Scribes

This image of a Classic Period vessel (specifically dated to between
600 AD and 900 AD) shows a scribe holding a container of paint. It comes from the
Mexican state of Campeche. From Yale University Art Gallery.

Ah tz'ib (also spelled ah tz'ib and ah ts'ib) -- a translation of this is "he who writes or paints." It is one of the terms the ancient Maya used for scribes. Scribes worked different kinds of materials to make images as well as inscriptions. They used their artistic skills to express information, including the activities of their rulers.

Job as a Scribe

A page from the Madrid Codex.
From An Introduction to the Study
of the Maya Hieroglyphs.

Scribes made messages and pictures with materials like limestone and stucco as well as in codices. Scribes got to be kind of artistic when it came to which version of glyphs to pick. (Archaeologists have found artifacts that scribes put their names on -- signing them. There are also artifacts where the scribes put in their family history too!) 

A page from the Dresden Codex.
From An Introduction to the Study
of the Maya Hieroglyphs.

Part of being a scribe meant learning a lot of different things . Scribes learned the calendar system, social rituals, different kinds of art, math, scientific information, and history as well as religious rituals and myths. They learned the language used by elites: and this was the language they wrote in -- though there are times when they slip into other ancient Maya languages. (These slips are thought to have been slips into the scribes' native languages.)

In the Late Classic, archaeologists know there were ranks for scribes. (And scribes could even have more than one title.) One title with a lot of status was aj kuju'un (spelled other ways, including ah k'u hun.) One translation of this term is "he of the holy books" and could mean something like "royal librarian." Only really good scribes were given this title. Scribes who had this title may have had a lot of responsibility -- they may have done things like make treaties, train other scribes, keep track of tribute, watch over rituals, and do marriage negotiations. They may also have been astronomers.  (Another of the titles in the Late Classic was itz'at, ("sage," "wiseman.") It was title that gave a scribe a lot of status.)

In the Classic Period, scribes had another job too, which they shared with other royalty: the job of warrior.

Tools
Ancient Maya scribes made their ink wells out of conch shells, which they cut in half. As for what they drew with, they used pens made of quills for thin lines, and brushes for thicker lines. For stone, scribes, of course, used chisels, themselves made of stone. 

Appearance
In ancient Maya art, there are certain features that you can search for to see if a person in the image you're looking at is a scribe. One is if there is stylized "paper" with spots that go out from under their arm. (An example of this "paper" can be seen in the image at the top of the post.) Another is if they're holding an ink well.

When drawn, an aj kuju'un has certain clothing. One is a sarong that is tied around the waist. The other was a headdress that these images wore. This headdress has a "stick bundle" set in a knot that is tied at the forehead; one of two items would be set into the headdress: a waterlily or a tool used for writing. (You may see a description of this headdress given to scribes in general.)

Consideration: Place in Society
There's some disagreement about whether or not scribes belonged to the elite -- they either may have been or were part of the elite. One view says that their families were royal: if you were a son of a ruler, but you weren't the "crown prince," then you would be a scribe. (However, there were also rulers who were scribes.)

Speaking of society, you may be wondering: were there female scribes?  This seems to depend somewhat. There isn't strong evidence for it, goes one line of thought. Another says that, among the scribes who were rulers, there were female scribe-rulers.

Gods Connected to Scribes

This vessel dates from around 700 AD to 800 AD, and was
made in Mexico. This side shows a monkey scribe god. (The
other shows K'awiil, who you may see called god K. From Yale
University Art Gallery.

Scribes -- and other ancient Maya who had jobs connected to art -- had monkey gods who were patron gods. These gods were believed in in both the Classic Period as well as -- at least in the northern lowlands -- the Postclassic Period.

Other than the monkey gods, the young aspect of the Maize God is thought to have been a patron god of scribes. Itzamná (god D)  A scribe himself, he was connected to lots of things, including scribes -- and may be a patron god of scribes. 

Other gods connected to scribes were the Paddler Gods and Pauahutun (god N.) A god known as the Fox God may have been a patron of scribes as well, though it may be he was really a patron of sculptors.

References:
Google Books: "World Prehistory and Archaeology: Pathways Through"; Michael Chazan; 2018

Google Books: "Philosophy of the Ancient Maya: Lords of Time"; Alexus McLeod; 2018

Google Books: "Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya"; Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos; 2017

University of Texas at Austin: SALSA: "The Scribe’s Hand Betrays His Tongue: Diglossia Among the Ancient Maya"; Mary Kate Kelly

Google Books: "Encyclopedia of the ancient Maya"; Walter R.T. Witschey (editor); 2016

Mesoweb: Ancient Cultures Institute: The PARI Journal 16, Volume 2; 2015; "The Maya Goddess of Painting, Writing, and Decorated Textiles"; Timothy W. Knowlton

Google Books: "Space and Sculpture in the Classic Maya City"; Alexander Parmington; 2011

Google Books: "The Technology of Maya Civilization: Political Economy and Beyond in Lithic Studies"; Zachary X Hruby, Geoffrey E. Brasswell, Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos (editors); 2011

Digital Collections at Texas State University: "Maya Scribes who would be Kings: Shamanism, the Underworld, and Artistic Production in the Late Classic Period "; Barry B. Kidder; December 2009

Google Books: "Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time"; Prudence M. Rice; 2007

Google Books: "The Ancient Maya" sixth edition; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

University of Florida: "Mayan Writing"; Andrea M. Ranada
(Power Point that downloads.)

University of Maine Hudson Museum: The Underworld

Yale University Art Gallery: Vessel with Scribes

Image Credits:
Yale University Art Gallery: Vessel with Scribes

Yale University Art Gallery: Bowl with a Monkey Scribe and K’awiil, God of Lightning

Project Gutenberg: "An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs" Sylvanus Griswold Morley; 1915

Dresden Codex

The most well known Mayan codex (accordion-folded book) is the Dresden Codex (also known as the Codex Dresensis). Lost and found again, this codex is a major source of information on Maya astronomy and the calendar system.

Origin

Archaeologists think the Dresden Codex hails from the Yucatan region of the Mayan world. They also think it’s the oldest of the four known codices, and was crafted sometime between the 1200s and the 1300s AD. Thompson says it was made in 1200 AD to 1250 AD, while Satterthwaite says it can’t be earlier than 1345 AD, but another man – Everson – says it was sometime in the 1200s.

Beyond its creation date, the truth about other aspects of the codex is also under consideration. It’s possible the codex was created by four scribes, and these scribes may’ve been copying an older book from around 755 AD.

Travel To Europe

At some point, someone took the codex from the Maya and it ended up in Europe. It’s not entirely clear how the codex made it there. One theory says that the Dresden Codex’s trip across the Atlantic occurred in 1519, when Hernán Cortés gave it to Emperor Charles V.

However it got to Europe, in 1739 a man named D. Johann Christian Goetze bought the codex while he was in Vienna. Goetze was the head of the Royal Library in Dresden (a city once part of Saxony, now part of modern Germany), and the codex became part of the library’s collection.

The codex remained a book in the Royal Library, where the upper left corners of its pages were damaged by water during World War II, during the bombing of Dresden. A man named Yuri Knorzov (a Russian soldier who became a famous scholar of the Maya) took the codex.

Dimensions

This codex possesses 39 “pages”, which are about 3.5 inches wide and about 8 inches tall. In total, when unfolded the Dresden Codex is about 11.5 feet long. It is possible that it had more pages that are now lost.

Contents

What does the Dresden Codex contain in its pages? That is still a matter of debate. Though archaeologists believe that it contains eclipse and other planetary cycle information, the details are not always clear. Things they think the codex contains include ritual calendars and divinations based on the sun, Venus and the moon. It is also possible that Mars' cycle is included in the Dresden Codex.

References:

“The Ancient Maya”; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

"Maya Eclipses: Modern Astronomical Data, the Triple Tritos and the Double-Ztolkin"; William E. Beck, University of Central Florida; 2007

University of Arizona Libraries: Mayan Codex Facsimiles
 
Library of Congress: Exploring the Early Americas: Dresden Codex