Janaab' Pakal or Pakal I (died 9 March, 612CE

Common Era

Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

) was an ajaw

Ajaw

Ajaw is a political rulership title attested from the epigraphic inscriptions of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, with a meaning variously interpreted as "lord", "ruler", "king" or "leader". It denoted any of the leading class of nobles in a particular polity and was not limited to a single...

of the Maya city

Maya city

A Maya city was a centre of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. It served the specialised roles of administration, commerce, manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide...

-state of Palenque

Palenque

Palenque was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date back to 100 BC to its fall around 800 AD...

. His dynastic position is not entirely certain, though he may have been the brother of Aj Ne' Yohl Mat. It seems that he never ascended to the high-kingship in his own right. He was the father of Lady Sak K'uk', one of the rare queens regnant of Maya

Maya civilization

The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...

 history.

He should not be confused with his grandson, K'inich Janaab' Pakal, who during a long reign if some 68 years was responsible for the construction or extension of some of Palenque's most notable surviving inscriptions and monumental architecture.