700 CENTEAL AMERICAN HIEROGLYPHIC WRITING. 



lintels of the temple doors and, in a few instances, even the steps lead- 

 ing- up to those edifices were utilized for this purpose. Casts and 

 excellent photographs of most of these inscriptions have been made, 

 thus bring-ing- them in reach of students for investigation and study. 

 Most of the ruins are found covered with a heavy forest growth, which 

 has to be removed before exploration can be carried on. The present 

 condition of one of the ruins at Chichen Itza, in Yucatan, named by 

 Prof. W. H. Holmes the "Temple of Tables," is shown in plate ii, 

 where the growth has been partially removed. 



The glyphs of the inscriptions, which were carved so as to stand out 

 in low relief, are, as seen in plate i, somewhat square in outline, vary- 

 ing from 3i to 4^ or 5 inches square. Each of these squares, which 

 are as a rule in straight columns or lines, constitutes a hieroglyph or 

 glyph, l)ut they are usually composed of several elements or parts. 

 This characteristic, which can not be easily explained in words, will be 

 readily understood by reference to plate i. Some of these elements, 

 as will be observed, consist of lines and dots, mostly at the left side 

 or on the top of the gl3'phs. These are of special importance and will 

 receive further notice. Some of the glyphs consist chiefly of an oval 

 figure surrounded by a rim, as in the Egyptian cartouch. These 

 inclosed characters, with prolmbly a single exception, are symbols of 

 Maya days. It is by means of these day symbols and the month 

 syml)ols, which are also given in the inscriptions, that students ascer- 

 tain that Maya people were the authors. Diego do Landa, a Spanish 

 l)ishop, wdio wont to Yucatan as a missionary in 1540, when persons 

 were still living w^ho could read the symbolic writing of the codices, 

 has preserved in his work (Do las Cosas do Yucatan) the forms of 

 these symbols, each with its proper name attached, and this is the 

 initial point of later investigations. As these names are those of the 

 Ma3'an da3\s and months, and the ruins are in the regions inhabited, 

 so far as known, only by Mayan tribes, the remains as well as the 

 inscriptions are attributed to these tribes. 



However, Maya scribes were iiot limited in their symbolic or hiero- 

 glj^phic writing to stone or wood, but wrote or painted their characters 

 in manuscripts. Four examples of these manuscripts, or codices, as 

 they are usually termed, remain. These are the Codex Troanus and 

 Codex Cortesianus, thought by some authors to be part;- of the same 

 book, which are at Madrid; the Codex Peresianus, whicn is in Paris, 

 and the Codex Dresdonsis, the most important of the Sf 'ies, which is 

 in the Royal Liljrary at Dresden. 



The first two strongly resemble each other, and were probably 

 written in Yucatan, as they follow the calendar systeri of that region. 

 The Codex Peresianus differs in some respects froia all the others. 

 The Dresden codex, which is of chief importance in studying the 



