Authored by a world expert in Nahuatl language and writing who is at the same time a renowned specialist in Zapotec and Sumerian scripts, this volume is the first handbook ever on the Aztec writing system. The goal of Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs is to unlock “the mysteries of Aztec writing for a wide readership for the first time” by “dissecting and describing” this writing system “in lavish detail”—an aim that Gordon Whittaker achieves in a well-grounded, comprehensive, and alluring manner (pp. 6, 9).
The book addresses a wide audience, including Mesoamericanist researchers, scholars working on the theory of writing systems, and the general public. Whittaker sets out in the introduction essentials on the Nahuatl language, key theoretical concepts, and the orthographic conventions applied in the book, before turning in chapter 1 to “the world of the Aztec scribe.” When analyzing the many Aztec glyphs included in the book, which become...
