Unveiling the mystery of the 1,400-year-old Mayan stone tablet

By deciphering hieroglyphs on a 1,400-year-old stone tablet, experts have learned important information about a previously unknown Mayan queen.

Experts have successfully decoded the hieroglyphs on a 1,400-year-old stone stele - an artifact found in 2024. Accordingly, they determined that the inscription on the stele talks about Ix Ch'ak Ch'een - a previously unknown Mayan queen. Photo: Octavio Esparza; INAH.

Queen Ix Ch'ak Ch'een ruled Cobá (or "city of rushing waters") on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula in the 6th century. Photo: Salvador Medina and Francisco Luna; INAH.

Cobá was a major Maya urban center and was inhabited from around 350 BC to the 14th century. It was a thriving metropolis with luxurious homes built around four lakes, along with thousands of residential buildings, many white-stone streets, and several pyramids. Photo: Octavio Esparza; INAH/Salvador Medina and Francisco Luna; INAH.

In 2024, archaeologists from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) discovered a massive hieroglyphic text carved into a stone staircase in Cobá, which they dubbed the "Basestone". Erosion had severely damaged the "Basestone", making it difficult to translate the 123 stelae containing the hieroglyphic inscriptions. Photo: Ancient-origins.

However, additional discoveries , including 23 stelae – stone pillars with inscriptions – have provided clues that have helped experts decipher the ancient texts. Photo: dronepicr / CC BY 2.0.

Accordingly, researchers discovered that the "Foundation Stone" and two stone tablets found at Cobá both mention Queen Ix Ch'ak Ch'een. Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Although the "Foundation Stone" mentions the coronation of Queen Ix Ch'ak Ch'een, her reign is not precisely known. However, the name of this Maya queen is mentioned in many structures including a ball court that is believed to have been built around 9.7.0.0.0 of the Maya calendar, or December 8, 573. Photo: wikimedia.

Ix Ch'ak Ch'een may have been a powerful queen. The Maya had very few queens, just a few dozen compared to the hundreds of kings throughout history. Photo: Kellie Jaeger, Discover.

One of the most powerful queens known to many is the "Red Queen" - who took power and ruled the Mayan city of Palenque in the mid-7th century. Photo: discovermagazine.com.

Readers are invited to watch the video : Revealing lost civilizations through archaeological remains.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/ven-mam-bi-an-tam-bia-da-1400-tuoi-cua-nguoi-maya-post2149063952.html