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Deciphering the Maya Script

UC Berkeley Graduate Division・92 minutes read

Professor Michael Co is giving a lecture on the Mayan script, revealing new insights into the culture and history of the ancient civilization through decipherment and analysis. The Mayan writing system, complex and nuanced, offers a window into the literature, art, mathematics, history, and mentality of the Maya people from 300 to 900 AD.

Insights

The Hitchcock professorship at the University of California Berkeley was established in 1885 by Charles M. Hitchcock for free lectures on scientific and practical subjects, further funded by Lily Hitchcock KO, allowing for a series of Hitchcock professors to be presented.
Professor Michael Co, an expert in Mesoamerican history and writing systems, is delivering a lecture on the Mayan script, which has led to deciphering Mayan hieroglyphs, shedding light on Mayan language development and culture.
Early scholars like Raffinesque and Diego delanda made significant contributions to understanding the Mayan writing system, with Delanda's manuscript, "Relos Yucatan," providing crucial information on the Maya calendar system and writing, aiding in the decipherment of Mayan hieroglyphs.
Proskouriakoff's research in the 1960s fundamentally changed the perception of Maya hieroglyphic writing from being solely astronomical to containing historical narratives, revealing new knowledge about Mayan mentality and history from 300 to 900 AD.

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Recent questions

What is the significance of the Mayan script?
The Mayan script offers insights into ancient civilization.
Who made significant contributions to understanding the Mayan writing system?
Early scholars like Raffinesque and Diego delanda.
How did Proskouriakoff's research impact the study of Maya hieroglyphic writing?
Proskouriakoff's work revolutionized the perception of Maya hieroglyphic writing.
What is the role of scribes in Maya society?
Scribes held revered positions as keepers of knowledge.
How did epigraphers contribute to understanding Maya writing?
Epigraphers like David Stewart deciphered Maya inscriptions.

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Summary

00:00

Deciphering Mayan Script: Hitchcock Professor Lecture

The Hitchcock professorship at the University of California Berkeley was established in 1885 by Charles M. Hitchcock for free lectures on scientific and practical subjects.
Lily Hitchcock KO, daughter of Dr. Hitchcock, further funded the professorship, allowing for a series of Hitchcock professors to be presented.
Professor Michael Co, an expert in Mesoamerican history and writing systems, is delivering a lecture on the Mayan script.
Co's work has led to deciphering Mayan hieroglyphs, shedding light on Mayan language development and culture.
The Mayan writing system offers insights into the ancient civilization's literature, art, and mathematics.
Co's lecture aims to present the modern understanding of the intricate Mayan script.
The Mayan script's decipherment has revealed new knowledge about Mayan mentality and history from 300 to 900 AD.
The latitude in Mayan hieroglyphs, allowing for artistic variations, has posed challenges in deciphering the script.
Early scholars like Raffinesque and Diego delanda made significant contributions to understanding the Mayan writing system.
Delanda's manuscript, "Relos Yucatan," provided crucial information on the Maya calendar system and writing, aiding in the decipherment of Mayan hieroglyphs.

18:02

Maya Calendar and Hieroglyphs: Decoding History

The Maya calendar consists of a 365-day cycle and a 260-day cycle that were not adjusted for leap years.
The calendar round, a cycle of approximately 52 years, is the basis of the Maya calendar and ritual calendars.
The Dresden Codex contains a 584-day calendar related to the planet Venus, revealing astronomical knowledge in Maya writing.
The Long Count, a day-to-day system starting from 3,114 BC, is used on classic Maya monuments for dating events.
Alfred P. Maudslay extensively documented Maya monuments and hieroglyphic inscriptions, laying the foundation for further research.
Emblem glyphs unique to each Maya site represent the name of the city or ruling lineage, providing historical insights.
Tatiana Proskouriakoff's analysis of Long Count dates on Maya monuments revealed they recorded events in a ruler's lifetime, revolutionizing the understanding of Maya inscriptions.
Verbal glyphs found by Proskouriakoff, such as "to be born" and "to be inaugurated," allowed for the interpretation of historical events in Maya inscriptions.
Proskouriakoff's work extended to the site of Yaxchilan, where she deciphered dynastic records on stone lintels, expanding knowledge of Maya history.
Proskouriakoff's research in the 1960s fundamentally changed the perception of Maya hieroglyphic writing from being solely astronomical to containing historical narratives.

34:55

Deciphering Maya Writing: Phonetic Symbols and Scribes

Bird Jaguar, a significant figure in the late Classic period, is depicted capturing two individuals, one being Jewel Skull, on 7 Imix 14 Sek in the 52-year calendar round.
The phonetic reading of "ubac" indicates that Jewel Skull is the captive of Bird Jaguar, who is identified as the holy king of Yashan.
Yuri Kruv, a Soviet scholar, made a groundbreaking discovery in the 1950s regarding the Maya writing system, revealing it to be a syllabary with phonetic symbols.
Kruv's method involved deciphering the syllabic signs through clever substitutions, leading to the understanding of phonetic representations of various Maya words.
The Maya writing system, as proposed by Kruv, functions as a logosyllabic system, where phonetic complements are added to pictorial signs to convey specific meanings.
The complexity of the Maya writing system arises from the multitude of sign choices available to scribes, who could combine and conflate signs to create nuanced meanings.
David Stewart, a prominent epigrapher, has made significant contributions to understanding Maya writing, particularly in identifying phonetic signs and deciphering logographs.
Maya inscriptions are predominantly found on vessels from classic Maya tombs, with standardized inscriptions followed by personal names of patrons or artists.
The scribes, who were also priests, held a revered position in Maya society, being the keepers of knowledge, masters of ceremonies, and the royal librarians.
The names of individual scribes and artists are now identifiable on Maya monuments, shedding light on their high status and importance in Maya culture.

51:40

Maya Hieroglyphs: Unveiling History and Culture

The Maya practiced name tagging, inscribing names on pottery to identify objects, such as plates and vessels used for chocolate making rituals.
Glyphs on pottery depicted the resurrection of the maize god by his sons, the hero twins, watering a corn plant, symbolizing rebirth.
Maya hieroglyphs were used extensively for name tagging, even on stone monuments, obsidian ear spools, and bones in royal tombs.
Military monuments with specific glyphs indicated declarations of war, capturing of rulers, and violent events, showcasing the Maya's militaristic history.
Diplomatic missions, royal marriages, and political alliances were recorded in Maya inscriptions, detailing the complex political landscape of the late classic Maya period.
Emblem glyphs represented major Maya cities, showing alliances, rivalries, and conflicts between powerful city-states like Kalakmul, Palenque, and Tikal.
The Altar Q at Copan depicted 16 rulers in a dynastic record, tracing the lineage of rulers from the founder Yash K'uk Mo to his 16th successor Yash Pasaj.
Epigraphers deciphered inscriptions revealing the founder of Copan, Yash K'uk Mo, and his tomb, providing historical accuracy to Maya narratives.
Maya inscriptions also revealed life cycle glyphs, spiritual beliefs, and the concept of "wyes," representing spiritual beings associated with individuals or rulers.
Collaborations between epigraphers and physical scientists aimed to preserve fading hieroglyphic inscriptions, such as those at Bonampak, shedding light on Maya history and culture.

01:08:34

Deciphering Maya Inscriptions: Unveiling Ancient Conversations

A team from Brigham Young University, led by Steve HST, used advanced equipment to scan rooms at Bon P, revealing previously unreadable glyphs.
The scanning devices unveiled bundles with the number eight and the symbol for cacao, indicating an offering of 40,000 cacao beans to an important individual.
Older readings of Maya inscriptions are being revised, with a focus on toponyms and place names, such as identifying "Lam" as "great water" at the site of Palen.
The classic Maya inscriptions are in an ancestral form of the language spoken by 50,000 people today, known as chti, with a sophisticated grammar system.
Maya vessels and monuments contain actual conversations, with complex pronouns indicating speech, like the hummingbird God instructing to eat.
The decipherment of Maya inscriptions involves understanding the grammar of the language, akin to reading Latin inscriptions.
The presence of second-person speech in Maya inscriptions is significant, indicating real conversations and interactions depicted in the texts.
The names of many Maya gods remain unknown due to logographic representation without phonetic indicators, like the unidentified God L.
Maya Steles and altars were considered living entities, with inscriptions commemorating events and actions as if the objects were alive.
The hope remains for new discoveries in the Maya area, like finding additional Maya codices in caves, potentially altering current knowledge of the civilization.

01:25:04

Maya Culture: History, Language, and Discoveries

The Maya culture had a single classic identity despite potential conflicts, with corrections to the lunar calendar made throughout the Maya area.
Copan may have been a protected place where scholars, wise individuals, royal librarians, and astronomers gathered, with minimal military presence until a ruler named 18 Wasak Lunak was captured.
Copan likely housed scribes in a district with their own palace, akin to Alexandria's Great Library, preserving Maya culture.
John Stephens' "Incidents of Travel in Central America" from the 1840s is a valuable resource for Maya research, with reprints available.
Living Mayans today engage in workshops to revive their writing system, showcasing a vibrant culture despite limited state education.
Kakm, a significant Maya site, was initially underestimated due to poor monument conditions, but recent expeditions and experts like Simon Martin are shedding light on its importance.
Elor, not Kakm, is the largest preclassic Maya city, dating back to at least 200 BC, while Kakm is now being extensively studied.
The Mayan language family comprises 30 languages, distinct from other language groups, with Yucatec Maya being prominent.
Caves in the Maya area, like those in Limon, are significant for archaeologists and theologists, with many unexplored caves holding potential discoveries.
The Popol Vuh, a sacred Maya book, narrates creation, multiple destructions, and the hero twins' journey to resurrect their father, reflecting agricultural themes.

01:42:40

Maya Ball Games and Civilization Collapse

The Mexican League baseball player was skeptical of a story about a never-ending ball game, highlighting the complexity of ancient ball games in Mesoamerica.
Limited ethnographic or ethnohistoric descriptions exist about the scoring and gameplay of ancient ball games.
Evidence suggests that defeated Maya elites may have been forced to participate in ball games, but this was likely a rare occurrence.
The size and inflation of the rubber balls used in ancient ball games varied, with hieroglyphs indicating different sizes.
The collapse of Maya civilization was likely influenced by environmental degradation, overpopulation, and a major drought in the 9th century.
Widespread destruction of monuments and social upheaval, possibly due to invasions or revolutions, contributed to the collapse of Maya civilization.
The end of the Maya elite and the influx of outside influences led to significant cultural changes between 800 and 900 AD.
The origins of the Maya civilization are uncertain, with limited early archaeological evidence of village cultures before 1000 BC.
The Maya's advanced astronomical knowledge influenced their daily lives, with observations of planets and stars impacting societal events and rulers' decisions.

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