[Aztlan] List of reversed glyphs

[Susan Gilchrist]

Also, another technical analogue might be the
"cylindrical seal" found a few years ago, where
reports were saying the oldest known writing was
printed, i.e. reversed left to right.
Here is an MSNBC article from 2002 that turned
up in a google search.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/olmec/olmec-writing.htm
--susan gilchrist


On 8/31/07, Elaine Day Schele <eschele at austin.rr.com> wrote:
>
> Justin,
> Great observations.  It also brings to mind the skill of present-day Maya
> weavers who are able to not only weave beautiful images that appear on the
> front side of the textile, but they also create the reverse image on the
> underside.  This is especially hard when using the technique of weaving in
> colored strands of thread that create bright images and is a proud skill
> that is passed down from mother to daughter from generation to generation.
>
> Elaine
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Justin Kerr" <mayavase at verizon.net>
> To: "'Diane Winters'" <diane at winterstileworks.com>; <
> aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
> Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 9:43 AM
> Subject: RE: [Aztlan] List of reversed glyphs
>
>
> > Dear Friends,
> > I would like to suggest, if no one else has, that in this discussion of
> > reversed and mirror imaging that the human aspect of artistry has not
> been
> > reckoned with.
> > As so many other speculations of why do these types of writing exist, I
> > make
> > this humble offering. The artists who created these works were "showing
> > off". In many cultures around the world artists and crafts people show
> off
> > by creating what seem to be impossible deeds. Mirror writing is only
> one;
> > there is a whole category of European paintings that can only be viewed
> by
> > placing the work on a mirror. There are holy scriptures so small that
> they
> > can only be read by use of a magnifying glass. I have seen Japanese
> street
> > artists create incredible dragons in less time than it takes to write
> this
> > sentence. In our own time a Greenwich Village artist received a lot of
> > television time making paintings using toilet paper.
> > To get back to the ancient Maya; it takes great skill, to say nothing of
> > talent, to create a stone lintel, and having achieved that goal, I feel
> > some
> > artists may have struck out and in their work said, "I am so good I can
> do
> > it my way."
> > Justin Kerr
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org
> > [mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
> > On Behalf Of Diane Winters
> > Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 9:46 PM
> > To: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> > Subject: Re: [Aztlan] List of reversed glyphs
> >
> > I'd just like to point out that on Yaxchilan Lintel 25 all of the glyphs
> > are
> > reversed except for the fish-in-hand.  If this glyph had been reversed,
> it
> > would have depicted a right hand instead of a left.  I'm not sure if
> > preserving the left-handedness of the fish-in-hand was deliberate, but
> > suspect it may have been and is somehow significant in the cultural
> > concepts
> > surrounding the meaning of the glyph.
> >
> > Although I haven't yet read it myself, maybe the article Nate Meissner
> > mentioned on Left/Right symbolism will be helpful to the general
> "reversed
> > realm" discussion:
> > Palka, Joel English
> > 2002 Left/right symbolism and the body in ancient Maya
> > iconography and culture
> > Latin American Antiquity 13(4):419-443
> > Washington, DC
> >
> > Diane Winters
> > once upon a time working on the fish-in-hand glyph, hoping to get back
> to
> > it
> > some day
> >
> >
> > George Haas wrote:
> >
> >>I'd like to thank every one here that participated in assisting me in my
> > search for reversed images and glyphs in Mesoamerican art. The following
> > is
> > a list of the some of the most notable examples of reversed glyphs that
> I
> > have archived so far.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>1. Lintel 25 - Yaxchilan.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>2. Bird Jaguar Monument - Yaxchilan.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>3. Western Bench, Temple 11 - Copan
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>4. Paris Codex - page 23 & 24.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>5. La Mojarra stela.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>6. Right Throne Leg (of the Creation Tablet) - Palenque.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>7. Ratinlinxul Vase - K 594 - Guatemala.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>8. Codex Style Vase - K1333
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>If any one knows of additional examples, please feel free to add it to
> the
> > list.
> >>
> >
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