Bulletin

Issue: June 2005

Research in Action

Who's who among the Maya

He lived from 603 to 683 AD and was king of Palenque. His real name was K'inich Janab' Pakal I, but he had at least 12 other names and titles.

Professor Matthews,
a world authority on
Maya hieroglyphics.

One of the best known Maya kings, he was called various names and titles in stone, stucco, and shell inscriptions during and after his long reign from 615.

During the Classic Maya period on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula from AD 250 to 900, the myriad of names and titles by which kings, queens, nobles, generals, other prominent Mayas, and even war captives, were recorded in various inscriptions, resulting in a profusion, and confusion, of names.

Students of Maya archaeology and thousands of Americans whose hobby is Maya hieroglyphics, history, and archaeology, have long felt the need for a comprehensive list of prominent Mayas and their various names and titles.

Professor Peter Mathews, the co-ordinator of La Trobe University's Archaeology program, has come to the rescue by preparing a website entitled Who's Who in the Classic Maya World.

A world authority on Maya hieroglyphics, in fact one of the small team which cracked the deciphering key over the past two decades, Professor Mathews will have his site up and running - but by no means complete - by the end of this year.

The Who's Who website will eventually contain the names and biographies of between 3000 and 4000 ancient Maya individuals, and will also provide additional information concerning their lives. Such information will include their Maya name glyph, their portrait if one exists, and a list of inscriptions which mentioned them. All the names and nicknames by which they are known in recent literature are also listed.

The Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies Inc, based in Florida, has commissioned Professor Mathews to produce the web site as well as a Maya hieroglyphic dictionary.

Professor Mathews frequently visits Palenque, one of the best known Maya sites, and other archaeological sites in Mexico and Guatemala. It is in Palenque that K'inich Janab' Pakal I was buried in one of the most ornate of all Maya royal tombs.

'Like the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs, Maya kings had several names. Many were given a birth name, a child name when they survived infancy, a royal name when they were crowned, and often titles to mark other occasions,' Professor Mathews said.

'For instance K'inich Janab' Pakal I had at least five names and twelve other titles - and various inscriptions refer to him by only one of these names or titles. Unless you know the full list of names and titles, you might miss many references to him.

'I realised there was a need for such a website when I began to give workshops in the United States on Maya hieroglyphics and archaeology. People turn up for these workshops in their hundreds.

'Until quite recently it was believed that no history was recorded in Maya texts but with our recently acquired ability to decipher the hieroglyphics, we now know that Maya inscriptions describe the lives and deeds of a host of individuals from kings and queens to lowly captives. The purpose of this Who's Who is to introduce these individuals to the wider public and to fully document them for scholars.

'In a way, it is a similar work to A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names edited by La Trobe's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Osborne, to help students of classical Greek history.'