Sacred Architecture and Power in the Maya World

Over the course of this seminar style research class, I explored the intricate intersections of cosmology, power, and built space in ancient Maya architecture. Through extensive readings, seminar discussions, presentations, and multiple rounds of writing, my work culminated in a sustained, in-depth final thesis titled “Dual Narratives of Power and Divinity: The Political and Cosmological Symbolism of the Temple of the Sun at Palenque.”

My thesis investigates how K’inich Kan B’alam II, the son of the legendary ruler Pakal the Great, employed monumental architecture as a strategic medium for asserting dynastic legitimacy, spiritual authority, and cosmological knowledge. Focusing specifically on the Temple of the Sun, a solar aligned, intricately constructed sanctuary within the Cross Group of temples, I examined the relationship between visibility and accessibility, the layering of public and private iconography, and how architecture was used to encode political narratives in visual and spatial form.

Idol at Copán, Plate 22 from Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatán, by Frederick Catherwood, 1844, hand-colored lithograph

I argued that the temple’s orientation, sculptural program, and iconographic emphasis on the Triad deity GIII functioned as a visual manifesto of Kan B’alam’s power and divine right to rule. In particular, I emphasized how astronomical alignments to solar events such as the winter solstice and equinoxes were not only religiously significant but politically intentional. These spatial and symbolic choices created what I termed a “dual narrative” which projected divine legitimacy to both elite and non-elite audiences.

This research developed through a series of assignments, formal analysis exercises, and peer reviewed presentations, culminating in an illustrated final paper supported by primary sources, iconographic reconstructions, and scholarly literature from leading Maya scholars such as Linda Schele, David Stuart, and Merle Greene Robertson.

This course challenged me to think critically about how ancient art and architecture functioned as tools of communication, identity, and power. Through close visual analysis, deep engagement with primary and secondary sources, and iterative writing and research, I developed a nuanced understanding of how the built environment reflects and shapes cultural values. My final thesis allowed me to synthesize these skills into an original scholarly argument grounded in material evidence and cultural context. This work not only deepened my passion for Mesoamerican art and archaeology but also strengthened my broader academic interests in the ways visual culture intersects with politics, religion, and cosmology across time.

Check out my papers:

Sacred Symmetry: Unveiling the Temple of the Sun's Cosmic Design at Palenque

Cosmos, Kingship, and Concealment: Architectural Narratives of Power in Palenque’s Temple of the Sun