Maya Script: A civilization and its writing [Paperback]

Maria Longhena (Author), Rosanna M. Giammanco Frongia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006

This is a fascinating handbook revealing the secrets of the symbolic written characters of the ancient Maya people, which provides a vivid portrait of their gods, people, and everyday life. This is the only book available that provides readable discussions of individual symbolic figures. By the time Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico in the sixteenth century, Maya cities had long since fallen into a state of decay and abandonment. Europeans were impressed by the painted books of the Maya but concluded that they did not have a system of writing because no alphabetic value could be given to their script. This impression remained in the West until recently when researchers finally succeeded in deciphering the written record of the Mayas. "Maya Script" 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 or even emotions. The complexity of the Maya calendar, mathematical computations, and astronomy reveals a highly developed civilization. This book also features two-color drawings of the glyphs, illustrations from reliefs and Spanish codices, and examples of Maya sculpture and paintings. Concluding the book are a chapter on writing systems of the New World, a bibliography, and an index of glyphs. This informative book is a travelogue back in time for anyone intrigued by ancient civilizations.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Locked in mystery until now, the symbolic written characters of the ancient Maya of Mexico and Central America provide a vivid portrait of the people, their gods, and everyday life. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

A scholar of South and Central American pre-Columbian civilizations and history, Maria Longhena is actively engaged in intensive research of Maya written sources. Her studies have been published in international scientific journals and she has been involved in numerous museum exhibitions in Europe, including Inca-Peru: 3000 Years of History and In Search of the American Past.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789208822
• ISBN-13: 978-0789208828
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,786,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Short and simple, September 11, 2002

By 

D. P. Birkett (Suffern, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maya Script : A Civilization and its Writing (Hardcover)

This is up against a lot of competition. Maya civilization has attracted some excellent writers. For an enthralling acount of the decipherment I best liked Michael Coe's "Breaking the Maya Code." For a heavy duty textbook if you have time and dedication go to "Understanding Maya Inscriptions" by John F Harris and Stephen K Stearns, published by the University Museum of Archeology of the University of Pennsylvania. Longhena's book has the advantage of being short and straightforward. Even such a neophyte as myself noticed innacuracies. On page 14 the number thirteen is mislabelled as twenty-three.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice to look at but has errors, January 7, 2001

By 

Paul V Caetano - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maya Script : A Civilization and its Writing (Hardcover)

This book is certainly well illlustrated, but I found a number of errors. Most were simply captions which had been switched between adjacent glyph illustrations. Therefore do not rely on the glyph identifications in this book. On the other hand, if you do not intend to try find any of the glyphs in real inscriptions, this may not be such a problem.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating linguistic tour, July 6, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maya Script : A Civilization and its Writing (Hardcover)

Maria Longherna's Maya Script reviews the symbolic written characters of the ancient Maya of Mexico, providing a history of the script and about 200 glyphs and symbols taken from Maya artifacts. A fascinating linguistic tour.