Symbols
The main "symbols" of the Maya were their writing system: the hieroglyphics. They were very unique and complex and had hundreds of glyphs of people, animals, objects, and abstract things. There are many different Mayan languages as there were many unique Mayan nations, but only two were written down with the hieroglyphics: the Ch'olan and the Tzeltalan. It is thought the speakers of those languages were the inventors of the writing system. A famous symbol of the Maya is the symbol of Hunab Ku or One Being, a Mayan deity. It is suspected the Hunab Ku deity had been invented by Spanish Christians because it only appears in later sources. The Christians could've used the "One Being" to ease the Mayans transition into monotheism and Christianity. The symbol represents the encompassing of the opposites in the universe and the uniting of them. The symbol is considered powerful because of it promotes achieving balance and harmony by uniting opposites sides. Texts The Mayans had many texts but most were destroyed by the Spanish during their invasion. Only three codices remain: the Paris, Madrid and Dresden, named after the places they are kept at. These codices are books with pages bound together, hand-painted in hieroglyphics. Other texts were hieroglyphics transcribed into Latin by modern natives. The most famous of those is the Popul Vuh, the creation story. Others are the books of Chilam Balam and The Ritual of the Bacabs. |
The symbol Hunab Ku
Part of a Mayan codice
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