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![K'inich Janaab' Pakal](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/3099.png?v=1706688081)
Definition
K'inich Janaab' Pakal
K'inich Janaab' Pakal (23 March 603 CE - 31 March 683 CE) was the Maya king of Palenque in the modern-day State of Chiapas, Mexico. Also known as Pacal (which means 'shield') and Pacal the Great, he is most famous for raising the city of...
![Jade Death Mask of Kinich Janaab Pakal](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/3099.png?v=1706688081)
Image
Jade Death Mask of Kinich Janaab Pakal
The jade death mask of Maya king Kinich Janaab Pakal, c. 683 CE, Palenque. (National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City)
![Lord Pacal](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/2447.jpg?v=1705314003)
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Lord Pacal
K'inich Janaab' Pacal otherwise known as Lord Pacal and Pacal the Great, 603-683 CE and Mayan king of Palenque. (National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City)
![K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/2446.jpg?v=1711943523)
Definition
K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo
Yax K'uk' Mo' (pronounced `Yash Kook Mo') was the founder and first king of the dynasty that ruled the Maya city of Copan (in modern day Honduras) for 350 years. Known formally by his royal name, K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo', he reigned for eleven...
![Maya Government](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/758.jpg?v=1708702563)
Definition
Maya Government
Ancient Maya government was formed on the basis that rulers were thought to have been god-like, which to some might suggest one unified state. However, the consensus amongst anthropologists supports that each major Maya city remained its...
![The Mayan Pantheon: The Many Gods of the Maya](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/3202.jpg?v=1718223003)
Article
The Mayan Pantheon: The Many Gods of the Maya
The pantheon of the Maya is a vast collection of deities worshipped throughout the regions of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. These gods informed...
![Palenque](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/3097.jpg?v=1715877364)
Definition
Palenque
Located in the foothills of the Chiapas altiplano of modern Mexico, Palenque was an important Maya city which flourished between c. 600 and 750 CE. The name Palenque derives from the Spanish, meaning 'fortified place', but the original Maya...
![Popol Vuh](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/2423.jpg?v=1714900626)
Definition
Popol Vuh
The Popol Vuh is the story of creation according to the Quiche Maya of the region known today as Guatemala. Translated as `The Council Book', The Book of the People' or, literally, `The Book of the Mat', the work has been referred to as "The...
![Kinich Ahau at Kohunlich](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/755.jpg?v=1599287404)
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Kinich Ahau at Kohunlich
This is the face of the sun god Kinich Ahau in The Temple of the Masks at Kohunlich. The masks all face west so that the setting sun illuminates them. It was thought that Kinich Ahau traveled down into and through the underworld at night...
![Xibalba](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/3172.jpg?v=1669560844)
Definition
Xibalba
Xibalba (Shee-bal-ba) was the name the K'iche Maya gave to the underworld. For the Yucatec Maya the underworld was known as Metnal. The name Xibalba translates as 'Place of Fright', which indicates the terror the place had in the Maya imagination...