Tierra Maya - Temple of the Cross Palenque

Temple of the Cross Central Panel
Cross Group Palenque

This relief commemorates the Jan. 10, 690 AD accession of Chan Balum to the throne. At left is the ancestor spirit of his deceased father, King Pacal.

Like the majority of monuments in Palenque the glyph texts at the Temple of the Cross chronicle the geneology of the kings of Palenque. King Pacal’s mother, Lady Zac-Kuk, is listed in the geneology records at Palenque as a “king” and in an extremely unorthodox and highly political move she asserted that even though her husband was not of royal lineage her son Pacal was, through his relationship to her.

She wielded enough power to convince the ruling council to name her son king, but he and his son Chan Balum spent a lifetime reinforcing this claim of legitimacy so their descendant’s right to rule would never be challenged. For detailed translations of the glyph texts please read Linda Schele’s or Michael Coe’s groundbreaking books.