Glyphs with Teeth: Writing as Power in the Maya World

Mayan city-states that have existed in Mesoamerica; Maya area.

Across more than two millennia, the Maya fashioned cities of soaring pyramids and roof combs, carved dynastic histories into stone, painted ritual drama across plaster walls, and inscribed the movements of heaven into bark-paper books. Their art was never merely decorative. It functioned simultaneously as political theology, historical record, scientific instrument, and social contract.

Archaeological site of Aguada Fénix

The king (who impersonates the hero Hunahpú) pierces his penis with a spear to shed sacrificial blood; 🖼: Heather Hurst; Detail of the drawing depicting the mountain and the woman holding a basket of tamales; Detail of the drawing depicting part of the procession of individuals coming together for a ceremony; Detail of the drawing depicting the Maize God and two kneeling figures; Detail of the drawing depicting a creation event.

Early Maya communities crystallized within the diverse ecologies of the Maya Lowlands and adjacent highlands by the mid-second millennium BCE. Swamps (bajos), karstic uplands, and seasonal rivers shaped where people planted maize and how they gathered in ritual spaces. LiDAR-guided fieldwork has pushed back the horizon of large-scale ceremonial construction to c. 1000–800 BCE. The vast earthen platform of Aguada Fénix in Tabasco demonstrates that early Lowland monumentalism could mobilize large work forces under broadly participatory regimes rather than hereditary dynasties (Inomata et al.). These findings complement Ceibal’s evidence for Middle Preclassic civic complexes, suggesting that environmental predictability (a pronounced dry season, thin soils, and the need for water storage) incentivized both landscape engineering and congregation at formalized ceremonial grounds (Inomata et al., “Early Ceremonial Constructions”). Standardized plaza arrangements, often called E-Groups, appear in this period and structure public gathering with solar orientations embedded in civic topographies, laying out axes elaborated in Classic cities (Doyle; Estrada-Belli). Late Preclassic mural programs such as San Bartolo already integrate narrative painting, deity iconography, and early hieroglyphic notations that the Classic period intensifies (Saturno, Taube, and Stuart; Stuart et al.).

Classic Maya polities were networked city-states ruled by k’uhul ajawob’ (“holy lords”) whose courts orchestrated warfare, diplomacy, intermarriage, and ritual performance. Political economies combined tribute, markets, and control of labor for construction and agriculture; these systems commissioned and consumed the arts (Martin; Houston, Stuart, and Inomata). Far from a unified empire, the Maya world balanced rivalry and alliance, most famously between the hegemonic blocs of Mutul (Tikal) and Kaanul (Calakmul), with shifting clientages that deeply inflected artistic programs, inscriptions, and dynastic portraiture (Martin; Martin and Grube). Inscriptions make clear that monuments were instruments of policy; period-ending rites, accessions, and war narratives encoded legitimacy in text and image. Tikal Stela 31 fuses portraiture with a sweeping history that ties the reigning lord to earlier upheavals and foreign interventions (Stuart, “Some Working Notes”).

Tikal: Temple of the Great Jaguar; Temple of the Masks; Temple IV; Lost World; Temple 33; Temple V.

Palenque

Map of the center of Copán

Temple of Inscriptions; Facade.

K’inich Janaab’ Pakal: Reproduction of the Pakal's sarcophagus; Head of king Pakal, teenager; Stucco head of K'inich Janaab Pakal I; The lid of the sarcophagus; Funerary dress of king Pakal; Funerary mask of king Pakal; Funerary offering for king Pakal.

Mexico, Yucatan, Uxmal Mayan site, Palace of the Governor. 📸: Getty

The Caracol , also known as the Observatory , is a prominent structure at the pre-Columbian Maya site of Chichén Itzá . The Caracol is so named because of the spiral staircase inside the tower.

Stela E (the largest freestanding stone monument in all of America); Stela C of Quiriguá; Stela D of Quiriguá; Elaborate full-figure hieroglyphs on the west side of Quiriguá Stela D.

Classic monumental ensembles, at Tikal, Palenque, Copán, and elsewhere, combine stepped pyramids, temples with corbelled vaults, roof combs, and hieroglyphic stairways. At Tikal in Guatemala, towering temples (I–IV) frame processional plazas punctuated by stela-altar pairs erected on calendrical stations (UNESCO, “Tikal National Park”). Palenque in Chiapas epitomizes architectural refinement. Elegant vaulting, stucco reliefs, and the Temple of the Inscriptions housing K’inich Janaab’ Pakal’s sarcophagus and textual history (National Museum of the American Indian). Astronomical orientations are integral but varied. Large-scale studies indicate that many Formative and Classic complexes align with sunrises/sunsets on agriculturally meaningful dates, evidencing observational calendars and, by the early first millennium BCE, the 260-day count (Šprajc et al.). Uxmal’s Palace of the Governor preserves epigraphic and architectural cues to Venus observations (Bricker and Bricker, “Astronomical References”), while Chichén Itzá’s El Caracol likely facilitated diverse observations (Aveni, Gibbs, and Hartung). Stelae, tall, carved stones paired with altars, served as durable, performative media; portraits of rulers in ritual regalia, long texts recording period endings, wars, and genealogies. Quiriguá’s Stela C references the mythic Creation date in the Long Count, casting local rulership within a cosmic prologue (National Museum of the American Indian).

The Dresden Codex is a Maya book, which was believed to be the oldest surviving book written in the Americas, dating to the 11th or 12th century. Six pages of the Dresden codex: Pages (55–59, 74) on eclipses (left), multiplication tables, and a flood (far right); First publication in 1810 by Humboldt, who repainted five pages for his atlas.

The Madrid Codex (also known as the Tro-Cortesianus Codex or the Troano Codex) is one of four surviving pre-Columbian Maya books dating to the Postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology (circa 900–1521 AD). Scenes connected to the hunt, Madrid Codex; Codex Tro-Cortesianus; Codex Tro-Cortesianus, pages: 75-76; Page 34: astronomy; Middle divisions of pages 10 and 11 of the Codex Tro-Cortesiano, showing one tonalamatl extending across the two pages; Reproduction of page of Troano Manuscript; Page 102 of the Codex Tro-Cortesiano, showing tonalamatls in the lower three divisions.

Paris Codex: The final two pages of the Paris Codex, showing the Maya "zodiac"; Page 3 of the Paris Codex, displaying the typical combination of a standing and a seated figure; Pages 19–24 and page 1; Pages 21–22; Pages from The Codex Perez; An Ancient Mayan Hieroglyphic Book.

Page 6 of the Maya Codex of Mexico, depicting a death god with captive; Page 1; Page 4; Page 7; Page 8; Page 9.

Maya writing is a logosyllabic system integrating logograms and syllabic signs; text and image are inseparable in Classic art, running across stelae, lintels, ceramics, and murals (Houston, Stuart, and Taube). The twentieth-century decipherment transformed the field. Tatiana Proskouriakoff demonstrated that inscriptions record historical events and life histories (Proskouriakoff), and subsequent phonetic advances by many scholars established readings that revolutionized Maya political and art history. Surviving screenfold books (the Dresden, Madrid, and Paris codices) reveal exquisitely painted almanacs that integrate astronomy, ritual, and deity iconography. A fourth manuscript, now authenticated as the Maya Codex of Mexico, appears to be an early Postclassic Venus almanac (INAH; Dresden State and University Library; Bibliothèque nationale de France; Museo de América).

Murals of Bonampak: Floor-to-ceiling paintings cover the room; Bonampak mural depicting musicians and dancers; Mural depicting musicians at Bonampak; Mural depicting a royal bloodletting ritual; Mural at Bonampak; Reproduction of the Bonampak murals; Reproduction of the Bonampak mural depicting the bloodletting ritual; Reproduction of the Bonampak murals.

Cylindrical Vessel Maya 1st century BCE–1st century CE; Cylindrical Vessel Maya 1st–2nd century; Vessel, Seated Deities Maya 6th–7th century; Cylindrical Vessel Maya 6th–9th century; Vessel with mythological scene Metropolitan Painter 600–800 CE; Vessel with mythological scene Metropolitan Painter 600–800 CE; Vessel with mythological scene Maya artist(s) 600–800 CE; Jar, Ritual Scenes Maya 8th–9th century.

Jadeite plaque, Maya, Late-Classic, from Teotihuacan; Jadeite figure, Maya, Early-Classic; Maya jade pendant from late classic to late classic period; Maya pendant.

Lintel 24 is the designation given by modern archaeologists to an ancient Maya limestone sculpture from Yaxchilan, in modern Chiapas, Mexico. The lintel dates to about 723–726 AD, placing it within the Maya Late Classic period. Its mid-relief carving depicts the ruler of Yaxchilan, Itzamnaaj Bahlam III (also known as Shield Jaguar), and his consort Lady K’abal Xoc, performing a ceremony of bloodletting; the imagery is also accompanied by descriptive captions, and (unusually for a Maya monumental text) a signature by the sculptor, Mo’ Chaak; Detail of Lady Xoc.

The murals of Bonampak (c. 790s CE) are the most complete Late Classic wall paintings, portraying courtly ceremony, warfare, and post-battle rites with orchestrated detail (costume, music, captive display, and royal bloodletting) set within carefully staged architectural space (Harvard Peabody Museum; Miller and Taube). Painted ceramics, especially cylinder vases inscribed with the Primary Standard Sequence, served as vehicles of courtly performance, gift exchange, and narrative, depicting banquets, mythic episodes, and named artists (Reents-Budet). Jade, greenstone signifying life force and maize vigor, was carved into masks, earflares, and pectorals; royal burials (e.g., Pakal at Palenque) and dedicatory caches sacralized power (Taube; Miller and Taube). Bloodletting is central to royal ritual. Yaxchilán Lintel 24 famously shows Lady Xook drawing a thorned cord through her tongue while Shield Jaguar holds a torch; the text dates the rite as dynastic renewal (British Museum; Schele and Miller). Women appear not only as consorts and mothers of heirs but as patrons, seers, and rulers. Queens such as Wak Chanil Ajaw (Lady Six Sky) at Naranjo commissioned stelae and presided over bloodletting and victory rites; gendered power is encoded in dress, regalia, and titulary (Joyce; Reese-Taylor; Jackson, Politics; Jackson, “Hieroglyphic Texting”).

The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating base-20 and base-18 calendar used by pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya. For this reason, it is often known as the Maya Long Count calendar. Using a modified vigesimal tally, the Long Count calendar identifies a day by counting the number of days passed since a mythical creation date that corresponds to August 11, 3114 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. The Long Count calendar was widely used on monuments. East side of stela C, Quirigua with the mythical creation date of 13 baktuns, 0 katuns, 0 tuns, 0 winals, 0 kins, 4 Ahau 8 Cumku - August 11, 3114 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. Detail showing columns of glyphs from a portion of the 2nd century CE La Mojarra Stela 1. The left column gives a Long Count date of 8.5.16.9.7, or 156 CE. The other columns visible are glyphs from the Epi-Olmec script; Maya numerals; The back of Stela C from Tres Zapotes, an Olmec archaeological site. This is the second oldest Long Count date yet discovered. The numerals 7.16.6.16.18 translate to September 1, 32 BCE (Gregorian). The glyphs surrounding the date are what is thought to be one of the few surviving examples of Epi-Olmec script; Chichen Itza Initial Series inscription. This date (glyphs A2, B2, ..., A5) is 10.2.9.1.9   9 Muluk 7 Sak, equivalent to July 28, 878 (GMT Gregorian).

Maya science united observation and aesthetics. Architectural orientations and sightlines facilitated solar and Venus cycles essential to agriculture and kingship (Aveni, Skywatchers; Šprajc et al.). The Long Count, an absolute day count from a mythic zero date commonly correlated as 11 August 3114 BCE, appears on Classic monuments and in codices, anchoring history in cosmology (National Museum of the American Indian; Aldana). Early Long Count inscriptions at sites such as Chiapa de Corzo and later Maya centers indicate Formative experimentation and subsequent elaboration (Stuart et al.).

Chichén Itzá showcases a notable hybrid of Maya and Toltec cultures through its architecture, art, and religious practices, with examples like the Temple of the Warriors displaying Toltec features alongside traditional Maya Puuc styles in structures such as the Nunnery and the Temple of Kukulkan's astronomical design. The Temple of the Warriors was built in the 10th century AD, during the Late Classic period of Maya civilization. It is thought to have been dedicated to the Maya god Kukulkan, who is also known as Quetzalcoatl. The temple is located in the heart of Chichen Itza, and it is surrounded by other important Maya structures, such as the Kukulkan Pyramid and the Great Ball Court.

Removing the lidar returns that originated from the vegetation reveals human-made structures and topographic modification by the Maya; Oblique aerial photo of the Caana (sky-palace) pyramid at the Maya site of Caracol in Belize; Four lidar data products from the Maya site of Copán in Honduras; Oblique aerial photo of the Grand Plaza in the Maya city of Tikal in Guatemala; Bare-earth DEM colored by elevation.

The so-called Classic “collapse” (c. 8th–9th centuries) in many southern Lowland centers was not a single event but a regionally staggered process driven by interacting factors; intensified warfare, dynastic fragmentation, ecological stress and drought, and trade disruptions. Multiproxy climate studies identify severe Terminal Classic droughts in the northern Lowlands (Haug et al.; Kennett et al.; James et al.). In the Postclassic (c. 900–1500s CE), the cultural map shifted north and east. Chichén Itzá displays hybrid Toltec-Maya forms (colonnades, chacmools, warrior reliefs) alongside the observatory-like El Caracol; Mayapán later centralized political power with confederated lineages and walled precincts. These centers maintain continuity in calendrics, pilgrimage (sacred cenotes), and sculptural programs while adopting Mixteca-Puebla aesthetics (UNESCO, “Pre-Hispanic City of Chichén Itzá”; Andrews). Maya intellectual legacies influenced later Mesoamerican peoples, notably the Aztecs, who adopted day signs, ritual almanacs, and feathered-serpent ideologies in distinct central Mexican idioms (Miller and Taube). Today, LiDAR-led regional mapping is repositioning Maya urbanism as extensive, infrastructural, and planned, reshaping comparative work across Mesoamerica (Canuto et al.).

Contemporary research practices emphasize provenance, lawful acquisition, and collaboration with descendant communities, reshaping how codices, monuments, and mortuary objects are exhibited and contextualized. Living traditions, calendrical day-keeping, weaving on backstrap looms, and agrarian rites, continue across Maya regions, documented in educational and curatorial resources (National Museum of the American Indian). These practices face challenges, economic pressures, cultural appropriation, environmental change, and political marginalization, making community-led research and co-curation essential.

Hunefer’s Judgement in the presence of Osiris, Book of the Dead of Hunefer, 19th Dynasty, New Kingdom, c. 1275 B.C.E., papyrus, Thebes, Egypt; Maya glyphs were highly complex and often carved into stone.

A ballcourt at Tikal, in the Petén Basin region of the Maya lowlands; Ballcourt goal, Chichén Itzá.

Comparisons clarify uniqueness rather than sameness. Like Egypt, the Maya inscribed power onto stone in image-text syntheses; unlike Egyptian hieroglyphs, Maya writing is explicitly logosyllabic and phonetic. Greek city-states cultivated agonistic excellence through games and theater; Maya courts staged ritual ballgames and bloodletting, binding astronomy and kingship more directly to calendrical cycles. Maya monuments are thus historical, astronomical, and performative devices at once; art that counts days and composes dynastic memory (Houston, Stuart, and Taube; Aveni, Skywatchers).

The Preface of the Venus Table of the Dresden Codex, first panel on left, and the first three pages of the Table. 📸: University of California, Santa Barbara.

Maya art is the most complete archive of a New World civilization’s ideas about time, authority, and the cosmos. From early platforms aligned to the sun’s path to Classic stelae that speak in royal voices, from painted Venus tables to murals that choreograph courtly spectacle, the Maya fused aesthetics with sciences (writing, mathematics, astronomy) into a total art of governance and memory. The “collapse” did not erase those arts; they migrated, transformed, and endure in contemporary practice. As ethics recalibrate how institutions collect and display, and as new methods map what the forest still hides, the corpus continues to expand. The task ahead is not only to read the stones more accurately, but to read them in concert with the communities for whom they remain living texts.

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