Temple of the Inscriptions

The Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque, rising 27 meters from the jungle floor of Chiapas, Mexico, contains the most significant Maya royal burial ever discovered: the tomb of K'inich Janaab Pakal (Pakal the Great), who ruled for 68 years (615-683 CE). The tomb, discovered by Alberto Ruz Lhuillier in 1952 after four years of clearing a rubble-filled stairway, lies at the end of a vaulted passage deep within the pyramid. Pakal's jade mosaic death mask, carved sarcophagus lid depicting his descent into the underworld (or, controversially, an astronaut at the controls of a spacecraft), and 617 hieroglyphic blocks constitute the longest Maya inscription known. At Giza bearing 49.51° and 11,962 km from the Pyramid Plateau, the temple's nine levels represent the nine layers of Xibalba (the Maya underworld). A psychoduct — a stone tube — runs from the sarcophagus to the temple summit, connecting the dead king to the living priests above.