THE TEMPLE OF THE CROSS. 23 



Egyptian monuments. * On each side of its entrance are ornaments in stucco, 

 and sometimes in stone, representing different personages, and in the back- 

 ground of the altar is seen, half shrouded in darkness, a large panel, composed 

 of three immense slabs, closely joined and covered with precious sculptures." f 



It is evident that M. Charnay hereby merely wishes to convey the idea that 

 the slabs formerly constituted a complete panel, but not that they are still 

 united. This is proved by his own statements which will be given at the proper 

 place. A real mistake, however, though a very pardonable one, seems to be 

 implied in the following passages : 



" From the left room descends a staii'case into an under-ground passage, 

 leading exactly under the altar which we have described. It is probable that 

 the priest hidden in this vault, of which the faithful had no knowledge, pro- 

 nounced oracles with a loud voice, which the inquirer took for the voice of his 

 gods. Thus, since the days of creation, the same means have been employed." J 



What M. Charnay here considers as the work of the aboriginal builders is 

 probably the excavation made by Del Rio and noticed by Stephens. Del Rio 

 himself states "that the situation of the subterranean depository coincided with 

 the centre of the oratory. "§ 



The temple measures about forty feet in height, including, of course, the 

 roof and its curious superstructure. The accompanying cuts representing the 

 front elevation (Fig. 2) and the side view (Fig. 3) will give an idea of its 

 external appearance. The roof shows two slopes, the lower one of which " was 

 richly ornamented with stucco figures, plants, and flowers, but mostly ruined. 

 Among them were the fragments of a beautiful head and of two bodies, in just- 

 ness of proportion and symmetry approaching the Greek models. On the top of 

 this roof is a narrow platform, supporting what, for the sake of description, I 



* Neither Stephens nor any of the other explorers mentions these ornaments, which are, however, conspic- 

 uously exhibited over the entrance to the sanctuary in the Temple of the Sun, as shown on the plate facing page 

 354 in the second volume of Stephens's " Central America." It thus appears probable that M. Charnay attributed 

 by mistake the wing-ornaments to the Temple of the Cross. 



The Temple of the Sun (marked No. 5 on the accompanying plan of Palenque) stands on a pyramidal 

 structure near that supporting the Temple of the Cross, and bears much resemblance to the latter, in external 

 structure as well as in its interior arrangement. Fixed in the rear wall of its sanctuary are three stone slabs 

 exhibiting a bas-relief very similar in detail to that of the cross. Mr. Stephens iigures the former in the frontis- 

 piece of the above-mentioned volume. The two principal personages, probably the same who are represented on 

 the Tablet of the Cross, offer children to a central figure in the shape of a large hideous mask with portruding 

 tongue. This figure has been supposed to be an image of the sun, and hence the temple acquired its appellation. 

 Stephens describes the tablet in question as " the most perfect and most interesting monument in Palenque. . . 

 The sculpture is perfect, and the characters and figures stand clear and distinct on the stone. On each side are 

 rows of hieroglyphics." 



f Charnay : Cites et Euines etc., p. 418 



J Ibid., p. 419. 



J See p. 17 of this publication 



