Maya Writing

We went to Mesoamerica in February of 2013 to view the Mayan ruins.  I became fascinated with the sculptured writing on the monuments.  These writings are hieroglyphs or glyphs for short.  The Spanish Catholic priests forbade the reading or writing of the Maya language in the mid 1550's.  Thus the ability to understand what  had been written was lost.

The glyphs contain dates, names and events that identify the time and purpose of the monuments.  Until 1990 they were thought to be an unsolvable enigma.  There are about 800 different symbols.  In the last 2 decades the code has been broken and researchers now can read about 80% of the writings.

The writing system can express anything that can be said in spoken language.   My favorite glyphs are the calendar dates.  The Maya calendar is very sophisticated and accurate.  In July at our annual family reunion I will give a workshop on reading the glyphs.  Guatemala prize money will be given to those who pass a quiz.

In addition to glyphs, elaborate pictures are carved in stone or painted on murals.  For example many Mormon scholars feel the carving below may represent the Book of Mormon revelation to Lehi.

The Tree of Life stela

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