Mayan Script: A Civilization and Its Writing

Longhena, Maria

ISBN 10: 0789206536 / ISBN 13: 9780789206534

Published by Abbeville Press Publishers, New York, 2000

About this Item

Cloth, 180 pages, illustrations, maps; 25 cm. Translated from the Italian. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Superficial dampstaining/boards and dust jacket. *** "This handbook unlocks the secrets of the symbolic written characters of the ancient Maya of Mexico, providing a vivid portrait of their gods, people, and everyday life. Maya Script presents about 200 Maya glyphs, or symbolic figures, taken from carved stone reliefs, ceremonial artifacts, and rare Maya codices. Some are ideograms (pictorial symbols representing things, not words); others are phonetic signs. The glyphs express kings, queens, heroes, animals, customs such as their remarkable burial system, and abstract concepts. Each one opens a window on fragments of everyday life, gods and ceremonies, even emotions. Some give us portraits of the great leaders who played important roles in the rise of this extraordinary culture. The complexity of their incredible calendar and astronomical calculations reveals a highly developed civilization." - Publisher. *** CONTENTS: Foreword; In Search of a People; Life at Court; Symbols; Religion; The Calendar; Astronomy; Life and Thought; Writing Systems of the New World; Further Reading; Index of Glyphs. Size: 8vo.

Seller Inventory # 200509

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mayan Script: A Civilization and Its Writing
• Publisher: Abbeville Press Publishers, New York
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0789206536
• ISBN 13: 9780789206534
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Latin American::Pre-Columbian::Mayan

About this title

Synopsis

This volume 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 death. Each one opens a window onto fragments of everyday life, religious beliefs, or even emotions. The complexity of the Maya calendar, mathematical computations, and astronomy reveals a highly-developed civilization. This book also features two-colour drawings of the glyphs, illustrations from reliefs and Spanish codices, and examples of Maya sculpture and paintings. Concluding the book is a chapter on writing systems of the New World, a list of museums to visit, a bibliography, and an index of glyphs.

About the Author

Maria Longhena is a scholar of pre-Columbian civilizations and history. Her studies of Maya writings have been published in international journals. She has also participated in such museum exhibitions as "Inca-Peru: 3000 Years of History" and "In Search of the American Past."