
Tikal Temple II (or the Temple of the Masks, alternatively labelled by archaeologists as Tikal Structure 5D-2) is a
Mesoamerican pyramid at the
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a popu ...
archaeological site of
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 ...
of northern
Guatemala. The temple was built in the
Late Classic Period in a style reminiscent of the Early Classic. Temple II is located on the west side of the Great Plaza, opposite
Temple I. Temple II was built by the king
Jasaw Chan K'awiil I in honour of his wife,
Lady Kalajuun Une' Mo'. Temple II had a single wooden sculpted lintel that bears the portrait of a royal woman who may have been the wife of Jasaw Chan K'awiil I, who was entombed beneath Temple I. Lady Kalajuun Une' Mo', whose name means "Twelve
Macaw
Macaws are a group of New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation concerns about several species in the wild.
Biology
Of the many diffe ...
Tails", was also important for being the mother of Jasaw Chan K'awill I's heir. In fact her son
Yik'in Chan K'awiil oversaw the completion of Temple II when he became king.
Temple II was visited by Modesto Méndez, the governor of Petén, in 1848 on the first expedition to the ruins. Preliminary excavations of Temple II started in 1958. On 21 December 2012, more than 7,000 tourists visited Tikal to celebrate the
2012 phenomenon
The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count cale ...
and the supposed end of the world. Many of these tourists climbed the stairs of the pyramid, causing reported damages.
The structure
The pyramid is a squat, massive structure dating to the 8th century AD. Today it stands high and is the most thoroughly restored of the major temples at Tikal. Its original height would have been closer to including its
roof comb. The main stairway is wide and projects from the pyramid base. The base of the pyramid measures , covering a surface area of . Excavations inside Temple II failed to discover Lady Kalajuun Une' Mo's tomb. Ancient graffiti within the temple shrine depicts a captive upon a platform and bound between two poles being
sacrificed
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...
with an arrow or a spear. Further ancient graffiti includes images of temples. Some of this graffiti dates to the Classic Period, although other examples appear to date to the Early Postclassic. The interior walls have also been defaced with modern graffiti. Evidence of ritual use in the
Postclassic Period
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BCE –&nbs ...
was found within the temple shrine, including burials and offerings.

The pyramid rises in three stepped levels; upon the uppermost level is a wide platform supporting the summit shrine. The first level measures high, the second is high and the third level stands high, giving an average height of . The total height of the pyramidal base is , the summit shrine measures high and the roof comb . Two badly eroded giant masks adorn the upper platform, flanking the stairway to the shrine. These grotesque masks decorating the pyramid's facade give Temple II its alternative name of the Temple of the Masks. A large block of masonry was built into the stairway immediately outside the entrance to the shrine. this block may have served as an observation platform allowing the officiating priests to see the crowd in the plaza below and in turn be seen by the people there.
The roof comb of the temple is highly ornate and bears the sculpture of a face with circular
earspools. Various sealed chambers exist within the roof comb.
The temple shrine upon the summit of the pyramid contains three chambers, the doorways of which were spanned by lintels. Only the lintel over the middle doorway was carved. The lintel consisted of five wooden beams, one of which is now in the
American Museum of Natural History in New York. When excavated the lintels had fallen from their original positions and have been restored.
At the base of the main access stairway stands
Stela
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), wh ...
P-83, which was plain, without sculpted decoration or
hieroglyphic texts. The stela stands high and was broken but has been restored. It is associated with its respective altar. The distance from the base of the main stairway of Temple II, across the plaza to the base of the stairway of Temple I directly opposite is .
[Muñoz Cosme & Vidal Lorenzo 1998, p.12.]
See also
*
El Castillo, Chichen Itza
El templo, known as the Temple of Kukulcán (or also just as Kukulcán), is a Mesoamerican step-pyramid that dominates the center of the Chichen Itza archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán. The temple building is more formally des ...
*
Pyramid of the Magician
The Pyramid of the Magician ( es, Pirámide del adivino) is a Mesoamerican step pyramid located in the ancient Mayan city of Uxmal, Mexico. It is the tallest and most recognizable structure in Uxmal.
Description
The Pyramid of the Magician is t ...
at
Uxmal
Uxmal ( Yucatec Maya: ''Óoxmáal'' ) is an ancient Maya city of the classical period located in present-day Mexico. It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture, along with Palenque, Chichen Itza and Calakmul ...
*
Temple of the Inscriptions at
Palenque
Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. Af ...
*
Tikal Temple III
Tikal Temple III, also known as the Temple of the Jaguar Priest,Coe 1967, 1988, p.76. was one of the principal temple pyramids at the ancient Maya city of Tikal, in the Petén Department of modern Guatemala. The temple stands approximately tall. ...
*
Tikal Temple IV
Tikal Temple IV is a Mesoamerican pyramid in the ruins of the ancient Maya city of Tikal in modern Guatemala. It was one of the tallest and most voluminous buildings in the Maya world.Morales et al 2008, p.421. The pyramid was built around 741 ...
*
Tikal Temple V
*
List of tallest structures built before the 20th century
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tikal Temple 02
Tikal
Maya architecture
Pyramids in Guatemala
Buildings and structures completed in the 8th century
8th century in Guatemala
8th-century establishments in the Maya civilization