Palenque Mayan ruins

Palenque was a Maya city in southern Mexico that dates back to 226 BC to around 799 AD. After its decline, it was absorbed into the jungle. Much of the history of Palenque has been reconstructed from reading the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the monuments. Historians now have a long sequence of the ruling dynasty of Palenque in the 5th century and extensive knowledge of the city-state's rivalry with other such as Calakmul and Tonina.

The most famous ruler of Palenque was Pacal the Great whose tomb has been found and excavated in the Temple of the Inscriptions.