Textdatenbank und Wörterbuch des Klassischen Maya

2. Juli 2020

Christian Prager

Ivan Šprajc and Octavio Esparza Olguín have kindly shared their reseach materials on the Classic Maya sites of Chactun and El Zacatal. We have now uploaded their materials: drawings and photos of the monuments and inscriptions of Chactun and El Zacatal, almost 400 materials. All images are under CC BY 4.0.

A Logogram for YAH "Wound"

Decipherment, Publications, Research Notes

23. Juni 2020

Nikolai Grube

Among the many logographic signs which so far have escaped decipherment is a head sign which shows a V-shaped stepped design in its interior. The sign has been identified by Eric Thompson as T1078. A closer look at the sign shows that its full form includes a small attached prefix with “darkness” markings representing an obsidian tool, perhaps a knife that was used for sacrificial purposes. It is argued here that the wounded head with the knife is a logogram YA or YAH for "wound".

Decipherment, Publications, Research Notes

12. Mai 2020

Christian Prager

A Maya stela with a hieroglyphic text and a portrayal of a Maya ruler that is now in the collections of the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, Germany (inventory no. M 30751), has received scant attention from scholars to date. Our analysis concludes that the monument illustrates a previously unknown Maya king of the small polity of Hix Witz (English “Ocelot/Margay Hill”) from the early ninth century CE and most likely originates from Zapote Bobal in Petén, Guatemala, or a neighboring site.

Decipherment, Lexicography, Publications, Research Notes

2. April 2020

Christian Prager

The decipherment KUK for sign 576 that has been tested here proves productive for understanding its occurrences in Palenque (yok kuk ch’ajan ‘guardian of the tied bundle’) and for reading the name phrase of the way creature nicknamed “man in the bundle” as kuk winik, kukil winik, or kukan winik ‘bundle person’, ‘rolled-up person’, or ‘person who becomes a bundle’. This interpretation also fits well with the attestation on La Amelia Stela 2, where the captive who has been tied and wrapped up into a bundle is rolled down the stairs in the context of a ritual ballgame. In Palenque, this term also identifies a member of the royal court who was assigned with caring for the royal vesture and regalia and dressing the king or otherwise assisting him with donning his vestments.

What is new?