“It is the SALALM book, 5 k’atuns completed at Tulane”

On June 8-12, the Latin American Library hosted SALALM 69, the annual meeting of the international professional association dedicated to academic libraries specializing in Latin America and the Caribbean. Over 200 attendees hailing from almost every state in the U.S., and from Latin America and Europe spent four days in New Orleans discussing library collections, services, and joining in the celebration of 100 years of dedication to Latin American Studies at Tulane University. One such event was the Maya hieroglyphics workshop “Deciphering Period-Ending Rituals in Ancient Maya Texts,” led by Gabrielle Vail and Christine Hernández.  Participants learned some basics about ancient Maya inscriptions, screenfold books, calendars, and the scheduling of rituals to mark the completion of the annual 365-day cycle called haab’.  A highlight for all workshop attendees was the construction of their own screenfold book with the title covers, “It is the SALALM book, 5 k’atuns completed at Tulane” written in Maya hieroglyphic script.