Theory #23- Spatial relationships to the Mayan Afterlife: Final Statements

Theoretical Site Interpretation of the Palenque Ruins

The Palenque ruins are one of the many fascinating archeological sites that Mexico offers to tourists, historians, architects and others alike. Located in Chiapas, this archeological site holds many keys to understanding the mysterious and intriguing culture of the Mayas. After Palenque had been introduced to the class as the site for our next project, careful analysis of the overall site afforded students in the class an opportunity to formulate a theory for why our professor chose an even more specific site which contained the Temple of Inscriptions and the Palace of Palenque. A personal study of the site (which included researching, diagramming, and constructing a final model) produced a theory which explains how King Pakal’s construction of vessels at Palenque physically manifests the final spiritual journey taken in the afterlife as believed in the Mayan religion.

This theory developed even further after studying the Mayan religion which was an extremely important aspect in the culture. It was polytheistic and full of stories about sacrificing children, animals and other sacred objects in order to satisfy the gods. Another important part of the religion explains how the Mayas held that there were 3 distinct realms in the world. One realm consisted of the everyday, earthly life, and the other two realms were equivalent to something similar to an afterlife. These two realms had specific names; The 13 Levels of Heaven and the 9 Levels of the Underworld (also called Xibalba). Interestingly enough, these two shared a close connection to the tangible world by way of a tree which could be found in the earthly realm. This tree, the sacred Cieba tree, was believed to be rooted in Xibalba and had branches which extended upward to the 13 levels of heaven. Because of this and what we know of the Mayan religious beliefs, we can infer that moving down was considered highly sacred, as well as moving upward. In regards to the realm of the underworld, the Mayas believed that once a person of royalty died (such as King Pakal), that person would have to endure a difficult journey through the 9 levels of the underworld (Xibalba) in order to reach the final stage of rebirth. They believed that each level of the underworld was ruled by gods of death and disease who had to be defeated before the dead could journey to the next level and eventually be reborn as a god. On the other hand, even though it is certain that the Mayas did believe in the 13 levels of heaven, there is very little information on the details of what was believed to occur within these levels.

After studying the importance of religion to the Mayas, it was easy to see its relationship to the construction of the Temple of inscriptions. This connection was blatantly obvious when examining the 9 levels of the stepped pyramid of the Temple. The Palace however, did not seem to have an immediate connection. This first impression quickly changed after close examination of the spaces within the structures, and not their actual construction. It seemed that certain spaces had noticeably similar characteristics in the way that they were arranged, organized and contained. For instance, the outer perimeter of the Palace consists mostly of public spaces which move upward in order to bring occupants further into the structure. As the occupant moves inwardly through the construct, space becomes increasingly more private and compact with a change in scale and the utilization of narrow walls (created by corbelled vault construction). Concurrently, distinctive spaces (such as the tower) gain a gradual upward movement while others (the subterranean tunnels) gain downward movement which is related to the religious significance of moving upward and downward between the 13 levels of heaven and the 9 levels of the underworld from the earthly realm.

Another example of this spatial arrangement happens within the Temple of Inscriptions. Although the building appears to be an impenetrable fortress, the spaces within are organized in a similar fashion. Though the spaces are seemingly less complex in comparison to the Palace, the same architectural language is used. The entrance to the

Temple involves an arduous climb up an exterior stairway which finally leads the occupant to a small, semi-public covered space situated at the top. A small opening in the floor of the space leads the occupant down a staircase which becomes narrower as it descends. Eventually the passageway leads to the smallest, deepest space within the Temple of Inscriptions- Pakal’s tomb. Thus, these organizational systems create complex layers and nested spaces that can be similarly identified in the journey taken to get to the Mayan afterlife.

After finally realizing the relationship between the tangibility of Pakal’s construction and the conceptualization of the Mayan religion, a diagrammatic drawing based on the site of Palenque was created. Initially, only the interior spaces of the Temple and Palace were drawn, as well as the surrounding structures in order to show the context of the two important buildings. The 2-dimensional drawing seemed somewhat disjointed, similar to what an archeologist might find within an excavated dig site; however, it accurately portrayed the important spaces which founded the theory of construction related to an afterlife.

Soon after the completion of the drawing, volume was established in both structures by cutting out the figural representations and extruding them upwards or downwards at different levels. The intricacies of the spaces within the Palace were compared to the simplicity of the spaces within the Temple by physically cutting and removing voids that were present in the original drawing. Specifically, the subterranean tunnels were placed at the lowest level in the Palace while Pakal’s tomb also shared a place at that same level. The tower on the other hand, secured the highest position within the Palace while the semi-public room situated at the top of the Temple of Inscriptions was situated at an even higher level.

Finally, this diagrammatic drawing combined with the previously researched information allowed for the construction of an individual model. This model would be placed within a larger site model that had been constructed by the entire class shortly after the assignment of Palenque as our site. The final model called for an architectural program, which was created by each student in respect to their individual theory. This enabled each student to build according to his or her chosen program. Since the personal theory dealt mainly with the religion of the Mayas, a program dealing with their religious rituals seemed fitting. In further investigation of the religious rituals, it is understood that a vessel chant was used to bless sacred god pots that were used to sacrifice food and other substances to the gods of the Mayas. For this reason, the Palace of Palenque would become a structure for storing and blessing these pots. As an occupant moves from the outside of the Palace to the interior spaces, the storage spaces for the pots, as well as the pots themselves, become more meaningful. For instance, an outer wall shaded by an overhead condition provides cubby-like spaces to hold burial urns (shown to the left) which have just been created by the Mayan artists. These pots have not yet been blessed, which is motivation for the occupant to carry the pots inside the Palace in order to perform the vessel chant in a privately sanctioned blessing room. After doing so, the urns would then possess sacred qualities and be prepared for burial in the tomb with King Pakal. Another storage area located underneath a small staircase is intended to hold larger, incense burning pots. (shown below.) These pots were often used when Mayans offered sacrifices up to the gods. They would then be carried to the top of the Tower balcony where one would perform yet another chant to bless and sacrifice gifts to the gods in order to keep them satisfied. It is noteworthy, however, that this ritual is separate from the blessing of the burial urns. Once all of the necessary pots for burial were blessed, they would then be transported to the Temple of Inscriptions. An underground tunnel leading from the Palace to the Temple would allow for this one-time transportation in order for the burial of these pots in the tomb alongside King Pakal.

This sacred burial ritual of these pots and urns in the tomb is deemed necessary in order to accompany King Pakal in his journey through the 9 Levels of the Underworld to help him defeat the gods of death and disease so that he can be reborn again.

Diagram of tomb construction showing the small, compact space within it (click to zoom in)