Maya script
Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs, is historically the native writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica and is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found which are identifiably Maya date to the 3rd century BCE in San Bartolo, Guatemala. Maya writing was in continuous use throughout Mesoamerica until the Spanish conquest of the Maya in the 16th and 17th centuries.
| Maya script | |
|---|---|
Pages 6, 7, and 8 of the Dresden Codex, showing letters, numbers, and the images that often accompany Maya writing | |
| Script type | |
Time period | 3rd century BCE to 16th century CE |
| Direction | Mixed |
| Languages | Mayan languages |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Maya (090), Mayan hieroglyphs |
| Unicode | |
| None (tentative range U+15500–U+159FF) | |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Maya civilization |
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| History |
| Preclassic Maya |
| Classic Maya collapse |
| Spanish conquest of the Maya |
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Maya writing used logograms complemented with a set of syllabic glyphs, somewhat similar in function to modern Japanese writing. Maya writing was called "hieroglyphics" or hieroglyphs by early European explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries who found its general appearance reminiscent of Egyptian hieroglyphs, although the two systems are unrelated.
Though modern Mayan languages are almost entirely written using the Latin alphabet rather than Maya script, there have been recent developments encouraging a revival of the Maya glyph system.