Buried in the dense jungles of southern Mexico is one of
the world's most fascinating archaeological sites, producing historical
revelations important enough to influence modern-day beliefs and even
conspiracy theories.
We'll explore the ruins of a powerful Mayan city-state and some of the most stunning remains of Mesoamerican civilization. this is Palenque after a few weeks in the Yucatan Peninsula I arrived to the city of Palenque on an overnight bus from Merida.
So it involved a few minor setbacks and a couple of bus
delays but I finally made it to the town of Palenque and I'm just about ready
to see the ruins but first it's time for some tacos. so that was as good as any
meal I've ever had for $3 and I think I'm finally ready take a collectivo to
the ruins. collectivos or shared van rides are the main way to get around town.
just a heads up: please practice common sense safety precautions when visiting
the city.
It's in the state of chiapas which has an ongoing conflict
between the authorities and the indigenous guerilla forces, so it's not as safe
as Merida or Tulum which is safer than most American cities to be honest, But
just be smart the best time to visit Palenque is in the morning but I didn't
get to do that this time because I arrived to the city in the middle of the
day. The on-site museum is on the road out from Palenque and it's definitely
worth a visit to see many of the artifacts that were discovered during the
excavation of the ruins. Palenque is in the south of Mexico in one of its
rainiest areas. Palenque was among the most powerful maya cities in the
Classical period of Mesoamerica it
flourished between 226 and 799 ad and then it was completely abandoned around
900. After its abandonment the city became buried in the surrounding jungle and
wasn't excavated until the 20th century.
After the museum I accidentally took the side entrance into
Palenque instead of the main one no one even checked my ticket that I got at
the Museum. it was kind of confusing because no one else was going in and some
people were coming out that way but whatever I made it in. Only 10 percent of the
city has been excavated to date so if you decide to stray off the beaten path
you might come across some un-excavated pyramid, maybe some tropical birds or even
some howler monkeys. I found one. The greenery and wildlife of the site makes. it
quite different from the Mayan cities of Yucatan. It looks a lot more like.
Tikal in Guatemala if you've seen my video on that but it's
older than even Tikal. Once inside I spent a bit of time scouting the ruins and
finding the best spots in the city but right when the golden hour was about to
come up I knew it was time to go south and uphill to the temple of the Cross
complex. The temple of the cross, the temple of the Sun and the temple of the
foliated cross are a set of temples on top of step pyramids on top of this little
hill. The temple of the cross was constructed to commemorate the rise of a new
ruler to the throne after the death of Pacal the great.
Make sure you go all the way to the top of this one because
you can see some stunning views the city of Palenque especially of the main palace The palace is
located at the center of the city and is its largest building complex measuring
97 by 73 meters at the base. This was built by generations over 400 years. The
palace was used by the Mayan aristocracy for bureaucratic functions
entertainment and ritualistic ceremonies. The palace's most recognizable part is
this four-story tower that is known as the observation tower. The Palace is
also equipped with large baths and saunas which were supplied with fresh water
by an intricate water system the Mayan name for the city of Palenque was actually
Lakama, literally meaning big water.
The modern name of Palenque came from the neighboring
Spanish town that was founded in the 16th century The most famous ruler of
blanket was undisputedly Kinich Janb Pakal or Pakal the great whose tomb has
been found and excavated in the temple of inscriptions The temple houses the
second longest hieroglyphic text known from the Maya world the longest being in
the city of Copan which are gonna cover in a few weeks. The hieroglyphs found
in the city have revealed hundreds of years of Maya history. They talk about
alliances, trade, exchange Wars and even marriage between the Maya cities.
The discovery of the sarcophagus of Pakal the great within
this temple is arguably one of the greatest stories of archaeology Alberto
Roos, the director of research at Palenque for Mexico's National Institute of
anthropology in history had spent four seasons digging down beneath the floor
of the temple of inscriptions. It was ridiculously hot and very dangerous work.
At last in the summer of nineteen fifty-two, Roos shined his flashlights
through the peephole that his workers had cut through the limestone and he
discovered the sarcophagus For the first time in more than a thousand years,
human beings saw the mesmerizing carved sarcophagus lid of the great ruler of
Palenque. His tomb was covered with a very heavily decorated lid and he was
buried wearing an elaborate jade death mask.
The findings from the tomb can be seen today at Mexico's
Museum of national anthropology. You might remember that place if you have been
following this channel for a while. The iconography on the sarcophagus lid
depicts Pakal as a manifestation of the Maya maize god The lid of this tomb led
to Palenque playing an important role in modern day beliefs about the Maya
calendar and about the end of the world that was expected by many to happen on
December 21st 2012. There was apparently this influential guy named Jose
Arguelles who studied art history and he had a wild imagination. He attributed
the origins of the Mayan calendar to quote encode galactic Mayas he believed
these were ancient astronauts that had visited the ancient Maya's he also
claimed that one of these galactic Mayas was.. guess who.. Pakal the great .So
in December of 2012, he, his crew and many other people who believed that the
world was about to end or transform in some way all came to Palenque.
Some were so sure that something was going to happen they
didn't even buy return tickets out of Mexico so after the day was over and
nothing happened some of them were left stranded wondering what to do next.
Right next to the temple of inscriptions is the tomb of the Red Queen, the
burial chamber of a woman whose identity is still to be resolved. The
sarcophagus was discovered in 1994.
It takes the popular name from the fact that the remains of
the woman and the objects in the sarcophagus were recovered with bright red
cinnabar powder when the tomb was first discovered. Her skeleton was covered
and surrounded by a large collection of jade and pearl objects, some of which
you can still find in the museum that we went through at the start of the
video.
If I missed anything important that you think is worth mentioning
or especially if you find mistakes, once again please do let me know in the
comments and that is gonna be a wrap for the ruins at palenque.
Get more like this
catch you guys next time…
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