Panama was clearly excited by Mexico City getting the Olympics in 1968. In the runup to the games there were many stamp issues showing solidarity with Mexico. This issue shows of some of Mexico’s indigenous ancient sites, of which there were many in Latin America and a part of history that many of the day wanted to better connect to. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
One thing this stamp does convincingly is teach how to be remembered. Build in stone. It is believed that the area was occupied from about 2500 BC through 900AD. Yet virtually the entire site was built in a 35 year period under Pakal the Great. Carved into the stone edifices were stone reliefs that told how the elite lived and the then understanding of their history. 35 out of 3400 years is a drop in the bucket but all we have.
Todays stamp is issue A150b a 21 Centessimos airmail stamp issued by Panama on April 18th, 1967. It was a six stamp issue in various denominations that was also available as a souvenir sheet. The three highest denominations including this stamp were airmail. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 50 cents cancelled to order. The souvenir sheet is worth $18.00.
Palenque is the Spanish word for the site of the former Mayan Indian city state in the modern state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. In it’s time it was called Lakamha, which translates into big water. What we know of the place comes from modern guesses at translating the hieroglyphics that have been found in great numbers. The place was abandoned and taken over by the jungle. Even now when it is a major tourist site hosting almost 1 million visitors a year, experts believe it is only about 25 percent excavated. Recently they discovered the Western Hemisphere’s earliest viaduct. It had a spring loaded release that could release 20 feet of water under high pressure. Nobody has figured out conclusively why they built it.
The glory days of Palenque started under someone known as Lady Beastie in 600 AD. She acted as ruler after the death of her husband the last King and before her son Pakal could take over at age 12. She is believed to have had a large influence on Pakal during the first half of his long reign. Interesting her stone depictions of her time ruling are much more masculine appearing than those earlier or later. Pakal started his building spree 33 years into his reign with a temple and just kept going. The Throne than past to two of his sons who continued Pakal’s projects though the second son worked mostly on the Palace. The city was sacked by rival Mayan city state Tonina in 711 AD. After that there were no more local Kings but there was still some farming in the area until around 900AD.
The site was discovered overgrown by jungle by the Spanish Conquistador de la Nada in the 1520s. Nothing was done and the whole area was very sparsely populated. In 1786 the Spanish administration in Guatemala sent out a proper expedition that included an architect and a draftsman to make copies of the stone reliefs for further study. The findings of the expedition were much later published in London As “Descriptions of the ruins of an ancient city” that was very popular and got the word out about the place.
Well my drink is empty and one thing I find interesting is that these ancient sites always seemed to be discovered and interpreted by outsiders before taken to heart by the actual descendants. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.