Diego De Landa, Mayan Alphabet

by British Library

Title

Diego De Landa, Mayan Alphabet

Artist

British Library

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

The Mayan script is the writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, currently the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. Diego de Landa Calderón (November 12, 1524 - April 29, 1579) was a Spanish bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán. He left future generations with a mixed legacy in his writings, which contain much valuable information on pre-Columbian Maya civilization and his actions, which destroyed much of that civilization's history, literature, and traditions. He is the author of the Relación de las cosas de Yucatán in which he catalogues the Maya religion, Maya language, culture and writing system. His Maya alphabet was instrumental in the mid-20th century breakthrough in Maya hieroglyphics decipherment. Maya writing used logograms complemented by a set of syllabic glyphs, somewhat similar in function to modern Japanese writing. Image taken from page 36 of "A larger history of the United States of America to the close of President Jackson's administration" by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1885.

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March 8th, 2017

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