The famous structures that stand today in Palenque probably represent a rebuilding effort in response to the attacks by the city of Calakmul and its client states in 599 and 611.

One of the main figures responsible for rebuilding Palenque and for a renaissance in the city's art and architecture is also one of the best-known Maya Ajaw, or lord, K'inich Janaab' Pakal, who has ruled from 615 to 683.

Also known as Pakal the Great, he is best known through his funerary monument, dubbed the Temple of Inscriptions after the lengthy text preserved in the temple's superstructure.