The Apotheosis of Janaab' Pakal: Science, History, and Religion at Classic Maya Palenque

5: The Public Face of Re-Creation

c h a p t e r f i v e The Public Face of Re-Creation We have already seen one motivation for the tablets in the Temple of Inscriptions, commissioned as they were to adorn the temple atop the funerary monument of a great leader. Yet within the texts of the Temple of Inscriptions ’ third tablet we have also noted a telling anomaly— one that reveals a different sort of motivation. The third tablet is very different in character from the first two. Although the first tablet contains a break in normalcy with the record of the battle, the third tablet’s break leads to a jumble of historical records without clear theme or consistent chronology. Looking at the distribution of astronumerological references within these tablets, we realize that the erratic chronology of the third tablet is responsible for all of the astronumerological subtext (see 131 The Public Face of Re-Creation 132 Figure 2.3). This different format is precisely the situation one might expect if the first two tablets were composed before astronumerology was introduced (or invented). In order to integrate astronomical periods into the intervals between dates, then, the third tablet was forced to take on an eclectic narrative (Aldana 2001b:158; 2004a). If indeed these changes indicate a separate composition, then the third tablet is very suggestive regarding who may have been responsible for it. The last passage of this tablet tells of Janaab’ Pakal’s death and of the accession of his son, Kan B’ahlam II. We thus are presented with the real possibility that Janaab’ Pakal did not oversee the composition of this final tablet (Gillespie 2001; Robertson 1983:54; 1991:8; Schele and Mathews 1998:108). Indeed, the funerary monument itself was not completed before Janaab’ Pakal’s death. Archaeological investigation has shown that the structure was built in two phases (Schele 1981; Schele and Freidel 1990). In the first, a small structure similar in design to the Templo Olvidado was created as a crypt for the sarcophagus that would hold the ajaw’s body. Once his corpse was placed within it, a pyramidal mound, crowned by a small temple, was built around this crypt. Since the overall structure had to be left incomplete until his body could be placed within, several scholars have suggested that Janaab’ Pakal also left one of the tablets blank for his son and heir to compose upon his “entering the road” (Gillespie 2001; Robertson 1983:54; Schele and Mathews 1998:108). The difference in character of this tablet from the other two strongly suggests a second author. In this chapter, we will investigate Kan B’ahlam’s architectural patronage in order to see how it resonates with the message of the third tablet. The extended scope of this message sets the overall context for the next chapter in which we take up a close reading of the hieroglyphic inscriptions that Kan B’ahlam patronized. The unity of the underlying vision and its contemporaneity with the first records of the 819-day count suggests that Kan B’ahlam sought to send a message on various levels to the multiple communities of which he was an integral part. Kan B’ahlam’s Architectural Program We have seen that Janaab’ Pakal’s reign was wildly successful and also very long. Kan B’ahlam was born to Ix Tz’aak Ajaw by Janaab’ Pakal The Public Face of Re-Creation 133 when the father was thirty-two years old. Kan B’ahlam was then designated as heir to the throne at only six years of age. Yet at eighty, Janaab’ Pakal had still not passed the ajawlel on to his son. The Middle Tablet of the Temple of Inscriptions suggests that this delay in transferring power resulted from the ritual restoration needs of the dynasty, but it may also have resulted from the greater political context in which the polity was immersed. As noted above, K’inich Janaab’ Pakal had proven himself time and again during his reign in matters martial as well as political. Yet in Maya civilization, the success of an individual ajaw did not ensure the protracted success of the polity. In fact, the citizens of Palenque all too recently had witnessed evidence for justifiable concern that things might not be so stable upon their great ajaw’s passing. On 9.11.6.16.7 3 Manik 0 Ch’en, Nuun Ujol Chaak...