As reconstructed by Bernal, one of these officials was sworn into office on January 29, 742, about midway between the accession to rulership of K'inich Ahkal Mo' Nahb' III and that of his son K'inich K'uk' B'alam II. It is certainly plausible that K'inich Ahkal Mo' Nahb' III was still ruling two decades after his accession and that he himself supervised the installation of the K'an Tok official. But if so, we would expect to see his name on the tablet. Instead we find the familiar glyphs of K'inich Janahb' Pakal - "Pacal the Great". But this famous Palenque ruler was long dead at the time the particular K'an Tok official was installed.

The name of K'inich Janahb' Pakal (Pacal the Great) is in the third column from the left, the second full glyph block from the top. The two signs on the left of the block together make k'inich. Pakal is the shield symbol, while janahb' is the flower inset into its middle. The symbols underneath the shield are read together as -la, a "phonetic complement" to reinforce the final l in pakal. (Photo: Joel Skidmore.)