Fifteen years ago I built the first online translator of the English language into Mayan Glyphs. I quickly followed this up with the first one for Sumerian Cuneiform as well.
Yes, the Univ. of Penn has an online translator, but it only accepts 3 characters, and it produces an output based upon a simple transliteration of the 26 characters of our own alphabet. Mine uses 600 syllable substitutions from the Sumerian syllabary and thus it is infinitely more accurate.
These programs are free to use, and produce very large images of either the font type or a 3-D effect that is closer to what the scratched symbols actually looked like.
There is a liberal limitation to the number of times that you can use each program per day, in order to avoid spammers, and I ask that you include a link back to this site, and a clear indication that Jim Duyer is the author, but other than that you are free to use the images for your personal use.
These images are included inside five published books by other authors and used in a film being produced in Canada. I normally give permission for commercial use if you ask – so please just let me know how you wish to use them to obtain that permission. I have also helped authors with certain requests for custom logos and title images, and I have never charged for that work.
You will also find them on the sculptures outside the Chicago Law Library and in the University of Houston Mayan Museum program guides, as well as in classrooms around the world.
To begin, please choose the language to use, by clicking on one of the images below, and this will take you to the page where you can input your choices of style and your text for translation.
There are two choices: Mayan Glyphs or Sumerian Cuneiform.
Both will return your entered text as an image that you will be able to download right away.
The simple Usage Rules are found below.
Thanks for trying the program, and be sure to tell your friends !
CLICK ON ONE OF THE IMAGES BELOW TO BE TAKEN TO ITS TRANSLATION PROGRAM PAGE …..
The programs translate your language into Sumerian or Mayan, and then it must produce an image and load it.
It usually takes a few seconds just to load the image on my server so that you are able to view and download it.
Please allow up to 15 seconds before you attempt to restart the program – if there is an error in the meantime, the program will advise you. Otherwise, you should have your image in about 4 to 10 seconds, depending on the amount of text you have entered. Thank you for your patience.
Please do not copy the entire alphabets:
All of the artwork and the Perl scripts are of my own making. The program is not designed for you to reproduce the entire syllabary alphabet for use on another website or in any other manner – please respect my copyright and use this only for personal use, unless you have my written approval beforehand. There are limits to the percentage of a complete alphabet that you may download – after that limit is reached, you will be blocked. Normal use will Not be a problem.
I was forced to implement this safeguard when prior programs were repeatedly abused by other website owners who wished to take advantage of my work, without compensation of any type, and some were even used in Books sold for profit. If you are testing the program, please type something other than the alphabet, or sentences that comprise most of the characters of the alphabet. Thank You.
Usage Limit – Each program, 5 uses per day.
You may use any of the four versions of the program up to five (5) times per day, for each version. This is a reasonable limit, as it applies for each language and each style, so normal usage will create no problems. This limit was implemented because this new syllabary alphabet creates a large sized image, and the Bandwidth that I pay for was increasing rapidly. If you have a reason for more extensive use, please use the Contact Me link and I will respond as soon as possible.
If you have any questions, or if you have suggestions or even critical comments, please use the contact button and I will respond as soon as possible. If you find the need for larger groups of text, just drop me an email with your specific requirements and I will do my best to help you.
If you wish to help in the further development and increased use of these programs, kindly consider purchasing one of my books. The proceeds from their sales help pay for the costs of this site, as well as other worthy goals.
This translation program is furnished in the hopes of furthering communication and understanding, and can be accepted or rejected as you choose; there is no charge to use this free product. There are also no warranties, implied or otherwise, in the use, output, or results of these free programs.
Please use the Contact Form if you can offer any constructive suggestions, correct my obvious errors or offer help in any way.