This gift of a stone Palenque Head sculpture is a replica of the one discovered during excavations of the city of Palenque and is believed to depict Mayan King Pakal. The original artifact is in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, Mexico. 

The great Mayan King K'inich Janaab Pakal I or Lord Pacal (603 – 683 CE) ascended to the throne as a child and ruled for 68 years over the city of Palenque, in what is today southern Mexico. King Pakal initiated a well-documented, ambitious expansion of the city. His most famous architectural project is the Temple of the Inscriptions, where he was laid to rest, whose extraordinary hieroglyphics have been significant to the study of the ancient Mayan culture. 

After Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld visited Mexico in 1959 and admired the Palenque Head, a stone replica was made specially for and gifted to SG Hammarskjöld by the National Museum of Anthropology and the Mexican United Nations Committee. It was on display in Hammarskjöld’s suite at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City until the formation of his museum, Dag Hammarskjölds Backåkra in Löderup, Sweden.

Later, an additional Palenque was provided to the United Nations for display within the Headquarters’ campus.