The information drawn from Maya hieroglyphic texts has fundamentally changed our understanding of the ancient Maya culture. To be able to read what the Maya themselves wrote about their history and rituals provides a fascinating and unparalleled window into a past culture, whose descendants continue to thrive in the communities of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.

The objective of this workshop is to provide an intensive introduction to the study of Maya hieroglyphs. Participants will have a chance to decipher hieroglyphs on their own during the workshop with the assistance of the tutors. General tuition will be given in French but explanations can also be provided in other languages (English and Spanish) on an individual basis. No previous knowledge of Maya culture, Maya hieroglyphs, ancient scripts, or linguistics is required to attend the workshop.

Towards the end of the three day workshop, participants will be able to understand the basic structure of Maya texts, decipher calendrical information, reconstruct chronology, point at verbs and nominal phrases, and much more.

Le 8ème siècle. Aux quatre coins du monde Maya, des rois divins sont à la tête de gigantesques cités. Au sein de leurs palais et temples, des hommes et des femmes, membres de l’élite maya, vivaient au rythme de grandes cérémonies que de nombreux scribes ont immortalisées sur de splendides monuments.
Qui n’a jamais rêvé de comprendre cette civilisation aujourd’hui disparue, qui peuplait alors ces cités lointaines, de décrypter ses textes ou de mieux connaître sa riche mythologie? Qui n’a jamais rêvé de voir le soleil souverain guider ses pas au cœur du pays Maya, vers la richesse et l’histoire de la civilisation maya !

L’objectif de cet atelier est de donner une introduction solide à l’étude de l’écriture maya. Pendant trois jours et avec l’aide des tuteurs, les participants seront amenés à déchiffrer eux-mêmes plusieurs textes hiéroglyphiques. L’atelier sera donné en français (les tuteurs maîtrisent aussi l’anglais et l’espagnol). Aucune connaissance préliminaire en épigraphie maya n’est requise pour assister à cet atelier.

A la fin des trois jours, les participants seront en mesure d’identifier les glyphes les plus répandus de l’écriture maya, de comprendre la construction grammaticale d’un texte, de reconstituer la chronologie d’un récit historique de l’époque maya classique.

The k’uhul ajaw or divine king was the central figure in Classic Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions. The history of Classic Maya kingdoms was the history of royal dynasties, starting from ancient kings and continuing to the present. However, as in other ancient societies, this was more a desired ideal and not a real picture.

Through the analysis of hieroglyphic inscriptions from selected Maya sites (Tikal, Dos Pilas, Palenque, Yaxchilan), we will analyze the perception of dynastic crises in Classic Maya politics and ideology and try to answer following important questions. How were dynastic crises described in Classic Maya texts? Were dynastic crises always considered to be a bad time not worth to be recorded in the hieroglyphic texts; or could they actively be used to establish rights of new ruling families? Did the figures of a “bad king” or “usurper” exist in Classic Maya culture?

We would like to put emphasis on the practical work with the inscriptions and glyphs, which will be distributed in working groups among the participants. During the workshop, we will only provide few and short presentations. The workshop will concentrate on hieroglyphic inscriptions from various sites in the Maya Lowlands, recounting conflict and warfare. What conflicts took place among generations of Maya kings and queens during the Middle and Late Classic period? The focus will be placed upon the royal discourse on conflict and rhetorics of war, as recorded in an abundance of texts from the Western and Eastern area of the lowlands (from sites such as Yaxchilan, Dos Pilas, Naranjo, Palenque, and Tortuguero).

Guided by the tutors, the individual work groups will concentrate on the analyses of the hieroglyphic narratives. From the accounts of single inscriptions, we advance the image by comparing different sources and assemble a comprehensive insight into the discourse on warfare, local history, and intersite relations. By doing this, the participants will obtain further insights into historiography and deepen their knowledge of the writing system.

Thanks to the decipherment of Maya Hieroglyphic writing, studies in Maya grammar have been assuming an ever greater importance from the eighties onward, because grammar constitutes the indispensable foundation for correct interpretation and understanding of Maya inscriptions.

According to the current theory, all Classic inscriptions record a prestigious language of Cholan affiliation we call Hieroglyphic Mayan today. Hieroglyphic Mayan was used everywhere in the Maya Lowlands; its use does not correspond to any known linguistic and political entities. Even Postclassic Codices and the celebrated Diego de Landa’s “Relación de las cosas de Yucatán” of the 16th century feature Hieroglyphic Mayan. Still, lexical and grammatical isoglosses from vernacular Mayan languages and non-Mayan glosses are attested in the inscriptions. The Advanced Workshop will offer an up-to-date outline of Maya grammar including phonology, morphology, syntax and dialectology. Particular attention will be given to the most recent suggestions and approaches.

This year our workshop will be iconographic. As with most previous workshops we hosted, our subject follows the theme of the EMC symposium (this year “Post-Apocalypto: Crisis and Resilience in the Maya World”).

Our workshop focuses on the formal stylistic and thematic evolution of Maya iconography in monumental art (e.g., stelae, lintels, altars, murals) from the (Late) Classic period to the (Early) Postclassic period. For workshop purposes we have limited the material to Tikal (including Jimbal and Ixlu), Petexbatun/Río La Pasión area (mainly Dos Pilas, Aguateca, Machaquila, and Seibal), Coba, Ek’ Balam, Chichen Itza, and Mayapan. Some pertinent examples from other Maya sites will be included.

Questions that will be addressed during the workshop include: On which monumental media is Maya iconography represented, where is it located within a site, what are the basic themes, are there noticeable differences between Classic and Late to Terminal Classic to (Early) Postclassic examples, and if differences exist how can these be described and/or defined? Especially the last question directs our attention to the intersection of formal stylistic and thematic evolution of monumental Maya iconography.

The workshop will start with an introductory presentation on Maya iconography, which includes a theoretical and methodological overview and examples from other world regions, and the workshop material. Depending on the size of our workshop group, subsequently participants can work individually or in small groups. Through discussion and short presentations by the participants we hope to arrive at a better understanding of Maya iconography during this period. As the clue of various examples of Maya iconography is presented in the associated hieroglyphic texts, we ask that our participants have some basic knowledge of the Maya writing system (i.e., how to find a date, verb, &c.). Having worked on Maya iconography previously is helpful, but not a prerequisite. The workshop material will be contained in a source book, which will be made available to participants at printing cost (price range, based on previous years, ca. EUR 7.50-10.00).