Chapter 10

PLAN OF PALENQUE.Zinco A L Bancroft & Co S FView larger image.

PLAN OF PALENQUE.

Zinco A L Bancroft & Co S F

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I begin with the largest of the structures, marked 1 on the plan, and commonly known as the Palace, although of course nothing is known of its original use. From a narrow level on the left bank of the stream rises an artificial elevation of pyramidal form, with quadrangular base measuring about two hundred and sixty by three hundred and ten feet, and something over forty feet in height, with sloping sidesand traces of broad central stairways on the east and north.[VI-14]The sides were faced with regular blocks of hewn stone, but this facing has been so broken up and forced out of place by the roots of trees that the original outline is hardly distinguishable. Dupaix, both in text and drawings, divides the pyramid into three sections or stories by two projections of a few feet running horizontally round the sides; he puts a similar projection, or cornice, at the summit, and covers the whole surface of the sides with a polished coating of cement. That this state of things existed at the time of his exploration is possible, although not very probable; yet it is not unlikely that the slopes were originally covered with plaster, or even painted.

Mode of constructing Pyramid.

ORIGIN OF PYRAMIDAL STRUCTURES.

The material of which the bulk of the mound is composed is not very definitely stated by any visitor. I believe, however, that I have discovered a peculiarity in the construction of this pyramid, which may possibly throw some light on the origin of the pyramidal structure so universal among the civilized nations of the continent. I think that, perhaps with a view to raise this palace or temple above the waters of the stream, four thick walls, possibly more, were built up perpendicularly from the ground to the desired height; then, after the completion of the wallsto strengthen them, or during the progress of the work to facilitate the raising of the stones, the interior was filled with earth, and the exterior graded with the same material, the whole being subsequently faced with hewn stone. My reasons for this opinion may be illustrated by the annexed cut. All the authorities by text and plates represent the pyramid with sloping stone-faced sides, much damaged by the trees. Two of them, Stephens and Waldeck, making excavations from the summit at different points, clearly imply that the interior, D, is of earth. The height is given by all the visitors down to Stephens, as from forty to sixty feet. Now Charnay, coming nearly twenty years later, found the eastern side a perpendicular wall, only fifteen feet high, and proves the accuracy of his statement by his photograph, which, as he says, cannot lie. I cannot satisfactorily account for the condition of the structure as found by him, except by supposing that the stone facing, loosened by the trees, had fallen from B to F, and that the earth which filled the sides at EE, had been washed away by the rain, leaving the perpendicular wall at B. We shall see later that it is utterly impossible to fix any definite date for the founding of Palenque; but it is doubtless to be referred to the earliest period of American civilization which has left definite architectural traces; and its claims are perhaps as strong as those of any other to be considered the oldest American city. If this pyramid was the first erected and took its shape as above indicated, its adoption asa type throughout the region penetrated by the religion and civilization of its builders, would be very natural, although the form would afterwards be more readily attained by means of a solid structure. I offer this as a conjectural theory to take its place by the side of many others on the subject, and at the least not more devoid of foundation than several of its companions.[VI-15]It is not improbable that the builders may have taken advantage of a slight natural elevation as a foundation for their work.

EXTERIOR OF THE PALACE.

BAS-RELIEFS OF THE PALACE.

The summit platform of the pyramid supports the Palace, which covers its whole extent save a narrow passage round the edge, and the exterior dimensions of which are about one hundred and eighty by two hundred and twenty-eight feet and thirty feet high.[VI-16]The outer wall, a large portion of which has fallen, was pierced with about forty doorways, which were generally wider than the portions of the wall that separated them, giving the whole the appearance of a portico with wide piers. The doorways are eight and a half feet high and nine feet wide. The tops seem to have been originally flat, but the lintels have in every case fallen and disappeared, having been perhaps of wood; indeed, Charnay claims to have found the marks of one of these wooden lintels composed of two pieces, while Del Rio found a plain rectangular block of stone five by six feet, extending from one of the piers to another. The whole exterior was covered with a coat of hard plaster, and there are some traces of a projecting cornice which surrounded the building above the doorways, pierced at regular intervals with small circular holes, such as I have noticed in Yucatan, conjectured with much reason to have originallyheld poles which supported a kind of awning. Later visitors have found no part of the roof remaining in place; but Castañeda, who may have found some portion standing, represents it as sloping, plain, and plastered. From the interior construction and from the roofs of other Palenque buildings, it is probable that his drawing gives a correct idea of the Palace in this respect. Dupaix often speaks of the roofs at Palenque as being covered with large stone flags (lajas) carefully joined; other authors are silent respecting the arrangement of the stones in the roofs. Judging from the position of the grand stairway that leads up the side of the pyramid, and from the arrangement of the interior doorways, the chief entrance, or front, of the Palace, was on the east, towards the stream. It is from this side, although not so well preserved as some other portions, that general views have been taken.[VI-17]Of the piers that separated the doorways in this outer wall, only fifteen have been found standing, eight on the east and seven on the west, although their foundations may be readily traced throughout nearly the whole circumference. Each of the remaining piers, and probably of all in their original condition, contained on its external surface a bas-relief in stucco, and these reliefs with their borders occupied the whole space between the doorways. The cuts, fig. 1, 2, and 3, represent three of the best preserved of the reliefs, drawings of six only of them having been published. Most of the designs, like those shown in the cuts, were of human figures in various attitudes, and having a variety of dress, ornaments, and insignia. Itwill be noticed that the faces are all in profile, and the foreheads invariably flattened. This cranial form was doubtless the highest type of beauty or nobility in the eyes of the ancient artists; and of course the natural inference is that it was artificially produced by methods similar to those employed by the Mayas of more modern times. Yet many have believed that the builders of Palenque or the priests and leaders that directed the work were of a now extinct race, the peculiar natural conformation of whose forehead was artificially imitated by the descendants of their disciples. The many far-fetched explanations of these strange figures, which fertile imaginations have devised,would not, I believe, be instructive to the reader, who will derive more amusement and profit from his own conjectures. The resemblance of the head-dress in fig. 2 to an elephant's trunk is, however, somewhat striking. We may be very sure that these figures placed in so prominent a position on the exterior walls of the grandest edifice in the city, were not merely ornamental and without significance; and it is almost equally certain that the three hieroglyphic signs over the top of each group would, if they could be read, explain their meaning. Some of the piers seem to have been covered entirely with hieroglyphics in stucco, but better preserved specimens of these inscriptionswill be shown in connection with other buildings at Palenque. The stucco, or cement, from which the figures are molded, is the same as that with which the whole building was covered, and is nearly as hard as the stone itself. M. Charnay found evidence to convince him that the reliefs were put on after the regular coating of cement had become hardened; Dupaix believes that some of them were molded over a skeleton of small stones, in the same way perhaps as the gigantic faces at Izamal in Yucatan. Traces of color in sheltered portions make it evident that the piers were originally painted.[VI-18]

Bas-Relief in Stucco.—Fig. 1.

Bas-Relief in Stucco.—Fig. 2.

Bas-Relief in Stucco.—Fig. 3.

Ground Plan of the Palace.View larger image.

Ground Plan of the Palace.

View larger image.

PLAN OF THE PALACE.

Nothing further remains to be said of the exterior of the Palace; let us therefore enter the doorway at the head of the eastern stairway. The main building is found to consist of two corridors, formed by three parallel walls and covered by one roof, which extend entirely round the circumference of the platform, and enclose a quadrangular court measuring about one hundred and fifty by two hundred feet. This court also contains five or six buildings, some of them connected with the main edifice, others separate, which divide the court into four smaller ones. The whole arrangement of buildings and courts is clearly shown in the preceding ground plan. Atb, is the chief entrance at the head of the eastern stairway;a,a,a, etc., are the standing piers with stucco bas-reliefs, which have been noticed already; A, A, B, B, etc., are the main corridors; C, D, E, F, G, the smaller enclosed buildings; 1, 2, 3, 4, the courts.[VI-19]

THE PALACE CORRIDORS.

Entering atb, we find that the corridors extend uninterruptedly on the east and north, but are divided on the other sides, especially on the south, into compartments. In the inner as in the outer wall doorways are frequent, while the central wall has but few. The corridors are each nine feet wide and twenty feet high, the perpendicular walls being ten feet, and the sides of the ceiling inclining inward from that height until they nearly form an acuteangle at the top. The cut represents a section of the two corridors in nearly their true proportions. The walls are from two to three feet thick, and so far as can be determined from the authorities, they are built entirely of hewn blocks of stone, without the interior filling of rubble which I have noticed in the Yucatan ruins. Indeed, with a thickness of three feet or less the use of rubble would have been almost impracticable. Floor, walls, and ceiling are covered with a coating of the same hard cement found on the exterior walls. The cut on the following page is a view from a point somewhat southward fromb, and looking northward into the corridor; it gives an excellent idea of the present appearance of this portion of the Palace. The construction of the ceiling, both in the Palace and in other Palenque structures, is by means of the triangular arch of overlapping stones, as in Yucatan. A remarkable difference, however, is that the projecting corners of the blocks, instead of being beveled so as to leave a smooth stone surface, are left, and the smooth surface is obtained by filling the notches with cement.

Section of the Palace Corridors.

Palace Corridor at Palenque.

Elevation of Palace Corridor.

The doorway through the central wall atc, is eighteen feet high, and its top, instead of being flat like those in the outer wall, takes the form of atrefoil arch; depressions, or niches, of the same trefoil form, extend at regular intervals right and left from the doorway along the inclined face of the ceiling. The last cut gives a clear idea of the doorway and trefoil niches, but the artist who copied it from Catherwood's plate forMorelet's Travels, from which I take it, has erred in representing the niches as continuing downward on the perpendicular wall. Near the top of the perpendicular wall was a line of what seem to have been circular stucco medallions, perhaps portraits, atd,d,d, of the plan, which have for the most part fallen. Small circular holes, apparently left by the decay of beams that once stretched across the arch, occur at regular intervals between the niches of the ceiling. The cut shows a front elevation of the corridor fromeof the plan looking eastward, and includes all the peculiarities found in any part of the corridors. The position of the medallions is shown, though they are really on the opposite side of the wall, and the shaded figures on the left of the cut are introduced from other parts of the Palace, to illustrate the different forms of niches which occur in the walls. The niches on the right are in their proper place. The three which are symmetrically placed at each side of this and some other doorways, are from eight to ten inches square, and have a cylinder two inches in diameter fixed upright within each. They would seem to have served in some way to support thedoors. TheTshaped niches are of very frequent occurrence throughout the ruins, and have caused much speculation by reason of their resemblance to the Egyptiantauand to the cross. Some of them extend quite through the walls, and served probably for ventilation and the admission of light. Others of the same shape are of varying depths and of unknown use; they may have been niches for the reception of small idols, or possibly designed to hold the torches which lit up the corridors, since M. Waldeck claims to have found the marks of lamp-black on the tops of some of them.[VI-20]Nothing remains to be said of the corridors of the main building, save that the interior like the exterior surface of the walls bears traces of red paint over the coating of plaster in certain sheltered portions.[VI-21]

COURT OF THE PALACE.

Passing through the doorwayewe enter the court 1, the dimensions of which are about seventy by eighty feet, its pavement, like that of the other courts, being eight or ten feet below that of the corridors. This pavement is covered to a depth of several feet with débris, which has never been entirely cleared away by any explorer. The court is bounded on the north and eastby the walls, or piers, of the inner corridor, and on the south and west by those of the interior buildings C and D. The piers, whose position and number are clearly indicated on the plan, are, except those on the north, yet standing, and each has its stucco bas-relief as on the eastern front. These reliefs are, however, much damaged, and no drawings of them have been made, or, at least, published. Broad stairways of five or six steps lead down to the level of the court pavement, atg,g,g,g, and a narrow stairway,h, affords access through an end door to the building E.[VI-22]

Sculptured Group in the Palace Court.

The eastern stairway is thirty feet wide, and on each side of it, ati,i, on a surface about fifteen feet long by eleven feet high, formed by immense stone slabs inclined at about the same angle as the stairway itself, is sculptured in low relief a group of human figures in peculiar attitudes. The northern group is shown in the accompanying cut. Stephens pronounces the attitude of the figures one of pain and trouble. "The design and anatomical proportions of the figuresare faulty, but there is a force of expression about them which shows the skill and conceptive power of the artist."[VI-23]Stephens' plate of this side of the court shows remains of stucco ornamentation and also a line of small circular holes over the doorways of the inner corridor. The opposite or western stairway is narrower than the eastern, and at its sides, atj, j, are two colossal human figures sculptured in a hard whitish stone, as shown in the cut, in which, however, the stairway is shown somewhat narrower than its true proportions. Waldeck sees in these figures a male and female whose features are of the Caucasian type. At the sides of the stairway, atk, k, k, stand three figures of smaller dimensions, sculptured on pilasters which occur at regular intervals. On the basement wall between the pilasters are found small squares of hieroglyphics.[VI-24]In the centre of the court Waldeck found some traces of a circular basin.

Sculptured Figures in Palace Court.

COURTS OF THE PALACE.

The western court, 2, measuring about thirty by eighty feet, has a narrow stairway of three steps atl, leading up to the central building C. At the ends of this stairway, ato,o, are two large blocks similar in position to those atj,j, but their sloping fronts bear no sculptured figures. As in the other court, however, there are some squares of hieroglyphics on the basement walls. The piers round this court, such as remain standing, bear each a stucco bas-relief.[VI-25]

In the southern court, 3, stands the structure known as the Tower, marked G on the plan. Its base is about thirty feet square, and rests like the other buildings on the platform of the pyramid some eight or ten feet above the pavement of the courts. This base is solid, but has niches, or false doorways, on the sides. Above the base two slightly receding stories are still standing, with portions of a third, each with a doorway—whose lintel has fallen—in the centre of each side, and surrounded by two plain cornices. The walls are plain and plastered. The whole structure is of solid masonry, and the fact that large trees have grown from the top, presenting a broad surface to the winter winds, which have not been able to overturn the Tower, shows the remarkable strength of its construction. The height of the standing portion is about fifty feet above the platform of the pyramid. Respecting the interior arrangement of the Tower, I am unable to form a clear idea from the descriptions and drawings of the different visitors, notwithstanding the fact that Waldeck gives an elevation, section, and ground plan of each story. Stephens describes the structure as consisting of a smaller tower within the larger, and a very narrow staircase leading up from story to story. Waldeck deemed the Tower a chef d'œuvre, while to Stephens' eyes it appeared unsatisfactory and uninteresting. Dupaix, without doubt erroneously,represents the doors as surmounted by regular arches with keystones.[VI-26]

Respecting the other interior buildings of the Palace, the construction of which is precisely the same as that of the main corridors, very little remains to be said, especially since their location and division into apartments are shown clearly in the plan. According to Waldeck, the central room of the building D had traces of rich ornamentation in stucco on its walls; and he also claims to have found here an acoustic tube of terra cotta, the mouth of which was concealed by an ornament of the same material, but of this extraordinary relic he gives no description. Stephens found in one of the holes in the ceiling the worm-eaten remains of a wooden pole, about a foot in length, the only piece of wood found in Palenque, and very likely not a part of the original building at all. Except this chamber, the building is mostly in ruins, although, as we have seen, the northern piers remain standing.[VI-27]

The roofs of some of the interior buildings seem to have been somewhat better preserved than those of the main corridors, so that the sloping roof, double cornice, and remains of stucco ornamentation wereobservable. In the western apartment of the building C, the walls have several, in one place as many as six, distinct coatings of plaster, each hardened and painted before the next was applied. There was also noticed a line of what appeared to be written characters in black, covered by a thin translucent coating.[VI-28]

Sculptured Tablet in the Palace.—Fig. 1.

Sculptured Tablet in the Palace.—Fig. 2.

SCULPTURED TABLET.

The building E has the interior walls of its two northern apartments decorated with painted and stucco figures in a very mutilated condition. In the wall of one of them, at the pointp, is fixed an elliptical stone tablet, three feet wide and four feet high, the surface of which is covered by the sculptured device shown in the cut. With the exceptionof the figures in the court 1, already mentioned, this is the only instance of stone-carving in the Palace. It is cut in low relief, and is surrounded by an ornamental border of stucco. A table consisting of a plain rectangular stone slab resting on four blocks which served as legs, stood formerly on the pavement immediately under the sculptured tablet. Tables of varying dimensions, but of like construction, were found in several apartments of the Palace and its subterranean galleries, as shown in the plan at v, v, v. They are called tables, beds, or altars, by different writers. Waldeck says that this one was of green jasper; and Del Rio, that its edges and legs weresculptured, one of the latter having been carried away by him and sent to Spain. The first cut which I have given is taken from Waldeck's drawing. The second cut, representing a portion of the same tablet, taken from Catherwood's plate, forMorelet's Travels, differs slightly in some respects—notably in the ornament suspended from the neck, represented by one artist as a face, and by the other as a cross. Of the subject Mr Stephens says: "The principal figure sits cross-legged on a couch ornamented with two leopards' heads; the attitude is easy, the physiognomy the same as that of the other personages, and the expression calm and benevolent. The figure wears around its neck a necklace of pearls, to which is suspended a small medallion containing a face; perhaps intended as an image of the sun. Like every other subject of sculpture we had seen in the country, the personage had earrings, bracelets on the wrists, and a girdle round the loins. The head-dress differs from most of the others at Palenque in that it wants the plumes of feathers.... The other figure, which seems that of a woman, is sitting cross-legged on the ground, richly dressed, and apparently in the act of making an offering. In this supposed offering is seen a plume of feathers, in which the headdress of the principal person is deficient." Waldeck deems the left-hand figure to be black, and recognizes in the profile an Ethiopian type. Del Rio sees in the subject homage paid to a river god; and Galindo believes the object offered to be a human head. Somebody imagines that the two animal heads are those of the seal.[VI-29]

The stucco ornaments on the walls of the building F seem to have been richer and more numerous than elsewhere, but were found in a very dilapidated condition. In the roomq, Stephens found traces of a stone tablet in the wall, and he also gives a sketch of a stucco bas-relief from the side of a doorway, representing a standing human figure in a very damaged state. A peculiar stucco ornament sketched by Castañeda is probably from the same room, and is perhaps identical with what Waldeck describes as a sanctuary with two birds perched on an elephant's head, the latter, however, not appearing in the drawing.[VI-30]

SUBTERRANEAN GALLERIES.

Ornament over a Doorway.

Within the pyramid itself, and above the surface of the ground, although frequently spoken of as subterranean, are found apartments, or galleries, with walls of stone plastered but without ornament, of the same form and construction as the corridors above. Such as have been explored are at the south end of the pyramid and for the most part without the line of the Palace walls, with lateral galleries, however, extending under the corridors and affording communication with the upper apartments by means of stairways. The arrangement of the galleries and their entrances is made sufficiently clear by the fine lines at the bottom of the plan, yet perhaps very little is known of their original extent. The southernmost gallery receives a dim light by three holes or windows leading out to the surface of the pyramid; the other galleries are dark and damp, with water running over their pavements in the rainy season. The walls are much fallen and the galleries blocked up at several points. At the south-western corner an opening affords a means of egress near the surface of the ground; but this, as well as the windows mentioned, may be accidentalor of modern origin and have formed no part of the original plan. These rooms are variously regarded as sleeping-rooms, dungeons, or sepulchres, according to the temperament of the observer. Whatever their use, they contain several of the low tables mentioned before, one of which is said to have been richly decorated with sculpture. M. Morelet occupied one of these lower rooms during his visit, as being more comfortable than the others, at least in the dry season. The chief entrance to the vaults seems to have been from one of the southern rooms of the building E, at the pointr, through an opening in the floor. A narrow stairway by which the descent was made, is divided into two flights by a platform and doorway, surmounting which was the stucco deviceshown in the cut. Waldeck states that when he found this decoration it was partially covered with stalactites formed by trickling water. His explanation, by which he connects the figures with aboriginal astronomical signs and the division of time, is too long and too extremely conjectural to be repeated here. Stephens noticed this ornament but gives no drawing of it. It was sketched by Castañeda together with another somewhat similar one. Dupaix speaks of two doors in this stairway; Del Rio speaks of several landings, and says that he brought away a fragment of one of the ornamented steps. I suspect the visitors may have confounded this stairway with another atw, concerning which nothing is particularly said. Somewhere in connection with these stairways Dupaix found a tablet of hieroglyphics which he brought away with him, and concerning which he states the remarkable fact that on the reverse side of the tablet, built into the wall, were the same characters painted that were sculptured on the face. Openings through the pavement were found at several points, as in the court 1, and the building C, which led to no regular galleries, but to simple and small excavations in the earth, very likely the work of some early explorer or searcher for hidden treasure.[VI-31]

THE PALACE RESTORED.

Having now given all the information in my possession respecting the Palace, I present in the accompanying cut a restoration of the structure made by a German artist, but which I have taken the liberty to change in several respects. The reader will notice a few points in which the cut does not exactly agree with my description; such as the curved surface of the roofs, the height of the tower and its spire, the width of the western stairway in court 1, etc., yet it may be regarded as giving an excellent idea of whatthe Palace was in the days when its halls and courts were thronged with the nobility or priesthood of a great people. The view is from the north-east on the bank of the stream, and besides the palace includes the edifice No. 2 of the general plan.[VI-32]

Restoration of the Palace.

The structure No. 2 shown in the last cut stands a short distance south-west from the Palace, and may be known as the Temple of the Three Tablets. The pyramid supporting it, of the same construction as the former so far as may be judged from outward examination, is said by Stephens to measure one hundred and ten feet on the slope, and seems to have had continuous steps all round its sides, now much displaced by the forest. The cut on the following page presents a view of this temple from the north-east as it appeared at the time of Catherwood's visit, and illustrates very vividly the manner in which the ruins are enveloped in a tropical vegetation.

Temple of the Three Tablets.

TEMPLE OF THE THREE TABLETS.

Temple and Pyramid.—Fig. 1.

Temple of the Three Tablets.—Fig. 2.

The building, which stands on the summit platform but does not like the Palace cover its whole surface,is seventy-six feet long, twenty-five feet wide, and about thirty-five feet high. The front, or northern, elevation is shown in the cuts. Fig. 1 includes the temple with the supporting pyramid, and fig. 2 presents the building on a larger scale. Each of the four central piers on this front has its bas-relief in stucco, while the two lateral piers have each ninety-six small squares of hieroglyphics, also in stucco. The bas-reliefs represent single human figures, standing, and each bearing in its arms an infant, or in one instance some unknown object. They are all very much mutilated, and although drawings have been published, I do not think it necessary to reproduce them. The roof is divided into two sections, sloping at different angles; the lower slope was covered with painted stucco decorations, and had also five square solid projections, one over each doorway. The dividing line between the two slopes marks the heightof the apartments in the interior, the upper portion being solid masonry. Along the ridge of the roof was a line of pillars, of stone and mortar, eighteen inches high and twelve inches apart, probably square, although nothing is said of their shape, and surmounted by a layer of projecting flat stones. Similar constructions may possibly have existed originally on some of the Palace roofs, since they would naturally be among the first to fall. Waldeck's plate represents a small platform in front of the doorways, ascended by four lateral stairways. Respecting the two square projections below the piers at the side of the central doorway there is no information except their representation by Catherwood in the cut, fig. 2.

Ground plan—Temple of the Three Tablets.

Section—Temple of the Three Tablets.

The arrangement of the interior is shown in the accompanying ground plan. The central wall is four or five feet thick, and is pierced by three doorways, which afford access to three apartments in the rear. The front corridor has a small window at each end; Stephens speaks of two slight openings about three inches wide in each of the lateral apartments of the rear; and the plan indicates two similar openings in the central room, although he speaks of them as dark and gloomy. Castañeda's drawing shows only one window at the end; it also represents the building as having a roof like the Palace, and as standing on a natural rocky hill in which some steps are cut, no bas-reliefs or other decorations appearing on thefront. The interior walls are perfectly plain, and it is not even definitely stated that they are plastered. In the walls, however, ata,b, andc, of the ground plan, are fixed stone tablets one foot thick, each composed of several blocks, neatly joined and covered with sculptured hieroglyphics. Those in the central wall, ataandb, measure eight by thirteen feet, and contain each two hundred and forty squares of hieroglyphics in a very good state of preservation, while the one hundred and forty squares of the tablet in the rear apartment, three and a half by four feet, are much damaged by trickling water. Drawings of the hieroglyphics have been made by Waldeck and Catherwood only, although other visitors speak of them. I do not copy the drawings here, because, in the absence of any key to their meaning, the specimen which I shall present from another part of the ruins is as useful to the reader as the whole would be. The cut is a longitudinal section of this temple at the central wall, and shows the position of the tablets. Waldeck's drawing represents the two lateral doorways as having flat tops. Brasseur tells us that, according to the statements of the natives, the tablets were used originally for educational purposes. M. Charnay found them still undisturbed in 1859.[VI-33]

Ground plan—Temple of the Beau Relief.

THE BEAU RELIEF.

Beau Relief in Stucco.

Some four hundred yards south of the Palace is a pyramid, only partly artificial if we may credit Dupaix, and rising with a steep slope of one hundred feet from the bank of the stream according to Stephens, on which is a small building, No. 3 of the plan, which we may call, with Waldeck, the Temple of the Beau Relief. This edifice was found by later visitors in an advanced state of ruin, and Catherwood's drawings of it are much less satisfactory than in the case of other Palenque ruins; but both Dupaix and Waldeck found it in a tolerably good state of preservation, and were enabled to sketch and describe its principal features. This temple measured eighteen by twenty feet, apparently fronting the east, and is twenty-five feet high. It presents the peculiarity of an apartment in the pyramid, immediately under the upper rooms. The cut gives ground plans—No. 1 of the upper, and No. 2 of the lower rooms. The stairway which afforded communication between thetwo, is also shown. Catherwood's drawing, however, represents the upper and lower apartments as alike in everything but height. On the rear, or western, wall, ata, was the Beau Relief in stucco, which gives a name to the temple, the finest specimen of stucco work in America, shown in the accompanying cut.It was sketched by Castañeda and Waldeck, in whose drawings some differences of detail appear. At the time of Stephens' visit only the lower portions remained for study; yet he pronounced this "superior in execution to any other stucco relief in Palenque." At the time of Charnay's visit the last vestige of this beautiful relic had disappeared. Waldeck speaks of a tomb found in connection with this pyramid, which he had no time to explore, having made the discovery just before leaving the ruins.[VI-34]

Temple of the Cross.

TEMPLE OF THE CROSS.

Standing about one hundred and fifty yards a little south of east from the Palace, and on the opposite bank of the stream Otolum, is the building No. 4 of the plan, known as the Temple of the Cross, standing on a pyramid which measures one hundred and thirty-four feet on the slope. Mr Stephens locates this temple several hundred feet further south than I have placed it on the plan. Charnay describes the pyramid as partly natural but faced with stone. The temple is fifty feet long, thirty-one feet wide, and about forty feet high. The cut shows the front, orsouthern elevation. The construction of the lower portion is precisely like that of the other buildings which have been described. The two lateral piers were covered with hieroglyphics, and the central ones bore human figures, all in stucco. The lower slope of the roof was also covered with stucco decorations, among which were fragments of a head and two bodies, pronounced by Stephens to approach the Greek models in justness of proportion and symmetry. On the top, the roof formed a platform thirty-five feet long and about three feet wide, which supported the peculiar two-storied structure shown in the preceding cut, fifteen feet and ten inches high. This is a kind of frame, or open lattice, of stone blocks covered with a great variety of stucco ornaments. A layer of projecting flat stones caps the whole, and from the summit, one hundred feet perhaps above the ground, a magnificent view is afforded, which stretches over the whole forest-covered plain to Laguna de Terminos and the Mexican gulf. This superstructure, like some that I have described at Uxmal and elsewhere in Yucatan, would seem to have been added to the temple solely to give it a more imposing appearance. It could hardly have served as an observatory, since there are no facilities for mounting to the summit.[VI-35]

Ground plan—Temple of the Cross.

The interior arrangement is made clear by the adjoined plan. Within the central apartment of the rear, or northern, corridor, and directly opposite to the main doorway is an enclosure measuring seven by thirteen feet. From its being mentioned as an enclosure rather than a regular room by Stephens, it would seem probable that it does not reach the full height of the chamber, but has a ceiling, or covering, of its own. At any rate, it receives light only by the doorway. Besides a heavy cornice round the enclosure, the doorway was surmounted by massive and graceful stucco decorations, and at its sides on the exterior were originally two stone tablets bearing each a human figure sculptured in low relief, resembling in their general characteristics the more common stucco designs, but somewhat more elaborately draped and decorated. One of them wears a leopard-skin as a cloak. These tablets were sketched by both Waldeck and Catherwood in the village of Santo Domingo, whither they had been carried and set up in a modern house. Stephens understood them to come from another of the ruins yet to be mentioned, but the evidence indicates strongly that he was misinformed. Both Waldeck and Stephens entered into some negotiations with a view to remove these tablets; at thetime of the former's visit the condition of obtaining them was to marry one of the proprietresses; in Stephens' time a purchase of the house in which they stood would suffice. Neither removed them.[VI-36]

Tablet of the Cross.

TABLET OF THE CROSS.

Fixed in the wall at the back of the enclosure, and covering nearly its whole surface, was the tablet of the cross, six feet four inches high, ten feet eight inches wide, and formed of three stones. The central stone, and part of the western, bear the sculptured figures shown in the cut. The rest of the western, and all of the eastern stone, were covered with hieroglyphics. This cut is a photographic reduction ofWaldeck's drawing, the accuracy of which is proved by a careful comparison with Charnay's photograph. The subject doubtless possessed a religious signification, and the location of the tablet may be considered a sacred altar, or most holy place, of the ancient Maya or Tzendal priesthood. Two men, probably priests, clad in the robes and insignia of their office, are making an offering to the cross or to a bird perched on its summit. This tablet has been perhaps the most fruitful theme for antiquarian speculation yet discovered in America, but a fictitious importance has doubtless been attached to it by reason of some fancied connection between the sculptured cross and the Christian emblem. All agree respecting the excellence of the sculpture. Of the two priests, Stephens says: "They are well drawn, and in symmetry of proportion are perhaps equal to many that are carved on the walls of the ruined temples in Egypt. Their costume is in a style different from any heretofore given, and the folds would seem to indicate that they were of a soft and pliable texture like cotton." Stephens and other writers discover a possible likeness in the object offered to a new-born child. Of the hieroglyphics which cover the two lateral stones, the cut on the opposite page shows, as a specimen, the upper portion of the western stone, or what may be considered, perhaps, the beginning of the inscription. The large initial character, like an aboriginal capital letter, is a remarkable feature. In Dupaix's time all parts of the tablet were probably in their place, and in good condition, but his artist only sketched, and that somewhat imperfectly, the cross and human figures, omitting the hieroglyphics. Waldeck and Stephens found and sketched the central stone in the forest on the bank of the stream, to which point it had been removed, according to the former, with a view to its removal to the United States, but according to the latter its intended destination had been the village of Santo Domingo.Stephens says he found the eastern stone entirely destroyed, though Charnay speaks of it as still in place nearly twenty years later; why Waldeck made no drawing of it does not appear.[VI-37]

MAYA HIEROGLYPHICS.

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