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.
