About this title: This is the story of how the Mayan glyphs found in the ancient ruins of Copan and other Mayan sites have been deciphered within the last 20 years. Michael Coe worked with all the leading players in this field. Although the Mayan cities were discovered a century and a half ago, the field of Mayan scholarship was dominated by scholars who had a ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Thames and Hudson, TPB, 1992, appears to be book club soft cover reprint. Very lightly used, clean, tight, no markings or highlighting, minor wear. read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. No writing, Not ex-library, Not a remainder. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: First Paperback Edition
Binding: Glossy Softcover
Publisher: Thames and Hudson, New York
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780500277218ISBN:0500277214
Description: As New. No Jacket as Issued. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. The author narrates the decipherment of an ancient script. 304 pp. Indexed. 112 b/w illustrations. Bibliography, Sources, Notes, & Glossary. I see no flaws at all in this very nice copy. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Date Published: 1993-08
ISBN-13:9780500277218ISBN:0500277214
Description: Near Fine. 1993 Reprint Trade Paperback. 304 pgs. Cvr: light wear at edges/cornertips. Previous owner name written inside front cover. Text: clean and unmarked, no highlight or underlining. No spine crease. PANTHRO-COEP7F3. read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Very good, clean, unmarked used paperback. 304 p. : ill.; 24 cm. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. Includes bibliographical references (p. 292-300) and index. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Thames and Hudson, New York
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780500050613ISBN:0500050619
Description: Book: Very Good. DJ: Very Good. 8vo. Poss BCE. 304 pp. 6 1/4 x 9 3/8. Burgundy cloth covered boards, stamped in gold on spine. Glossy, mostly pink dj. read more
"Although reluctant to be a first world tourist in a third world area, my wife Linda eventually got me to go down to Quintana Roo in the Yucatan with her. Ultimately, I made three trips, all of them to the area midway between Cancun and Belize, preparing for them each time by reading up on the region and its original inhabitants, the Maya.
While Linda preferred the beach, I preferred exploring the ruins which are abundant in the area. To do so I befriended the locals, the descendants of the Maya, particularly the children, asking them where interesting things were. Then, following the paths of generations of little boys, I would go into the jungle to the places the tourists never venture, the places without roads. There, among other things, I found a cave with an island in it, and many square limestone structures, open on their sides, ranging in size from buildings a dozen feet tall to stupas the height of one's chest. And, yes, of course, I also went to Tulum and Xelha and Coba and other more touristic sites, pretty much covering the coast from Cancun to the southern border, much of it on foot.
Now, three trips and dozens of books into the matter, I'm an amateur student of the Maya, a culture at once so distant from ours and so close. The conquest of only happened 400-500 years ago. The paint on some of the ruins is still, compared to ancient Greece or Rome, fresh.
One of the better introductory works on the Maya that I read was Coe's book by that title. Published in 1966, it still looked at Mayan civilization as a mystery. We could read their numerations, but not their language at that time. This book, published in 1992, tells a very different and much more hopeful story, the written Mayan language having been deciphered in the intervening years.
Breaking the Maya Code is at once a history of the study of Mayan civilization and an explanation as to how their written language worked--and why we took so very long to come around to understanding it. The historical part of the book is very accessible, almost as exciting as a good mystery. The linguistic part of the book tends to get technical, though the author does adequately explain things for the layperson."
"Fascinating read touching on epigraphy, culture, the clash of civilizations, intellectual orthodoxy and the loss of previously held knowledge. Still one of my favorites even if I didn't agree with much that Dr. Coe thought."
"It takes a bit of patience to get into this book but it is well worth it. Worth it if you are interested in how a "hieroglyphic" system was finally and belatedly decyphered. I found it a hard book to put down once the story took hold, The Maya glyphs were a longtime enigma to scholars, so much so that for decades many thought they had nothing to do with spoken Maya. One major hurdle to breaking the code was the absence of a "Rosetta Stone" for the Maya script, another was scholastic arrogance. By the way, the Mayans were the only New World civilization which developed a true written language."
"This book is great. The Mayan glyphs are so mysterious, so artistic. The author walks through the history of the attempts to decipher Mayan glyphs, spanning 150 years. It is a no holds barred, in your face primer on the basics of written language, yet not so technical that you lose interest. The storyline is interesting as Michael Coe introduces the reader to the great minds (and not so great minds) and their contributions to the decipherment. All along the way, the ancient Maya are brought to life as their written statements shed light into their philosophy, astronomy, calendrics, aggressions and rituals."
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