Palenque (Civ6)/Civilopedia

The "lost" Mayan city of Palenque was more accurately abandoned after a millennium of growth, sophistication, and eventually stagnation. Its earliest ruins date it to the 3rd Century BCE, where it was ruled by a series of kings and queens, many of whom are lost to history. Its darkest days were at the turn of the 7th Century, when a punishing war with the rival city of Calakmul left the Palenque sacked and most of its leadership captured or killed.
Queen regent Sak K'uk' ruled for three years before transferring leadership to her 12-year-old son, K'inich Janaab Pakal. The young king would come to be known as Pakal the Great, the architect of Palenque's prosperity. In his nearly 70 years of rule he pushed to rebuild and expand the city, erasing the scars left by Calakmul, and ordered the city's history carved into the walls and columns of its newly constructed temples and palaces. At the height of its power, Palenque forged alliances, captured enemy kings, and forced defeated rivals to pay tribute.
After Pakal's death, a grueling conflict with the rival realm of Toniná took its toll on Palenque. By the early 9th Century, the city was left to the jungle.