Religion, Writing, and the Shaping of the Classic Maya World
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- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Publication date:
- 15 September 2026
- 10 December 2026
- ISBN:
- 9781009774406
- 9781009774383
- 9781009774376
- Open access funder:
- University of Texas
- Creative Commons:
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This content is Open Access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC-BY-NC 4.0.
https://creativecommons.org/creativelicenses - Dimensions:
- (253 x 177 mm)
- Weight & Pages:
- 350 Pages
- Dimensions:
- (253 x 177 mm)
- Weight & Pages:
- 250 Pages
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Book description
The Classic Maya civilization (250–925 CE) in Mesoamerica innovated a hieroglyphic script that was written and read by people spread across hundreds of square kilometers and dozens of autonomous kingdoms over the course of more than a millennium. Yet, unlike other regions of the ancient world where writing was independently invented, the Maya area was never politically unified. In Religion, Writing, and the Shaping of the Classic Maya World, Mallory E. Matsumoto draws on hieroglyphic texts, imagery, and archaeological finds to reconstruct interactions through which the Classic Maya exchanged knowledge about their hieroglyphic script and how to use it. She argues that religion and ritual practice were central contexts for maintaining a coherent, mutually intelligible writing system in the absence of political centralization. The Classic Maya case challenges long-standing assumptions about the social forces underlying the origins of early writing. It also reveals religion's potential to shape human culture and technology. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Contents
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Religion, Writing, and the Shaping of the Classic Maya World
pp i-ii -
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Religion, Writing, and the Shaping of the Classic Maya World - Title page
pp iii-iii -
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Copyright page
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Dedication
pp v-vi -
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Contents
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Figures
pp ix-xii -
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Table
pp xiii-xiv -
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Acknowledgments
pp xv-xviii -
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Introduction
pp 1-12 -
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Chapter One - Ritualization, Ritual, and the Making of Meaning
pp 13-31 -
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Chapter Two - Communicating with Gods and Ancestors
pp 32-62 - Writing in Early Civilization
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Chapter Three - Other-than-Human Scribes, Hieroglyphs, and the Classic Maya Cosmos
pp 63-98 -
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Chapter Four - Weaving in Stone
pp 99-135 - Dedication Rituals and Cross-Media Exchange
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Chapter Five - Gods, Glyphs, and Ritual Diplomacy
pp 136-170 -
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Chapter Six - Other-than-Human Relations in and beyond the Dynastic Court
pp 171-208 -
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Conclusion
pp 209-218 - Religion, Writing, and the Shaping of the Classic Maya World
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References
pp 219-258 -
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Index
pp 259-264 -
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