narrative literature of Mesoamerica is very rich, and we can only guess as to how much has been lost. Every day literature: Some texts are sort of every day literature such as descriptions of objects and their owners, graffiti inscriptions, but these only constitutes a very small part of the known literature. Pictorial vs. linguistic literature Geoffrey Sampson distinguishes between two kinds of writing. One kind of writing he calls 'semasiographical', this covers kinds of pictorial or ideographic writing that is not necessarily connected to phonetic language but can be read in different languages, this kind of writing is for example used in roadsigns which can be read in any language. The other kind of writing is phonetic writing called by Sampson 'glottographic' writing and which represents the sounds and words of languages and allows accurate linguistic readings of a text that is the same at every reading. In Mesoamerica the two types were not distinguished, and so writing, drawing, and making pictures were seen as closely related if not identical concepts. In both the Mayan and Aztec languages there is one word for writing and drawing (tlàcuiloa in Nahuatl and tz'iib' in Classic Maya) Pictures are sometimes read phonetically and texts meant to be read are sometimes very pictorial in nature. This makes it difficult for modern day scholars to distinguish between whether an inscription in a Mesoamerican script represents spoken language or is to be interpreted as a descriptive drawing. The only Mesoamerican people known without doubt to have developed a completely glottographic or phonetic script is the Maya, and even the Mayan script is largely pictorial and often shows fuzzy boundaries between images and text. Scholars disagree on the phonetics of other Mesoamerican scripts and iconographic styles, but many show use of the Rebus principle and a highly conventionalised set of symbols. Monumental Inscriptions The monumental inscriptions were often historical records of the citystates: Famous examples include: Hieroglyphic Stair of Copan recording the history of Copan with 7000 glyphs on its 62 steps. The inscriptions of Naj Tunich records the arrival of noble pilgrims to the sacred cave. The tomb inscriptions of Pacal the famous ruler of Palenque. The many stelae of Yaxchilan, Quiriguá, Copán, Tikal and Palenque and countless other Mayan archaeological sites. The function of these kinds of historical inscriptions also served to consolidate the power of the rulers who used them also as a