Ancient Inscriptions Decoded at the Spectacular Temple of the Mayan King Pakal

Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the tomb of an ancient Mayan King have been translated more than 60 years after archaeologists discovered the hidden burial crypt in the rainforests of Mexico.

The glyphs were found on the spectacular Temple of the Inscriptions of Palenque which houses a tomb attributed to the ancient Mayan King Pakal. The glyphs were deciphered in 2015 and read “The House of the Nine Sharpened Spears”, as revealed by a team of researchers led by epigraphist Guillermo Bernal Romero from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Bernal, from UNAM’s Mayan Studies Center, and colleagues deciphered the Mayan glyph T514, “Yej”, which means “cutting edge”, as reported by Latin-American news site Prensa Latina. The Yej glyph was found over 60 years ago at the top of the Temple of the Inscriptions in Chiapas, Mexico, which holds the tomb of the most famous king of Palenque, K’inich Janaab’ Pakal. Once translated, the glyph, or badge, was identified in more than 50 other inscriptions “depicting events like taking war prisoners, military entries to cities and other martial events of the Maya Classic period.”