Reflection as transformation: mirror-image structure on Maya monumental texts as a visual metaphor for ritual participation*

Abstract

Resumen: Pese a la estructura inusual de las inscripciones monumentales de los antiguos mayas, que se escribían como si los glifos se reflejaran en un espejo, todavía falta un análisis a fondo de la forma de estos textos. Después de analizar 11 monumentos, propongo que las inscripciones de forma especular constituían metáforas visuales cuyo significado estaba vinculado con el significado ritual de los espejos como símbolos del poder político y religioso. Además, el significado metafórico de estos textos influía en cómo el espectador entendía y se relacionaba con el monumento. Con base en evidencias de la arqueología, la epigrafía, la iconografía, la lingüística y la ciencia cognitiva, sostengo que la forma especular de estas inscripciones extendía la participación ritual del espectador maya para ponerlo en contacto con lo sobrenatural. Con este estudio espero inspirar más investigaciones sobre la relación entre forma y función en los monumentos de los antiguos mayas.PalabRas clave: Inscripción especular, glifos, monumentos, metáfora, participación ritual. abstRact:In spite of their aberrant orientation, ancient Maya monumental hieroglyphic inscriptions that were carved in mirror-image have been relatively understudied by scholars with respect to the significance of their shared form. Based on examination of eleven such monuments, I propose that mirror-image inscriptions constituted visual metaphors related to the ritual importance of artifactual mirrors as symbols of political and religious power. Furthermore, the metaphorical significance of these texts influenced the viewer's interpretation of and interaction with the monument. Using evidence from archaeology, epigraphy, iconography, linguistics, and cognitive science, I argue that the mirror-image form, of these monumental inscriptions, extended ritual participation beyond the monument's protagonist to the ancient Maya viewer through contact with the supernatural. With this work, I hope to begin to fill a significant gap in ancient Maya studies and offer an alternate perspective on the relationship between monumental form and function.

The other side of the mirror. Maya Late Classic iron-ore artifact production: an insight from Cancuen

“…Iron-ore mirrors occur frequently in Maya archaeological records and are often found in the highest contexts of power in the Classic period ( a.d. 250–950). They are markers of social status, worn in headdresses or on belts (Taube 1992), often staged in the representations of royal courts (Blainey 2016:182) and used as ritual instruments, probably for divination (Healy and Blainey 2011; Matsumoto 2012; Miller and Taube 1993; Taube 2016), or funerary offerings (Freidel et al 2024). Their production therefore raises the question of the manufacture, not only technical, but also ideological, of a good linked with the world of non-humans, as well as how the value of luxury goods was acquired.…”

Aj-ts’íib or el letrado ? Authorial Identity in Gómez Navarrete’s Bilingual Maya Poetry

“…Similarly, the Classical Mayan recorded in hieroglyphs is fairly uniform, yet it coincided with a plethora of spoken languages. Glyphic writing was strongly associated with the supernatural (Matsumoto 2013); likewise, during the colonial period, 'la escritura se constituiría en una suerte de religión secundaria' (Rama 1998(Rama [1984: 37). In both contexts, the mystical aura of writing is explained by its restriction to a few initiated specialists, meaning that writing was also a symbol of power.…”