Tikal Temple III
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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 () is a Nonbuilding structure, structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a Pyramid (geometry), pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid ca ...
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 & Tra ...
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 archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Col ...
, in the
Petén Department Petén (from the Itza' language, Itz'a, , 'Great Island') is a Departments of Guatemala, 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 o ...
of modern
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
. 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 ...
, 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 T ...
and faces eastwards towards the Great Plaza. 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 felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
skin.Coe 1967, 1988, p.77. This is one of only two sculpted lintels at Tikal that are still in their original setting. One of the other lintels is on exhibition at the National Museum of Guatemalan Art. The temple structure was restored in 1967 and 1969 by the Tikal Project of the University Museum of the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
, concentrating upon the summit shrine and the
roof comb The roof comb (or roof-comb) is the structure that tops a pyramid in monumental Mesoamerican architecture. Typically, the roof combs crowned the summit of pyramids and other structures; they consisted of two pierced framework walls which leaned o ...
. 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.


See also

*
El Castillo, Chichen Itza El Castillo (, 'the Castle'), also known as the Temple of Kukulcan 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 designate ...
* Pyramid of the Magician at
Uxmal Uxmal (Yucatec Maya: ''Óoxmáal'' ) is an ancient Maya civilization, 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 ...
*
Temple of the Inscriptions The Temple of the Inscriptions (Classic Maya language, Classic Maya: Bʼolon Yej Teʼ Naah () "House of the Nine Sharpened Spears") is the largest Mesoamerican stepped pyramid structure at the pre-Columbian Maya civilization site of Palenque, loc ...
at
Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamha ("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 ...
*
Tikal Temple I Tikal Temple I is the designation given to one of the major structures at Tikal, one of the largest cities and List of Maya sites, archaeological sites of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Mesoamerica. It is located in the Petén Basin regi ...
*
Tikal Temple II 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 archaeological site of Tikal in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala. The temple was built ...
*
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 AD ...
*
Tikal Temple V Tikal Temple V is the name given by archaeologists to one of the major pyramids at Tikal. Tikal is one of the most important archaeological sites of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization and is located in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala. ...
*
List of tallest structures built before the 20th century List of pre-twentieth century structures by height See also *History of the world's tallest buildings *List of tallest buildings and structures References

{{Tallest buildings and structures Lists of tallest structures, Ancient structur ...


Citations


References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tikal Temple 03 Tikal Maya architecture Pyramids in Guatemala 9th-century religious buildings and structures 9th century in Guatemala 9th century in the Maya civilization