Who they were
Also known as K’inich Janaab’ Pakal, he took the throne of Palenque around 615 and ruled for nearly seventy years. He expanded the city and raised many of its finest buildings.
What they did
Under Pakal, Palenque produced remarkable architecture and sculpture, including the Temple of the Inscriptions built as his funerary monument. His reign left detailed hieroglyphic records of his dynasty.
Legacy
His intact tomb, found in 1952 beneath the Temple of the Inscriptions, is among the richest known in the ancient Americas. Its carved sarcophagus lid made him an icon of Classic Maya civilization.