Temple II (Temple of the Masks)

17.2222°N, 89.6244°W.

Temple II, the Temple of the Masks, stands on the western edge of Tikal's Great Plaza, facing Temple I across the open ceremonial space. Constructed circa 700 CE, it is widely interpreted as the funerary monument of Lady Lachan Une' Mo', principal wife of Jasaw Chan K'awiil I, though no royal tomb has been recovered inside. The pyramid rises 38 metres in three terraces of dressed limestone with a single broad stairway facing east. The temple's name derives from large stucco masks that originally flanked the stairway, now eroded but documented in early-twentieth-century records by Alfred Maudslay and Teobert Maler. The lintels of the summit shrine are carved sapodilla wood, preserved through twelve centuries by the dry interior chamber. The pyramid's height was deliberately calibrated, modern surveys have shown, so its summit aligns with the doorway of the shrine atop Temple I when viewed from the plaza floor. The pairing across an open plaza was unique in scale and intent.

Temple II is a queen's monument whose summit was placed at the eye-level of her husband's tomb across the plaza.