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This is the reference from the East Panel of the Temple of the Inscriptions to the reign of Kan B'ahlam I. Because it follows a formula of counting by a Distance Number from an accession date to a Period Ending, we are able to reconstruct most of the eroded portion. In this case, the Distance Number of 8 days, 12 months, and 1 tuun (I2-J2) counts from what must have been the seating verb at I3. This is confirmed by the next glyph (J3) which reads "with the headband", because chumwaniy ta huun, "he was seated with the headband", is the same statement for accession that we saw with the previous ruler. Kan B'ahlam's name must have followed at I4 because the syntax demands it and we see the Palenque emblem glyph at J4. The 7 Ajaw at J5 is a tip-off that we are looking at a k'atun ending, since all k'atuns start with an Ajaw date. We know that the previous ruler, Kan B'ahlam's brother Ahkal Mo' Nahb' celebrated the 9.6.13.0.0 Period Ending but did not live to see the end of that k'atun. Thus we are given to suspect that the observances for 9.7.0.0.0 would have been conducted by his successor. And in fact 7 Ajaw 3 K'ank'in (J5-I6) is the Calendar Round for the Period Ending 9.7.0.0.0 (December 7, 573). If we subtract the Distance Number from this date, we arrive at a date of 9.6.18.5.12 10 Eb 0 Wo for Kan B'ahlam's accession, which, as we saw, checks out against the longer of the two Distance Numbers from the Temple of the Cross Tablet. The present passage continues with the verb ya-k'a-wa, yakaw, "he offered it" (J6) 'u-PIK, upik, "the skirt, dressings (of)" (I7) 'u-K'UH-li, 'uk'uhil, "his gods" (J7) (David Stuart [in prep.] for the PIK reading). The 13 Ajaw 18 Keh Calendar Round at I10-J10 is the date of another Period Ending celebrated by this ruler, which occurred five years, or one-fourth of a k'atun, after 9.7.0.0.0, on 9.7.5.0.0. This calendric period was called 'u-HO'-TUUN-ni, 'uho'tuun, literally "the five year" (I12). The glyph at J11 refers to it as 'u-pi-hi, 'upih, "their bundle". This is possessed by "the gods of" (J12) Kan B'ahlam (K1) "Divine Bone Lord" (L1). "Bone", or B'aak in Mayan, was the name of the ancient kingdom of Palenque - or it was the root of the name B'aakal, which is how the kingdom's name is spelled here: note the la subfix. (The sign to the right of the "wavy bone" is wa, a phonetic complement to 'AJAW). |