Representation of Deities of the Maya Manuscripts - Paul Schellhas

Representation of Deities of the Maya Manuscripts

By Paul Schellhas

  • Release Date: 2006-03-18
  • Genre: History

Description

In order to make more widely known and more easily accessible to American students the results of important researches on the Maya hieroglyphs, printed in the German language, the Peabody Museum Committee on Central American Research proposes to publish translations of certain papers which are not too lengthy or too extensively illustrated. The present paper by one of the most distinguished scholars in this field is the first of the series. Since the first edition of this pamphlet appeared in the year 1897, investigation in this department of science has made such marked progress, notwithstanding the slight amount of material, that a revision has now become desirable. It can be readily understood, that a new science, an investigation on virgin soil, such as the Maya study is, makes more rapid progress and develops more quickly than one pertaining to some old, much explored territory. The three manuscripts which we possess of the ancient Maya peoples of Central America, the Dresden (Dr. ), the Madrid (Tro. Cort. ) and the Paris (Per. ) manuscripts, all contain a series of pictorial representations of human figures, which, beyond question, should be regarded as figures of gods. Together with these are a number of animal figures, some with human bodies, dress and armor, which likewise have a mythologic significance.