Maya Script: A civilization and its writing (Paperback)

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

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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 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-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.

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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press (April 30, 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.com Sales Rank: #2,195,811 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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 (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mayan 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 (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mayan 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: Mayan 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.