The history of deciphering ancient scripts holds a special place for the discovery made by the Soviet linguist and ethnographer Yuri Valentinovich Knorozov. His work, which allowed the reading of texts from the Maya civilization, became a shining example of scientific genius that managed to overcome the isolation and skepticism of the academic community. The uniqueness of this achievement lies in the fact that the researcher, who had never been to Mesoamerica, was able to make a breakthrough that the best minds in the world had struggled with for decades, with all necessary resources at their disposal. Theoretical Foundation of Decipherment The key to the solution was not found in archaeological artifacts, but in theoretical linguistics. He developed and brilliantly applied a comprehensive method based on structural analysis. The scientist started from the fundamental position that any writing reflects the structure of a specific language. He rejected the then popular idea among Western researchers about the purely ideographic nature of the Maya script, according to which each sign represented a whole word or concept. Knorozov proved that the Maya script is hieroglyphic, combining logograms (signs for words) and phonetic symbols (signs for syllables). The basis for his research was the surviving colonial-era manuscripts, in particular, the so-called "Messages about Affairs in Yucatan" by Diego de Landy, which were considered unreliable before Knorozov. "Alpha and Omega" of Maya Writing Knorozov brilliantly illustrated his theory with the example of deciphering the so-called "Dandy Land Alphabet." The 16th-century Spanish bishop recorded a list of signs from the words of local people, which he believed corresponded to the letters of the Spanish alphabet. Previous researchers, trying to mechanically apply this list to read texts, failed and declared Landy's records erroneous. Knorozov, however, assumed that the indigenous people showed Landy not letters, but syllables ... Read more