Figures
I.1Major archaeological sites in the Maya lowlands with hieroglyphic inscriptions
1.1Detail from the north wall mural in Str. 1 at San Bartolo illustrating four infants surrounding an upright gourd as a fifth emerges from the cleft in its top
1.2Detail from the west wall mural in Str. 1 at San Bartolo illustrating a coronation scene, with an attendant ascending a ladder to present a jewel to an enthroned person atop the scaffold
3.1Full spelling of the title AJ-u-?[lu] (“sculptor, carver”) on Stela 15 from Piedras Negras, Guatemala, with the undeciphered bat head hieroglyph (T1523st) at the center
3.2Key Classic Maya sites with archaeological evidence for scribe-artists
3.5Classic Maya scribes with open codices, as portrayed on an unprovenanced Late Classic pot. A “print-out” covered with numerical hieroglyphs emerges from behind the one on the left; the one on the right holds a brush or quill
3.6Classic Maya scribes with inkwells in a scene on an unprovenanced Late Classic ceramic vase. The one on the left sits behind a codex, while the one on the right holds a brush or quill
3.7Two monkey scribes on an unprovenanced Late Classic vase gather around an open codex
3.8Classic Maya portraits of other-than-human scribal figures, sorted by physiological type: a) hybrid anthropomorphic, b) spider monkey, c) howler monkey, d) opossum, e) deer, f) fox, g) rabbit, h) tapir, i) vulture
3.9God D (left) and two companions consult an open codex in a scene painted on an unprovenanced Late Classic ceramic vessel
3.10Full-figure hieroglyphic forms on Throne 2 at Yaxchilan: a) mosquito (syllable ya), b) fish (syllable u), c) bird with worm (syllable li); and on the Str. 9N-82 Bench at Copan: d) bat (undeciphered) (left) and gopher (logograph BAAH “head; first”) (right), e) vulture (logograph AJAW “lord”)
3.11Unprovenanced cylinder vase depicting a crowd of other-than-human figures, including the two monkey scribes depicted in Figure 3.7
4.1Bird Jaguar IV, king of Yaxchilan, lets blood over an altar covered with a woven mat on 9.16.10.0.0 (March 14, 761 CE)
4.2Select archaeological sites with representations of woven mats on stone
4.3In a scene painted on an unprovenanced Late Classic vase, an upright stone stela, bundled and wrapped in cloth, stands behind an altar bearing a sacrificial victim
4.4a) Overview and b) detail of carved peccary skull from Copan showing an upright stone wrapped with interlaced ties
4.5A scene in the Postclassic Dresden Codex illustrates a standing wooden monument with fringed cloth wrapping at the top
4.6Gods in the Postclassic Madrid Codex sit in front of upright stones covered in a segment of woven reed mat
4.7Upper surface of Zacpeten Altar 1, which features four large sections of woven mat carved around its perimeter
4.8Schematic rendering of the upper face and sides of Altar 10 from El Palmar
4.9Hieroglyphic inscriptions in woven mat format on the a) east face and b) west face of Stela J at Copan
4.10Classic Maya logographs featuring crisscrossed mat symbols: a) JAL (T0551st) “reed” and b) TZ’AK (T0573st) “order, put in a row”
4.11A hieroglyphic inscription in mat format wraps around a fragmented stone cylinder recovered in the Las Sepulturas area (Group 9N) of Copan
4.12Hieroglyphic inscriptions in woven mat format on a) Stela H at Quirigua and b) an unnumbered altar at Yaxchilan
4.13Schematic drawing of the eastern face of Stela J at Copan indicating the reading order of the hieroglyphic text
4.14Detail of the upper half of the eastern face of Stela J at Copan with the Initial Series Introductory Glyph (ISIG; glyph block #0, top right) and the theonym (glyph block #37, bottom left) outlined in white
5.1Teotihuacan in central Mexico and major Classic Maya sites in the western, central, and southeastern lowlands
5.2Yat Ahk II of Piedras Negras (center-right) and his young heir (right) receive six representatives from Lacanha, Bonampak, and Yaxchilan on 9.3.16.0.5 (November 12, 510 CE). Piedras Negras Panel 2
5.3The Classic Maya logograph KO’HAW (T0678st) as written on Piedras Negras Panel 2
5.4Itzam K’an Ahk III (right), king of Piedras Negras, and K’an Xook, a sajal probably from El Cayo (left), appear together on an unprovenanced limestone panel from the Piedras Negras region
5.5In a retrospective scene on the Palenque Oval Palace Tablet, Ix Sak K’uk’ (left) presents a shell-plated ko’haw to her son, K’inich Janaab Pakal I (right), upon his accession as king
5.6K’inich K’an Joy Chitaam II (center) accepts a shell-plated ko’haw from his father, K’inich Janaab Pakal I (left), and flint blade and round shield from his mother, Ix Tz’akbu Ajaw (right), upon his accession as king. Detail from the Palenque Palace Tablet
5.7A retrospective illustration on the Tablet of the Slaves at Palenque shows K’inich Ahkal Mo’ Nahb III (center) receiving a shell-plated helmet from his father, Tiwol Chan Mat (left), and a flint blade and round shield from his mother, Ix Kinuuw (right), upon his accession as king
5.8K’inich Ahkal Mo’ Nahb III (right) sits on his throne facing Janaab Ajaw (left), an attendant who presents him with the royal headband. Note the shell-plated ko’haw on a tripod stand at the far right, immediately to the king’s left. Detail from the south face of Temple XIX platform at Palenque
5.10Detail of the inscription on the south side of Stela A at Copan, showing the emblem glyphs of Copan (block H4; third from bottom, right), Tikal (block G5; second from bottom, left), Calakmul (block H5; second from bottom, right), and Palenque (block G6; bottom left)
5.11Step I of the hieroglyphic stairway in the Guzmán Group at El Palmar, which records Aj Pach’ Waal’s encounter with a foreign king and his patron gods at Copan (blocks Q–FF)
6.1Classic Maya sites with hieroglyphic and iconographic references to the way phenomenon
6.2Classic Maya logographs with the reading WAY: a) T0539ex, b) T0645st, c) T0539st, d) T0509bv, e) T0509hp, f) T0157bh
6.3An unprovenanced bowl from the El Zotz ceramic tradition portrays six named way characters (from left to right): Ch’ok Muuk, Tilal Hix, K’ahk’ Uwe’ Chitaam, Ooch Maax, Sak Ux Ook, and Maax
6.4An unprovenanced cylinder vase from the El Zotz ceramic tradition depicts seven named way characters: a) Kukaan Winik, b) K’ahk’ Hix, c) Jatz' Tokal? Mok Chih Ahkan, d) ? Hix K’an ?, e) ? Chij, f) K’ahk’ Yohl May Kamiiy, and g) Ukuul Chij Kamiiy
6.5A codex-style tripod vessel depicting the co-essences Tzuk ? Amal (left), Och Umaax (center), and K’ahk’ Ne’ Tz’uutz’ (right)
6.6An unprovenanced codex-style vase shows the infant feline Unen Bahlam (center) flanked by the rain god Chahk (left) and the skeletal death god (right)
6.7An unprovenanced codex-style pot illustrates the co-essences ? Tahnal K’ew? (left), Chijil Tal Chan (center), and Tzuk ? Amal (right)
6.8An Ik’a-style cylinder vase features nine named way characters: a) K’ahk’, b) Ch’aktel Hixnal, c) Sak Ux Ook, d) Ukuul Chij Kamiiy, e) Ha’ Hix, f) K’util Hix, g) Mabib, h) Tahn Bihil Kimi, and i) Jatz’oon Ahkan
6.9Twelve named way characters appear on an unprovenanced cylinder vase from the Naranjo region: a) Ukuul Chij Kamiiy, b) Noj Chij Yaj Maax, c) Naak? Xinik Kimi, d) Tz’utz’ih? Ak’?, e) Chak Tahn Wax, f) Ahkan ?, g) Chijil Tal Kaan, h) K’ahk’ Ne’ Tz’uutz’, i) K’ahk’ Uwe’ Chitaam, j) Tilal Hix, k) Sitz’ Winik, and l) Sak Ux Ook
6.10An Ik’a-style vessel portrays four way characters (from left to right): Ch’ak Baah Ahkan, Muyal Hix, Mabaak Unal, and an anthropomorphic-feline character whose name is missing
6.11Seven named way characters decorate an unprovenanced polychrome vase: a) K’ahk’ Yohl May Kamiiy, b) Kuk Winik, c) K’ek’ Hix, d) Chijil Tal Kaan, e) Ak’abil Aj Pate’l K’ahk’, f) Sak Baak Naah Chapaht, and g) Ha’al Winik
C.1The Temple Inscription in Str. 10L-26-1st at Copan, featuring parallel texts in a Teotihuacan-style pseudo-script (columns A–H) and Classic Maya hieroglyphs (columns a–h)
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