Temple of the Sun Central Panel
Cross Group Palenque

At right Chan Bahlum acceding to the throne on Jan. 10, 690 A.D., the ancestor spirit of his father King Pacal is at left.

Like the majority of monuments in Palenque the glyph texts at the Temple of the Sun 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.

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