Tikal, Temple I, seen from Temple II

Tikal is the ruins of an ancient city found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park.

Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya. Though monumental architecture at the site dates back as far as the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period, ca. 200 to 900 AD. During this time, the city dominated much of the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily, while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica such as the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the distant Valley of Mexico. There is evidence that Tikal was conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century AD. Following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a gradual population decline, culminating with the site’s abandonment by the end of the 10th century.

Tikal is the best understood of any of the large lowland Maya cities, with a long dynastic ruler list, the discovery of the tombs of many of the rulers on this list and the investigation of their monuments, temples and palaces.

Tikal Temple I is the designation given to one of the major structures at Tikal. It also is known as the Temple of the Great Jaguar because of a lintel that represents a king sitting upon a jaguar throne. An alternative name is the Temple of Ah Cacao, after the ruler buried in the temple. Temple I is a typically Petén-styled limestone stepped pyramid structure that is dated to approximately 732 AD. The temple is surmounted by a characteristic roof comb, a distinctive Maya architectural feature. The temple rises in nine stepped levels, which may be symbolic of the nine levels of the underworld. The temple has grooved moldings and inset corners. A steep staircase climbs the temple to the summit shrine. Building Temple I on the eastern side of the Great Plaza was a significant deviation from the established tradition of building funerary temples just north of the plaza in Tikal's North Acropolis.

The structure is a funerary temple associated with Jasaw Chan K'awiil I, a Classic Period ruler of the polity based at Tikal, who ruled from AD 682–734. The tomb of this ruler has been located by archaeologists deep within the structure, the tomb having been built first with the temple being raised over it. Construction of both were overseen by Jasaw Chan K'awiil's son and heir Yik'in Chan K'awiil. Jasaw Chan K'awiil probably planned the building of the temple long before his death.

The temple rises 47 meters over the Great Plaza. The pyramid is topped by a funerary shrine, containing finely carved wooden lintels, the execution of which probably was overseen by Jasaw Chan K'awiil as part of his plans for his funerary monument. The lintels were carved from sapodilla wood and one of them, Lintel 3, once was painted red. The lintels were formed from planks of sapodilla wood set into small niches fashioned into the walls forming the three doorways. The outermost lintel was smooth, but the central lintel was carved intricately from four planks. Two of these planks were removed in the nineteenth century and their location now is unknown. The other two were removed by Alfred Maudslay and shipped to the British Museum, where they now are warehoused. The scene carved onto one lintel shows a seated figure with an enormous serpent rising above him.

The shrine bears a high roof comb decorated with a sculpture of the seated king, Jasaw Chan K'awiil, although it now is difficult to discern. The roof comb consists of two parallel structures with an enclosed, vaulted hollow between them, which reduces the weight of the construction. The weight of this heavy superstructure is borne through the spine of the temple. The front of the roof comb was finished with stone blocks carved to represent the enormous figure of the king, flanked by scrolls and serpents. It originally supported molded plaster decoration as well. The shrine contains three narrow, dark chambers that were accessible only through a single doorway. The three rooms were arranged one behind the other, and had high corbel-vaulted ceilings, braced by wooden beams. The beams were fashioned from sapodilla, the wood that was used in the lintels.