Customer Reviews

Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Until I finally started using this book (I've had my copy since December, but haven't been able to return to studying Maya History until now), I would have recommended Schele and Friedel's _Forest of Kings_ (1990) as the best synthesis of Maya History. Though _Forest_ is out of date, it did a remarkable job at establishing a general idea of what Classic Maya history was all about (I'm not sure I want to use the word paradigm here). But with _Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens_, Martin and Grube have achieved two great things.

First, they have finally provided a good public accounting of their work on the Calakmul alliance. The piecing together of Calakmul's history and political structure from the rest of the Maya lowlands is truly an important key to understanding Maya political evolution.

Second, they have produced a first rate synthesis of Classic Maya history, at a time when some of the pieces are really falling into place. This is an evident strength of the book. While the chapters on the Late Classic city-states (Yaxchilan, Copan, etc.) are informative, up-to-date, and useful, they primarily fill out a picture of squabbling city states that has been understood for some time.

But it is in the first half of the book, dealing primarily with the conquests of Tikal/Teotihuacan (a connection only now being revealed with any sense of understanding) and the rival alliance built by the city of Calakmul during the 4th-7th centuries AD, that this book truly shines.

The systematic presentation of information on the rulers (especially the listing of names used previously by other Maya historians and archaeologists) will be of incredible utility to anyone trying to understand Maya history. On the subject of names, Martin and Grube are definitely up to date on using phonetic readings for as many names as they can, though I am sometimes skeptical of phonetic readings that do not spell out known words. I do think that an extensive endnote section dealing with some of these readings (ala _Forest of Kings_) would be useful, but I also understand that such a section might not be appropriate for the series that _Chronicle_ is a part of.

Truly, my only complaint concerning _Chronicle_ would be that I wanted more (more sites, primarily). Assuming that Martin and Grube have built up a significant database of historical data in preparing this book, I for one would love to see a specialist work, sort of a "Maya Who's Who", on all known personages. But _Chronicle_ will be keeping me busy checking monuments and dates for quite some time. This is truly an important work, and one which will hopefully inform both Mesoamericanists and the general public about an important chapter in the history of the Americas.

The amount of information that has accumulated about the Maya in the last ten years is extraordinary. I find it amazing to go to public libraries, even good ones like the state library here in Tallahassee, Florida, only to find that most of the books on the Maya date from the 1970's or earlier, and virtually everything they have to say about the historical context of Maya civilization is woefully out of date.

If you're out of date about the latest developments in Maya historiography, or if you're just developing an interest in the subject, you'll find this book to be of value. It gives the history of the major classic era cities (the book is completely about the classic period, and only digresses outside of that era to add supporting information), and does it in a format that is attractive and interesting. Indeed, many of the illustrations are of pieces that have only recently been unearthed, and this increases the interest of the book.

The one drawback is that the book is a little too advanced for the beginner - it can be difficult to work out the historical signposts - and a little too basic for the student already familiar with most recent work. A little more data about the overall context of the period and culture would be of some value. Aside from this one objection, it is an admirable work, well-written enough to capture the interest of the intelligent general reader while not giving the feeling that the authors are talking down to a non-specialist level. Definitely worth the read.

Highly recommended as a short, accessible, and not too technical introduction to Maya political history during the Classic Period (first millenium A.D.). Simon Martin is a brilliant young English art scholar and Nikolai Grube an outstanding epigrapher from Bonn. They collaborated to propose a new theory of grand shifting alliances among ancient Maya city states that roiled the Yucatan Peninsula 1500 years ago. This Chronicle (one in a Thames & Hudson series) includes that and more: it is an event-based chronicle of all the best known rulers of the ancient Maya world as currently inferred from their own pictorial hieroglyphics. It is a wonderful supplement for people interested in the Maya, with an exciting new history to outline.

There IS a chronological narrative running through it, but really this is a book to be studied. Only the 11 most powerful (or well-documented) Maya city states are presented in full. After a brief introduction to Maya history, five chapters trace the glyph-based histories of the most important cities (including Tikal and Calakmul). Then six chapters cover as many peripheral cities with full records (like Palenque and Copan), concluding with the fall of the kings. The text is festooned with innumerable photographs, line drawings of hieroglyphs and royalty, explanatory captions, kings' names, biographical tables, sidebars on archaeological topics, views of buildings, and shaded city plans. Helping you keep track of the impossible (and often similar) names are king headers and timeline footers. A useful bibliography and name (not topic) index complete the book

This book is not intended as a guide to famous ruins nor does it deal with the popular subject of Maya religion and cosmos. It deals with the political outcomes of the scheming and murder that underpinned all that. It does not provide glyph by glyph readings (as Schele and Mathews do for many of the same cities in the very different CODE OF KINGS). The book is printed on fine paper in Slovenia. (Hopefully we shall soon see some good novels fleshing out the bloody tales implied here.)

The "Chronicle" series are excellent introductions to the leaders of a variety of past, and some present civilizations. The Mayan history is an excellent pictorial and narative of the Central American civilization. I am amazed at the information that can be presented in a fresh and non-dry, textbook fashion. It makes history even more interesting. It also is a great stepping off point for other readings on the subject.

This book is a perfect example on how to divulge history without making it too simple or pandering to the "sensationalist" aspects of the tale. The research on the ancient Maya culture over the last decades has revealed enough information that a more or less complete sequence of events can be drawn over several centuries. It also has revealed that the Mayan did not seem able, or willing, to strive towards the establishment of a centralized empire as others civilizations tried. The result is a complex story involving the struggles between loosely organized groups of petty states around a few major ones. Telling that tale in an exciting way is thus more difficult: no Alexander the Great figure here to follow.... But Martin and Grube have been able to spin the yard of quite a tale. Once you pass the catchy title that makes you wonder whether the inside will be lightweight history, you do realize that this is a very complete, if brief, book. After a concise introductory chapter, the authors chose deliberately to tell the story of a few individual cities. You might disagree as to why they chose those (Northern cities such as Uxmal are absent). You might have wanted a more unified tale of Mayan civilization. Or perhaps a more people's oriented history. But the fact is that there are not many facts on the ancient Maya in spite of recent advances. It is to the merit of the authors to make the most of these facts to write an informative story, a city based history as the Mayan were, without entering into undue speculations. And that the book is loaded with nice pictures, interesting maps and diagrams is a great plus. Nice enough for a coffee table, deep enough for a serious library.

This book gives you some context of the history of the "discovery" of the Mayan culture and of the present state of archaeological understanding. The REAL strength of this book is in the surveys of eleven important Mayan cities. It discusses their rise, sources of political powers, the ruling lineages and how all of these cities intertwined in history and power.

After reading this book I have a better four-dimensional sense of these city-states. This book is a treasure.

The Maya Kings & Queens is a great reference book on the succession of Royal leaders during the Mayan Classic period (AD. 250-900). It breaks down the areas,such as Palenque, Calakmul, Yaxchilan, Capan, and Caracol, and there respective leaders. The sculptures and other images contained in this book are clear and distinct. This book is on par with anything written on ancient Egypt. However with all the different variations in the names of the Kings and Queens, I just wish the author would have broadened the index and made it more concise.

The `Chronicle of the Mayan Kings' is a beautifully illustrated chronicle of the Mayan kings of the poorly known Mayan kingdoms of the Yucatan like Tikal and Copan. The names of the Mayan kings are shown in Mayan hieroglyphs. There are accounts of what we know of the accomplishments of men such as Yik'in Chan Kawil of Tikal and Yukmook Cheen 2 of Calukmal. We see the relations among the Mayan states. There are timelines to make the time periods more clear. Special features describe the complex Mayan calendar and the Mayan number system, which is based on twenty instead of ten.
This book is an excellent account of what little is known about the Mayan states.

The authors may be stars in the Maya world, but I didn't like this book much - especially after paying almost US$50 for the hardback version. It may have great illustrations and very informed analysis of certain city lineages, but it doesn't give you a good flavour of the history of Mayan civilisation. It's very academic in its approach and covers less than a dozen cities in the region. Its conclusions on the rise and fall of one of Mesoamoerica's foremost civilisations were a bit perfunctory for my liking. Stylish but dry. Two stars.

I never got the book, therefore I am unable to say anything about it.