How Maya Hieroglyphs Were Deciphered, and By Whom

One of the greatest accomplishments of the last century has been the decipherment of Mayan hieroglyphs. This video tells the story of the methods used and the scholars involved in the advancement in our understanding of the Mayan language.
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[@SomasAcademy]

Fun fact: Yuri Knorozov listed his cat, Asya, as a co-author on much of his work, and when his publishing house blacked out her name, he started using a photo of himself holding her as his official author picture, though they ended up cropping her out. Knorozov got the last laugh, though, as the photo of him holding Asya is now immortalized in a stone statue commemorating his work on Maya Hieroglyphs in Mérida, Yucatan.

[@lakrids-pibe]

He looks like grumpy cat himself in that picture. This is a very serious scholar. Maya hieroglyphs is not a joke!

[@mikemcgallicher]

That is a fun fact!

[@Thorwald_Franke]

Cat content makes it!

[@scottdorfler2551]

@@lakrids-pibe Many photo portraits of those days look creepy because the exposures were much longer. That's why many of the old western gun fighters appear so scary. They almost look possessed like they're gazing at your soul.

[@parmykumar8592]

@@lakrids-pibe I wouldn't be surprised if the Vanaras are the same giants that roamed South America because Hanuman did go there, killed the unrighteous King & placed his son on the throne as recorded in ancient Sanskrit texts of India & evidence shows it maybe true! There is nothing strange in the fact that much of the religious mythology of the Mexicans and Peruvians was undoubtedly of Asiatic origin. Both the Inca and Mayan civilisations, even their languages had much in common with our own, inherited from the same far eastern cradle of the race” Miles Poindexter - American ambassador to Peru. ~ "Ships that could cross the Indian Ocean were able to cross the Pacific too. Moreover, these ships were really larger and probably more sea-worthy than those of Columbus and Magellan." "Ships of size that carried Fahien from India to China (through stormy China water) were certainly capable of proceeding all the way to Mexico and Peru by crossing the Pacific. One thousand years before the birth of Columbus Indian ships were far superior to any made in Europe up to the 18th century." Dr. Robert Heine Geldern anthropologist. ~ “ That primitive Aryan words and people came to America especially from Indo - Arya by the island chains of Polynesia. The very name of the boat in Mexico is “catamaran” a South Indian ( Tamil ) word. After 30 years of research i can now claim to have proved my theory of Hindu colonisation of America. The stones in every corner of America speak of Hindu influences “. Miles Poindexter - United States Ambassador. ~ "Of the cursory observations on the Hindus, which it would require volumes to expand and illustrate, this is the result, that they had an immemorial affinity with the old Persians, Ethiopians and Egyptians, the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Tuscans, the Scythians, or Goths, and Celts, the Chinese, Japanese, and Peruvians.” Indologist and Sanskritist Sir William Jones - Asiatic Researches, Volume I ~ In 1930, ambassador of U.S Miles Poindexter wrote his book, the ancient Indians crossed the Pacific Ocean and came to South America. He showed the similarities between QUICHUA language of South America and Sanskrit India. He described INCA ruler hymns and Vedic hymns as one, and he finally wrote the people of Maya and Inca civilization were undoubtedly Hindus. In the museum of Vedic hymns as one, and he finally wrote the people of Maya and Inca civilization were undoubtedly Hindus. ~ Sir Stamford raffles, the father of Singapore wrote “every poem of the Peruvians have the imprint of Ramayana and Mahabharata”. ~ Its interesting to note that the biggest festival each year observed by the Incas was called the Rama-Sitva which they have now disguised as the Inti Raymi. Sir William Jones however has preserved this historical fact in the following quote -: "Rama is represented as a descendant from the Sun, as the husband of Sita, and the son of a princess named Causelya. It is very remarkable that Peruvians, whose Incas boasted of the same descent, styled their greatest festival Rama-Sitva - hence we may take it that South America was peopled by the same race who imported into the farthest parts of Asia the rites and the fabulous history of Rama." (source: Asiatic Researches Volume I. p. 339-340

[@pomponi0]

I'm Mexican and my highschool principal used to give us random talks about topics he knew next to nothing about. He told us the Mayan never developed a writing system.

[@70foolio]

What you just learned in 16 minutes, many people paid to sit in a college class and pay a hefty tuition fee. I love the content and I appreciate the work and effort in presenting the facts so that we are not lost in the explanation.

[@michaelpettersson4919]

They do and when they do they are also expected to pay for varioues "mandatory", useless subjects.

[@parmykumar8592]

@@michaelpettersson4919 I wouldn't be surprised if the Vanaras are the same giants that roamed South America because Hanuman did go there, killed the unrighteous King & placed his son on the throne as recorded in ancient Sanskrit texts of India & evidence shows it maybe true! There is nothing strange in the fact that much of the religious mythology of the Mexicans and Peruvians was undoubtedly of Asiatic origin. Both the Inca and Mayan civilisations, even their languages had much in common with our own, inherited from the same far eastern cradle of the race” Miles Poindexter - American ambassador to Peru. ~ "Ships that could cross the Indian Ocean were able to cross the Pacific too. Moreover, these ships were really larger and probably more sea-worthy than those of Columbus and Magellan." "Ships of size that carried Fahien from India to China (through stormy China water) were certainly capable of proceeding all the way to Mexico and Peru by crossing the Pacific. One thousand years before the birth of Columbus Indian ships were far superior to any made in Europe up to the 18th century." Dr. Robert Heine Geldern anthropologist. ~ “ That primitive Aryan words and people came to America especially from Indo - Arya by the island chains of Polynesia. The very name of the boat in Mexico is “catamaran” a South Indian ( Tamil ) word. After 30 years of research i can now claim to have proved my theory of Hindu colonisation of America. The stones in every corner of America speak of Hindu influences “. Miles Poindexter - United States Ambassador. ~ "Of the cursory observations on the Hindus, which it would require volumes to expand and illustrate, this is the result, that they had an immemorial affinity with the old Persians, Ethiopians and Egyptians, the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Tuscans, the Scythians, or Goths, and Celts, the Chinese, Japanese, and Peruvians.” Indologist and Sanskritist Sir William Jones - Asiatic Researches, Volume I ~ In 1930, ambassador of U.S Miles Poindexter wrote his book, the ancient Indians crossed the Pacific Ocean and came to South America. He showed the similarities between QUICHUA language of South America and Sanskrit India. He described INCA ruler hymns and Vedic hymns as one, and he finally wrote the people of Maya and Inca civilization were undoubtedly Hindus. In the museum of Vedic hymns as one, and he finally wrote the people of Maya and Inca civilization were undoubtedly Hindus. ~ Sir Stamford raffles, the father of Singapore wrote “every poem of the Peruvians have the imprint of Ramayana and Mahabharata”. ~ Its interesting to note that the biggest festival each year observed by the Incas was called the Rama-Sitva which they have now disguised as the Inti Raymi. Sir William Jones however has preserved this historical fact in the following quote -: "Rama is represented as a descendant from the Sun, as the husband of Sita, and the son of a princess named Causelya. It is very remarkable that Peruvians, whose Incas boasted of the same descent, styled their greatest festival Rama-Sitva - hence we may take it that South America was peopled by the same race who imported into the farthest parts of Asia the rites and the fabulous history of Rama." (source: Asiatic Researches Volume I. p. 339-340

[@AncientAmericas]

I never get tired of hearing this story!

[@premodernist_history]

It must have been amazing to participate in that Palenque roundtable. Imagine being in the room as your field completely transforms in real time.

[@CChissel]

I absolutely love this channel, not only does he dunk on conspiracy theorists (which I love) but he also answers viewers questions and speaks about a range of ancient topics and cultures! Always a pleasure when he uploads.

[@perceivedvelocity9914]

What I really like about this channel is how he dunks on the conspiracy theories. He goes to the trouble of explaining why they are wrong. Other channels just get frustrated and call people idiots.

[@CChissel]

@@perceivedvelocity9914 Yeah, another channel that does a good job at that is SGD - Sacred Geometry Decoded. He even shows himself or others working stone as the ancients did, proving it’s easily done and has been done for millennia with “soft” copper tools.

[@parmykumar8592]

@@perceivedvelocity9914 I wouldn't be surprised if the Vanaras are the same giants that roamed South America because Hanuman did go there, killed the unrighteous King & placed his son on the throne as recorded in ancient Sanskrit texts of India & evidence shows it maybe true! There is nothing strange in the fact that much of the religious mythology of the Mexicans and Peruvians was undoubtedly of Asiatic origin. Both the Inca and Mayan civilisations, even their languages had much in common with our own, inherited from the same far eastern cradle of the race” Miles Poindexter - American ambassador to Peru. ~ "Ships that could cross the Indian Ocean were able to cross the Pacific too. Moreover, these ships were really larger and probably more sea-worthy than those of Columbus and Magellan." "Ships of size that carried Fahien from India to China (through stormy China water) were certainly capable of proceeding all the way to Mexico and Peru by crossing the Pacific. One thousand years before the birth of Columbus Indian ships were far superior to any made in Europe up to the 18th century." Dr. Robert Heine Geldern anthropologist. ~ “ That primitive Aryan words and people came to America especially from Indo - Arya by the island chains of Polynesia. The very name of the boat in Mexico is “catamaran” a South Indian ( Tamil ) word. After 30 years of research i can now claim to have proved my theory of Hindu colonisation of America. The stones in every corner of America speak of Hindu influences “. Miles Poindexter - United States Ambassador. ~ "Of the cursory observations on the Hindus, which it would require volumes to expand and illustrate, this is the result, that they had an immemorial affinity with the old Persians, Ethiopians and Egyptians, the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Tuscans, the Scythians, or Goths, and Celts, the Chinese, Japanese, and Peruvians.” Indologist and Sanskritist Sir William Jones - Asiatic Researches, Volume I ~ In 1930, ambassador of U.S Miles Poindexter wrote his book, the ancient Indians crossed the Pacific Ocean and came to South America. He showed the similarities between QUICHUA language of South America and Sanskrit India. He described INCA ruler hymns and Vedic hymns as one, and he finally wrote the people of Maya and Inca civilization were undoubtedly Hindus. In the museum of Vedic hymns as one, and he finally wrote the people of Maya and Inca civilization were undoubtedly Hindus. ~ Sir Stamford raffles, the father of Singapore wrote “every poem of the Peruvians have the imprint of Ramayana and Mahabharata”. ~ Its interesting to note that the biggest festival each year observed by the Incas was called the Rama-Sitva which they have now disguised as the Inti Raymi. Sir William Jones however has preserved this historical fact in the following quote -: "Rama is represented as a descendant from the Sun, as the husband of Sita, and the son of a princess named Causelya. It is very remarkable that Peruvians, whose Incas boasted of the same descent, styled their greatest festival Rama-Sitva - hence we may take it that South America was peopled by the same race who imported into the farthest parts of Asia the rites and the fabulous history of Rama." (source: Asiatic Researches Volume I. p. 339-340

[@edgarsnake2857]

Your presentation style is authoritative and witty at once while building drama and interest...like a great movie. No kidding. An utterly fascinating story of discovery. Thanks for your terrific videos. A quick look at the life of Tatiana Prokourikoff revealed that I lived only a mile or so away from her in her final years. What a woman. Truly devoted to her work.

[@christyl5481]

I like you better than a bald headed, glasses wearing gentleman from across the pond. Your style tickles my fancy! No hate.

[@JorgeStolfi]

Great summary! In the 1980s I was fascinated by the Maya, and I spent a nontrivial chunk of my student budget to buy Thompson's book. I was quite disappointed -- but it took me ten years to learn what a waste of money that *really* was. I read somewhere that Thompson's furious dismissal of phonetic theories could be explained by a simple fact: he never bothered to learn the Maya language. Is that true? A class of previously puzzling inscriptions were written around chocolate beakers found in Maya tombs. They were similar and thought to be some religious formula. When the inscriptions were finally deciphered, it was found that they said "This is Joe's chocolate mug."

[@kamion53]

Thompson was also an authoritarian with a very sharp tongue, I am glad Linda Schele's "The Blood of Kings" was my introduction to the stuff. Thompson's contribution however was his Catalogue of Mayan Glyphs. When material is published the T-numbers are still used. fun part is then the inscription on the mugs were deciphered field workers remembered that when working in the field the locals came borrowing the markers to do the same with their pottery.

[@stevepretorius3329]

Thank you. I'm not an archaeologist or a linguist however, I found this fascinating.

[@kmaher1424]

I am old enough to have witnessed the rediscovery of Mayan writing. And history What an adventure!

[@el0blaino]

Fantastic discussion. Really appreciate how you wove in the significance of these hypotheses, and how understanding the language by identifying an appropriate pattern from ethnological research ultimately unlocked an understanding of Mayan society and resituated them as recognizably human rather than mystical outliers.

[@zappazing4535]

As soon as this video was recommended to me, i subscribed to the channel without watching a single video. The title of the video and channel name was enough for me.

[@chrisframpton7681]

This guy is awesome!! So happy to have stumbled across this channel. Been binging it for the past day or so

[@doctorjohnsmith8843]

Love your work. You've helped bring me to my senses. If you haven't been asked this already: please consider doing a series that responds to Hancock's "Ancient Apocalypse" on Netflix. I know you've touched on several concepts (because I've watched every one of your debunking videos) that he raises in the series... but a final smackdown would be something, I think, many of your subscribers would probably block an entire weekend off to watch. Thank you for all of the effort you put into your work - it's of great value.

[@feebieloo]

I would love this as well! Hancock makes a LOT of claims that seem to be misunderstandings of data and research, and makes a lot of claims without evidence in this series. I would love to see a breakdown on the claims in the show, and some actual information I can learn from (instead of disinformation that misleads my understanding).

[@asidik_spaze6098]

@@feebieloo how you determined that hancock is misunderstanding the data and research? Is it because he raised another POV beside mainstream archeologist? Are his POV questions are absurd? Are today archeologist data are fix and no need to review it?

[@parmykumar8592]

@@feebieloo I wouldn't be surprised if the Vanaras are the same giants that roamed South America because Hanuman did go there, killed the unrighteous King & placed his son on the throne as recorded in ancient Sanskrit texts of India & evidence shows it maybe true! There is nothing strange in the fact that much of the religious mythology of the Mexicans and Peruvians was undoubtedly of Asiatic origin. Both the Inca and Mayan civilisations, even their languages had much in common with our own, inherited from the same far eastern cradle of the race” Miles Poindexter - American ambassador to Peru. ~ "Ships that could cross the Indian Ocean were able to cross the Pacific too. Moreover, these ships were really larger and probably more sea-worthy than those of Columbus and Magellan." "Ships of size that carried Fahien from India to China (through stormy China water) were certainly capable of proceeding all the way to Mexico and Peru by crossing the Pacific. One thousand years before the birth of Columbus Indian ships were far superior to any made in Europe up to the 18th century." Dr. Robert Heine Geldern anthropologist. ~ “ That primitive Aryan words and people came to America especially from Indo - Arya by the island chains of Polynesia. The very name of the boat in Mexico is “catamaran” a South Indian ( Tamil ) word. After 30 years of research i can now claim to have proved my theory of Hindu colonisation of America. The stones in every corner of America speak of Hindu influences “. Miles Poindexter - United States Ambassador. ~ "Of the cursory observations on the Hindus, which it would require volumes to expand and illustrate, this is the result, that they had an immemorial affinity with the old Persians, Ethiopians and Egyptians, the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Tuscans, the Scythians, or Goths, and Celts, the Chinese, Japanese, and Peruvians.” Indologist and Sanskritist Sir William Jones - Asiatic Researches, Volume I ~ In 1930, ambassador of U.S Miles Poindexter wrote his book, the ancient Indians crossed the Pacific Ocean and came to South America. He showed the similarities between QUICHUA language of South America and Sanskrit India. He described INCA ruler hymns and Vedic hymns as one, and he finally wrote the people of Maya and Inca civilization were undoubtedly Hindus. In the museum of Vedic hymns as one, and he finally wrote the people of Maya and Inca civilization were undoubtedly Hindus. ~ Sir Stamford raffles, the father of Singapore wrote “every poem of the Peruvians have the imprint of Ramayana and Mahabharata”. ~ Its interesting to note that the biggest festival each year observed by the Incas was called the Rama-Sitva which they have now disguised as the Inti Raymi. Sir William Jones however has preserved this historical fact in the following quote -: "Rama is represented as a descendant from the Sun, as the husband of Sita, and the son of a princess named Causelya. It is very remarkable that Peruvians, whose Incas boasted of the same descent, styled their greatest festival Rama-Sitva - hence we may take it that South America was peopled by the same race who imported into the farthest parts of Asia the rites and the fabulous history of Rama." (source: Asiatic Researches Volume I. p. 339-340

[@ne0nmancer]

@@asidik_spaze6098 He is misunderstanding. If you're not a fanboy, go watch World of Antiquity's video on Ancient Apocalypse.

[@ne0nmancer]

@@asidik_spaze6098 Archeologists don't need to go around wild goose chases to try to appease Hancock, he should present evidence instead of asking absurd questions with no merit.

[@jrileycain6220]

Absolutely fascinating! What a great story, and well told by the professor.

[@slickinfinity.crypto8028]

This is in my opinion one of if not the best channels on youtube for learning about ancient history.

[@J_Z913]

Love this video as always. Leaving a comment for the algorithm and to see if you could cover the Greco-Roman lead curse tablets at some point. Keep it up Dr. Miano!

[@JasonAlexzander1q47]

Thank you David for teaching the truth and helping to fix people's ignorance.

[@JMM33RanMA]

Fascinating, not only for the discoveries leading to knowledge of the writing, history and culture of the Maya, but also of the conflicts that sometimes arise within academic circles as well as the cooperation that can lead to such discoveries. Thanks for this wonderful video Professor Miano.

[@osvaldobenavides5086]

Although Knorosov used the Yukatec Maya language to start the decipherment of the language, we have come to the realization that the base of the writing system is based on the Ch"orti Maya language of Copán Honduras; a survival of Classic Choltian, for ALL writing in the Maya world. Similar to how the Chinese Characters are used to write so many of the different Chinese languages and dialects. This has helped to advance deciphement enormously.

[@citrusblast4372]

I wonder why that language specifically was chosen to be used on the writing, especially when nowadays the languages is much more obscure compared to the other languages; chorti has like 10k speakers, and is found in the area near guatemala and honduras' border

[@mayascribeaspirant1626]

Believe I recognized the mystery voice whose question spawned your wonderful video on who and how the code to the ancient Maya writing system was "cracked." Since you didn't say his name, neither will I. So looking forward to Barbara Fash and David Stuart's release of their results of the Hieroglyphic Stairway in Copan...perhaps to date the greatest culmination of code cracking since the Codexes. Bet this endeavor soon graces the cover of National Geographic! Thanks again, David!

[@mikeheffernan]

Outstanding deciphering. The Mayan glyphs are also brilliant artistically speaking. A.I. should enable huge translation capabilities, especially of the 1000s of Mesopotamia cuneiform tablets yet to be read.

[@MaryAnnNytowl]

Thank you, Dr. Dave, for what you do - I appreciate it so much! ❤️❤️ Edited to add: now that I think about it, we used to have symbols that were for sounds, not just letters, like the _•th•_ sound and the _•ae•_ sound. Sort of like this was. Not the same, of course, but fascinating parallel ways of doing things, nevertheless.

[@thejontao]

You mentioned Stephens and Catherwood! I bought a copy of their book “Incidents of Travel…” a couple years ago, mostly for Catherwood’s woodcut prints of the Mayan sites-which are fabulous! It’s a semi-interesting read… if only as a document of life, language, and attitudes in the 1850s. The prose is more about the “adventure” than the Mayan sites, unfortunately… but is certainly is a document of the era it was written. And Stephens documents everything. It’s hard not to walk away from that book with an open jaw, gasping “I can’t believe people were actually like that!”

[@barbiedesoto7054]

Great video! This is fascinating! I do wonder if any serious or open minded exploration of the depth of culture of the Maya would have ever been undertaken had Germany won the war. Thanks for this thorough explanation!

[@joeStockhus]

Educational and entertaining as always.

[@lahuber2]

I watched a NOVA show that talked about David Stuart's work. His archeologist Dad brought him on Central American trips when he was 3, by 8 he was deciphering glyphs, and by 18 had made significant contributions to the field. I love this story - such a young kid!!

[@LaNwamNi]

Thanks for the consistently high quality content on your channel. Looking forward to your debunking of Graham Hancock's Netflix series.

[@ElicBehexan]

I met Linda Schele. In fact, I knew quite a few of those Mayan translators back in the day.

[@PeloquinDavid]

Super explanation. I wonder how much help was garnered from the fact that (a no doubt much evolved form of) Mayan language is still spoken, much as Coptic is in Egypt today. That may have been implied by the role of linguists in the multidisciplinary effort described here. (By coincidence, I just saw "Wakanda Forever" today - which features a fair bit of spoken Maya and some at least apparent Mayan glyphs in a number of scenes. So this video was quite timely.)

[@kamion53]

in Wakanda Whatever I missed a whole scene because I was trying to figure out what the text said in the background, I just recognized one glyph.nl thr one that stood for siyah= be born, the glyph with the frog head looking up.

[@esaackley]

Came for Mayan archeological history, left with a free book and my questions answered. ❤

[@kidgay3730]

I started learning about the Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures the day Michael D. Coe (coincidence but interesting coincidence.) and haven't stopped since. I was looking at google pictures of hieroglyphs looking for Egyptian, but saw the glyphic name Pakal and it continued in earnest from there. I plan to be an archaeologist specializing in them one day.

[@dominiquemichaud7945]

Such a good lecture, and the way it's delivered! Your students are lucky! :D

[@ardechirpakfar6823]

I like the story of the kid who recognized the small and large forms of the same glyph also! That reduced drastically the number of syllables!

[@beepboop204]

thanks for the good work you do

[@Bighawkeye46]

The dropping of the final vowel in Mayan spoken language but not in writing reminds me of Dutch, how when verbs end in "en" it's softened and pronounced more like "uh" - something you wouldn't know from just reading the language.

[@mihaeladesaga2518]

Awesome episode, very informative.

[@Kinetic-Energy117]

Good solid research here Doc! Respect!

[@garethmartin6522]

Yes I remember as a teenager reading a book published in the early 1960's IIRC about the Maya, which described them as these peaceful philosopher-astronomers who wandered about doing little but thinking deep thoughts about time and infinity. This was an attractive idea to many in the whole Age of Aquarius subculture the 60's had going on, too. But it has to be said that it was never uncontested either, the weakness in the argument from ignorance was obvious, and many people had expected that a more prosaic explanation would eventually be found. So it wasn't quite as shocking a turnaround as all that, but it certainly did break something of a logjam, in that it was easier to get funding to go collect a bunch of rocks you could read than ones you couldn't. Thus the decipherment opened up Mayan archaeology as a more practical endeavour and we have learned a lot since. It has been fascinating to see this puzzle solved in my lifetime.

[@thomasp.kitten2517]

Excellent presentation. Thank you.

[@joearchuleta7538]

Hi Dave, great video! Long ago I saw the original copy of The Popol Vuh. Which is a copy of the original Book. Landa had it copied back then. Well that original copy is in the Newberry Library in Chicago that is where I saw it. You have to be a scholar to access the Newberry Library, not open to the Public, I think it should also be noted that Landa destroyed everything he didn't steal and took it back to Europe after the rape and pillage of there whole society to convert all the citizens to Catholics.

[@biercenator]

Excellent, I learned. Thanks for posting this.

[@MacScarfield]

Great topic, Doc Miano! How are the plan for the responses to "Ancient Apocalypse" going along?

[@frodobaggins169]

Fascinating! Thanks for this outstanding video.

[@j.d.7958]

Thanks from France for your video

[@koidayo]

Thanks for such an insightful and easy to follow video.

[@kellyandrichweddle2425]

excellent summary of some great detective work

[@AnExcitingFear]

Thanks for the interesting and entertaining video.

[@meenakumari4463]

Well described! Love this video 👌🏻

[@leeshackelford7517]

Very interesting video, information-eise....and you enunciate clearly

[@devroombagchus7460]

Thanks a lot. Very clear! Compressed into a short video, but not too fast. A tiny tip: in French, the stress is always on the last full syllable, also in all names. 😇🤙👏

[@mv11000]

Wonderful video! Thank you!

[@holyfreak8]

This is a hell of a story! How a curious soviet soldier took some books as personal trophies on WWII accomplished this.

[@barbthegreat586]

That's story is false. The books were sent to Soviet Union.

[@jeddaniels2283]

Great question, thought provoking balanced reply.

[@babasojialaba3893]

Marvelous research.Thank you

[@carlosaugustodinizgarcia3526]

Another amazing video!

[@morgan97475]

Great stuff. Your next video needs to be done from inside the Tardis on your bookcase.

[@harrysmithson6349]

Please do a video on the latest Rogan podcast! I'm confident you're going to do it anyhow - would be brilliant to see hancocks arguments once again squashed by the level headed!

[@makinapacal]

Since the Mayan city of Tayasal called before the Spanish conquest Nojpetén by the inhabitants and today called Flores, was not conquered by the Spanish until 1697 and a library of Hieroglyphic books was found there I think that some of the Mayans in the city could both read and write the Hieroglyphs up to that point at least. What happned to the library of books is unknown. Since it disapeared almost at once, once the Spanish took the city, I suspect it was destroyed by the Spanish. Just ugh!!! It is my understanding that Bishop Landa's text "Things concerning Yucatan", (Rough English translation.), is not the Bishop's actual text but a condensation, epitome, written up several centuries after Bishop Landa's death and Bishop Landa's actual text is lost. what we have is sort of like the epitome's that exist for the lost books of some classical historians like Livy and Dio.

[@dbfi01]

"I will tell you what happened, to the best of my knowledge". *goes on to give a full lecture* You Sir, are brilliant!

[@njm3211]

Fascinating. Thanks professor.

[@qwertyuiopgarth]

It is one of the greatest tragedies of history that learning the hieroglyphs wasn't a simple matter of asking the Maya to teach the researchers.

[@WorldofAntiquity]

As mentioned in the video, their use of the writing system ceased a few centuries ago. They had forgotten. But they did teach their language to the researchers.

[@qwertyuiopgarth]

@@WorldofAntiquity I had the impression that glyphic writing continued right up to the Spanish Conquest. If the Spanish had been less into domination the Spanish could have learned the hieroglyphs (and not repressed their use among the Maya). Conquerors have made a mess of things quite a few times in human history. A good video might be to do an overview of the times that information was lost because of a conquest/raid, perhaps touching on those times in which the loss of information is more complicated (Library of Alexandria).

[@whym6438]

If I remember correctly, the Maya were extremely grateful to the researchers for giving them back a part of their culture they had thought lost, and they've made some attempts to teach the writing system in schools.

[@CraftsmanOfAwsomenes]

@@WorldofAntiquity I think they are more saying it’s a tragedy that this connection between the Maya people and their culture and history was lost than that archaeologists were simply too pompous to ask.

[@WorldofAntiquity]

@@qwertyuiopgarth Ah, I misunderstood you. I thought you meant that the Maya should have taught the researchers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

[@OdysseyofEmpires]

Love this channel! EPIC!

[@Thorwald_Franke]

This video made me really happy. It is the first time that I hear that something good came out of the culture robbery of the Soviets from Germany: Knorozov had a look at the stolen stuff and made something of it! I love to hear that. And then, this story is a very good example how the prevailing opinion in science may be on the wrong track, and how difficult it is to bring up a better opinion. Time plays a major role in the process.

[@ИльяЯрлычев]

Here we go again. If someone speaks about USSR in positive way, get it dirty with a shit. Before talking about "culture robbery", please read about what hapanned on USSR territory in time of Nazi's occupation. Information about Pavlosk and Peterhof palaces, Saint Petersburg will turn something in your mind, may be...

[@welcometonebalia]

Fascinating, thank you.

[@williamwoolsey7550]

Numbers are their language but in picture form but still reads as a laguage. Its actually really advanced compared to even our modern language because it reads in three forms. Math, visual and precise. So precice the male and female sex was in exact math of it which is amazing in so many ways

[@cg_justin_5327]

This episode was fuckin awesome! Love this channel!

[@daviddean707]

I have yet to see an account of the Nazca from a cultural material point of view, and so have begun speculating, so can you remark on them? So enjoyed this unfolding knowledge which was new to me.

[@scoobysnax9787]

Brilliant introduction. I am a Chinese Interpretor for over 40yrs. My only criticism is No.1) you could have mentioned that it was Yuri Knorozov who was stationed @ Berlin in 1945 who as a young soldier saw the Berlin Library on Fire and ran into the Library knowing exactly where to grab the Codices & save them from the Libraries burnt out fate. 2) You could have at least pointed out that all Pyramid Cultures use a combination of Phonetics & Hyrogliphs in their languages. Chinese to this day is the same language & writing & they too have Pyramid style burial mounds as the Incas.

[@WorldofAntiquity]

The Inca didn’t have hieroglyphs

[@KateeAngel]

There are no such thing as "pyramid cultures" 😂 some cultures built pyramids cause it is an easy shape to build, but it was far from main cultural feature

[@gingerbabyspice]

Thanks for showcasing the important work female scholars contribute to the field. Effective communication has always been the main building block to building a civilized human society. From simple conversations between a man and a woman to the speeches of rulers, it's important to know how past societies communicated effectively, for research into both historical and interpersonal studies. I find it interesting that Tatiana Proskouriaff, a woman, proved her male peers J. Eric S. Thompson and Sylvanus G. Morley wrong. She desired to actually communicate with the people of the past by learning about the lives behind the beautifully etched hieroglyphs her male peers dismissed as little more than calendrical dates.

[@shaunmitchell2069]

Graham Hancock and Randall Carlson were on Joe Rogan at the end they said they would love to debate a historian/archeologists on the show this is your chance you need to call Joe Rogan.I would love to see the conversation between the three of you.I think everyone would come out of it knowing more.

[@rockysexton8720]

Yes, and do the debate in Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic. Should be a cinch for ancient history experts like GH and RC.

[@Pew7070]

Please help me understand you. Is the word “cylindrical” you’re pronouncing as k-lindrical or is this in fact another word and I’m just not aware of it? Thanks.

[@WorldofAntiquity]

Calendrical.

[@Mayan.Embodiment]

That was great! I have a question for you: What's your Mayan birthday?

[@kadenvanciel9335]

My first video by this person. Idk if you covered it, even compared to the way TED-Ed did it, but I wonder if you would cover the process of deciphering Linear B. Maybe a better take on Sam Denby’s video about Egyptian hieroglyphs? He uploaded it on his second channel: Half as Interesting.

[@jeddaniels2283]

If someone is studying computer science. Decoding the Maya glyphs via algorithm is surely PhD worthy.40% is still unknown. Or maybe an explanation of why its so God down difficult to do. Great question with an balanced reply. The Wiki story of events on the deciphering of the glyphs, is laughable hilarious in places. Alas, some already know this and of wiki in general.

[@qetoun]

Astounding how a seemingly impossible task was achieved.

[@rdatta]

Thank you for this episode and answer. A question - how do we know, determine the phonetic sound to assign to various script elements and symbols. For example - the explanation for the word for Turkey or Dog in this episode. Really old surviving languages like Coptic can help with ancient Egyptian but how do we do this in general?

[@WorldofAntiquity]

As with Coptic, we look for clues in comparative linguistics.

[@Vishanti]

PERFECT timing with the Black Panther sequel dropping this weekend!

[@brettswanson5976]

Hancock's 'Ancient Apocalypse' is the #2 streamed show on Netflix. This is the official bat signal

[@igor-yp1xv]

I love this story!

[@scottdorfler2551]

8:45 I'm having Ghostbusters flashbacks.

[@AMcAFaves]

A great video!

[@Crisdapari]

Indeed and amazing tale! I'm appalled of how looting Berlin ended up helping a genius in he other side of the iron curtain deciphering Maya glyphs. Sadly some generations have to die in order to new discoveries (from outsiders) being recognized and spread.

[@SiqueScarface]

I wonder how much working knowledge of contemporary Mayan languages like Mayathan (Yucatan Mayan Language) and Ch'ol helped with the deciphering of the Mayan script.

[@neilfarrow1535]

Great Video. I wonder if you can point us towards some English translations of Mayan writings that we could read?

[@WorldofAntiquity]

To the best of my knowledge, there is no book that contains a collection of translations of Maya inscriptions. The inscriptions are generally short and can be found piecemeal in various academic journals.

[@JorgeStolfi]

The Popol Vuh is a whole book in Maya language that records the Mayan myth of creation, the legend of two heroic brothers, and the chronicle of the Quiché Maya of Guatemala. It was originally written in the Latin alphabet some time after the conquest. Bilingual editions are available. The best, I think, is by Sam Colop, a Mayan himself. But it seems hard to find outside Guatemala... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popol_Vuh

[@Nature_Watching_Japan]

Fascinating !

[@user-vj9iy5we5q]

I really enjoy your videos, would you be willing to have a debate with Graham Hancock?

[@jeddaniels2283]

Why argue, with not stupid. Money is the reason. Aka book deals.

[@robswright68]

great question, great answer (comment for the algorithm)

[@ThrottleAddiction]

104k subs - facts matter!

[@MrRecklessryan]

Any chance you will be making a video on the latest Graham Hancock stuff?

[@contextologia]

Impressionant!

[@raylastname5864]

So wait at 9:47 dog is tzul. Makes me wonder Dan Aykroyd new this when writing Ghost Busters. though they spelled it Zuul not Tzul.

[@chickenduckhappy]

Why doors different heights? 🙂 The kind of thing I'd never notice in person but they're in frame for so long that at some point, I did 😎 Great video btw., thanks a lot!

[@mathewkelly9968]

4:41 the irony here is that de Landa was responsible for burning all the Mayan books to begin with but his lost manuscript was of immense help deciphering Mayan and according to the most excellent Fall of Civilisations Podcast he left us with a problem as he was only interested in Mayan Glyphs that had a Spanish equivalent . Interesting that you cite him as a scholar not a genocidal maniac though

[@WorldofAntiquity]

I referred to him as a clergyman, not a scholar.

[@mathewkelly9968]

@@WorldofAntiquity wilco , clergyman and genocidal maniac are synonymous

[@WorldofAntiquity]

@@mathewkelly9968 Why so testy?

[@francissreckofabian01]

That was cool!

[@НиколайВершинин-к8х]

Ha ha, recently I've learned Knorozov at the end of his life lived within 1 km from my home, in the building where my friend currently lives:)

[@danieltaon]

I have even more questions now

[@mydogchaplin]

I would like to hear ur take on the 9 ton slab of glass they found in Israel I think was were they found it and ur explanation on who made it and how they made it because of the videos we see saying they should not have been able to , or unable to make this large ( it is in a raw form that they use to make other things out of it but it is the first stage of making glass) of a slab that has only recently been done by us in our recent history to make the larger telescopes . But the materials they needed and the furnace and cook time it would take to make such a large slab has certain groups saying it would have been impossible for them to create such an artifact. So if u could tell me how they did it would be great!!!!

[@podemosurss8316]

4:43 Would roughly translate as "treatise on the things about Yucatan"

[@damonslaughter16]

I enjoy your videos, but it is hard to imagine that you left out David Stewart in this conversation. I know you were probably short of time but that is almost the highlight of the story