Mystery of mysterious writing on Mayan altar solved after 1,300 years

In human history, the Mayan civilization has always been considered one of the most mysterious and complex civilizations. One of the messages that has troubled humanity for 1,300 years has been answered.

Their magnificent architecture, stone carvings, and unique hieroglyphic writing system still baffle archaeologists and linguists. A recent study published in Transactions of the Philological Society has revealed another layer of mystery, this time involving Altar Q, a famous rectangular stone altar of the Maya at Copán, Honduras.

Altar Q – a masterpiece from the past

Altar Q was discovered in the mid-19th century at Copán – a major cultural center of the ancient Maya. The altar is rectangular in shape, with four elaborate carvings on all four sides, depicting a total of 16 kings who once ruled Copán. Each king appears in a majestic pose, with a special hand gesture, accompanied by Mayan hieroglyphs.

According to analysis, Altar Q was crafted about 1,300 years ago, during the golden age of the Maya kingdom in Copán. Since its excavation, this structure has become one of the most important archaeological artifacts of the Maya civilization, because it not only reflects the sophisticated stone carving art but also records the myth and political history of the region.

Bold hypothesis: The relief is writing

For decades, scholars have debated whether Altar Q was simply an artistic work to honor the kings, or whether it contained a deeper message. New research by Dr. Rich Sandoval, a linguistic anthropologist at Metropolitan State University of Denver (USA), offers a new explanation.

According to Mr. Sandoval, the hand shapes on the reliefs are not just symbolic gestures. They are a special form of hieroglyphics.

"Almost everywhere you see Mayan hieroglyphs, you see a human figure, usually in the center, with hands in a unique pose. This is not a coincidence, but a symbol with a specific meaning," Dr. Sandoval told Live Science .

By comparing the hand positions with the Mayan writing system and calendar, the team deciphered that Altar Q's four faces actually record important milestones in Copán's history.

The Long Count Calendar and the Mayan Way of Thinking About Time

To understand this discovery, it is necessary to recall the Maya's unique way of calculating time. They used the Long Count Calendar - a complex day-counting system, based on a combination of five units: k'in is 1 day; uinal is 20 k'in, or 20 days; tun is 18 uinal, equivalent to 360 days; k'atun is 20 tun, or 7,200 days (nearly 20 years); b'ak'tun is 20 k'atun, equivalent to 144,000 days (about 394 years)

The Maya believed that 13 b'ak'tuns (equivalent to more than 5,000 years) constituted a complete cosmic cycle. This concept led to the rumor of "doomsday 2012", when the cycle began on August 13, 3114 BC and ended on December 21, 2012.

Within this framework, the symbols on Altar Q are decoded into four specific time points: East side: 9.0.2.0.0, corresponding to November 27, 437; West side: 9.19.10.0.0, corresponding to April 30, 820; South side: 9.16.13.12.0, corresponding to October 21, 764; North side: 9.17.5.0.15, corresponding to January 7, 776.

According to the research team, these numbers are not coincidental, but rather important historical milestones of Copán. The East relief records the death date of the first king who founded the dynasty. This can be considered the "beginning" of the entire story of Altar Q. The West relief corresponds to the death date of the last king, marking the end of a glorious period. Thus, the East - West sides form the opening and ending pair of the dynasty.

The southern relief is associated with a ritual dedicated to the patron deity of the 16th king – the central figure of Altar Q. This ritual was intended to affirm the king’s legitimacy and divine power. The northern relief depicts a time period of 16 days after the start of a 64-day ritual directly related to the construction of Altar Q. This proves that the altar not only had a commemorative value but was also associated with complex religious rituals.

Thus, Altar Q is not only a work of art but also a historical record in images and symbols.

From art to historical text

The discovery opens a new perspective on how the Maya communicated. Many scholars previously thought that Maya hieroglyphics were limited to characters carved on stone tablets or bark-paper notebooks. But with Altar Q, it can be seen that the Maya combined people, gestures, and symbols into a complete system of signs.

This also reflects the Maya's unique concept of time and history: not only recorded in numbers or words, but also associated with the image of kings – figures seen as bridges between the divine world and humans.

Advances in linguistic archaeology

Dr. Sandoval’s research shows that the combination of linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and art history can yield surprising findings. Instead of simply viewing the relief as a work of art, the team approached it as a text to be deciphered.

This opens up new avenues for interpreting a host of other Maya sculptures whose meaning remains unclear. Perhaps in the future, many stone works that were once considered merely symbolic will be recognized as valuable “visual records.”

Altar Q – the key to Copán

For Copán, Altar Q has a special role. It is considered a stone chronicle of the entire dynasty. Thanks to this work, archaeologists have determined the sequence of kings and many important political events.

Now, with the decipherment of more timelines, Altar Q proves even more that the Maya were very conscious of preserving history. They wanted not only to commemorate their kings, but also to record the connection between the dynasty, the gods and the cosmic time cycle.

The bed of the emperor of China is only 1m wide, the reason behind makes many people surprised Nắng07:23:55 14/04/2022The emperor had thousands of beautiful ladies and concubines, the number of concubines and nobles could be said to be long, but most of them had their own palaces. In the feudal society of China, the emperor was considered by the people as the son of the heavens, holding the...