ang5167 Maya Hieroglyphs

ANG 5167
Maya Hieroglyphs
Arlen and Diane Chase
achase@mail.ucf.edu

Syllabus

Course requirements:

All students are expected to read the appropriate chapters or pages in the course texts (see main page) and in any other assigned readings (see schedule) by the time that the class has met. In general, the course will follow a lecture format; discussion is, however, encouraged at any point during the class. The lectures and readings will be complementary, but will not necessarily overlap. Readings for each week are indicated below and should be read by the beginning of each week. Students should also attempt translations prior to coming to class so that they may participate in discussions appropriately.

Course requirements will include (1) posted summaries of the 3 readings that are required (see main page); (2) posted summaries of 12 other articles (all postings must be on the web prior to the final class meeting) and classroom presentation of 2 selected articles from the "Additional Readings" list below on the date assigned to the individual student (in general, this will occur during the 3rd and 4th classroom meetings); (3) a general translation of a text during the final week of the course (given out the week before the class meeting); and, (4) classroom discussion relevant to the texts being translated (especially from the site of Yaxchilan). The overall course grade will be dependent on the various presentations, on the posted reading summaries, and on classroom participation.

There is widespread availability of numerous drawings of carved Maya stelae and painted or carved artifacts containing hieroglyphic texts (eg. Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions [in reference section of UCF Library]). Because of general public interest in this subject, there are some excellent on-line resources that can be utilized in addition to the books and readings required below. In particular, please see http:/www.halfmoon.org.

Additional Readings:

Berlin, Heinrich 1958 "El Glifo "Emblema" en las Inscripciones Mayas," Journal de la Societe des Americanistes 47:111-119.

Grube, Nikolai 1991 "An Investigation of the Primary Standard Sequence on Classic Maya Ceramics," in Merle Greene Robertson and Virginia M. Fields, Eds., Sixth Palenque Round Table, 1986, pp. 223-232, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

Hammond, Norman 1977 "Sir Eric Thompson, 1898-1975: A Biographical Sketch and Bibiliography," in N. Hammond, Ed., Social Process in Maya Prehistory, pp. 1-17, Academic Press, London.

Hopkins, Nicholas A. 1997 "Decipherment and the Relation between Mayan Languages and Maya Writing," in M. Macri and A. Ford, Eds., The Language of Maya Hieroglyphs, pp. 77-88, Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.

Houston, Stephen D. 1986 "Problematic emblem Glyphs: Examples from Altar de Sacrificios, El Chorro, Rio Azul, and Xultun," Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing 3, Center for Maya Research, Washington, D.C.

Houston, Stephen D. and David Stuart 1989 "The WAY Glyph: Evidence for 'Co-essences' Among the Classic Maya," Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing 30, Center for Maya Research, Washington, D.C.

Houston, Stephen, John Robertson, and David Stuart 2000 "The Language of Classic Maya Inscriptions," Current Anthropology 41(3):321-356.

Kelley, David H. 1962 "Glyphic Evidence for a Dynastic Sequence at Quirigua, Guatemala," American Antiquity 27:323-335.

Knorosov, Yuri V. 1955 "Writing System of the Ancient Maya: An Attempt at Decipherment," Sovetskaya Ethnografiya 1:94-125 (English translation by Tatiana Proskouriakoff).

Knorozov, Yuri V. 1958 "The Problem of the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphic Writing," American Antiquity 23(3):284-291.

Lacadena, Alfonso and Soren Wichmann 2002 "The Distribution of Lowland Maya Languages in the Classic Period," in V. Tiesler, R. Cobos, and M. Greene Robertson, Eds., La Organizacion social entre los Mayas Vol. 2, pp. 275-314, INAH, Mexico.

Lounsbury, Floyd G. 1973 "On the Derivation and Reading of the 'Ben-Ich' Prefix," in E. Benson, Ed., Mesoamerican Writing Sytstems, pp. 99-143, Dubarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.

Lounsbury, Floyd G. 1991 "Distinguished Lecture: Recent Work in the Decipherment of Palenque's Hieroglyphic Inscriptions," American Anthropologist 93:809-825.

Martin, Simon 2006 "Of Snakes and Bats: Shifting Identities at Calakmul," The PARI Journal 6(2):5-15.

Martin, Simon, and Nikolai Grube 1995 "Maya Superstates," Archaeology 48(6):41-45.

Mathews, Peter 1998 "Site Q Sculptures," http://archaeology.org/online/features/siteq/index.html

Proskouriakoff, Tatiana 1960 "Historical Impications of a Pattern of Dates at Piedras Negras, Guatemala," American Antiquity 25:454-475.

Ringle, William M. 1990 "Who Was Who in Ninth-Century Chichen Itza," Ancient Mesoamerica 1: 233-243.

Schuster, Angela M.H. 1994 "The Case of the Suspect Stela," Archaeology 47(5):51-53.

Stuart, David 1989 "Hieroglyphs on Maya Vessels," in Justin Kerr, The Maya Vase Book; Volume 1, pp. 149-160, Justin Kerr Associates, New York.

Stuart, David 1990 "The Depcipherment of 'Directional Count Glyphs' in Maya Inscriptions," Ancient Mesoamerica 1:213-224.

Stuart, David 1997 "Kinship Terms in Maya Inscriptions," in M. Macri and A. Ford, Eds., The Language of Maya Hieroglyphs, pp. 77-88, Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.

Thompson, J. Eric S. 1959 "Systems of Hieroglyphic Writing in Middle America and Methods of Deciphering Them," American Antiquity 24:349-364.

Thompson, J. Eric S. 1960 "Preface to the Second Edition," Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: An Introduction, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

Wichmann, Soren 2006 "Mayan Historical Linguistics and Epigraphy: A New Synthesis," Annual Reviews of Anthropology 35:279-294.

Additional Relevant References:

Coe, Michael 1973 The Maya Scribe and His World, Grolier Club, New York.

Graham, Ian various Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.

Harris, John F. and Stephen K. Stearns 1997 Understanding Maya Inscriptions: A Hieroglyphic Handbook, The University Museum, Philadelphia.

Justeson, John S., William M. Norman, Lyle Campbell, and Terrence Kaufman 1985 The Foreign Impact on Lowland Mayan Language and Script, Publication 53, Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans.

Kerr, Justin various The Maya Vase Book (volumes 1-4), Kerr Associates, New York.

Kelley, David H.1976 Deciphering the Maya Script, University of Texas Press, Austin.

Lee, Thomas A.1985 Los Codices Mayas, Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas, Campeche.

Marcus Joyce1976 Emblem and State in the Classic Maya Lowlands: An Epigraphic Approach to Territorial Organization, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.

Martin, Simon and Nikolai Grube 2000 Chronicle of Maya Kings and Queens, Thames and Hudson, London.

Robertson, Merle Greene various Ed., Palenque Mesa Redondas, Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute (San Francisco) or University of Texas Press (Austin) or University of Oklahoma Press (Norman).

Schele, Linda 1982 Maya Glyphs: The Verbs, University of Texas Press, Austin.

Schele, Linda and Peter Matthews 1998 The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs, Scribner, New York.

Stuart, David and Stephen D. Houston 1994 Classic Maya Place Names, Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology 33, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.

Thompson, J.E.S. 1950 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: An Introduction, Publication 589, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. (reprinted 1971, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman).

Thompson, J.E.S. 1972 A Commentary on the Dresden Codex, Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, No. 93, Philadelphia.