Maya Script: A Civilization and Its Writing - Softcover

Longhena, Maria; Frongia, Rosanna M. Giammanco

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0789208822 ISBN 13: 9780789208828

Publisher: Abbeville Press, 2006

Synopsis

Most of the glyphs carved on the stone monuments of the ancient Maya civilization have now been deciphered. This handbook presents around 200 of the scripts symbolic characters, each with an interpretation of the concept that it expresses. The glyphs are arranged thematically to show what the Mayas written records reveal about their lives and beliefs, their vigesimal number system and the complex organization of their solar and ritual calendars.

About this title

Synopsis

This is a fascinating handbook revealing the secrets of the symbolic written characters of the ancient Maya people, which provides a vivid portrait of their gods, people, and everyday life. This is the only book available that provides readable discussions of individual symbolic figures. By the time Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico in the sixteenth century, Maya cities had long since fallen into a state of decay and abandonment. Europeans were impressed by the painted books of the Maya but concluded that they did not have a system of writing because no alphabetic value could be given to their script. This impression remained in the West until recently when researchers finally succeeded in deciphering the written record of the Mayas. "Maya Script" presents about 200 Maya glyphs (symbolic figures). Some are ideograms (pictorial symbols representing things, not words); others are phonetic signs. The glyphs express people, animals, things, and such abstract concepts as or even emotions. The complexity of the Maya calendar, mathematical computations, and astronomy reveals a highly developed civilization.

This book also features two-color drawings of the glyphs, illustrations from reliefs and Spanish codices, and examples of Maya sculpture and paintings. Concluding the book are a chapter on writing systems of the New World, a bibliography, and an index of glyphs. This informative book is a travelogue back in time for anyone intrigued by ancient civilizations.

About the Author

Maria Longhena, a scholar of South and Central American pre–Columbian civilizations and history, is actively engaged in intensive research of Maya written sources. Her studies have been published in international scientific journals and she has been involved in numerous museum exhibitions in Europe, including "Inca–Peru: 3000 Years of History" and "In Search of the American Past."

Edition details

• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0789208822
• ISBN 13: 9780789208828
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 180