2000 Years of Mayan Literature

Dennis Tedlock is Distinguished Professor and Endowed McNulty Chair of English and Research Professor of Anthropology at the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York. He won the PEN Translation Prize for Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings. For his other books he has received awards from the American Folklore Society, the Society for Linguistic Anthropology, the Society for Humanistic Anthropology, and the Association of American Publishers.

"Imaginatively written, superbly illustrated, beautifully produced and, above all, highly authoritative... For those seriously interested in Mayan writing, the book is a must-buy." -- Andrew Robinson Current World Archaeology 20100515 "A revelatory book ... beautifully illustrated and handsomely presented." Scotsman 20100327 "If you're drawn to global cultures, languages and mythology, this is a cool book to explore." -- David Crumm Read The Spirit 20100316 "A hefty scholarly work that reads like serialized magazine articles ... quite accessible to the general reader." -- David Steinberg Albuquerque Journal 20100314 "[Tedlock] draws out the poetic quality of Maya writing and shows the vibrancy, changing and living qualities of Mayan writing." -- Walter E. Little University at Albany, SUNY Bltn Of Latin American Research 20121221

• Acknowledgments Note on the Pronunciation of Mayan Words Introduction PART ONE 1. Learning to Read 2. Early Mayan Writing 3. The Skilled Observer from Maxam 4. From the Time of Gods to the Time of Lords 5. Cormorant and Her Three Sons 6. Temple of the Sun- Eyed Shield 7. Temple of the Tree of Yellow Corn 8. Lady Shark Fin and the Eve ning Star 9. The Rattlesnakes of the City of Three Stones 10. Drawing and Designing with Words 11. Graffiti 12. The Question of the Beginning and End of Time 13. The Mouth of the Well of the Itza 14. Writing on the Pages of Books 15. Signs of the Times 16. Moon Woman Meets the Stars 17. The Power of the Great Star 18. Thunderstorm 19. Diagrams of the Days PART TWO 20. The Alphabet Arrives in the Lowlands 21. The Books of Chilam Balam 22. Understanding the Language of Suyua 23. Song of the Birth of the Twenty Days 24. Conversations with Madness 25. The Alphabet Arrives in the Highlands 26. A Way to See the Dawn of Life 27. Blood Moon Becomes a Trickster 28. The Death of Death 29. The Human Work, the Human Design 30. We Saw It All, Oh My Sons 31. The Count of Days 32. Man of Rabinal Epilogue Notes Bibliography List of Mayan Texts and Translations List of Figures List of Maps Illustration Credits Index