Part 1

PAPERS

OF THE

PEABODY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

VOL. IV.--NO. 2

COMMENTARY ON THE MAYA MANUSCRIPT IN THE ROYAL PUBLIC LIBRARY OF DRESDEN

BY

DR. ERNST FÖRSTEMANN

TRANSLATED BY MISS SELMA WESSELHOEFT AND MISS A. M. PARKER

Translation revised by the Author

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. PUBLISHED BY THE MUSEUM OCTOBER, 1906

* * * * *

NOTE

----

In pursuance of the plan of publishing translations of valuable contributions to the study of the Maya hieroglyphs, the Museum Committee on Central American Research has the pleasure of offering the following translation of Dr. Ernst Förstemann's important Commentary on the Maya Manuscript in the Royal Library of Dresden, generally known as the Dresden Codex.

The translation by Miss Selma Wesselhoeft and Miss A. M. Parker was made under the direction of Mr. Charles P. Bowditch of the Museum Committee.

In the original German edition, published in 1901, Dr. Förstemann used the Arabic numerals to designate the days, but in this translation, with the consent of the author who has kindly revised the translation, Mr. Bowditch has substituted the corresponding Maya names of the days, in uniformity with the general use of students in this country. It is needless to call attention to the importance of this paper by Dr. Förstemann whose long-continued study of the intricate system of hieroglyphic writing by the ancient Mayas makes all he writes of great value to students engaged in this most interesting research.

F. W. PUTNAME.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, October, 1906.

* * * * *

PREFACE.

Some of those who examine this book will say, that it is too early for a commentary on the "Dresdensis," since Maya research is yet in its infancy, and this opinion is certainly justified inasmuch as a final explanation of that remarkable monument is, of course, impossible at the present time. On the other hand the accounts of the numerous investigations and discoveries which have been made thus far are so isolated and so scattered in the shape of a hundred short magazine articles, that it is certainly desirable to have what we know and what we have still to learn gathered together under one head. This book is intended, therefore, to give an idea of the state of our knowledge in this department of research at this time, when the nineteenth century is passing into the twentieth, with the definite expectation that this work will soon be far outstripped and will possess an historical value only.

The contents of the following pages are of very little value, unless the student can compare them with an edition of the manuscript. My first edition was published in 1880 at Leipsic and the second at Dresden in 1892. The edition in Lord Kingsborough's "Mexican Antiquities" (in Volume III of that work, London, 1831) is still of practical use.

And since in this work I must premise a knowledge of the elements of the subject, I would recommend, as additional aids to the comprehension of the following pages, my "Erläuterungen zur Mayahandschrift der Königlichen öffentlichen Bibliothek zu Dresden" (Dresden, 1886), and also Brinton, "A Primer of Mayan Hieroglyphics" (in the publications of the University of Pennsylvania. Series in Philology, Literature and Archaeology, Vol. III). I would also mention the very valuable work by Paul Schellhas, "Die Göttergestalten der Mayahandschriften" (Dresden, 1897), which I follow in the designation of the various gods by letters of the alphabet.

It need hardly be pointed out, that the numerous pioneer articles by Edward Seler offer abundant instruction to the student in this field as well as in that of Aztec remains.

I wish to express heartfelt thanks to Mrs. Zelia Nuttall and Mr. Charles P. Bowditch, who have aided my work in various ways and have thus rendered possible the publication of this book.

E. FÖRSTEMANN.

CHARLOTTENBURG.

* * * * *

FIRST PART.

Pages 1-45.

Page 1.

As the first page is almost entirely effaced by abrasion, we know very little of its contents. Like the second, however, it was doubtless divided into four parts. The two pages have this also in common, that, for lack of space, their contents are not expressed in full, but abbreviated as much as possible.

The top section (a) of page 1 may have been filled with a sort of frontispiece, perhaps a face with a few signs around it.

The three lower sections (b, e, d,) with the three lower of the second page doubtless formed a whole. Each of these sections contained a normal Tonalamatl of the commonest kind, which was introduced on the left by five day-signs having a difference of 12 and was thus divided into five sections of 52 days each. In sections b and d, at least, these periods seem to be divided into equal halves of 26 days each. In d alone we recognize the initial week day, VII, of the Tonalamatl. In each of the three divisions there were two figures of gods, but we can recognize only the first of these in section d as the god D.

Page 2.

This page contains four much abbreviated Tonalamatls. In the following I will represent each Tonalamatl by setting down in a vertical line those of the twenty days with which the principal divisions of equal length of the Tonalamatl begin, in a horizontal line with Roman numerals the days of the week of thirteen days on which the separate subdivisions begin, and with the Arabic numerals the distance between these days. I will also remark that the position of the Tonalamatls in the "Dresdensis" is not connected at all, as in the Aztec, with certain places in the year, and that no rule for this proceeding can be found. It is curious, however, that no Tonalamatl in this codex begins with the day IX or Eb, which is the more important in the last pages of the Dresden Codex.

2a.

This first Tonalamatl has the following form:--

XIII 5 V 12 IV 11 II 12 I 12 XIII Cauac Chuen Akbal Men Manik.

The hieroglyphs and the figures show that preparations for a human sacrifice are treated of here and that the subject is, therefore, closely connected with page 3a, where the sacrifice itself is represented.

There are but two pictures of persons, which refer, therefore, only to the first or to the first two subdivisions and which, for lack of space, are wanting for the others. On the left walks the person doomed to sacrifice, his arms are bound on his back, his head is barely visible and his eyes are apparently torn out. There is an object in front of his breast resembling a wreath. Behind this figure crouches a second, who holds an object in his hand which probably represents a rattle. The parallel passage in Cod. Tro. 2b shows the bound prisoner with an axe behind him. Then follows in Tro. 3b the prisoner without a head and behind him the black god with gory lance.

The hieroglyphs--four for each of the five subdivisions--are arranged in the following order:--

1 2 5 6 9 13 17 3 4 7 8 10 14 18 11 15 19 12 16 20.

Of these 9, 13 and 17-20 are wholly effaced and 14 for the most part. The very first group refers to human sacrifice, for 1 is a head with an axe affixed to it, 2 contains the hand (_i_) which so often appears as the sign of grasping, especially in representations of the chase; here it has the same superfix as on page 22a, which on pages 4a-10a and 11a, b, appears as prefix. 3 is the head of god H, perhaps given here as a symbol of wounding (serpent god?). I am unable to explain the meaning of the dot between two crosses in front of this head; perhaps the sign denotes the day Kan, which is here arrived at by calculation. We find the same hieroglyph on page 3. Sign 4 signifies the death-god A = Cimi, who appears again in 12.

In like manner 2 is repeated in 6 and 14. 7, 11 and 15 (probably also 19) are, however, the familiar cross _b_; 8 is the head of E with a prefixed knife; the intention here may have been to show that human sacrifice would be likely to have an auspicious influence upon the harvest. 10 and 16 are another unknown head. In 5 we see the familiar Kan-Imix sign, which, for the present, I am inclined to regard as denoting a feast or a sacrificial meal.

2b--c.

These two sections have something in common. First, 2b (as also 2d) is divided into but two parts and 2c into only three parts. Second, in 2b and 2c the scribe intended to draw the hieroglyphs for 10 days each, instead of 5 each, but only drew the outlines of the second five, since they could not be used for these Tonalamatls. Third, the persons represented here are all engaged in the same occupation, each holding in his hands an object which looks like a frame for a net or web, and also a large needle with an eye through which a thread has been passed.

A very similar representation is found in the Codex Troano 34a, 33a and 23*c, and also in the Sahagun Manuscript of the Bibliotheca Laurentiana at Florence. This can hardly mean anything else than the knotting of cords, which was the only method of casting lots current among the Mayas; compare Seler, "Altmexikanische Studien II" (1899), p. 31, and "Zauberei im alten Mexiko" (1900), p. 90, by the same author. This clearly indicates the use of these Tonalamatls in soothsaying.

Fourth and last, each of the five hieroglyph groups of 2b and 2c begin with the same sign, which must, therefore, denote the casting of lots.

The Tonalamatl 2b runs thus:--

XI 34 VI 18 XI Oc Ik Ix Cimi Ezanab.

The pictures are of three persons. At the left two sit facing one another and at the right is the god A. Of the first two, the one at the left is probably feminine, but with an old face. I am inclined here, in spite of the sex, to recall the bald-headed old god (N, according to Schellhas), whom I am inclined to consider, for the present, the representative of the 5 Uayeyab days at the end of the year. This would account for the sign resembling an 8 lying on its side, which appears on the god's head and which usually represents the change of the year (compare pages 38a, 41b, 52b, 68a and 72c). I cannot explain the person sitting facing this god further, than that from his hieroglyph he is either H or allied to H.

Of the 8 hieroglyphs

1 2 5 6 3 4 7 8.

the first, as stated, seems to refer to the casting of lots, 2 is the sign for H, 3 denotes the female figure pictured beneath it, and 4 is the sign _q_ with the Ben-Ik on top of it. In the second group 5 is the same as 1, 6 is the cross _b_, and 7 and 8 are the hieroglyphs for A.

2c contains the following Tonalamatl:--

III 20 X 17 I 15 III Oc Ik Ix Cimi Ezanab.

There are illustrations for only the first two of the three subdivisions; the two figures composing them are engaged in the occupation mentioned under 2b. At the left sits a deity, who is probably E, whose head develops into a second, which is that of an animal; on the right sits the god D.

The three groups of four hieroglyphs each are arranged as follows:--

1 2 5 6 9 3 4 7 8 10 11 12.

Of these hieroglyphs 1, 5 and 9 are the head already numbered 1 and 5 on 2b; 2, 6 and 10 are the cross _b_; 3, 7 and 11 are three different heads, all, as it seems, having the Akbal sign, and 11 having also the numeral 6. 4 is again (see 5 on 2a above) the Kan-Imix sign, 8 a Kin with suffix (the east?) and the numeral 16 as prefix; finally 12 is Cimi (A). Do the numbers 16 and 6 refer to the 16th and 6th of the 17 and 15 days standing below them? The beginning of this Tonalamatl III Oc seems to me to fall on an especially auspicious day (hieroglyph _a_).

2d has the following Tonalamatl:--

XIII 28 II 24 XIII Lamat Ahau Eb Kan Cib.

This refers probably to the section devoted to women, pages 13-23. For the picture on the left is a woman sitting and holding an unknown object in one hand; on her right stands the death-god A holding in his hands what may be an apron or breech-clout; there is a similar representation in Cod. Tro. 29*b.

The hieroglyphs are

1 2 5 6 3 4 7 8.

Of these 1, 6 and 8 are one of the signs of A, 7 another, and 4 may be a third, recalling the Moan, which, as on page 14c, rests on a hand held beneath it. 2 and 5 seem to signify a carpet or other fabric (or a lying-in bed?), on the one hand suggesting the occupation of the figures in 2b and 2c, and on the other the checkered hieroglyph, which is so common in the Palenque inscriptions. Finally 3 is the woman pictured beneath.

Page 3.

We come now to the sacrificial scene proper, which practically fills the upper half of the page. The victim, a woman, lies bound hand and foot, on the sacrificial stone, just as in the Cortes. 41-42; the incision above the stomach is already made and the eyes are closed. Behind her rises the tree of life with a bird (vulture?) sitting in its branches, which holds in its bill one end of an object, resembling a ribbon (entrails) issuing from the eyes of the victim, just as in Tro. 26*a and 27*a.

This picture is surrounded by four gods, who, however, differ very much from the other four in the second sacrificial scene, page 34a. At the right above is K, who, I think, is the storm-god; the figure at the left above is almost entirely destroyed, and its hieroglyph wholly; I prefer to consider it a rain deity, so that these two gods shall signify the productive season. The two gods below may refer to the blessing upon the harvest and chase resulting from the season and the sacrifice. For, at the left below, we see the maize deity E, holding a dish of fruit, while her head-ornament contains a second head. At the right below sits the serpent deity H and in front of him is an animal with the noose still around its neck, with which it was caught.

The hieroglyphs are in the following order:--

1 2 5 6 9 10 13 14 3 4 7 8 11 12 15 16 17 18 21 22 19 20 23 24.

Of these, 1-5 are wholly effaced and also the most essential part of 6.

Of these hieroglyphs four (1-4, 13-16, 17-20 and 21-24) clearly belong to each of the four deities, for 15, 18, and 22 (the last again with the dot between two crosses as on page 2a) certainly belong to the picture. From this it seems to follow that Hieroglyphs 5 to 12 refer to the sacrifice itself. As a matter of fact 9 and 11, which are directly above the sacrifice, also refer particularly to that part of the representation.

I wish also to call special attention to the two signs 8 and 16 which seem to correspond to one another. They are the two which I have designated with _q_ and _a_, which are met with here for the first time (aside from the _q_ with the Ben-Ik, which is not in question here) and which, I think, denote the good and evil days, _q_ referring to the sacrifice and _a_ to its results.

In regard to the rest of these hieroglyphs, 7 and 9 are Cimi; 10, 14, 17 and 24 the cross _b_ and 11 and 23 the hieroglyph c. 12 is the head with the Akbal eye, having for its prefix the uplifted arm, which is joined thus to the most diverse signs, and which also occurs in the Tro-Cort. 13 is a similar head, 19 again Imix, 20 the sign _o_ and 21 a hieroglyph, which is without doubt a simplified head.

Here, too, we have a Tonalamatl, and one beginning on an especially ceremonial day I Ahau, which seems to play the same role in celestial affairs as IV Ahau does in terrestrial matters. On the sacrificial stone we read the days Ahau, Eb, Kan, Cib and Lamat, and I think it likely that the same days occur in the passage of the Cortes. referred to above; the passage evidently contains some errors. The subdivisions of this Tonalamatl are not known to us, for here the manuscript is somewhat confused. I propose to read it as follows:--

I 10 XI 4 II 15 IV 9 XIII 14 I

but Cyrus Thomas, "Aids," p. 294, has

I 4 V 8 XIII 11 XI 15 XIII 14 I.

Either reading is dubious. The scribe divided the lower half of page 3 into two parts, and drew in each the outline of five days; but then he saw that, to continue his work, he needed a long surface extending from left to right, and he therefore omitted filling in these two sections.

Pages 4a--10a.

We have here a normal Tonalamatl, which, however, was evidently meant by the author to serve a very special purpose, since he divided the first section of 52 days into no less than 20 parts of 2, 3 or 4 days. I give the following arrangement here, remarking, at the same time, that in one doubtful case (between the third and fourth groups) I deviate from my former plan:--

X 2, XII 4, III 3, VI 2, VIII 4, XII 2, I 2, III 4, VII 2, IX 2, XI 2, XIII 4, IV 2, VI 3, IX 2, XI 3, I 2, III 3, VI 2, VIII 2, X.

Since the five sections on page 4a begin with the days Imix, Ben, Chicchan, Caban, and Muluc, we have resulting from this and from the intervals specified, the following days:--

X Imix, XII Akbal, III Manik, VI Oc, VIII Eb, XII Cib, I Ezanab, III Ahau, VII Kan, IX Cimi, XI Lamat, XIII Oc, IV IX, VI Cib, IX Cauac, XI Imix, I Kan, III Cimi, VI Muluc, VIII Chuen, X Ben.

Now, however, in the "Globus," Vol. LXXIII, in my two articles entitled "Die Tagegötter der Mayas," I have expressed the opinion that there is good reason to believe that the scribe has made a grave mistake here.

I assume that the scribe simply transferred the so-called month days from the year just past to the year in which he was writing, in doing which they were, of course, moved five days on (since 365 = 20 × 18 + 5), but he did not bear in mind, that the pictures and the hieroglyphs could then no longer correspond. Hence the days must be not

Imix, Akbal, Manik, Oc, Eb, Cib, Ezanab, Ahau, Kan, Cimi, Lamat, Oc, Ix, Cib, Cauac, Imix, Kan, Cimi, Muluc, Chuen, Ben,

but

Cib, Ezanab, Ik, Chicchan, Manik, Chuen, Ben, Men, Cauac, Imix, Akbal, Chicchan, Muluc, Chuen, Ix, Cib, Cauac, Imix, Kan, Cimi, Lamat.

Let us now consider the 20 groups, disregarding the first (really zero) which has no figure and no hieroglyphs. We will leave out of the question also the first two hieroglyphs of each group, which are the same twenty times and form, as it were, merely a superscription, in which the first sign is a head, also occurring elsewhere (4b-5b), with suffix and affix, and the second is the hieroglyph _i_, which might readily denote a sacrifice. Thus only the usual four signs remain for each picture.

1. Day 15 = Ezanab; Aztec Tecpatl, flint, lance point. The figure of the god does not correspond with this at all; it is a god in a gala cloak, holding before him a serpent and bearing a quetzal bird on his back. This figure, which resembles none other in our manuscript, strongly recalls Kukulcan, who, in fact, is often placed by the scribes at the head of the 20 Maya gods (cf. Dres. 36) in which manner he appears in this place quite without reference to the day and the hieroglyphs. In this interpretation I follow Seler, in the main, who in his treatise "Quetzalcouatl-Kukulcan in Yucatan" (1898) expresses this opinion on page 403 of the separate edition. But possibly the ear-ornament may refer to Ezanab. Of the hieroglyphs, 1 and 2 are the familiar sign of the serpent deities H or I, though here they are not drawn exactly alike. They also appear together on page 6a. 3 ( = _r_) I think is the sign for the week of 13 days, which recurs in groups 5, 11, 14 and 16, and hence is distributed 4 times, though not regularly, among the 4 × 13 days. Sign 4 is the death bird.

2. Day 19 = Ik; Aztec Ehecatl, wind, air, breath. The deity pictured is B, the god who is found the most frequently, and with the most varied attributes, of all the gods in our manuscript. He is the god proper of breathing and living and was, perhaps, the local god in the region where this manuscript originated. The second hieroglyph is his sign; the first, with a prefixed 9, is _p_ the third _q_ and the fourth _a_ with the usual 3 before it; their relations to B are still unknown.

3. Day 3 = Cimi; Aztec Miquiztli, death. The deity with a black line about the mouth is certainly the bald-headed old god N, whom we shall find on pages 12c, 14b, 17a, 21c, and 37a. His hands are much deformed; perhaps indicating the bite of a serpent? Of the hieroglyphs, 1, 2 and 4 are effaced; 3 is surely the sign of the god, differing, it is true, from his usual hieroglyph, but recurring with a 4 also on pages 21c and 24. This 4 might refer to the four kinds of years, but here, perhaps, to the fourth of the five Uayeyab days, and would thus agree with the 24th day of Cumku, which should lie here (in the year 9 Kan), if I have begun the Tonalamatl correctly.

4. Day 4 = Manik; Aztec Mazatl. The significance is stag or roe, game or the chase. The first picture on page 5 is one of the forms of F, which seems to stand here not merely for human sacrifice, but also for war and the chase, and especially for the act of killing in general. Of the hieroglyphs, unfortunately only the fourth can be read in full (the sign _c_), the upper part of the second is the cross _b_ and the lower part the sign Ahau; the number 11, which is peculiar to the god F, probably stood before the second sign. Did this god rule the eleventh of the 13 months of 28 days, as Moan ruled the thirteenth?

5. Day 8 = Chuen; Aztec Ozomatli, ape, then probably the constellation of Ursa Minor, and hence belonging to the god C. The figure is unquestionably his, and the first hieroglyph is surely his sign. The other three are the familiar _a_, _o_ and _r_.

6. Day 10 = Ben; Aztec Acatl, the fundamental significance of which is reed, rush, etc. The connection between this day and the god B pictured here must be left undecided. Of the hieroglyphs, the first points rather to the sun-god G, the second, with the numeral 7 as a prefix, is entirely destroyed, the third is the sign _u_, and the fourth, which is half obliterated, was _q_.

7. Day 12 = Men; Aztec Quauhtli, eagle. The figure to which the first hieroglyph with the numeral 11 belongs, is a form of the god F, but has the nose-ornament of the sun-god G. Hieroglyph 2, which we shall find again on 22c, may refer especially to the eagle; the third is the sign of the day Caban with a prefixed 3, and the fourth is the sign _o_.

8. Day 16 = Cauac; Aztec Quiahuitl. The meaning in the different languages points to rain, storm and summer, of which the tortoise and serpent are special symbols. I shall not venture to decide positively upon the deity pictured here; perhaps the object in his hand may be a tortoise; Seler, "Quetzalcouatl-Kukulcan" (1898), p. 403, calls him the young god. In the hieroglyphs we find the serpent sign Chicchan twice, just as in the first group on page 4; then follow _a_ and Kan-Imix.

9. Day 18 = Imix; Aztec Cipactli. In my treatise on the day-gods, I have referred to the variations in the significance of this day. The Mayas connected with it the idea of the female breast, of drink, and, in particular, of the intoxicating beverage pulque. The deity pictured here, which is certainly a female deity, has a kind of vessel in her hand, from which the serpent resting on her head appears to be drinking. Hieroglyphs 2 and 4 are wholly obliterated, and 1 partly; there is a lock of hair, the sign of femininity, before 1 and 3. It is to be noted further that 3 is the sign of the death-god and that the deity pictured here has the death-sign on its cheek. Can this possibly suggest deathlike intoxication?