Maya Hieroglyphic Block in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2022

Title: Hieroglyphic block with the name of Itzamnaaj

Date: 7th–8th century

Geography: Mexico, Chiapas, Tonina

Culture: Maya

Medium: Sandstone

Dimensions: H. 12 5/8 × W. 12 5/8 × D. 3 3/8 in., 26.5 lb. (32 × 32 × 8.5 cm, 12 kg)

Classification: Stone-Sculpture

Credit Line: Museo de Sitio de Toniná, Mexico, Secretaría de Cultura–Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia

Accession Number: SL.2.2022.20.1


Signs in Maya script are often shaped as human or animal heads—these are contractions, as the same signs may appear as a full body without altering their reading, as with this hieroglyphic block. This example of Maya writing takes the shape of a bird with a leg and claw at the center, curved tail to the right, left wing extending above, and right wing falling to the left. The head that gazes upward is not avian, but that of Itzamnaaj, the old god. The bird stands on a syllabic sign that conveys the ending of the word muut, "bird."

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/820330