Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copán
Hieroglyphic means writing that consists of hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphs are a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. So in other words it’s like our way of writing but with pictures. The shape of the art is actually like a staircase so that’s how it got its name. And the location of the architecture is in a city called Copán. So the name is basically just like it sounds…A stairway with hieroglyphics on it in a city.
The Hieroglyphic Stairway is also known as Structure 26. The architecture holds the record for the longest Mayan text found so far. Under the stairway other pieces of art have been found such as the Stela, the Stela was found broken into three pieces. Under the Stairs there are traces of soot and smoke, which implies the sculpture, was exposed to worship by burning of offerings. Structure 26 serves as a dynastic temple. The temple has basically remained the same throughout the years, the phases uncovered so far, only the orientation, decoration and size have slightly changed.
The importance of the Stairway details with life and times of the rulers of Copán in an attempt link the power with the historical founder of the Dynasty. The founder of the Mayan Dynasty was Yax’K’uk Mo’. Structure 26 was finished by ruler 15 K’ak Yipyaj Chan K’awiil in 756 A.D. Ruler K’ak was buried with jade, ceramic censers, a flint knife and other objects associated with bloodletting. In the central axis of the Stairway there are 5 seated figures that are associated with self sacrifice, warfare, and ancestor worship. They are slightly larger than life-sized human figures and are holding shields. These figures represent the warrior gods and they are seamed to protect the 5 ancestors nestled on top of the Stairway and 5 others located in the façade.
Copán ranks among the most important of Maya sites for many reasons, but foremost among these is its vast number of hieroglyphic texts. These texts have played a significant role in the overall effort to break the Maya code. This great progress in deciphering Copán's inscriptions has not only revealed surprising facts about the local royal history, featuring the rituals and reigns of individual kings over a four-hundred year period, but it has also opened several doors on Maya culture. Anyone glancing at Maya inscriptions would be immediately struck by the sheer complexity of the visual forms of the script itself. A text is typically arranged in a grid-like fashion, or by a linear arrangement of the same square blocks that are a basic formal unit of the system.
Each block is composed of one or more signs, most of which possessed a strong pictorial quality throughout their history. 60 to 70 percent of the Maya inscriptions can be read with a reasonable degree of accuracy. This results in an ever-increasing refinement in our understanding of the workings of the Mayan script, and a better accuracy in reconstructing the Mayan language and the inscriptions from its modern descendants. Some texts are perfectly legible and can be read aloud in Mayan more or less as they were written centuries ago; others may be completely unreadable to us, and may never be read in their entirety. Certainly enough is known to allow us to step back from the details of deciphering to consider what the Maya had to say about their own society and history.
Sources:
http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/copan1.pdf
http://penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/54-1/From-the-Archives.pdf
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