Temple VI (Temple of the Inscriptions)

17.2142°N, 89.6117°W.

Temple VI, the Temple of the Inscriptions, sits on the eastern edge of the Tikal core in the Petén Basin of Guatemala, set deliberately apart from the central plazas. Built around 766 CE under Yik'in Chan K'awiil and modified by his successor Yax Nuun Ahiin II, the pyramid rises 25 metres on a stepped platform of cut limestone. The structure takes its name from the long hieroglyphic inscription carved into its rear roofcomb — 186 glyphs running across both faces of the back of the temple, the longest single text on any Tikal monument. The inscription records a dynastic history reaching back to the legendary founder Yax Ehb' Xook in 90 CE. The temple was rediscovered by chiclero Ambrosio Tut in 1951 and first published by Antonio Ortiz the following year.

Temple VI is a building that wrote its city's family tree on the part facing away from the city.