Link to enlarge Masculine head from Palenque Chiapas from photo by Michel Zabé WHO'S WHO IN THE CLASSIC MAYA WORLD
Peter Mathews
B'utz'aj Sak Chik    An early king of Palenque (born AD 459, ruled AD 487-ca.501)PAL 003
Portraits

None. It is possible that the central figure on the Sanctuary Tablet of Temple XVII is a portrait of B'utz'aj Sak Chik, but three Palenque rulers are named in the inscription, and it is unclear which of them is represented in the scene. The three rulers are B'utz'aj Sak Chik, Akul Mo' Nab' I, and K'inich Kan B'alam II. There are two small-glyph captions associated with the scene on the Tablet of Temple XVII. One of them relates to K'inich Kan B'alam II, recording a capture that he made in AD 687. The other caption has a Calendar Round date (3 Men 13 K'ayab') that is not securely placed in the Long Count. The possibilities are as follows:

9.13.  2.15.15 3 Men 13 K'ayab'rulerK'inich Kan B'alam II
9.10.10.  2.153 Men 13 K'ayab' K'inich Janab' Pakal I
9.  7.17.  7.153 Men 13 K'ayab' Ix Yol Ik'nal
9.  5.  4.12.153 Men 13 K'ayab' K'an Joy Chitam I
9.  2.11.17.153 Men 13 K'ayab' "Casper II" (but note that this date is about ½ year before B'utz'aj Sak Chik's accession).

None of the possible Long Count positions fall during the reign of Akul Mo' Nab' I, so he can confidently be ruled out. This still leaves B'utz'aj Sak Chik as a candidate. While none of the Long Count possibilities actually fall within B'utz'aj Sak Chik's reign, one of them—(9.2.11.17.15) 3 Men 13 K'ayab'—falls just ½ year before his accession. It is possible that this text refers to a pre-accession capture made by B'utz'aj Sak Chik. Nevertheless, I feel that on balance K'inich Kan B'alam II is favoured as the candidate for this scene, and that the caption refers to a capture during his reign on (9.13.2.15.15) 3 Men 13 K'ayab'. Accordingly, I have tentatively listed the portrait as that of K'inich Kan B'alam II.



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