Background Essay: Deciphering the Maya Code

The ancient Maya created the only original writing system in North, Central, and South America. Their system has been called hieroglyphs, or glyphs, because it was once thought to resemble Egyptian hieroglyphs. Mayan writing used two types of symbols in their writing: phonetic symbols, which show how to sound out a word, and ideograms, which use pictures or symbols to represent what something means. Using this writing system, Mayan scribes could write any word from their spoken language.

Although written English is similar to written Mayan in that both use phonetic symbols to create words, there are big differences. While the English alphabet uses 26 symbols, or letters, to make all words, Mayan words were written using about 800 symbols! Each of these symbols represented a syllable, rather than an individual letter. Scribes could choose from multiple symbols to represent the same sound. For example, a scribe could use three different symbols to write the "ba" sound.

Mayan glyphs were painted on pottery, carved into wood or stone buildings and statues, and written into paper books called codices (ko'-dih-seez). (One paper book is called a codex.) The writings often told the story of kings, key dates, and important events. One amazing discovery has been a stairway in the city of Copán that is covered in over 2,000 hieroglyphs. It tells the story of the kings who ruled the city, including how one king was beheaded after he lost a sacred Mayan ball game. The ancient Maya also created calendars and celestial almanacs, in which they recorded the movements of the stars and planets. They used this information to plan important rituals and events, such as when to go to war.

Although many remains of Mayan glyphs have been found on pottery and structures, only four codices remain. Many were burned by Spanish priests who thought the books promoted superstitions and devil worship. To save the books from the priests, the Maya buried them in the earth. Unfortunately, the heat and humidity of the region destroyed them.