Priya Kapoor
The Maya civilization, which developed in an area that today comprises southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador, used a complex writing system that included hieroglyphic inscriptions and painted text. These can be found on a variety of objects, including stone monuments, stelae, ceramics, and bark-paper codices. While most of the codices were destroyed by Spanish conquistadors, a few surviving examples provide valuable insights into Maya beliefs, rituals, and everyday life. The Maya also created painted ceramics with hieroglyphic inscriptions, such as the Ik-style polychrome ceramic corpus, which included finely painted plates and cylindrical vessels.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Type of writing system | Hieroglyphics, logograms, syllabograms, phonograms |
| Materials used | Stone, wood, ceramics, bark paper, stucco, plaster, paint, gold, silver, copper |
| Objects inscribed | Stelae, stone lintels, sculptures, pottery, codices, walls, jade, greenstone, shell, bone, altars, doorways, stairs |
| Language | Mayan |
| Date of origin | 300-200 BCE |
| Date of discontinuation | 16th-17th century |
| Number of characters | 800+ |
| Number of symbols | 1,000 |
| Number of surviving texts | 5,000 |
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Stelae (standing stone slabs)
Stelae, or standing stone slabs, are stone or wooden slabs generally taller than they are wide, erected in the ancient world as monuments. They are commonly used as gravestones, for dedication, commemoration, and demarcation.
The Maya civilisation fashioned stelae, which were often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars. These pairings of sculpted stelae and circular altars are considered a hallmark of Classic Maya civilisation. During the Classic Period (250-900 CE), almost every Maya kingdom in the southern lowlands raised stelae in its ceremonial centre.
The stelae of the Maya were usually slabs of limestone sculpted on one or more faces, with available surfaces sculpted with figures carved in relief and with hieroglyphic text. The Maya writing system is complex, with a single sign functioning as a logogram and also having one or more syllabic values. The hieroglyphic signs are pictorial, representing animals, people, and objects of daily life.
Stelae were also used by the ancient Egyptians, with the earliest stelae erected during the First Dynasty of Egypt to mark the tombs of kings and their courtiers. These stelae were large stone slabs with rounded tops, inscribed with the name of the ruler in a serekh frame. They were set up in pairs outside the superstructure of the royal tomb.
In addition to their use as tombstones, Egyptian stelae were also used for religious purposes, to mark boundaries, and to commemorate important events.
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Stone lintels
The Yaxchilán lintels, for example, are a series of fifty-eight lintels from the Yaxchilan archaeological site in Chiapas, southern Mexico, that feature decorative pieces spanning the doorways of major structures. Yaxchilán was a significant Maya centre during the Classic period (250–900 CE). The lintels, commissioned by the rulers of the city, provide a lengthy dynastic record in both text and image. Yaxchilán lintels 24, 25, and 26, set above the three doorways of Structure 23, depict a series of rituals performed by Shield Jaguar II (also known as Itzamnaaj Bahlam III) and his wife, Lady K'ab'al Xook (or Lady Xoc). The lintels include descriptive captions and, unusually for a Mayan monumental text, a signature by the sculptor, Mo' Chaak.
The lintels at Yaxchilán were only rediscovered in the 19th century as the site stood in the midst of a dense tropical forest. Maya glyphs only began to be translated in the 1960s. The Yaxchilán lintels are considered masterpieces of Maya art and are now mostly on display in museums in London, Mexico City, and Dresden.
In classical Western architecture, a lintel is a load-bearing member placed over an entranceway. It can be a decorative architectural element or a combined ornamented/structural item. Lintel bridges, for example, are formed by a stone lintel spanning the distance of a path or road.
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Sculpture
The Mayan script, also known as Maya glyphs, is the native writing system of the Maya civilisation of Mesoamerica. It is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The Maya wrote what we call hieroglyphs, composed of a complex set of glyphs that were laboriously painted on ceramics, walls, and bark-paper codices, carved in wood or stone, and moulded in stucco.
The Maya used a highly complex system of writing, with pictographs and phonetic or syllabic elements. Their writing was highly sophisticated, and it is probable that only a small elite of the Maya population could read and write, possibly only the nobility and priests.
The best-preserved examples of Maya writing are often from stone monuments, most commonly altars, stelae, and elements of architectural sculpture, especially around doorways and stairs. The Maya recorded their history and ritual knowledge in screenfold books, of which only three uncontested examples remain, the rest having been destroyed by the Spanish.
In addition to the codices, the Maya also inscribed their writing onto stone sculptures. These sculptures often took the form of stelae, which are carved standing stones that depict rulers and contain written inscriptions that record events in their lives, such as marriages and conquests.
The Maya also carved symbols into stone lintels, pottery, and jade, greenstone, shell, and bone artefacts.
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Pottery
The Mayan script, also known as Maya glyphs, is the native writing system of the Maya people of Mesoamerica. It is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The Maya wrote what we call hieroglyphs, glyphs for short, and their writing is a logosyllabic system.
The Maya developed a highly complex system of writing, using pictographs and phonetic or syllabic elements. Their writing was composed of recorded inscriptions on stone, wood, architecture, ceramics, and bark paper. The best-preserved examples of Maya writing are often from stone monuments, most commonly altars, stelae, and elements of architectural sculpture, especially around doorways and stairs.
However, the most common place for writing was probably the highly perishable books they made from bark paper, coated with lime to create a fresh white surface. These were screen-fold books, bound with jaguar skin, and placed in royal tombs. Unfortunately, most of the codices were destroyed by conquistadors and Catholic priests in the 16th century. Only three uncontested examples remain, though fragments of other codices have been found.
The Maya also used ceramics as a medium for writing. The Ik-style polychrome ceramic corpus, including finely painted plates and cylindrical vessels, originated in Late Classic Motul de San José. This style includes hieroglyphs painted in a pink or pale red colour, and scenes with dancers wearing masks. One of the most distinctive features is the realistic representation of subjects as they appeared in life. The subject matter of the vessels includes courtly life from the Petén region in the 8th century AD, such as diplomatic meetings, feasting, bloodletting, scenes of warriors, and the sacrifice of prisoners of war.
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Paper books (codices)
The Maya civilisation, which reached its cultural peak around 600-800 AD, was literate and had books, referred to as codices. These codices were made of bark from the fig tree and folded out like an accordion. The Maya developed this paper, called huun, around the 5th century, and it proved to be more durable and a better writing surface than papyrus.
The Maya script, also known as glyphs, consisted of a complex set of pictorial hieroglyphics, logograms, and phonetic syllabograms. While the paint on carved and moulded glyphs rarely survived, scribes painted their elaborate writing on ceramics, walls, and bark-paper codices. The codices were also sometimes inscribed with bone or jade. The Maya writing system was complex, with a single sign capable of functioning as a logogram and having one or more syllabic values.
The Dresden Codex, generally considered the most important of the surviving codices, is housed in the state library in Dresden, Germany. It is the most elaborate of the codices and is a highly important specimen of Mayan art. The codex is written on a long sheet of paper that is 'screen-folded' to make a book of 39 leaves, written on both sides. It was probably written between the 12th and 14th centuries and includes richly illustrated astronomical tables. These tables focus on eclipses, equinoxes, and solstices, and the cycles of Mars and Venus. The codex also includes almanacs and astrological sections.
The Paris Codex, formerly known as the Codex Peresianus, is housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale. The Madrid Codex is housed in a museum in Madrid. The Grolier Codex, discovered in 1965, is the fourth codex and is housed in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. It consists of eleven pages out of what is presumed to be a twenty-page book.
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Frequently asked questions
The Maya people of Mesoamerica developed a highly complex system of writing that used pictographs and phonetic or syllabic elements. They recorded their history and knowledge in screen-fold books made from bark paper, coated with lime to create a fresh white surface. These books, called codices, were bound with jaguar skin. Unfortunately, most of the codices were destroyed by Spanish conquistadors and Catholic priests in the 16th century. Only three uncontested codices remain today, housed in museums in Dresden, Madrid, and Paris.
Other objects that included Mayan inscriptions are stelae (standing stone slabs), stone lintels, sculpture, and pottery.
The codices contain information about Maya beliefs and rituals, as well as everyday activities, all framed within an astronomical and calendrical context. They also probably kept track of dynastic information and dates of importance or seasonal interest.
Examples of painted writing, although much rarer, survive in caves and on some interior walls of buildings. Artefacts made from jade, greenstone, shell, and bone have also been found to include shorter examples of Mayan text.
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