The Decipherment of Maya Script
Ancient Americas・19 minutes read
Maya script was a unique writing system used for recording histories and scientific works, but its decipherment faced challenges until recent efforts, similar to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs by Champollion. The breakthrough in understanding Maya script came from scholars like Yuri Knorozov, challenging earlier beliefs and leading to significant progress in deciphering the script.
Insights
- The Maya script was a comprehensive writing system used for historical records, scientific texts, and royal decrees, showcasing the advanced civilization of the Maya people.
- The decipherment of the Maya script required a deep understanding of the language, cultural context, and comparison with known scripts, with Yuri Knorozov's recognition of the logo-syllabic nature being a pivotal moment leading to further breakthroughs in decoding the script.
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Recent questions
What is the Maya script?
The Maya script is a writing system used by the Maya civilization for various purposes like recording histories, scientific works, and royal proclamations.
How did the decipherment of Maya script begin?
The decipherment of Maya script began with Diego de Landa, a Franciscan priest who attempted to learn the script but failed due to misunderstanding its logo-syllabic nature.
Who made a significant breakthrough in deciphering Maya script?
Yuri Knorozov, a Soviet soldier, made a significant breakthrough in deciphering Maya script by realizing its logo-syllabic nature and matching sounds from de Landa's alphabet to glyphs.
What was the prevailing belief about Maya writing before the breakthrough?
Before the breakthrough in deciphering Maya script, the prevailing belief was that Maya writing was indecipherable, with scholars like Thompson arguing for abstract symbols and ideographs.
How did the understanding of Maya writing progress in the 20th century?
In the 20th century, scholars like Thompson and Whorf were divided on the nature of Maya script, with Thompson believing in abstract symbols and ideographs, while Whorf argued for a phonetic representation. The breakthrough in deciphering Maya script came from scholars like Yuri Knorozov, Canora's off, and Tatiana Proskouriakoff, challenging the prevailing belief and leading to significant progress in understanding Maya writing.
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Summary
00:00
Deciphering the Ancient Maya Script: A Journey
- Maya script offers a unique insight into Maya life, possibly the first full writing system in the Americas.
- The Maya used their script for various purposes like recording histories, scientific works, and royal proclamations.
- After the Spanish conquest, the use of Maya script declined, leading to its loss until recent decipherment efforts.
- Deciphering an unknown script requires a large body of writing, knowledge of the language, understanding the writing system, cultural context, and a known script for comparison.
- The decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs by Champollion followed similar requirements, including a large body of text, knowledge of the language, identification of the script, cultural context, and a known script like the Rosetta Stone.
- The story of Maya script decipherment begins with Diego de Landa, a Franciscan priest who tried to learn the Maya script but failed due to misunderstanding its logo-syllabic nature.
- Interest in the Maya script grew in the 19th century with the discovery of abandoned cities in the Yucatan jungle and the journey of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood.
- Progress in deciphering Maya script started with Constantine Rafinesque II understanding Mayan numbers and later with German librarian Ernst Forstemann amending the Mayan calendar.
- Scholars in the 20th century, like Thompson and Whorf, were divided on the nature of Maya script, with Thompson believing it was abstract symbols and ideographs while Whorf argued for a phonetic representation.
- The breakthrough in deciphering Maya script came from Yuri Knorozov, a Soviet soldier who realized the logo-syllabic nature of the script and successfully matched sounds from de Landa's alphabet to glyphs, leading to the decipherment of specific animals.
15:20
Decoding Maya Script: A Historical Breakthrough
- In 1952, Canora's off, a Russian scholar, published groundbreaking work on Maya script, which was rejected by Thompson, a prominent figure in the field, who adamantly believed the script was symbolic, not phonetic.
- Despite Thompson's opposition, Canora's off persisted in his research, leading to Tatiana Proskouriakoff's discovery of a pattern in Maya glyphs indicating historical events, challenging the prevailing belief that Maya writing was indecipherable.
- Heinrich Berlin furthered the understanding of Maya writing by identifying emblem glyphs representing city names or royal titles, paving the way for the decipherment breakthrough in 1973.
- Linda Schele and Peter Matthews, using Canora's off's method, successfully decoded Palenque's rulers' names, marking a significant breakthrough in Maya script decipherment, with later progress attributed to David Stuart's innovative methods.
