The tablet of the foliated cross

The tablet of the foliated cross is one of the finest mayan art that have been preserved. It tells the story of how K’inich Kan B ahlam, son of Pakal the great, taking the throne of palenque after the death of his father.

For years it was thought that the board had a cross in the center, however, in the panel to read the word that means tree, so now we know that what is represented is the sacred tree of the maya.

In the scene looks as K’inich Kan B ahlam (left, figure 3) receives from her father (right image 4) the power to dominate palenque. This scene was made after Pakal died, so it represents him as an ancestor of the beyond. Both characters are standing on a ‘band in heaven’ (image 5) where you can see the glyphs of different stars, which indicates that the entire scene takes place in the sky. In summary, the board says that K’inich Kan B ahlam traveled to heaven to receive the blessing of his father, to lead the kingdom of Baak.

The image of the temple is of Daniel Salinas.