Tikal Temple III, also known as the Temple of the Jaguar Priest,Coe 1967, 1988, p.76. was one of the principal temple

pyramids A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...

at the ancient

Maya city Maya cities were the centres of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. They served the specialised roles of administration, commerce, manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide.Sharer & Trax ...

Tikal Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Co ...

, in the

Petén Department Petén is a department of Guatemala. It is geographically the northernmost department of Guatemala, as well as the largest by area at it accounts for about one third of Guatemala's area. The capital is Flores. The population at the mid-2018 o ...

of modern

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. The temple stands approximately tall. The summit shrine of Temple III differs from those of the other major temples at Tikal in that it only possesses two rooms instead of the usual three. The pyramid was built in the Late Classic Period, and has been dated to 810 AD using the hieroglyphic text on Stela 24, which was raised at the base of its access stairway. Stela 24 is paired with the damaged Altar 6, in a typical stela-altar pair. Temple III is associated with the little-known king

Dark Sun ''Dark Sun'' is an original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (D&D) campaign setting set in the fictional, post-apocalyptic desert world of Athas. ''Dark Sun'' featured an innovative metaplot, influential art work, dark themes, and a genre-bending take o ...

, and it is likely that Temple III is Dark Sun's funerary temple. The construction of Temple III indicated that Tikal was still politically stable at the beginning of the 9th century AD. However, this was the last temple pyramid raised at Tikal and by the end of the 9th century the city had fallen into ruin.Phillips 2006, 2007, p.417. Temple III is only partially restored and is closed to the public; it has not been the subject of archaeological investigation.

The structure

Temple III is immediately south of the Tozzer

Causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

and faces eastwards towards the Great Plaza.Phillips 2006, 2007, p.417. Coe 1967, 1988, p.77. The inner doorway separating the two chambers of the summit shrine supports a finely sculpted lintel representing an obese figure wrapped in a

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

skin.Coe 1967, 1988, p.77. This is one of only two sculpted lintels at Tikal that are still in their original setting. The temple structure was restored in 1967 and 1969 by the Tikal Project of the

University Museum A university museum is a repository of collections run by a university, typically founded to aid teaching and research within the institution of higher learning. The Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford in England is an early example, o ...

of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, concentrating upon the summit shrine and the

roof comb Roof comb (or roof-comb) is the structure that tops a pyramid in monumental Mesoamerican architecture. Examination of the sections and iconography of Maya civilization roof-combs indicates that each icon had specific sacred meanings. Typically, th ...

. The pyramid body itself was not restored but is known to have nine stepped levels and an east-facing access stairway.Schieber de Lavarreda 1997, 292. The roof comb and the outer chamber of the summit shrine have suffered lightning damage, causing a wide crack in the eastern wall of the corbel vaulting.

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References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tikal Temple 03 Tikal Maya architecture Pyramids in Guatemala Buildings and structures completed in the 9th century 9th century in Guatemala 9th century in the Maya civilization

The structure

See also

Citations

References