Maya writing: Did you mean...?

Writing in runes isn't a simple one-to-one conversion of one letter to one rune. This video shows how Old Norse was written using the runes of the Younger Futhark, and then looks at examples of real inscriptions from the Viking Age. Contents...

Your vowels were invented in Greece, giving birth to the first "true" alphabet. Watch as your new toga-clad friend turns your consonant abjad into a consonant-vowel alphabet. It's such a useful mapping of letters to sounds that neighbor...

Not a syllabary. Not quite an alphabet. Totally Indian. Watch Ashoka discuss his land's exotic script and tell you his plans for this unique alphasyllabary. This episode traces the invention of the Indic alphasyllabary, the parent of so...

Due to its architectural characteristics and its reduced size, it is almost certain that this building's use was ceremonial, especially since all that could be done in its interior was to place offerings. "Small house" (or "Chichan Nah" in...

Mask Temple, Lamanai, Orange Walk District, Belize

In Pre-Columbian days, this construction was the entrance or exit to the central part of San Gervasio, leading to the Caribbean coast. Pilgrims and traders would reach the famous sanctuary of the goddess Ix Chel and deposit an offering at...

Calakmul, an important Maya site set deep in the tropical forest of the Tierras Bajas of southern Mexico, played a key role in the history of this region for more than twelve centuries. Its imposing structures and its characteristic overall...

Artistic representation of Maya giving birth to the Buddha. This depiction is part of the altar in the "Mother Temple of the Graduated Path to Enlightenment", an Austrian Buddhist temple located at the West Monastic Zone-9 in Lumbini, Rupandehi...

A polychrome urn with a jaguar figure and skulls. Classic Maya, 600-900 CE, Guatemala. (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore)

Image of the Maya Devi Temple and Holy Pond in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha. The area of the temple covers the exact spot where Siddhartha Gautama was born, which is indicated by the marker stone. The Holy Pond is where, according...