Mar 6, 2019 · Swiss author and pseudo-archaeologist Erik Von Däniken famously claims that a Maya sarcophagus lid depicts an ancient king piloting a rocket ship. But the sarcophagus really depicts the king’s descent into the underworld, according to Sarah Kurnick, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University Colorado Boulder.

Jun 16, 2015 · MEXICO CITY — Researchers in Mexico say they have decoded the hieroglyphic name on the Palenque tomb of ancient Maya King Pakal, revealing it to read "The House of the Nine Sharpened Spears,"...

Oct 23, 2023 · He was most famous for raising the city of Palenque from relative obscurity to great power, his building projects in the city (especially the Temple of the Inscriptions), and his elaborately carved sarcophagus lid which has been interpreted as an ancient astronaut riding on a …

Glyphs and symbols run around the edges of the lid, all representing important components of Mayan cosmology. The World Tree, which the Maya believed had its roots in the underworld, trunk on the earthly plane, and branches high in paradise, and Pacal’s relationship to it in death.

Mar 6, 2017 · The “rocket” he created looks nothing like the image on the sarcophagus. This whole debate arose out of ignorance of the belief system and cultural symbols of the ancient Maya. It would be like seeing a photo of the Indian god Ganesh (See image, above) and trying to interpret it with no knowledge of the Hindu beliefs behind it.

Mayan Rocket Description: In 1952 Ruz Lhuillier was excavating the staircase of the Pyramid Temple when he found a sealed passageway that led to the burial crypt and sarcophagus of King Pakul. This was the first burial crypt found in Central America, let alone in a pyramid, and fueled a debate that the Incas were in some way connected to Egypt.

The tree’s roots plunge into the underworld, giving the appearance of flames from a rocket exhaust. We see a double-headed vision serpent on the sides of the cross, which is also common in other works of art.

Jan 12, 2025 · The remains of this great Mayan ruler were still in the coffin wearing a jade mask and bead necklaces; he was also surrounded by sculptures and stucco reliefs depicting the ruler’s transition to divinity and figures from Maya mythology.

The human figure portrayed in relief on that stone slab has become known as "the astronaut" to some; as "Pakal", a maya ruler, to others. From the glyphs one may view the subject as Pakal; from the visual theme one may see something that looks like a spacecraft within which he is …

Jan 12, 2021 · Palenque Image is an ancient Mexican artifact—the lid of a sarcophagus found in a pre-Columbian temple in Palenque—has given rise to considerable speculation regarding the possibility of humanity’s contact with ancient astronauts in the distant past.