Jade Funerary Mask of Pakal
The funerary mask of K'inich Janaab' Pakal, the great seventh-century ruler of Palenque, is a mosaic of more than 340 pieces of green jadeite fitted over his face in the stone sarcophagus of the Temple of the Inscriptions. Discovered in 1952 by the Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier, the mask has eyes of shell and mother-of-pearl with pupils of black obsidian and stands about 25 centimetres tall. Jade carried deep meaning for the Classic Maya: the green stone evoked water, maize, the world centre and the breath of life, and the portrait is interpreted as showing the dead king reborn w