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Glyph block
Not on view
Each of these blocks bears three to five signs that, together, convey words or phrases. Maya writing combined syllables and logograms—signs that carry meaningful linguistic units or morphemes. Though their delineation varied, they were often shaped as the heads of humans, animals, or deities. Respectively, these blocks spell the first part of the name of K’inich Ahkal Mo’ Nahb III, a ruler from the city of Palenque. The first word of the monarch’s name, K’inich, is also that of the Sun God, and was often employed as a royal title, asserting the king as possessor of the deity’s fiery visage, capable of projecting heat like the god himself.
Glifo
Templo XVIII, Palenque, Chiapas, México
Siglo VII al VIII
Estuco
La escritura maya combinaba sílabas y logogramas –signos que contienen unidades lingüísticas significativas o morfemas–. Aunque los trazos varían, a menudo tienen forma de cabezas humanas, de animales o de deidades. Cada uno de estos bloques contiene tres o cuatro signos que en conjunto forman palabras o frases; en este se lee, respectivamente, la primera parte del nombre de K’inich Ahkal Mo’ Nahb III, gobernante de la ciudad de Palenque. La primera palabra del nombre del rey, K’inich, significa también dios del sol, y solía usarse como título real, consagrando al gobernante como poseedor del rostro ardiente del dios y de la capacidad de emanar calor, como el propio dios.
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