Given the rarity and importance of these books, rumors of finding new ones often develop interest. Archaeological excavations of Maya sites have turned up a number of rectangular lumps of plaster and paint flakes, most commonly in elite tombs. These lumps are the remains of codices where all the organic material has rotted away. A few of the more coherent of these lumps have been preserved, with the slim hope that some technique to be developed by future generations of archaeologists may be able to recover some information from these remains of ancient pages. ...

See also:

Maya codices, Maya codices - Background, Maya codices - Dresden Codex, Maya codices - Madrid Codex, Maya codices - Paris Codex, Maya codices - Grolier Codex, Maya codices - Other Maya codices, Maya codices - Forgeries, Maya codices - Commentary

Read more here: » Maya codices: Encyclopedia II - Maya codices - Other Maya codices

See also:

Maya codices, Maya codices - Background, Maya codices - Dresden Codex, Maya codices - Madrid Codex, Maya codices - Paris Codex, Maya codices - Grolier Codex, Maya codices - Other Maya codices, Maya codices - Forgeries, Maya codices - Commentary

Read more here: » Maya codices: Encyclopedia II - Maya codices - Background

Given the rarity and importance of these books, rumors of finding new ones often develop interest. Archaeological excavations of Maya sites have turned up a number of rectangular lumps of plaster and paint flakes, most commonly in elite tombs. These lumps are the remains of codices where all the organic material has rotted away. A few of the more coherent of these lumps have been preserved, with the slim hope that some technique to be developed by future generations of archaeologists may be able to recover some information from these remains of ancient pages. ...

See also:

Maya codices, Maya codices - Background, Maya codices - Dresden Codex, Maya codices - Madrid Codex, Maya codices - Paris Codex, Maya codices - Grolier Codex, Maya codices - Other Maya codices, Maya codices - Forgeries, Maya codices - Commentary, Maya codices - Technology

Read more here: » Maya codices: Encyclopedia II - Maya codices - Other Maya codices

There were many such books in existence at the time of the Spanish conquest of Yucatán in the 16th century, but they were destroyed in bulk by the Conquistadors and priests soon after. In particular, all those in Yucatán were ordered destroyed by Bishop Diego de Landa in July of 1562. Such codices were primary written records of Maya civilization, together with the many inscriptions on stone monuments and stelae which survive to the present day. However, their range of subject matter in all likelihood differed significantly from the topics ...

See also:

Maya codices, Maya codices - Background, Maya codices - Dresden Codex, Maya codices - Madrid Codex, Maya codices - Paris Codex, Maya codices - Grolier Codex, Maya codices - Other Maya codices, Maya codices - Forgeries, Maya codices - Commentary, Maya codices - Technology

Read more here: » Maya codices: Encyclopedia II - Maya codices - Background

Another important calendar for the Maya was the Venus cycle. The Maya were excellent astronomers, and could calculate the Venus cycle extremely accurately. There are six pages in the Dresden Codex (one of the Maya codices) devoted to the accurate calculation of the location of Venus. The Maya were able to achieve such accuracy by careful observation over many years. The Venus cycle was especially important because the Maya believed it was associated with war and used it to divine good times for coronations and war. Maya rulers planned for wars to begin when Venus rose. The Maya also possibly tracked other planets’ movements, i ...

See also:

Maya calendar, Maya calendar - General overview, Maya calendar - Maya concepts of time, Maya calendar - Tzolk'in, Maya calendar - Divination, Maya calendar - Origin of the Tzolkin, Maya calendar - Haab, Maya calendar - Wayeb, Maya calendar - Calendar Round, Maya calendar - Long Count, Maya calendar - Calculating Long Count dates, Maya calendar - Calculating the Tzolkin date portion, Maya calendar - Calculating the Haab date portion, Maya calendar - End of the world?, Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Read more here: » Maya calendar: Encyclopedia II - Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Archaeological evidence shows the Maya had started to build ceremonial architecture by approximately 1000 BCE. There is some disagreement about the boundaries which differentiate the physical and cultural extent of the early Maya and their neighboring Pre-Classic Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec culture of the Tabasco lowlands and the Mixe-Zoque– and Zapotec–speaking peoples of Chiapas and southern Oaxaca. Many of the earliest significant inscriptions and buildings appeared in thi ...

Including:

Maya civilization - Origins Maya civilization - Art Maya civilization - Architecture
Maya civilization - Urban design Maya civilization - Building materials Maya civilization - Building process Maya civilization - Notable constructions
Maya civilization - Writing and literacy
Maya civilization - Writing system Maya civilization - Writing tools Maya civilization - Scribes Maya civilization - Literacy
Maya civilization - Mathematics Maya civilization - Religion Maya civilization - Agriculture Maya civilization - Decline of the Maya Maya civilization - Rediscovery of the Pre-Columbian Maya Maya civilization - List of Maya sites
Maya civilization - Most important sites Maya civilization - Other important Maya sites
Maya civilization - Reference

Read more here: » Maya civilization: Encyclopedia - Maya civilization

The Maya calendar is actually a system of distinct calendars and almanacs used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. These different calendars tracked observable phenomena such as the solar year, the lunar year, and the synodic period of the planet Venus; others had a divinatory or ritualistic purpose without any known association to natural cycles. These calendars could be synchronised and interlocked in complex ways, their combina ...

Including:

Maya calendar - General overview Maya calendar - Maya concepts of time Maya calendar - Tzolk'in
Maya calendar - Divination Maya calendar - Origin of the Tzolkin
Maya calendar - Haab
Maya calendar - Wayeb
Maya calendar - Calendar Round Maya calendar - Long Count
Maya calendar - Calculating Long Count dates Maya calendar - Calculating the Tzolkin date portion Maya calendar - Calculating the Haab date portion Maya calendar - End of the world?
Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Read more here: » Maya calendar: Encyclopedia - Maya calendar

Maya mythology refers to the pre-Columbian Maya civilization's extensive polytheistic religious beliefs. These beliefs had most likely been long-established by the time the earliest-known distinctively Maya monuments had been built and inscriptions depicting their deities recorded, considerably pre-dating the 1st millennium BC. Over the succeeding millennia this intricate and multi-faceted system of beliefs was extended, varying to a degree between regions and time periods, but maintaining also an inherited tradition and customary obs ...

Including:

Maya mythology - Overview Maya mythology - The Creation Myth Maya mythology - Notable Gods
Maya mythology - Bacabs
Maya mythology - The First Humans
Maya mythology - The Men Maya mythology - Their Wives
Maya mythology - Gods and Supernatural Beings Maya mythology - Locations Maya mythology - Reference

Read more here: » Maya mythology: Encyclopedia - Maya mythology

A codex (Latin for book; plural codices) is a handwritten book from late Antiquity or the Early Middle Ages. Although the Romans used the codex and similar precursors made of wood for taking notes and other informal writings, the first recorded use of the codex for literary works dates from the late first century, when Martial experimented with the format. At that time, the roll (also called a scroll) was the dominant medium for literary works and would remain dominant for secular works until the 4th century. As far back ...

Including:

Codex - Some codices Codex - Codex in Open Source

Read more here: » Codex: Encyclopedia - Codex

Diego de Landa Calderón (1524 – 1579) was Bishop of Yucatán. De Landa was in charge of bringing the Roman Catholic faith to the Maya peoples after the Spanish conquest of Yucatán. He presided over a spiritual monopoly granted to the Catholic order of Franciscans by the Spanish crown, and worked dilligently to buttress the order's power while converting the indigenous Maya. He left future generations with a mixed legacy in his writings which contain much valuable information on pre-Columbian Maya civilization, and his actions which destroyed much of tha ...

Read more here: » Diego de Landa: Encyclopedia - Diego de Landa

Lost work - Classical world. Naupactia, a Greek epic poem. The Progeny, a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Fragments of this play were discovered in April of 2005. On Sphere-Making by Archimedes. De arte alea by Claudius. Margites by Homer. Successions of Philosophers by Alexander Polyhistor. The six lost works of the Trojan War cycle: Aithiopis, Iliou persis, Kypria, the Little Iliad, N ...

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Lost work, Lost work - Notable lost works, Lost work - Classical world, Lost work - Early religious texts, Lost work - Books lost from the New Testament apocrypha, Lost work - 14th century, Lost work - 15th century, Lost work - 16th century, Lost work - 17th century, Lost work - 18th century, Lost work - 19th century, Lost work - 20th century

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Since Calendar Round dates can only distinguish within 18980 days, equivalent to around 52 solar years, the cycle repeats roughly once each lifetime, and thus, a much more refined method of dating was needed if their history was to be recorded accurately. The Long Count employs the use of number series, roughly base 20 and is constructed by counting whole number of days alone. The Mayan name for a day was kin; twenty of these kins are known as a uinal; eighteen uinals make one tun; twenty tuns are known as ...

See also:

Maya calendar, Maya calendar - General overview, Maya calendar - Maya concepts of time, Maya calendar - Tzolk'in, Maya calendar - Divination, Maya calendar - Origin of the Tzolkin, Maya calendar - Haab, Maya calendar - Wayeb, Maya calendar - Calendar Round, Maya calendar - Long Count, Maya calendar - Calculating Long Count dates, Maya calendar - Calculating the Tzolkin date portion, Maya calendar - Calculating the Haab date portion, Maya calendar - End of the world?, Maya calendar - Venus cycle

Read more here: » Maya calendar: Encyclopedia II - Maya calendar - Long Count

The Maya believed there were five different cardinal directions four of which were associated with colors: north/white, south/yellow, east/red, west/black, and center which was associated with the tree of life, symbolised by a great ceiba tree that was the center of the cosmos. Mayan gods had different aspects based on these five directions as well as the different natural cycles that the Maya observed. The gods also had dualistic natures associating them with day or night, life or death. There were thirteen gods of the thirteen heavens of t ...

See also:

Maya mythology, Maya mythology - Overview, Maya mythology - The Creation Myth, Maya mythology - Notable Gods, Maya mythology - Bacabs, Maya mythology - The First Humans, Maya mythology - The Men, Maya mythology - Their Wives, Maya mythology - Gods and Supernatural Beings, Maya mythology - Locations, Maya mythology - Reference

Read more here: » Maya mythology: Encyclopedia II - Maya mythology - Overview

As unique and spectacular as any Greek or Roman architecture, Maya architecture spans many thousands of years; yet, often the most dramatic and easily recognizable as Maya are the fantastic stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. These pyramids relied on intricate carved stone in order to create a stair-step design. Each pyramid was dedicated to a deity whose shrine sat at its peak. During this "height" of Maya culture, the centers of their religious, commercial and bureaucratic power grew into incredible cities, in ...

See also:

Maya civilization, Maya civilization - Origins, Maya civilization - Political structures, Maya civilization - Art, Maya civilization - Architecture, Maya civilization - Urban design, Maya civilization - Building materials, Maya civilization - Building process, Maya civilization - Notable constructions, Maya civilization - Writing and literacy, Maya civilization - Writing system, Maya civilization - Writing tools, Maya civilization - Scribes, Maya civilization - Literacy, Maya civilization - Mathematics, Maya civilization - Religion, Maya civilization - Agriculture, Maya civilization - Decline of the Maya, Maya civilization - Rediscovery of the Pre-Columbian Maya, Maya civilization - List of Maya sites, Maya civilization - Most important sites, Maya civilization - Other important Maya sites, Maya civilization - Reference

Read more here: » Maya civilization: Encyclopedia II - Maya civilization - Architecture

In the Guatemalan highlands the Mayan language with the largest population, K'iche' (earlier spelled Quiché), is spoken by more than two million speakers (Ethnologue 2004). This language is the language in which the famous Maya mythological document the Popol Wuj was written. It is centered around the towns Chichicastenango, Quetzaltenango and in the Cuchumatán Highlands. The K'iche' culture was at its p ...

See also:

Mayan languages, Mayan languages - Note on terminology, Mayan languages - Overview, Mayan languages - Language families, Mayan languages - Relation to Mesoamerican writing

Read more here: » Mayan languages: Encyclopedia II - Mayan languages - Overview

The Maya believed there were five different cardinal directions four of which were associated with colors: north/white, south/yellow, east/red, west/black, and center which was associated with a great ceiba tree that was the center of the cosmos. Mayan gods had different aspects based on these five directions as well as the different natural cycles that the Maya observed. The gods also had dualistic natures associating them with day or night, life or death. There were thirteen gods of the thirteen heavens of the Maya religion and nine gods o ...

See also:

Maya mythology, Maya mythology - Overview, Maya mythology - The Creation Myth, Maya mythology - Notable Gods, Maya mythology - Bacabs, Maya mythology - The First Humans, Maya mythology - The Men, Maya mythology - Their Wives, Maya mythology - Gods and Supernatural Beings, Maya mythology - Locations, Maya mythology - Reference

Read more here: » Maya mythology: Encyclopedia II - Maya mythology - Overview

He was born near Kharkov in the Ukraine, into an academic Russian family. As a young man, Knorosov served in the Red Army during World War II as an artillery spotter. By some accounts he took part in the final push into Berlin during May, 1945, although later sources question this. Nevertheless, the following well-known anecdote has been published, possibly as a retrospective "embellishment" to his biography: the story goes that during this exercise he and his unit passed by the National Library as it was being consumed in a blaze. Knorosov ...

See also:

Yuri Knorosov, Yuri Knorosov - Early life, Yuri Knorosov - Key research, Yuri Knorosov - Critical reactions to his work, Yuri Knorosov - Progress of decipherment, Yuri Knorosov - Later life, Yuri Knorosov - List of publications

Read more here: » Yuri Knorosov: Encyclopedia II - Yuri Knorosov - Early life

In the Guatemalan highlands the Mayan language with the largest population, K'iche' (earlier spelled Quiché), is spoken by more than two million speakers (Ethnologue 2004). This language is the language in which the famous Maya mythological document the Popol Wuj was written. It is centered around the towns Chichicastenango and Quetzaltenango, and in the Cuchumatán Highlands. The K'iche' culture was at its p ...

See also:

Mayan languages, Mayan languages - Note on terminology, Mayan languages - Overview, Mayan languages - Language families, Mayan languages - Relation to Mesoamerican writing

Read more here: » Mayan languages: Encyclopedia II - Mayan languages - Overview

As unique and spectacular as any Greek or Roman architecture, Maya architecture spans many thousands of years; yet, often the most dramatic and easily recognizable as Maya are the fantastic stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. These pyramids relied on intricate carved stone in order to create a stair-step design. Each pyramid was dedicated to a deity whose shrine sat at its peak. During this "height" of Maya culture, the centers of their religious, commercial and bureaucratic power grew into incredible cities, in ...

See also:

Maya civilization, Maya civilization - Origins, Maya civilization - Art, Maya civilization - Architecture, Maya civilization - Urban design, Maya civilization - Building materials, Maya civilization - Building process, Maya civilization - Notable constructions, Maya civilization - Writing and literacy, Maya civilization - Writing system, Maya civilization - Writing tools, Maya civilization - Scribes, Maya civilization - Literacy, Maya civilization - Mathematics, Maya civilization - Religion, Maya civilization - Agriculture, Maya civilization - Decline of the Maya, Maya civilization - Rediscovery of the Pre-Columbian Maya, Maya civilization - List of Maya sites, Maya civilization - Most important sites, Maya civilization - Other important Maya sites, Maya civilization - Reference

Read more here: » Maya civilization: Encyclopedia II - Maya civilization - Architecture

Archaeological evidence shows the Maya had started to build ceremonial architecture by approximately 1000 BCE. There is some disagreement about the boundaries which differentiate the physical and cultural extent of the early Maya and their neighboring Pre-Classic Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec culture of the Tabasco lowlands and the Mixe-Zoque– and Zapotec–speaking peoples of Chiapas and southern Oaxaca. Many of the earliest significant inscriptions and buildings appeared in this overlapping zone, and evidence suggests that these cultures ...

See also:

Maya civilization, Maya civilization - Origins, Maya civilization - Political structures, Maya civilization - Art, Maya civilization - Architecture, Maya civilization - Urban design, Maya civilization - Building materials, Maya civilization - Building process, Maya civilization - Notable constructions, Maya civilization - Writing and literacy, Maya civilization - Writing system, Maya civilization - Writing tools, Maya civilization - Scribes, Maya civilization - Literacy, Maya civilization - Mathematics, Maya civilization - Religion, Maya civilization - Agriculture, Maya civilization - Decline of the Maya, Maya civilization - Rediscovery of the Pre-Columbian Maya, Maya civilization - List of Maya sites, Maya civilization - Most important sites, Maya civilization - Other important Maya sites, Maya civilization - Reference

Read more here: » Maya civilization: Encyclopedia II - Maya civilization - Origins