![]() ![]() ![]() It is almost certainly the case that most peasants in Maya society were illiterate, but more so even than that it is highly likely that many of the stone carvers and potters could not read or write. Vessel with Waterbird and Fish, Late Classic Period (700-900)īowers Museum Foundation Acquisition Fund Purchase To make it more complex, often time the two types of hieroglyphics (logograms and syllabograms) would be paired in non-standardized ways. The equivalent in English would be if we had characters for syllables rather than individual letters whose combinations can make a variety of sounds. However, the same word could also be formed from phonetic hieroglyphics or syllabograms which when read together would sound out the word. Most common nouns had logograms for example, the logogram for jaguar was a disembodied and slightly abstracted jaguar head. Due to the complexity of the hieroglyphics used by the Maya and the variable ways something might be written, it required grueling coursework to be able to learn how to properly express ideas. Both men and women were included in this group, and there was also a chief scribe or ak k’u hun responsible not only for recordkeeping but for many of the important events that might be subject to being recorded such as marriages and ceremonies. What we do know from signatures appearing on texts is that in Mayan culture there was an elite class of scribes-usually formed from aristocracy and in many cases even the king-who were the only individuals with the ability to write. Reading and writing within the Mayan context is an interesting subject, and certain aspects of it are still debated. Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque, Mexico ![]()
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