2022/07/27 by Suzanne Nolan
#Hieroglyphics #Maya supernatural. #epigraphic research
paper · doi:10.5526/esj144
Despite progress in decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic script in recent years, there are still a great many glyphs that epigraphers are unable to read completely. This can be for a number of reasons. In many cases, the remains of the glyphs are too badly eroded to be properly understood. In other cases, it is due to a lack of consideration of a particular inscription. The hieroglyphic stairway found at the base of structure 33 at Yaxchilan (arbitrarily named stairway 2) has received very little scholarly attention. This is, in part, due to some of the steps’ poor condition. One step, VII, is of particular interest. On this step there is a unique story concerning three celestial characters. It is the purpose of this paper to suggest that these three characters are all aspects of the same Maya deity, the Maize God. This argument is grounded in current Maya epigraphic research, and an existing tradition of the multi-faceted nature of Maya supernaturals.