Maya Astronaut: Pakal the Great Chapter 10

 

In this time, is a text describing how in that epoch how Palenque was newly allied with Tikal, and with Yaxchilan, and that they were able to capture the six enemy kings of an alliance. Not much more has been translated from the text. The basic message seems to be the revenge taken by Pakal for the Kan( Calakmul) defeat, in keeping with scribal rhetoric whereby a “humiliating encounter” is admitted to in the context of a subsequent glorious victory.

Pakal the Great

But in this case, the revenge came a full sixty years later, when Pakal captured a large number of prisoners.  It can be assumed that Calakmul and it’s allies had attacked one of the Allies or Palenque itself (or they attacked Calakmul we just aren’t sure how it happened-but it did).

Calakmul on the attack

But the road built between the three city-states proved invaluable and the allies were able to unite their forces.

Their warriors engaged in battle

The king of Yaxchilan then went up on a mountain-top to signal for help. When the ancient astronauts/gods  arrived -their enemies fled in terror:

The King of Yaxchilan summoning help

The armies of Calakmul and their allies were completely defeated with a great loss of life, because once the ancient astronauts showed up it was a complete terror-stricken rout of their forces. Pakal was able to deliver a “humiliating defeat,” according to the records, “on Calakmul and captured many prisoners.” The six kings captured may have been sacrificed as was the Mayan custom when capturing enemy kings unless they could be trusted to switch allegiance. But it should be noted that the king of Calakmul was captured among them and he was sacrificed.

Enemies being put to death

Six days after the captures detailed on the Hieroglyphic Stairway, the Temple of the Inscriptions tablets record that the ruler of Santa Elena  “arrived” at Palenque, evidently as a prisoner. Thus Santa Elena appears to have been restored to Palenque’s control, as it had been under Ajen Yohl Mat. The East Court of the Palace, has an impressive ceremonial space marked by military triumph, was demarcated on the west by House C (dedicated in 661), on the south by House B (also from around 661), and on the east by House A (from after 668). The base of House A, on the east side of the court, was arrayed with megalithic sculptures of prisoners, the central ones bearing capture dates of  the prisoners in 662 AD.
After that the ancient astronauts/gods came and visited his city-state.  They allowed Pakal to worship them and asked  him where was the secluded area that he had promised them. This was the payment for their help.  Pakal pointed out the North Group with it‘s plaza saying, “You can land your war birds there and use those buildings.  I will post guards so my people will stay out.”  The ancient astronaut he met then gave him a special device and told him, “If you need help use this and we will come.”  They were only a stone’s throw away.

The North group

Pakal the Great was not bothered by Calakmul again.   Many of his people must have seen and remembered his activities with the ancient astronauts and that gave him a special place with them as a god.
The Hieroglyphic Stairway asserts a restoration of Palenque’s power in the region.  But it was undermined considerably by subsequent events; within two years, Piedras Negras appears to have conquered Santa Elena, and Calakmul engineered the re-accession of the Moral-Reform king under the auspices of Yuknoom Ch’een.             
After 663 AD Pakal must have started to build the Temple of the Inscriptions, intending it as a monument to himself.

 

Construction of Temple of Inscriptions

The completion of its texts and the final architectural touches would be left to his son and successor, K’inich Kan Bahlam.  In 683 AD  Pakal the Great died and the Temple of Inscriptions was completed after his death:

 

The Temple of Inscriptions

Because his father lived so long and built such an  impressive monument to himself (the Temple of the Inscriptions and its tomb), K’inich Kan Bahlam did not accede until he was forty-eight years old and had a hard act to follow architecturally—but he more than rose to the challenge. That he first completed his father’s funerary temple which is clear from the fact that his accession is referred to at the end of the lengthy text of its three hieroglyphic tablets. He also commissioned the sculptures on the building’s piers with stucco figures holding in their arms the infant manifestation of the god K’awiil.

 

Palenque after the time of Pakal’s death

The meaning of Pakal’s sarcophagus lid on his tomb has been theorized about quite a bit.  Of course one could use his imagination and say the  lid resembled the Mercury Spacecraft as one author does:

 

Looking at the sarcophagus  lid it looks nothing like a spacecraft when turned on its side:

 

The astronaut is hardly in the same position as Pakal is on the sarcophagus lid.  On the other hand using our imagination it could also be an illustration of Pakal the Great riding a motorcycle:

Pakal the Great on a motorcycle

But the sarcophagus lid on his tomb was not a depiction of Pakal the Great in a spacecraft or on a motorcycle. The sarcophagus lid is made to stand up as indicated below. It was a depiction of him arising to be with the ancient astronauts who his people considered gods. To them he a was god too since he had contact with them:

The much-discussed iconography of the sarcophagus lid depicts Pakal in the guise of one of the manifestations of the Maya Maize God emerging from the maws of the underworld.

 

The End

Maya Astronaut: Pakal the Great Chapter 9

 

Pakal found the village and its leader. The village leader had a group of  men escort Pakal to Tikal.  The ruler of Tikal at this time was Nuun Ujal Chaak or “Shield Skull.”

Carving of  “Shield Skull” on stele

Shield Skull” was the 25th king in succession and would rule until 679 A.D.

The glyph for Tikal

Shield Skull had been  forced by Calakmul  to abandon his city in 657 AD.  But now he had returned and was ready to go back to war.  This war had been going on constantly between some of these city-states like Tikal and Calakmul as far back as 500 AD, and it was not about to end any time soon.

The Main Plaza of the city-state of Tikal

“Shield Skull” was only happy to welcome another ally especially since he was the ruler of Palenque. Pakal wanted to know how the ancient astronauts/gods would bring them victory if they unified for battle.  “Shield Skull” told him, “you have to make one more ally and they will come. “ He told him,  “you must also become an ally of the ruler of Yaxchilan.  He knows how to contact the ancient astronauts/gods for us when we will need them.  But he won’t do it for one king, but two  kings with two sizeable armies-that should attract him to make an alliance with us.” Pakal told him, “Four years ago we had a war with that kingdom.  I do not think they will ally with me.”  But “Shield Skull” replied,” We were at war with them  for a while too, but now I have peace with them.  I will take you there under my protection so they will not attempt to sacrifice you.”

Map of the city-state of Yaxchilan and vicinity

Yaxchilan  was an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya city-states along the course of the Usumacinta, with Piedras Negras as its major rival. Yaxchilan was a large center, important throughout the Classic era, and the dominant power of the Usumacinta River area.

The Palace of the city-state of Yaxchalin

Yaxchalin dominated such smaller sites as Bonampak, and had a long rivalry with Piedras Negras and at least for a time with Tikal; it was a rival of Palenque, with which Yaxchilan warred. So there they went to form an alliance.  At this time Bird Jaguar III ruled Yaxchilan, he was fifteenth in lineage and would live a long life.

Bird Jaguar III

Seeing that he could unite with two powerful kingdoms against Calakmul. He agreed once all had promised  to forget the past and work together.  Realizing that if any of them were to be attacked alone, they decided to build a scabe ( a Mayan road) linking all three city-states. That way their warriors could move quickly to aid each other should Calakmul attack before they were ready with their attack.

A Scabe

Pakal did not once tell them of his deal with the ancient astronauts and since he had the charm stone, that is what made him eligible to join the group no questions asked.  Besides all of them hated Calakmul and wanted revenge and would do anything to get the ancient astronauts/gods on their side. But Pakal learned it was only Jaguar Bird III who could signal the ancient astronauts/gods to come to their aid.  This Jaguar Bird III agreed to do it when the time arrived.  After that Pakal returned to Palenque with Shield Skull supplying the escort.

During Pakal’s government, most of the palaces and temples of Palenque were constructed; the city flourished as never before, eclipsing Tikal.

The Palace and tower complex completed

The central complex, known as The Palace, was enlarged and remodeled on various occasions, notably in the years 654, 661, and 668.

 

Palenque 661-668 AD

 

Maya Astronaut: Pakal the Great Chapter 8

 

When Pakal regained consciousness  he was still dressed and in a padded seat. The first thing he saw was the inside of the spacecraft.

Inside of Spacecraft

Then three ancient astronauts approached him where he sat.  They were human in appearance although their skin and clothing was different from him.  One of them  thought to him: “You are  Pakal king of Palenque.” as it were a fact in perfect Mayan language. Pakal did not know what to do or think. He had never experienced anything like telepathy  But he put himself in complete subservience got off the seat and  bowed down to them on the deck of the spacecraft chanting Maya prayers.  After a while hand touched him on the  head and one of the ancient astronauts thought to him,: “Arise for I have something to say to you. “

 

Ancient Astronauts

A UFO religion is an informal term used to describe a religion that equates UFO occupants with gods or other semi-divine beings. Others may incorporate UFOs into a more supernatural world-view in which the UFO occupants are more akin to angels than physical aliens, though, ultimately this distinction may become blurred within this worldview and they become gods-this was the manner Pakal thought of them. Once Pakal stood erect  their leader came forward and thought to him: “Come and see how your planet looks.”  He took him to an observation area. He could see the spacecraft come to the cliff where the entry to the space base was:

 

Mountain space base entrance

Proponents of ancient astronaut theories often maintain that humans are either descendants or creations of beings who landed on Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago. An associated idea is that much of human knowledge, religion, and culture came from extraterrestrial visitors in ancient times, in that ancient astronauts acted as a “mother culture”. Other proposals include the idea that civilization may have evolved on Earth twice, and that the visitation of ancient astronauts may reflect the return of descendants of ancient humans whose population was separated from earthbound humans. Then the is the theory that our ancestors were space colonists who came from Mars when that planet lost its atmosphere. Some believe that telepathy was once a human capability and only shamans and ancient priests preserved that memory. Here the ancient astronauts use it as the only means of human communication.
They disembarked from the spacecraft.  The leader took him to another corridor. He thought to Pakal:  “We want your help.  We want to have a place in your territory to processes our mineral, “ and continued, “it is alright if your reply to me in the manner you normally do.”

A corridor in the ancient astronaut space base

He showed Pakal the clay with the KT layer of iridium.

 

The green strata was where the concentrated Iridium is located

“You location would be perfect. What can we give you in return for this favor ?“ Pakal said, “Help me defeat Calakmul and their allies-and defeat them so severely they will never try to invade my kingdom again. You are gods you should be able to do this.”  The leader thought to him, “The first thing you must do is make an alliance with Tikal their enemy.. You must form an alliance to defeat them.  A strong alliance that hates them as much as you.” Pakal asked him:  “What will you do if I do this ?”  By doing this you will prove to us your real intentions,“ – the leader thought in return:  “You will need a large army for you enemy is many.  You will have to defeat many kings.  We will come to your aid when we receive a signal.“ He handed him a piece of shocked green quartz on a rope that he could put on his neck.

Shocked Quartz from the crater at Chicxulub

 

Shocked quartz is found in the thin K–T boundary  between Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks. This is  evidence (in addition to iridium enrichment) that the transition between the two geological eras was caused by a large impact. It is produced under high pressure but moderate heat and can be found wherever there are meteor or asteroid craters.
But to Pakal the shocked green quartz was a charm stone.  Constructs of charm stones have been found at Mayan sites, they were worn as ritual  accoutrements. The mineral specimen could be either natural and complete or cleaved from a natural stone; in some cases, the article was be entirely manufactured as in the case of certain Mayan pottery finds. Ordinarily in other cases they are made from quartz crystal.
The ancient astronaut thought to Pakal: “When you meet the king of Tikal show him the stone and he will tell you what to do. To leave here you will enter a cave and when you come out you will go north.  At the first village find the leader and show him the stone and tell him you want to see the ruler of Tikal.  He will know how to take you there.”  They walked a distance up the corridor  until they came to a door.  And the leader had one of his assistants show him the way. This one also thought instructions to him,
“In this cave you can go down to the surface,  when the cave comes to an  intersection, go left and you will come out near the village. Make arrangements and go to Tikal, introduce yourself.  Tell him you want to form an alliance.” Then this ancient astronaut took him to a door and opened it and thought, “This is the cave.”  Then handed him a club that had obsidian blades in it.

Club with obsidian blades

 

Pakal was glad to have that as he did not have any weapons to protect himself with. Then the astronaut handed him a lit torch and Pakal went into the cave  the door behind him was shut.  Looking back all he could see was a rock wall and  no sign of a door.

The beginning of the cave

 

Ahead he could hear creatures ahead of him running around in the cave making noises so he held his club at ready.  It was a narrow cave passage-way that led downwards. After a very long time  he came to the intersection and turned left as instructed, here the cave was wider:

 

 

When the ancient Maya entered a cave, they believed they were entering the underworld, Xibalba. Because of this, rituals were performed in caves. Pottery shreds and vessels, burials, altars, and other ceremonial objects are found in the caves, and attest to their ritual use in the Maya Classic period (A.D. 300-900) as mentioned earlier. So Pakal was very careful and alert as well. ,  He had to be prepared to confront the death god, known as God A’ characterized by a black stripe over the eyes and a ‘darkness’ infix in the forehead.  The Death god A‘,  was figured among the wayob (a wayob was a spook). Instead of being a head hunter, however, at times God A’ was a demonic apparition often shown in the illusionistic act of self-decapitation.
Eventually he came to the area where people had been makings sacrifices so he knew he was near the exit and soon saw it ahead:

Maya Astronaut: Pakal the Great Chapter 7

In their 1966 book “Intelligent Life in the Universe” astrophysicists I.S. Shklovski and Carl Sagan devote a chapter to arguments that scientists and historians should seriously consider the possibility that extraterrestrial contact occurred during recorded history. However, Shklovski and Sagan stressed that these ideas were speculative and  unproven.  Shklovski and Sagan have argued that sub-light speed interstellar travel by extraterrestrial life was a certainty when considering technologies that were established or feasible in the late ’60s; that repeated instances of extraterrestrial visitation to Earth were plausible; and that pre-scientific narratives can offer a potentially reliable means of describing contact with outsiders. Additionally,  Shklovski and Sagan cited tales of Oannes, a fishlike being attributed with teaching agriculture, mathematics, and the arts to the early Sumerians, as deserving closer scrutiny as a possible instance of paleo-contact due to its consistency and detail.
Pakal’s first construction project was the Olvidado in 647 AD; this “Forgotten” Temple far to the west of the Lakam ha’ was the site core that bore the first surviving inscription from Palenque since the inscribed bowl of Casper over a century and a half earlier.

Palenque ca. 647 (You will note that the Palace is small, at a later time Pakal would extend it’s boundaries so you do not see it all at this time.

 

In the Olvidado there must have been other contemporaneous records in the interim, and they are perhaps buried in construction fill after having been destroyed by invaders . Glyphs from Pakal’s own reign were re-used in the walls of the North Group.   The observatory for Palenque, it was either in two places:  in the tower of the palace or an outer structure someone named the “Sanctuary”:

 

 

Tower of the Palace

 

The Observatory aka The Sanctuary( there is a comb on the roof so it could also be a temple as well)

The Maya were very interested in zenial passages, the time when the sun passes directly overhead. The latitude of most of their cities being below the Tropic of Cancer, these zenial passages would occur twice a year equidistant from the solstice. To represent this position of the sun overhead, the Maya had a god named Diving God. The Dresden Codex contains the highest concentration of astronomical phenomena observations and calculations of any of the surviving texts (it appears that the data in this codex is primarily or exclusively of an astronomical nature).

The Dresden Codex

 

Examination and analysis of this codex reveals that Venus was the most important astronomical object to the Maya, even more important to them than the sun. In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya had measured the length of the solar year to a high degree of accuracy, far more accurately than that used in Europe as the basis of the old Gregorian calendar. They did not use this figure for the length of year in their calendars, however; the calendars they used were crude, being based on a year length of exactly 365 days, which means that the calendar falls out of step with the seasons by one day every four years. By comparison, the Julian calendar, used in Europe from Roman times until about the 16th Century, accumulated an error of only one day every 128 years. The modern Gregorian calendar is even more accurate.

A Maya Zodiac

 

Uniquely, there is some evidence to suggest the Maya appear to be the only pre-telescopic civilization to demonstrate knowledge of the Orion Nebula as being fuzzy, i.e. not a stellar pin-point. The information which supports this theory comes from a folk tale that deals with the Orion constellation’s area of the sky.

The Orion Nebula as the Maya might have seen it

This is a significant clue to support the idea that the Maya detected a diffuse area of the sky contrary to the pin points of stars before the telescope was invented. Many preclassic sites are oriented with the Pleiades and Eta Draconis, as seen in La Blanca, Ujuxte, Monte Alto, and Takalik Abaj.
Then one night while taking a walk outside the palace with friends Pakal is abducted by a UFO:

Pakal’s Abduction

Maya Astronaut: Pakal the Great Chapter 6

 

In 611 AD  Aj Ne’ Yohl Mat, son of Yol Iknal succeeded his mother to the throne.  He must have been a weak ruler. As this ruler followed Lady Yohl Ik’nal on the throne of Palenque, it is likely that he was her son .

Maya Throne

 

Another important figure in Palenque at this time, Janaab Pakal (or Pakal l), may have been her consort or a second son; not to be confused with the later K’inich Janaab Pakal or Pakal the Great, he carried a full emblem glyph even though he never ascended the throne . Under Ajen Yohl Mat, Palenque’s sphere of influence extended as far as the Río San Pedro Mártir, where the ruler of the strategically located site of Santa Elena acceded under his  auspices.

 

Maya village of Santa Elena

 

Santa Elena was located 247 miles (440 km) east of Palenque. To its southwest was Calakmul 154 miles (248 km) away.  Santa Elena was on the Yucatan peninsula and one wonders what influence Palenque actually had there at that distance.

Glyphs of Santa Elena

 

It was in Ajen Yohl Mat’s seventh year of rule that a catastrophe was visited upon Palenque. The glyphic panels of the Temple of the Inscriptions record that on April 4, 611, Palenque was “axed” and probably sacked by Scroll Serpent of Kan .

Maya warriors from Calakmul with shields and spears

In Maya historical rhetoric, such humiliations are usually contrasted with successful revenge, but here the absence of any ultimate victory by Palenque suggests that the disaster somehow explains the events that follow. Although Ajen Yohl Mat and Janaab Pakal survived the attack, both were dead within sixteen months.  This was another attack by the ruler of Calakmul some twelve years later after the first attack in 599 AD, This was followed by an epoch of political disorder. Aj Ne’ Yohl Mat apparently  died on August 8,  612.    On October 19, 612, a new Palenque ruler named Muwaan Mat was enthroned.  But just who was the acceding ruler Muwaan Mat ?  On May 9, 613 occurs the ceremonies which are said to have been performed incorrectly and failed to give due honor to the gods is explicitly recorded.  It is believed that after the death of Aj Ne’ Yohl Mat, Janaab Pakal, sometimes called Pakal I, took power thanks to a political agreement. Janaab Pakal assumed the functions of the ajaw (king or Lord) but never was crowned. He was the Muwaan Mat mentioned and the reason why they failed honor to the gods.

The Palace Courtyard

 

 

He was succeeded on May 9, 613 by his daughter, the queen Sak K’uk’, who governed for only three years until her son was old enough to rule. In 615 AD Lady K‘uk’ handed over the royal crown to her son K’inich Janaab Pakal or Janaab Pakal II (also known as Pakal the Great)when it was settled that he would be the ultimate heir to the throne.

 

Pakal the Great receiving the crown (royal headdress) form his mother Lady K’uk’

 

Although his reign began in a time of adversity for the Palenque kingdom and he ascended the throne as a child, Pakal went on to rule for sixty-eight years and has come down to posterity as the best-known of Maya kings, albeit his fame derives mostly from his magnificent burial. . His parents might well have wielded political power on his behalf until that point in time. He reigned in Palenque from 615 to 683 AD. He was known as the favorite of the gods, he carried Palenque to new levels of splendor, in spite of having come to power when the city-state was at a low point. It is said that Pakal the Great was a big man tall in stature.  It was apparently in 626 AD that Pakal married Lady Tz’akbu Ajaw, a woman with ties both to the original Palenque royal seat of Toktan and to the site of Oxte’k’uh; she bore him  2 sons (and successors in 635 and 644).

Pakal the Great

The only other event known from Pakal’s early years is from around the year 628 AD (he would have been  twenty-five at the time), when the capture of one of his high officials, an Aj k’uhuun, provides a glimpse of conflict in the west .  Possibly the conflict was with a Maya city-state  that was of an old enemy- Bonampak to the southwest. The first to feel his revenge.  In the west was obsidian mines and from the obsidian were made knives and arrowheads.

 

Obsidian Arrow head

Obsidian Knife

They made very good weapons for war. So he invaded that area in retaliation.

Maya resources locations and trade routes

Maya Astronaut: Pakal the Great Chapter 5

 

If the Ancient Astronauts were present in the time of  Classic-era Maya, they probably would have built a base in the mountains high up. In tunnels leading to the ground they would then have acted as the Mayan gods of the Underworld in order to keep the natives from discovering what they were doing.

The Lord of the Underworld (Xibalba)

 

The entrance would be accessed by going  into a cave and following it to the space base  or spacecraft.  (It’s location now would have been long forgotten.  The cave was probably closed up by the Ancient Astronauts or select Maya worshippers or slaves). If the Ancient Astronauts were ever present in this part of the world this is the only theory that seems to work . It is believed that these intelligent extraterrestrial beings called ancient astronauts  have visited Earth often, and this contact is connected with the  development of human cultures,  technologies, and religions. A common variant of the idea includes proposals that deities from most religions are actually extraterrestrials, and their use of their technologies were taken as evidence of their divine status.
Caves may have been the most sacred places in the ancient Maya landscape, representing the entrance to Xibalbá (the underworld), but up until two decades ago, they had been all but ignored by archaeologists. Almost all Maya sites had tall temples and subterraneous passages under them, a re-creation of the Maya Cosmology, notably, important sites such as Cancuén that have Pyramid shaped mountains and caves (Candelaria and San Francisco) but others nearby, lack these features,  which is  a confirmation of the importance of these two features in the Maya city planning, Others as Gu’marcaj’ in Quiché have man made caves.

Entrance to man-made cave or vault

Proponents of ancient astronaut theories often maintain that humans are  descendants  of beings who landed on Earth thousands of years ago. Another proposal includes the idea that civilization may have evolved on Earth twice, and that the visitation of ancient astronauts may reflect the return of descendants of ancient humans whose population was separated from earthbound humans.
In Mayan religion The Popol Vuh  “The Book of the People” describes the creation of the earth by the wind of the sea and sky, as well as its sequel. The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel relates the collapse of the sky and the deluge, followed by the raising of the sky and the erection of the five World Trees along with the tale of the creation of the underworld.

 

A Maya World Tree

The Popol Vuh  is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the Post Classic Quiché(Mayan) kingdom in Guatemala’s western highlands.  The Popol Vuh’s prominent features are its creation myth, its diluvian suggestion, its epic tales of the Hero Twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué,  its genealogies. and historical narratives of the Post Classic Quiché kingdom in Guatemala’s western highlands.  The myth begins with the exploits of anthropomorphic (that of being part human and part another creature) ancestors and concludes with a regal genealogy, perhaps as an assertion of rule by divine right .
The Maya death gods, known under various names, belong to only two basic types, respectively represented by the 16th-century Yucatan deities Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau mentioned by Landa. Hunhau is the lord of the Underworld. Basically, Hunhau and Uacmitun Ahau correspond to the Gods A and A’.  This death god inhabits an Underworld that is also the world of the dead. As a ruler over the world of the dead (Metnal or Xibalba), the principal death god corresponds to the Aztec deity Mictlantecuhtli. The Popol Vuh has two leading death gods, but these two are really one: Both are called ‘Death’, with only the prefixes (‘One’ and ‘Seven’) being different. They were vanquished by the Hero Twins. The two principal death gods count among the many were-animals and wayob (spooks) inhabiting the Underworld, with  God A’s way in particular manifesting himself as a head hunter or a deer hunter.

God A’ in the guise of a head hunter or deer hunter

The origins of many religions are interpreted by some as reactions to encounters with a visitor from another world. According to his view, humans considered the technology of the aliens to be supernatural and the aliens themselves to be gods. One author claims that the oral and written traditions of most religions contain references to ancient astronauts. That they are descriptions of stars and vehicular objects traveling through air and space, such is Ezekiel’s revelation in the Old Testament, which is interpreted as a detailed description of a landing spacecraft.
The Maya had two primary caves which they considered as entrances to Xilbalba the underworld.  One was in Belize near San Ignacio, Cayo District, notable as a Maya archaeological site that includes skeletons, ceramics, and stoneware. One in particular is the famous "Monkey Pot", one of only four located across Central America. The most famous of the human remains is known as "The Crystal Maiden", the skeleton of a teenage girl, probably a sacrifice victim, whose bones have been completely calcified by the natural processes of the cave, giving it a sparkling, crystallized appearance.

The Crystal Maiden

There are several areas of skeletal remains in the main chamber. The ceramics at the site are significant partly because they are marked with "kill holes", which indicates they were used for ceremonial purposes. Many of the Mayan artifacts and remains are completely calcified to the cave floor. The Mayans also modified cave formations here, in some instances to create altars for the offerings, in others to create silhouettes of faces and animals, or to project a shadow image into the cave. The cave is extensively decorated with cave formations in the upper passages. Part of the cave extends over the border into Guatemala, where it ends.

 

A cave map showing how extensive some of these caves are

Animal life in the cave includes a large population of bats, large freshwater crabs, crayfish, catfish and other tropical fish. Large invertebrates like whip spiders  and various predatory spiders also inhabit the cave. Agouti (rabbit sized rodents) and otters may also use the cave. These and many other species are quite common in river caves of this size in Belize.
Another entrance to Xibalba is a natural cave and an important archaeological site in Guatemala. The discovery of the Naj Tunich caves, in Poptún southern Peten, Guatemala, in 1979 initiated the interest for Cave Archeology among Mayanists. Naj Tunich is the preeminent of Maya cave sites, boasting the most cave architecture ever found, the only elite masonry tombs reported from caves and the largest (and most exceptional) corpus of Maya cave inscriptions and paintings.

Naj Tunich cave burial site

The investigation of the site throughout the 1980s and the attempt to understand its obvious importance was the catalyst that  led to the formation of the field of Maya cave archaeology. Naj Tunich has dozens of hieroglyphic texts and figures, as well as some handprints and about a half dozen incised petroglyphs.
Naj Tunich is the Maya term for cave and literally means "stone house", because caves were conceived of as places where the gods lived  (our ancient astronauts). But among caves, Naj Tunich must always have been something extraordinary. All the Kek’chi’ Maya in the area agree that it is the largest cave and, shortly after its discovery, one man expressed the opinion that this was where the Maya maize god dwelt, or the entrance to Xibalbá:

The Maya Maize God as a writing scribe

During the Late Pre-Classic and Classic Maya era, Naj Tunich was an important pilgrimage center on at least a regional scale. The site has always produced its share of surprises. Initially, the large corpus of inscriptions and paintings located deep within the tunnel system received the greatest attention. In carrying out the archaeological survey of the cave, Dr. Andrea Stone and Dr. James Brady, undertook the task of recording each and every image. In 1988, geologist George Veni found a previously unknown passage that dramatically increased the size of the cave and yielded a number of important new paintings. While recording the paintings, Drs Brady and Gene Ware in 1999 using a multispectral imaging system, discovered several totally unexpected cases of over-painting that are now cause to suppose that the history of the paintings is far more complex than previously thought.  It was caves such as these that the ancient astronauts used as entrances to their space base. They did not have to rely solely on their own technology but also had the help of the Maya gods and Maya superstition to protect the entrances to where their base was located.  Usually their base was so far back in the web of caves that the Maya had little or no chance to find them in any case they would also have one-way trap doors where it would appear the cave had come to an end.

Artificial Cave ?

Maya Astronaut: Pakal the Great – Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 

The Palenque ruins date back to 100 BC to its decline around 800 AD. It is located in southern Mexico.  After its decline Mayan Palenque was absorbed into the jungle, which is made up of cedar, mahogany, and sapodilla trees, but what has been excavated and restored  is now a famous archaeological site attracting thousands of visitors.

 

Maya Sites

 

Palenque is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, located about 81 mi (130 km ) south of Ciudad del Carmen  and is about  164 yd (150m) above sea-level. It stays at a humid 26°C (79°F) with roughly 85 inches (2159 mm)  of rain a year.  Palenque is a medium-sized site, much smaller than such huge sites as Tikal or Copán, but it contains some of the finest architecture, sculpture, roof comb and bas-relief carvings that the Mayas produced.

 

Central Complex Palenque ca. 583 AD (note: the absence of certain buildings means they had not been built yet).

 

Much of the history of Palenque has been reconstructed from reading the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the many monuments there.  Historians now have a long sequence of the ruling dynasty of Palenque in the 7th century and extensive knowledge of the city state’s rivalry with other states such as Calakmul and Toniná. The most famous ruler of Palenque was Pakal the Great whose tomb has been found and excavated in the Temple of the Inscriptions.  Palenque the Mayan city-state of B’aakal or B’aak (Bone), named after one of the city’s most frequently occurring Emblem Glyphs.  An ancient name for the central core of the city currently consolidated was Lakam Ha, which translates as “Big Water”, for the numerous springs and wide cascades that are found within the site along the Otolum River.

 

Glyph Emblems for  City -State of Palenque

 

Palenque was a capital in the important Classic period of the Maya. Not much is known about the royalty of the early Palenque and can only be guessed at in certain places.  The list below gives you an idea of what the lineage may have been:

“Snake Spine”? 967- ? BC (legendary? – Olmec? Descendant of Votan ?)
“Ch’a Ruler I”? 252- ? BC
K’uk’ B’alam I 431-435 AD
“Casper”435-487 AD
B’utz Aj Sak Chiik 487-501 AD
Ahkal Mo’ Naab’ I 501-524 AD
K’an Joy Chitam I 529-565 AD
Ahkal Mo’ Naab’ II 565-570 AD
Kan B’alam I 572-583 AD
Ix Yohl Ik’nal 583-604 AD (female) ***

 

Our story begins with LADY YOHL IK’NAL eighth in the known Palenque sequence.  Lady Yohl Ik’nal was one of a very small number of Maya women of the Classic era to carry a full royal title and rule in her own right for a complete term.

 

Glyph for Lady Yohl Ik’nal

 

She reigned for a full twenty-one years. Lady Yohl Ik’nal was probably the daughter of the previous ruler, Kan Bahlam I, who seems to have died without leaving a male heir,  although she could have been his sister.  Her name when translated is: “Lady Heart of the Wind Place.”

 

Portraits of Lady Yohl Ik’nal

 

According to the Caracol Stela 3 on August 14. 572 AD as Nikolai Grube relates in his paper on Palenque’s role in the great Late Classic conflict between Calakmul and Tikal,  Palenque is attacked by Calakmul led by the Snake King. The House C Hieroglyphic Stairway of Palenque’s Palace records a military assault and probable sacking of Palenque on a date that is best interpreted as falling on April 21, 599. The personal identity of the attacker remains obscure but his kingdom was definitely the “snakehead” city-state of Kaan (which was possibly not yet centered in Calakmul in Lady Yohl Ik’nal’s time). The patron deities of Palenque are said to have been “thrown down,” which can be taken metaphorically to mean Palenque’s defeat or literally to refer to the despoiling of its sacred effigies.

 

The Temple of the Sun and Palace in background

 

Although the Maya preferred patrilineal descent, where the right to rule passed through the male line from generation to generation, Lady Yohl Ik’nal ruled Palenque in her own right for over two decades. This was a troubled time in the kingdom’s history. We know that there were probably at least two attacks on the city during Lady Yohl Ik’nal’s reign. It is likely that previous, unrecorded warfare had eliminated male candidates for ruler ship, thereby accounting for the accession of this queen.  Lady Yohl Ik’nal is also properly referred to as Ix Yohl Ik’nal, since the “head-glyph” that begins her name is read in this context as a logogram for the “female agentive,” IX. This can be translated “Lady” and identifies the following name as being that of a woman. The remainder of this ruler’s name is a study in the history of hieroglyphic  decipherment. At various times Lady Yohl Ik’nal has been called Lady Olnal, Lady  Kan-Ik, Lady Ik and Lady K’anal-Ik’al. This profusion of names has resulted from refinements to the reading of the constituent glyphs. Lakam Ha’ is the name of the area in the center of Palenque near the Palace. What we are talking about here is an attack on the very center of Palenque in which, according to one interpretation, the very gods of the Palenque Triad  were “thrown  down.” The arrangement of the hieroglyphs (collocation)  has been read as ya-le-je, yalej and interpreted as a passive verbal construction, “they were thrown down”. The agent of this attack is clearly from the Snake city-state  (later based in Calakmul but probably centered elsewhere at this time, (possibly in Dzibanche which was located on the Yucatan coast and thus a great distance away). The collocation at bottom right of glyph block shows the snake head of that kingdom’s emblem glyph, with the ka prefix indicating that it in this case “snake” is to be spelled Kan instead of Kaan. The kingdom of Kan was the ancient name for Calakmul. Apparently this group of Maya moved inland from the coast and built the city-state of Calakmul.

 

Glyph for Calakmul

 

Calakmul became one of the largest cities in the Maya world. It would be responsible for attacks against Palenque in AD 599 and 611.

 

The Invading King of Kan (Calakmul)

 

The inscriptions found in a Palenque document tells of a  battle that occurred under her government in which troops from Calakmul invaded and sacked Palenque, a military feat without known precedents.  She was forced to pay tribute to Calakmul.
Four years after the “Calakmul axing” of La kamha’, Palenque is attacked again, this time by Bonampak, on May 16, 603, a much smaller kingdom to the southwest.  Lady Yohl Ik’nal died on November 7, 604 AD.