What ancient writing system did Richard Feynman study?

Richard Feynman studied Mayan hieroglyphs, an ancient writing system associated with the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. The interest showed the extraordinary range of his curiosity beyond theoretical physics.

Feynman did not become a professional epigrapher, but he seriously explored how Mayan inscriptions worked. He read about Maya calendrical notation, examined monuments and artifacts, and gave talks on deciphering Mayan hieroglyphics. His approach reflected his habit of treating unfamiliar subjects as puzzles that could be investigated directly.

The answer is sometimes confused with Egyptian hieroglyphs or cuneiform because those are also famous ancient writing systems. Mayan writing, however, is a distinct logosyllabic script that combined signs representing words with signs representing syllables. Modern scholars made major progress deciphering it during the twentieth century, although Feynman’s personal interest was primarily an example of his wide-ranging, self-directed learning rather than a central academic field.