Nearly 80 years ago since the discovery of King Pakal’s tomb

Posted on: November 18, 2022 in Uncategorized

Nearly 80 years ago, the Mexican archaeologist, Alberto Ruz Lhuillier, discovered the magnificent tomb of King Pakal from the city of Palenque.

K’inich Janaab’ Pakal 1, also known as Pakal the Great, Sun Shield, became king when he was only 12 years old in AD 603 and died in AD 683 after ruling for 68 years.

Figure 1

Alberto Ruz started investigating the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque in 1949 under  INAH’s (National Institute of Anthropology and History) programme at Palenque.

Figure 2

When clearing the floor of the structure on top he noted that there was a break in the floor likely made by looters and next to it a stone slab that had drilled holes filled with carved plugs (like nails). Looking through that break he saw two stone steps leading downwards.

The stairs were filled with rubble, so in 1949 Ruz and his team started clearing this away, at the same time making meticulous notes, measurements, drawings and photos. The process was long and arduous due to the difficulty in removing the stone rubble on a narrow and dimly lit staircase. There was some excitement when they thought they had reached the bottom, only to find that the staircase had not ended but rather turned 180 degrees continuing downwards – they were only halfway! 

Figure 3

On 15^th June 1952 Alberto Ruz and his team finally reached the bottom, 22m below and found themselves in an empty chamber.  Removing a huge stone in the north wall revealed a room beyond with what they thought was a large altar in the middle – a  large slab of limestone with drawings and glyphs, measuring 3.72 m in height and 2.17 m in width, set on a stone base.

It wasn’t until later in November of that same year when Ruz drilled a small hole into the altar to see if it was hollow and found that it was!  The five-tone slab was then lifted to reveal an inner lid set into the stone, and when this was removed, Ruz and his colleagues gazed on the remains of the great king, covered with jade beads, a jade death mask and other objects.

What an amazing find!