The oldest of the Maya inscription known to us dates back to around the third century BC and was painted on the wall of one of the buildings in the archaeological site of San Bartolo (Peten, Guatemala). As the centuries passed, the Maya writing developed, and its heyday fell in the Classic Period (250–900 CE). Thousands of inscriptions have survived to this day, ranging from relatively short texts preserved on ceramic vessels and small objects to very long texts carved mainly in stone stelae and architectural elements (lintels, panels, altars, benches or even stairs of buildings).
Thanks to the variety of glyphic inscriptions, we have been able to know the names and titles of rulers; their genealogies; dates of birth, accession, death or burial, the rituals they performed and the wars they conducted. All these details inform our understanding of key historical events that took place in many Maya kingdoms, of the political situation and relations between individual centers in the Classic Period.