The scientist who deciphered Maya writing
Ukrainian historian from the city of Yuzhny in Kharkiv region Yuri Knorozov deciphered the Mayan script.
Entered the history department of the Kharkov University. But he studied there for only 2 years. Further training was prevented by the start of the Second World War.
In the army the guy was not accepted for health reasons. During the occupation, he sat with his mother and sister in a barn. There he studied the Egyptian letter.
In 1943 he arrived in Moscow. He continued his studies at Moscow State University. I chose the specialty of shamanistic practices of the peoples of Central Asia. Once I read an article by an English scientist, Mayan civilization researcher Eric Thomson. The paper talked about the fact that it is impossible to decipher the writing of a tribe.
The Ukrainian decided to explore the writing on their own. The library took facsimile copies of the Mayan manuscripts and "Report on the affairs of the Yucatan" Diego de Landa. This monk also tried to describe the letter of the people. He did not understand that one character is responsible not for the letter, but for a separate composition. The Spaniard in the XVI century described only 29 characters. But in the manuscripts there are hundreds of unexplored characters.
Knorozov guessed that the first sound of the drawn sign conveyed the sound of the corresponding Spanish letter. This discovery became the basis for decryption. After that applied the method of positional statistics. He also identified the phonetic correspondences of hieroglyphs.
In the early 1950s, the Kharkiv citizen became the first person in hundreds of years to speak Mayan. In 1955 he defended his thesis. This was an event in the Soviet Union. In addition, the Ukrainian was awarded the title of Doctor of Science.
Entered the history department of the Kharkov University. But he studied there for only 2 years. Further training was prevented by the start of the Second World War.
In the army the guy was not accepted for health reasons. During the occupation, he sat with his mother and sister in a barn. There he studied the Egyptian letter.
Photo © 24tv.ua
In 1943 he arrived in Moscow. He continued his studies at Moscow State University. I chose the specialty of shamanistic practices of the peoples of Central Asia. Once I read an article by an English scientist, Mayan civilization researcher Eric Thomson. The paper talked about the fact that it is impossible to decipher the writing of a tribe.
The Ukrainian decided to explore the writing on their own. The library took facsimile copies of the Mayan manuscripts and "Report on the affairs of the Yucatan" Diego de Landa. This monk also tried to describe the letter of the people. He did not understand that one character is responsible not for the letter, but for a separate composition. The Spaniard in the XVI century described only 29 characters. But in the manuscripts there are hundreds of unexplored characters.
Knorozov guessed that the first sound of the drawn sign conveyed the sound of the corresponding Spanish letter. This discovery became the basis for decryption. After that applied the method of positional statistics. He also identified the phonetic correspondences of hieroglyphs.
In the early 1950s, the Kharkiv citizen became the first person in hundreds of years to speak Mayan. In 1955 he defended his thesis. This was an event in the Soviet Union. In addition, the Ukrainian was awarded the title of Doctor of Science.
