Link to enlarge Masculine head from Palenque Chiapas from photo by Michel Zabé WHO'S WHO IN THE CLASSIC MAYA WORLD
Peter Mathews
Kan B'alam I    An early king of Palenque (born AD 524, ruled AD 572-583)PAL 007
Portraits


PAL:Temple of the Inscriptions,
Sarcophagus, East Side, Figur
Drawing by Merle Greene Robertson
(Green Robertson 1983: Figure 191)
The most famous portrait of Kan B'alam I is on the East Side of the Sarcophagus in the tomb below the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque. In this retrospective portrait, Kan B'alam I has as part of his headdress a jaguar head with snake eyes: in other words, he wears his name in his headdress. An almost identical jaguar headdress can be found in Pier E of the Temple of the Inscriptions, and Linda Schele and I have argued that this pier also contained a portrait of Kan B'alam I, even though his face no longer survives.



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