Maya writing: Did you mean...?

3-4th century CE, Guatemala, Mesoamerica. Metropolitan Museum of Art A favored vessel type of the Maya lowlands was one made in the shape of a tropical bird, perhaps a cormorant, in the act of catching a fish in its beak. The bird's forehead...

Maya vessel depicting several mythological scenes. This part of the vessel depicts a god with a spotted tail and ears. The dog is a companion of death, and like his own has a dark nature. Found in Guatemala, attributed to the "Metropolitan...

This temple was originally roofed although part of its vaulting, shaped like an inverted staircase, can still be seen on its southern side. There was once an altar within, where offerings were placed in Pre-Columbian times. The building was...

A 17th century CE artist's rendition of David inscribing one of his famous psalms. By Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Guercino).

Thoth is the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, magic, writing and the moon and was one of the most important gods of the Egyptian pantheon. As the son of gods representing order and chaos, he was also considered the god of equilibrium which...

Colonnaded halls were very popular among the Maya along Mexico's eastern coast in Pre-Columbian times. At San Gervasio, located on the Mexican island of Cozumel, one can see this Maya "palace" structure in full-view. This structure has benches...

The Korean alphabet is better than yours. Meet the king who invented it and watch him work his linguistic magic in this chapter in the history of writing. You wake up in another palace. This time you're in Korea. The first face to greet...

From Egyptian hieroglyphs to your alphabet, watch these miners turn fancy symbols into simple scratches that were all about the sounds. First marvel at hieroglyphic inscriptions in the shadow of the great pyramids. Once you grasp how those...

Teotihuacan, located in the Basin of Central Mexico, was the largest, most influential, and most revered city in the history of the New World. It flourished in Mesoamerica's Golden Age, the Classic Period of the first millennium CE. Dominated...

Seated figure of Maya. He was the a governor and chief of the priests in the 10th District of Egypt, who was appointed by Thutmose III (the birth and throne cartouches of Thutmose III appear on the right shoulder). He wears the "gold of honor"...