30 PALENQUE. 



Temple of the Foliated Cross. 

 (© on Plate I. and Plates LXXVIII. to LXXXII.) 



It is curious to note that neither Waldeck nor Stephens was aware of the existence 

 of this Temple. It faces the west, and stands on a high terrace platform made either 

 hy raising an embankment against the base of the lofty hill which rises at the back of 

 it, or by digging from the slope of the hill to make the terrace. 



The plan and arrangement of the building are almost precisely similar to those of the 

 Temple of the Cross. The whole of the front of the building has fallen away, and the 

 mass of broken stone and plaster has blocked up any stairway or any other form of 

 approach which gave access to the Temple. 



An ornamented superstructure, similar to that on the top of the Temple of the Cross, 

 has almost entirely disappeared, and the gi - eater part of the decorated frieze has also 

 been destroyed ; but it is just possible to make out the remains of some huge grotesque 

 heads on the east side, and some crossbar work can be seen on the north side. 



Stone or stucco figures probably flanked the entrance to the Sanctuary (Plate 

 LXXIX., b), but no trace of them now remains. 



The cornices or string courses which enclose the frieze of the Sanctuary are orna- 

 mented with straight mouldings only. 



The frieze over the doorway of the Sanctuary still shows portions of the outstretched 

 wings of the serpent-bird, and at each end are the remains of a snake's head, with 

 what is, perhaps, a human head between its jaws. A sketch of the ornament of the 

 frieze on the sides of the Sanctuary is given in Plate LXXVIII., d. 



The sculptured panel made up of three stone slabs let into the back wall of the 

 Sanctuary is shown on Plate LXXX. ; and drawings of the figures and the inscription 

 from this panel are given on Plates LXXXI. and LXXXII. 



On Plate LXXVIII. is the drawing (e) of a fragment of a sculptured slab found 

 lying on the slopes to the west of a totally ruined building cut by the section line 

 G to II on Plate I. 



