts and artistic techniques. It was constructed between 790 and 840 during a period when Tony Na's religious emphasis shifted toward celebration of underworld themes. We are here at the sixth tier of the great pyramid of the Acropolis. And on each tier, of course, is a temple. And this temple here in level six is dedicated to the earth monster. Yes. And you'll see depictions on the side of the earth monster swallowing the sun. There are all kinds of depictions of that. What does this mean? The earth monster swallowing the sun. Yeah. This happens every night when the sun goes down. The earth swallows it and then in the morning it spits it back out. Right.

[00:25:01]Well, this particular temple was oriented towards the winter and spring solstesses. So Maya cosmology was very important especially for this level of the pyramid. At the top, level seven, where you see the guard with a rifle, are the remains of two temples. The temple of the prisoners, where sculptures of captives were found. I will show you some in a minute. And the temple of the smoking mirror, which being at the tippy top, was probably the most important temple, though we don't know its exact function. Now, let's head over to the Tony Na site museum so I can show you some amazing artifacts they found here. Hall A of the museum focuses on Tonina Na's military power and dominance over other regions like Palenke, Yashchilan, and Bon Pak. The most famous are their depictions of bound prisoners, typically shown as kneeling or seated figures with their arms tied behind their backs. These represent rulers and nobles from other cities. This is really cool. Uh, one of the things that Duna was told for is this decapitations. This ritual decapitation. So they would literally when they would take prison war they would decapitate them uh before everyone but they also ritually decapitated statues of prisoners like this one here.

[00:26:16]So this originally was made with a head.

[00:26:19]Okay. But then at the ceremony they would decapitate the statue uh as also a part of their obsessed with decapitations. In fact so much so they even decapitated buildings. They would have a ceremony where they would remove the roots of the temples and things like that that they had built for this particular purpose in a decapitation ceremony. The fact that they show specific individualistic expressions suggests they were carved from life or at least from detailed scrutiny of actual prisoners. Although not at the site museum but rather in the anthropology museum in Mexico City. The portrait you see here is of the captured ruler of Palenke, Kan Hoy Chetam II, shown humiliated, nearly nude, and bound. The captive sculptures were placed on terraces, stairways, and elevated public settings. They serve to intimidate potential enemies by displaying the fate of those who opposed Tonina as well as to glorify the rulers and make permanent records of their achievements. and it reinforced the divine authority of the kings through demonstration of their power over enemies. The practice of commemorating military victories through captive portraiture was common throughout the Maya world. But Tonina Na's collection is particularly extensive and artistically sophisticated, suggesting that warfare and the display of military success were central to the site's political identity. El chocolate.

[00:27:47]>> Oh, is this a chocolate god?

[00:27:50]I think this is the chocolate god.

[00:27:56]>> Yeah, this is a model of the site.

[00:28:00]>> Oh, they're plumb bobs.

[00:28:02]>> Hall B of the museum presents the dynastic history of Tonina through sculptures of the rulers who governed the city. Unlike most Maya sites where sculptural decoration typically appears as relief carving on architectural facades or steeli, Tonina Na developed a remarkable tradition of sculpture in the round that had not been seen much in Meso America since the days of Mech civilization. The site's sculptors achieved remarkable lifelike qualities in their portrayals of both rulers and captives, creating works that function as individual portraits rather than generic representations. They paid particular attention to costume and regalia details. The figures were tenoned upright into square bases with hieroglyphs integrated skillfully onto both the bases and the figures. The distinctive Tony style is recognizable enough that modern scholars can identify works that come from here even when found outside the site itself.

[00:29:00]>> When the rulers when the rulers finish their their their term of ruling, they were cut in three pieces.

[00:29:09]>> The head, >> the feet of correct.

[00:29:15]>> No feet, no head.

[00:29:23]and and they bury the three pieces in three different parts not together >> because of the statues because of the supernatural powers of the ruler.

[00:29:34]>> The sculptural works at Tonina include carved stili that exemplify the site's unique artistic style. They are relatively short and are carved completely in the round, allowing viewers to walk around them and appreciate their three-dimensional qualities. All depict figures wearing elaborate headdresses and clothing that identify them as members of the ruling elite.

[00:29:55]>> His name is the owl.

[00:30:06]>> Owls. Yeah. The variation in carving quality among the steel eye suggests that multiple artists or workshops were involved in their production, some better than others. These are calendars.

[00:30:27]Among the most significant individual artifacts in the museum is monument 101, originally found on the fifth level of the Acropolis, which bears the latest known long count calendar date in the Maya world. It depicts a ruler commemorating a ceremony on a date corresponding to January 20th, 9009.

[00:30:47]This marks what scholars consider the end of the classic Maya period.

[00:30:52]Sometimes we might get caught in the trap of thinking that Maya style is homogeneous. But not so. Even between the nearby cities of Palenke and Tony Na, we have distinctive differences.

[00:31:03]They have many of the same beliefs, but the emphasis is different. Penke tended to emphasize the divine aspect of kingship, the ruler's equivalence with mythical ancestors, courtly refinement and an ordered explanation of authority.

[00:31:18]Tony Na tended to emphasize an aggressive political posture, military dominance, captives and humiliation of rivals, and the ruler's visibility in the public sphere as an embodied dominating presence in the region.

[00:31:46]This is called guanavana.

[00:31:48]>> It's an exotic fruit from around here.

[00:31:49]I've never had it before. Look at the portion.

[00:31:53]>> Wow.

[00:31:56]>> Name is like >> Oh, yeah. Very refreshing. Kind of like wava. Yeah.

[00:32:01]>> Ice cream strobing.

[00:32:03]>> Chicken mole. Oh man.

[00:32:08]>> In our next episode, we will head into the Usamasinta River Basin to visit Yash Chilan deep in the jungle, which you can get to only by boat. And just a reminder that information about my upcoming expedition in India is below this video.

[00:32:23]Stay tuned and don't forget to subscribe.