Reading the Maya Glyphs

This volume was inspired by Michael Coe’s visit to Egypt when he realised how enjoyable it was for the traveller to be able to decipher simple hieroglyphic writings while visiting the cities of the Nile. On returning to his own specialist area, the study of the Maya, he determined to produce a volume similar to those available for Egyptian hieroglyphs. The Maya script is a difficult one yet “the subject matter of most public inscriptions, like those of Ancient Egypt, is relatively restricted and there is much repetition and redundancy”. Significant decipherment of the Maya script did not begin until...