The Red Queen: the secrets that this Mayan aristocrat hides

Cinnabar characterizes its final resting place, which is a material used to preserve human remains, in addition to being composed of toxic substances from mercury and sulfur. Those who imagine it might imitate it as a figure that is under a red light to magenta tones that makes it look more reddish.

Its discovery took place in 1994 in the “Temple of the Skull” in Palenque, which served as his tomb in which the sarcophagus which contained his remains in red tones was found and the tomb is said to be in the 13th century.

Who admired her, knows the exuberance of the jade band that surrounds her skull, as well as the beauty of the malachite mask, the belt (also in jade), the obsidian necklaces, bracelets and knives that accompany it into eternity.

Impressive is also the funeral mask in malachite that is there, pues pareciera que tras ella yace aún viva la Reina Roja de labios brotantes y lujoso ajuar, quien siempre acompañaría a Pakal I, cuya cripta se encuentra justo a lado de la suya, quizá a manera de homenaje o de perpetu compua al ser ésta suya wife.

It should be noted that the malachite mask worn by the Red Queen represented an object that will lead to his other life, an ornament that after being found in 1994 was restored by archaeologist Arnoldo González Cruz, who was also the first to contemplate this there was inside the temple of the Mayan aristocrat.

The piece was on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and in July 2018 it began to be exhibited at the Templo Mayor from Mexico City until September 9 of the same year. Today, his trousseau is back on his land as part of the permanent collection of the Archaeological Museum of Palenque in Chiapas.

Mayan royal woman found herself in endless sleep, surrounded by 700 pieces of jade and in a historical context full of serious conflicts in the State, in March 1994, in the middle of the Zapatista movement, within the framework of what was called the “special project of Palenque”, Directed by Arnoldo González Cruz.

Thanks to the discovery of the Red Queen, three hidden chambers have also been located and the Mayan ritual has been unveiled. in which the sovereign was honored under a limestone sarcophagus in the center of the room. A psychoduct was also noted, which according to the beliefs of the time was an outlet for the soul, it is through him that archaeologists introduced the first cameras to photograph the mysterious inhabitant, which was also accompanied by two sacrificial bodies, these belonging to a woman and a child.

The nobles, at that time, were buried with their servants: it looked like a crime scene; At first it was thought to be the mother or grandmother of a king, although thanks to the DNA tests that were carried out, it was known that there was no relation to the bodies that were found there. next to him.

So far the theory supported is that it is Ix Tz’akbu Ajaw, a ruler who came from a neighboring town of Palenque to marry Pakal and unite the two kingdoms.

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