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LESSON TWO:
COMPARING EGYPTIAN AND MAYAN WRITING STYLES

Overview of Lesson

The purpose of this lesson is to explore the meaning of hieroglyphics, as portrayed in Egyptian and Mayan writing styles. The lesson will compare and contrast the similarities and differences in writing styles. Furthermore, students will make predictions, draw conclusions, and provide supportive reasoning about the characteristics of writing styles. Students will also investigate the Mayan number system as an extension.

Objectives

• Students will examine artworks to find clues about the
Egyptian and Mayan cultures (Art History).

• Students will explore the possible meanings of Egyptian and Mayan glyphs (Art History, Art Criticism)

Reproductions

Scene Showing the Official Nebamun Hunting Birds, Egyptian tomb painting, British Museum, London, print available from Allwall.com, 1321-101 Kirkland Road, Raleigh, NC 27603 800-952-5592, title is Egyptian Art- Chasse Dans les Marais, #1000-9582A

Presentation of Captives to a Maya Ruler Presentation of Captives to a Maya Ruler Pre-Columbian, Maya Late Classic Period, A.DD. 600-900, Mexico, Usumacinta River Valley, c. 785, Limestone with traces of paint, 45-3/8 x 35 in. (115.3 x 88.9 cm), Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, Photographer Michael Bodycomb

Materials and Resources

Student Handouts
• My prediction about...
• Compare and Contrast Worksheet
• Egyptian Symbols
• Mayan Symbols

Recommended Web Sites (all links open in new window):

Halfmoon.org offers an extensive variety of resources related to Mayan culture and history, highly recommended for interesting and fun activities:
• Main page:
http://www.halfmoon.org/index.html
• See your name in Mayan Glyphs:
http://www.halfmoon.org/names.html
• Mundo Maya Online: Site offered in Spanish & English!
http://www.mayadiscovery.com

• Mayan/Archaeology:
mayanruins.com
Yahoo! Directory: Mayan Archaeology (lists tons of sites!)
• About Egyptian Hieroglyphics (takes a while to load but worth it.):
http://www.ancientscripts.com/egyptian.html
• See Your Name in Egyptian hieroglyphs:
http://www.upennmuseum.com/hieroglyphsreal.cgi/
• National Geographic Hieroglyph Translator (make a postcard to send to friends and family).
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/egypt/translator.html

Teacher Preparation

Become familiar with the background information on Egyptian hieroglyphs and Mayan glyphs. Display the two reproductions for a compare and contrast activity. Make transparencies of Student Handouts: Egyptian Symbols and Mayan Symbols for discussion.

History of Egyptian Hieroglyphics
Compton’s Encyclopedia

Ancient Egyptians had three different writing systems. The oldest, best known, and most difficult to read is hieroglyphics. The word (which means, “sacred carving,”) was used by Greeks who saw the script on temple walls and Hieroglyphic writing has two main characteristics — objects are portrayed as ideograms or pictures, and the picture signs have the phonetic, or sound, value of words represented by the objects. Thus, hieroglyphs are not pictures only — they can be spoken, as are words written in alphabets such as

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