Ekʼ Balam

Ekʼ Balam (English pronunciation ek-bælæm) is a Yucatec-Maya archaeological site within the municipality of Temozón, Yucatán, Mexico.

The site is noted for the preservation of the plaster on the tomb of Ukit Kan Lek Tokʼ, a king buried in the side of the largest pyramid.

[1] Ekʼ Balam was occupied from the Middle Preclassic through the Postclassic, although it ceased to thrive as a major city past the Late Classic.

Ek' Balam is mentioned in a late-sixteenth-century Relación Geográfica, an official inquiry held by the colonial government among local Spanish landowners.

[5] The Acropolis houses the tomb of king Ukit Kan Leʼk Tok', who ruled from 770 (the starting year of the "height" of this city) to 797 or 802 CE.

Ekʼ Balam was rediscovered and explored first by influential archaeologist Désiré Charnay in the late 1800s but extensive excavation did not take place until a century later.

[5] Alfonso García-Gallo Lacadena deciphered the most important set of North Maya hieroglyphic texts and all historical references of Ek' Balam are based on his work.