08/22/2026
Monday, August 24, August 24, 8:00 PM
Aztlander Zoom
“Exploring Reverse (Mirrored) Maya Hieroglyphs”
with Jim Reed, Independent Researcher, Editor/Creator of The Aztlander
Access this active hyperlink to join the event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87565408421
Reverse (mirrored) Maya hieroglyphs refer to glyphs that are intentionally flipped horizontally (or sometimes vertically) compared to their more “standard” orientation. This isn’t a mistake – it’s a meaningful and stylistic feature of Maya hieroglyphs. Maya hieroglyphic writing is remarkably flexible in its directionality and mirrored or reversed glyphs are a well-documented feature of the script.
The ancient Maya didn’t write in a fixed left-to-right or right-to-left system like English or Egyptian writing. Maya texts are most commonly read left to right, top to bottom, arranged in paired blocks read in a zigzag pattern in double columns – but, we’ll discover scribes had considerable artistic and compositional freedom.
In my presentation, I’ll review numerous examples of Maya texts composed in reverse or mirrored orientations. Some are very obvious and some are harder to decipher. I’ve incorporated comments and suggestions of “where to look” from some well-known Mayanists, notably Marc Zender, Carl Callaway, and Bruce Love.
Epigraphers like David Stuart, Stephen Houston, and Marc Zender have addressed glyph orientation as part of broader work on Maya sign forms and paleography. The study of allographs (variant forms of the same sign) in Maya epigraphy necessarily includes orientation variants, including mirrored forms. In short, mirroring in Maya script is a regular, rule-governed phenomenon tied to aesthetics, composition, and convention – not scribal error – and it reflects the sophisticated visual intelligence behind the writing system.
Folks ! Please show up Monday evening to join me in a true exploration. While I’m involved presenting my show, our own Michael Ruggeri will be manning the host desk to make sure you get in!
