Open AccessOn preserved and lost Ancient Maya books
Author(s) -
Boguchwała Tuszyńska
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
z badań nad książką i księgozbiorami historycznymi
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2544-8730
pISSN - 1897-0788
DOI - 10.33077/uw.25448730.zbkh.2019.156
Subject(s) - maya , alphabet , art , literature , syllabic verse , decipherment , bark (sound) , history , ancient history , classics , archaeology , geography , linguistics , philosophy , forestry
One of the greatest achievements of the Ancient Maya was a logo-syllabic writing system. The Maya left many glyphic inscriptions carved, incised or painted on different media. Unfortunately, from that rich scribal tradition only four manuscripts, known as codices, survived. They are painted on bark paper and contain, above all, almanacs with auguries. However, by looking at reports prepared by chroniclers during Colonial times, and documents transcribed in Mayan languages using the Latin alphabet, one can see that a variety of subjects could have been raised in lost codices.