Palenque is not the original Mayan name, it means Palisade or stockade of wood. This is a translation for the Chol Maya word of Otolum, this was how the local people called the city, when the Spaniards arrived. The name could also have been Lakam Ha, which means Big Water. The fact that the area in which the city was built is saturated with numerous springs, arroyos, creeks, and streams is enough to justify its ancient name. Scolars however believe that Lakam Ha was the name for the centre of the city with the Palace as central point. While the first rulers are known as Lords of the Holy Cloud Centre, later rulers became Lords of the Kingdom of B'aak or B'aakal, which means Bone or Boney.

People started to inhabit this region during the so-called Formative Period (2500 BC - 300 AD). In Preclassic and early Classic times, there is no evidence of substantial architecture. Thatched roofs over pole and thatched sides were all that was needed for housing in this tropical environment, and apparently the social structure at this time is not advanced to the point that would indicate the need for impressive buildings. Earlier buildings were probably to the west, around what's now known as the Oldivado group. It was not until A.D. 600-700 that the major architecture of the site, as seen today, was erected.
Rands (1976) believes that "Palenque might have existed on a chiefdom level at the time that states were already in existence in the Lowland Maya heartland but that, in the Otolum Complex, Palenque passed the threshold to statehood."
Modern scolars begin to see the importance of Teotihuacán, which seemed to have been the major power of Mesoamerica around the time the city was founded.

The founder of the city was K'uk Bahlam (Quetzal Jaguar), who became the first K'uhul Toktan Ajaw (Holy Cloud Center Lord) in 431 A.D. From this ruler on, the dynastic line can be followed until the last known ruler Wak Kimi Janahb' Pakal, who acceeded the thone in 799 A.D.












Kan B’ahlam succeded his father Pakal the Great in 684 and within three years defeated Tonina and extended his influence along the Usumacinta river as far as La Mar, a satellite town of Piedras Negras, and Anaite, seemingly the site of the same name today between Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan. Kan Balam II constructed the magnificent temples of the Cross Group.


Ahkal Mo' Nab' became ruler in 721, ten years after the capture of Kan Joy Chitam. Ahkal was the son of the third son of Pakal the Great, who is referred to as "Longlips", due to his portret on Pakal's tomb and Lady Kinuuw Mat, who came from the city of Ux Te' K'uh.
His construction program rivaled that of his predecessors.
The buildings associated with Ahkal Mo' Nahb' are Group IV, Temple XVIII, Temple XXI, and Temple XVI and Temple XIX.

This ruler was probably the son of Akhal Mo' Nahb' III. Before he acceeded the thrown he was known as Shield of the Sun God.


Last known ruler of Palenque.