The Temple of Inscriptions is the funerary monument of Pacal the Great,
the most important king to rule at Palenque. In 1952, Alberto Ruz discovered
the stairway that led from the summit temple down to Pacal's tomb below ground
level. Pacal's famous sarcophagus and its hieroglyphs were the focal point of study
on that day in December 1972 when the hierolgyphic code of the ancient Maya was
finally broken and their writing could be deciphered.

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