Customer Reviews

An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs (Dover Pictorial Archives)

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If you're interested in the fascinating and complex world of Maya hieroglyphs and calendrics, and searching for a book that provides an easily understandable introduction into this rather complicated realm, then look no further. Despite being over 80 years old, Morley's book is still the perfect beginner's playfield, combining logical structure, extremely detailed explanations and lots of examples to create a highly readable volume that's both scientifically brilliant and understandable for everyone at the same time. It is of course not a complete reference guide, having been written long before the recent decipherments of Maya writing and before all the calendric glyphs were known, with the short historical section being badly dated - but that's secondary. It wants to help readers with their first steps into its subject matter, the Maya calendar glyphs, and that it does with commendable ease and clarity. This book was the principal starting point of many a major player in the field of epigraphy, and this it could well remain for the next generation of researchers and armchair-archaeologists alike. To buy or not to buy? No question here.

Of course this was written before the Knorosov and Prouskouriakoff decipherments but it's very nicely illustrated and has clear explanations of the numbers and calendar, which are as far as most of us are likely to get. The first chapter is way out of date. It's based on Diego de Landa and Chilem Balaaam and they've found out a lot more stuff since then. (It seems strange to talk of history going out of date.) The price is right.

This book is a very detailed explanation of the mayan calender and associated hieroglyphic symbols. I liked this book but was writted before the deciferment of the mayan written language.