Way back in 1952, when Yuri Knorozov made his breakthrough discovery that the Mayan glyphs were mostly syllabic, not phonetic, most Mayan scholars failed to believe him. Michael Coe, David Kelly and Floyd Lounsbury were among the few exceptions. Since that time, thanks to those old-hand epigraphers and such relative newcomers as Linda Schele and Peter Mathews, steady progress has been made in deciphering the wealth of Mayan texts. Though these numerous inscriptions tell us nothing about what the common people were up to, we are now able to read and understand a little of the fascinating history of important rulers like Pacal, King of Palenque, and his lifelong struggle to prove his right to the throne.                             
     K'inich Janaab' Pacal was born on March 23, 603 CE, the son of  Lord K’an Mo’Hix and Lady Sak K’uk’, the reigning Queen of Palenque. Because the royal family claimed the throne through the First Mother, affectionately known to scholars as Lady Beastie, theirs was one of the few pre-Colombian dynasties that allowed a woman to take the crown in default of a male heir. Even so, she was expected to step down the moment any son of hers reached maturity. Pacal, whose name means “Shield” in the Mayan tongue, was crowned king by his mother on July 29th, 615, shortly after his 12th birthday.
     The passing of the crown from mother to son was not unknown. It had taken place not many years before when Pacal’s great-grandmother, Lady Kanal-Ikal was queen and her son, Ac-Kan succeeded her. Despite this precedent and the fact Pacal proved to be an unusually wise and capable ruler during his long reign, his right to rule at all was always in question. Since, in all other matters of inheritance the Palenque society property and titles passed only from the father to his heirs, other noble houses felt their claims to the throne to be more valid.

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