Hieroglyphic Stairway of Copán
Escalinata jeroglífica de Copán
- Date
- c. 710-755 · confidence high
- Place
- Copán Ruinas, Copán, Honduras
- Credited to
- Copán dynasty, Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat (dedication, AD 755)
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
A 63-step staircase carrying about 2,200 sculpted glyphs that narrates the history of the Copán dynasty, the longest monumental hieroglyphic text known in the Maya world. It shows how the Maya used architecture as a page of political chronicle.
The staircase collapsed and was reassembled in the 20th century with the block order partly incorrect; epigraphers have reordered part of the text. The dedication date is given.
What it led to
- a key source for reconstructing Copán's dynastic history
- progress in the decipherment of Maya writing
- a prototype of monumental texts on a temple staircase