Part 2

10. Day 20 = Akbal; Aztec Calli. The meaning is that of darkness, night, dark hole, then that of house as an artificial cave or as a place of shelter at night. The first picture on page 7, the black deity L with the beard fits admirably here. The black paint still visible proves that the first hieroglyph, which is almost effaced, was his sign, and the second may be a head more definitely identifying him. The third was the sign _q_, the fourth is an Ahau, perhaps intimating that Akbal belonged to the days beginning the Uinal sections of 20 days, and to the lords of the same. In addition to appearing with these 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th days, an Ahau is found with the 1st, 6th, 11th and 16th as regent of the year, and lastly, but especially, with the 17th, which bears the name Ahau, and with the god D belonging to it.

11. Day 2 = Chicchan; Aztec Cohuatl, serpent. With this would agree also the third and fourth hieroglyphs (the latter _r_), which are the two we found in the first representation on page 4 belonging to the deity holding the serpent. But what is the meaning here of the dog-head of the figure, and of the first two hieroglyphs corresponding to it? And what does this creature hold in its hand? The lightning? The hieroglyphs seem to correspond to the seventh day, as if the scribe had recognized his mistake and referred here to the present and not to the past year.

12. Day 6 = Muluc; Aztec Atl, water, cloud. With this corresponds the image of the storm deity K and his two hieroglyphs 1 and 2, the first of which occurs frequently, and the second is found on pages 20 b and 47, while 3 (Ahau) designates the day as regent of the year and 4 is the hieroglyph a. The curious sign 2 is also given on Cort. 32 b.

13. Day 8 = Chuen; Aztec Ozomatli, ape. There is no agreement at all here, but everything points to the day 3 lying 5 days back, the picture of the Cimi as well as the hieroglyphs, even the third with the Akbal sign and the uplifted arm (as on page 36a), also the fourth (_c_) which is generally thought to be the death-bird. It even seems here as if the scribe had had the preceding year in mind; possibly he did not want to repeat the fifth group.

14. Day 11 = Ix; Aztec Ocelotl, jaguar. Here there is an admirable correspondence between the figure and the first hieroglyph, which on page 26, top, also refers to the jaguar represented there; the other three hieroglyphs are _r_, Kan-Imix and _q_.

15. Day 13 = Cib; Aztec Cozcaquauhtli, vulture. The bird is actually pictured here and its sign is the first hieroglyph; the third is _q_, the second and fourth are obliterated.

16. Day 16 = Cauac; Aztec Quiahuitl, meaning, as in the eighth group, rain, storm, summer. The figure, the first on page 9, seems, however, to indicate the day Ahau, as does also the second hieroglyph, which is Ahau; the first and third are effaced and the fourth is _r_. Perhaps the scribe did not wish to repeat the eighth group.

17. Day 18 = Imix; Aztec Cipactli, as in the ninth group. Here the allusion to pulque is still plainer than it is there. The picture is that of a woman with bound eyes and uncertain position of the hands, and here too with the death-sign, and on her head a bee from whose honey the beverage was prepared. I shall not venture to explain the first two hieroglyphs; the second with uplifted arm appears again on page 8c. The third is Cimi and the fourth _q_.

18. Day 1 = Kan; Aztec Cuetzpalin, denoting maize with the Mayas. The representation consists of the maize deity with the Kan sign on her head, the first hieroglyph is hers, then follows Kan-Imix, which I am inclined to interpret as meaning a meal, next the sign _a_ and finally a head, which is uncommon and undetermined, with the leaf-shaped prefix as on pages 4c, 6c, 9c, 34b, 61a, 67b and 69a.

19. Day 3 = Cimi; Aztec Miquiztli, death. The first figure on page 10 is a deity with the head of the death-bird Moan and above the head is the death-sign. As has long been known, the first and third hieroglyphs unquestionably belong to this god, also the fourth with the Akbal sign agrees with it, and the second likewise recalls the Moan.

20. Day 5 = Lamat; Aztec Tochtli, meaning rabbit in the latter language. Neither the figure, which represents Cimi, death, nor the corresponding hieroglyphs, excepting the second one agree with this day. This second hieroglyph has both in front and above it the number 6. Two numbers added thus to the common Uinal sign usually designate the Uinal period plus days, as is so very common on the inscriptions, so that the sign appearing here would denote 6 × 20 + 6 = 126 days. The hieroglyph here, however, is _not_ the usual sign for 20 days. On the contrary, it has in the centre a straight line and on either side of it a parallel line ending in a little knob (or loop?). I propose to regard these lines as representing the ecliptic and the moon, which takes its course now to the north and now to the south of the ecliptic, and the sign as a whole as signifying the lunar month of 28 days. This is confirmed on pages 51, 55, 56 and 57. In that case this hieroglyph would denote 6 × 28 + 6 = 174 days.

Now bear in mind that in this passage the day X Lamat, which equals the Aztec Tochtli, is referred to.

In the year named after this day, and indeed on the 174th day of the same (1 Cipactli), in February 1502, the emperor Ahuitzotzin died; compare especially Brinton, "Essays of an Americanist" (1890), pp. 274-283.

Should this association in our manuscript of Cimi = death, X Tochtli and the numeral 174, be considered accidental? Or did the scribe, writing in the year after the event, actually record it in the year 1503 and, departing from his real subject, immortalize it in this place at the end of the greatest Tonalamatl? I will not refrain from expressing the conjecture I have long entertained, though I am quite prepared for differences of opinion.

Seler attempts to explain this series of 20 gods in another way; see his "Monumente von Copan und Quirigua" (1899), p. 729. (Cf. his collected papers p. 781.)

Pages 4b--5b.

It is my opinion that the Tonalamatl just now discussed connects with another, which is recorded directly below the beginning of the first, and which also differs from all the other ordinary Tonalamatls. It likewise divides the first 52 days into a large number of small parts (14) and has the following form, if we adopt Seler's correction in the last member:--

XII 4 III 4 VII 4 XI 3 I 4 V 3 VIII 4 XII 3 II 6 VIII 3 XI 4 II 4 VI 4 X 2 XII Ix Cimi Ezanab Ik Oc.

The two days Ik and Oc should be read Oc and Ik. There is only one picture here:--a scaly green monster with the head of the principal god D. There are six hieroglyphs on its body, the first is that of Eb and the second that of Cimi, the fourth is the sign c. The others I shall not venture to determine.

According to a conjecture expressed verbally by Dieseldorff, this figure may represent the god who continually recreates himself. We are reminded here of the two-headed serpent (Seler, "Tonalamatl der Aubinschen Sammlung," 1900, pp. 65-66). There are two rows of hieroglyphs above the monster, the upper contains 8 and the second 6, but the second hieroglyph in the upper row belongs in the lower. Thus there are 14 hieroglyphs corresponding to the subdivisions noted above.

The upper seven signs are all alike and are also identical with the one, which, in the great Tonalamatl, recorded above, begins the heading of all the 20 groups; this likewise points to a close connection between the two Tonalamatls.

The remaining 7 hieroglyphs should be considered as only 6, for it is improbable that C occurs twice in this series. They are the gods D, C, H, N, A and B, to which perhaps an E or F or G is to be mentally added in place of the second C. They are all principal gods with the exception of N (as always, according to Schellhas's nomenclature). This N, an old man, denotes, as it seems, the five Uayeyab days at the end of the year, as he does also on page 21c. This sign with the number 4 has already been seen on page 4a. If in 4b this sign signifies the last day of the year, then this Tonalamatl falls in the year XIII Kan. The sign 5 Zac also appears in the Tro-Cort., _e.g._, Cort. 29 c, Tro. 9*b and 28*b.

Now I shall proceed to examine all that has not yet been discussed to the end of page 12, taking up first the remainder of sections a and b and then all those of 4c-12c.

Pages 10a--12a.

XI 12 X 8 V 12 IV 8 XII 12 XI Lamat Ahau Eb Kan Cib.

The period of 52 days is thus divided into five sections of 12 and 8 days each, alternating regularly. A deity and four hieroglyphs belong to each of these sections, viz:--

1. D sitting, with his right hand pointing upward and his left downward; on his head is the Akbal sign as on page 15c. The hieroglyphs are destroyed with the exception of the third, which is the sign of D (Ahau). The fact that the 12 days happen to end with the day belonging to D (Ahau) is accidental.

2. R, a human figure with the head of the Moan (as on page 7c and 10a) and with the copal pouch around his neck. Of the hieroglyphs only the fourth, one of the common signs of Moan (_c_), is legible.

3. H, or, according to Seler, "the young god," as on 12b and 14b, with nose-peg and copal pouch. On his (her?) head sits a bird with an object, which I do not recognize, in its bill; compare page 12b. Of the hieroglyphs, the first is destroyed, the second is the unmistakable sign of H, the fourth is the common _a_, and the third I cannot as yet decipher.

4. A, with the usual design issuing from his mouth (the expiring breath of life?). Of the hieroglyphs, the first is a double Manik with prefixes, which probably denotes violent death; the other three are very common symbols of A.

5. E, holding a vessel containing plants (agave?) and with the cross _b_ on his head-ornament. The first hieroglyph is an unexplained compound design apparently referring to the Moan, an Imix and two prefixes, the second is the monogram of E, whom the third hieroglyph, Imix-Kan, designates as dispensing nourishment, and the fourth, Ahau, as a leading deity.

Page 12a.

The scribe evidently wishing to carry out his material in some conclusive form in the top, middle and bottom sections of page 12, found insufficient space in the top section. He, therefore, condensed two independent unconnected Tonalamatls, by arranging them in such a manner, that the period of 52 days was divided, for the sake of brevity, into only two parts, viz:--

VIII 27 (IX) 25 (VIII) Ahau Oc Eb Ik Kan Ix Cib Cimi Lamat Ezanab.

I have supplied the two numbers enclosed in parentheses; they are wanting in the Manuscript.

The hieroglyphs

1 2 5 3 4 6 7 8.

are sufficient for the two figures one expects to see here; but they are, in fact, intended for four figures--two for each of the two Tonalamatls. For the first of the two Tonalamatls we have only one figure, God K, who, however, from the dish held in his hand, probably containing honey (compare 10b), seems to stand here also in place of E. In agreement with this, Hieroglyph 2 and probably also 1 (_s_, which occurs again on page 13a, and also on page 10b) refers to K, while 3 clearly refers to E and 4 is the sign a. Hieroglyphs 5-8 belong to the second of the two Tonalamatls. The first two of these hieroglyphs, which are entirely erased, refer to an unknown deity, and the last two unquestionably relate to A.

Pages 5b--6b.

I 16 IV 9 XIII 25 XII 2 I Manik Cauac Chuen Akbal Men.

Four hieroglyphs belong to each of the four subdivisions:--

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

These four parts, however, form a whole, inasmuch as they all relate to making fire, as it is also represented in the Troano 6, 19 and 14*c. Hence the upper row of hieroglyphs contains signs which are repeated. 1, 5 and 9 are the same head, the last two cases have the sign for darkness (Akbal); this Akbal appears again in the parallel passages of the Tro. and in 13 it is somewhat enlarged simply owing to the absence of a head. The act of making fire seems to be denoted here rather by the second sign (2, 6, 10, 14), which I designate by _k_ and which, originally, doubtless consisted of two hands (double Manik sign); the prefix is the same in 6 and 14, and different in 2 and 10.

The eight lower hieroglyphs are merely the monograms of the four gods making the fire. The first deity is F, the second either A or one of the black deities L or M, the third D and the fourth apparently F again, but conceived as feminine. In the third picture there is a second object, apparently a head (of D?), below the piece of wood in which the fire-stick is being whirled. Hieroglyph 11 belonging to this deity has an Akbal as a prefix.

Pages 6b--7b.

X 13 X 13 X 13 X 13 X Kan Cib Lamat Ahau Eb.

This Tonalamatl is divided, by way of exception, into four equal parts, which all begin with the same week day X.

Here too, as in the preceding Tonalamatl, there are four subdivisions, and also 16 hieroglyphs arranged in the same way. And here too the upper line is a condensation of the whole, the same two signs being repeated four times. The first of these is _q_, which is still a problem and which occurs inverted also on Cort. 20d-21d (where there are figures with bird-heads); there too it is the characteristic hieroglyph. The second, however, is again the double Manik sign referring to activity of some kind, as in the preceding Tonalamatl. But the occupation of the four deities represented here is of very different kinds and altogether problematical. E, conceived as feminine, occupies the first place, with a Kan sign on her head and holding in her hand a vessel exactly like the one held by the figure just above on the same page. The third hieroglyph is hers and the fourth is the sign a.

The second figure is A with a hook-shaped object hanging around his neck. His hands also seem to be deformed, as are those of the third and fifth figures of the great Tonalamatl (on pages 4 and 5). His two hieroglyphs are among those usually belonging to him.

The third god is D sitting, by way of exception, on some object (stone?). Something resembling the pestle of an ordinary mortar is hanging down in front of his headdress, and he is holding a very similar object to his mouth. His two hieroglyphs are also those which usually refer to him.

The most striking figure is that of the fourth god, whom I do not recognize. He seems to be attracting to himself a bird flying down from above, whose bill almost touches his mouth. His hieroglyph has the sign Yax (strength) for a prefix and the fourth hieroglyph is c.

Page 8b.

VIII 26 VIII 26 VIII Manik Cauac Chuen Akbal Men.

Again we have a Tonalamatl divided into equal parts, this time, however, into but two, and it seems thus to be closely connected with the preceding.

While hitherto four hieroglyphs have usually belonged to each figure, we find here ten in all and in the following order:--

1 2 5 6 3 4 7 8 9 10.

There are two figures here, which stand in some relation to one another,--two persons sitting facing each other. The one at the left is certainly D, the one at the right can hardly be the old woman, whom Schellhas designates with O, but rather N, the old god of the Uayeyab days. The former seems to be about to take something from the hand of the latter. I surmise that it is one of the prophetic weaving implements. which we found on page 2. The two hieroglyphs _e_ and _h_ must refer to this; they are repeated, as usual, in the two groups, _e_ in places 2 and 8, and _h_ in 1 and 6.

Signs 3 and 4 refer unquestionably to D and hence 5 and 7 (the first _q_ with Ben-Ik, and the latter unknown) must be the designation of the person sitting on the right. We shall meet the latter sign again on pages 15b and 18a, with the same person, and on pages 27a and 39b with entirely different persons. Sign 7 is an object, which also appears on 15b and 18a, held in the hands of women and may denote some special sacrificial offering; on 9b Kan-Imix appears in place of this sign, and on 39b beside it. It should be noted that sign 7 stands here in exactly the same proximity to 1 and 6 as on page 27a.

The hieroglyphs 9 and 10 stand outside the two groups, and since, as we know, they belong to the god A, this prophecy must concern death, as is more clearly indicated by the corresponding hieroglyphs on page 9b.

Page 9b.

Here, for the first time in this manuscript, we have a Tonalamatl in which the 260 days are not divided into five fifths of 52 days each, but into four quarters of 65 days. This may be represented as follows, if we supply the III, which is wanting at the beginning:--

III 33 X 32 III Muluc Ix Cauac Kan.

In the first place, the close connection of this Tonalamatl with that recorded on page 8b, just now discussed, is striking, for

1. Here too we find a division into two equal parts is intended, but which, of course, as the number is 65, cannot be mathematically exact.

2. Here too we not only find 10 hieroglyphs, but we find them in the same order as on page 8b, and here too the sign _e_ stands in places 2 and 8, and _h_ in 1 and 6; again 3, 4 and 9 are exactly the same hieroglyphs here as there, so that only 5, 7 and 10 are different.

3. The picture is again that of two persons sitting facing each other. Here D sits on the right and facing him is the grain deity E. D is speaking to E as is indicated by the sign before his face and by the position of his right hand. The signs belonging to E are Hieroglyphs 5 and 7, while those of D are 3 and 4. It seems, therefore, that D is announcing to E the prophecy contained in the preceding Tonalamatl.

4. Two hieroglyphs, 9 and 10, are again added, both relating to death--9 to god A and 10 to F.

Now what especially distinguishes this passage from the preceding one, is the fact that the four days are the so-called regents of the year, Muluc, Ix, Cauac and Kan, above which, perhaps to emphasize this circumstance, there is a particularly elaborate Ahau. Seler ("Einiges mehr über die Monumente von Copan und Quiriguá," p. 210), however, thinks that this sign is the hieroglyph for the numeral three, which should stand here.

The fact that the tenth sign, which is the last, is 13 Moan in the preceding Tonalamatl, while here it is 11 F, will be of special significance in deciding the interpretation.

Page 10b.

The manuscript gives the following:--

XIII 22 III 22 Oc Ik Ix Cimi Ezanab.

This cannot be correct, for 22 + 22 is not 52, and from XIII to III is not 22 days, while the last Roman numeral is wanting. I, therefore, propose to make a 6 of the numeral 2, which occurs twice, by changing the lower dot into a line, and to change the III into a XIII by the addition of two lines. This gives the series the form XIII 26 XIII 26 XIII. Then by its division into three equal parts, this Tonalamatl accords with the three preceding ones, which it also resembles in other respects. For here too we find two persons pictured; this time, however, they do not face each other, but are placed one behind the other. The first is B, the god of life strictly speaking, the second is F, who is represented by his hieroglyph in the preceding Tonalamatl, and who is the god of the chase and probably of death by violence. Both hold offerings in their hands, which have been presented to them, and this also seems to be suggested by the two pendent copal pouches. The dish in B's hand probably contains honey, while F holds a plant (agave?)--the very same articles, which we find on page 12a in the hands of other gods. It looks as if the gods had been propitiated and as if this were the conclusion of a drama running through four Tonalamatls. Again the two death-hieroglyphs, which were added on pages 8 and 9, are wanting here, and we find only the usual eight signs:--

1 2 5 6 3 4 7 8.

Of these, 1, 2 and 5, 6 are the usual comprehensive heading; 1 and 5 are the Manik sign, which must denote the offering, while 2 and 6 are the characters, which perhaps, not incorrectly, has been thought to denote a repetition, a kind of plural; we have already seen it on pages 12a-13a. 3 is the monogram of B, yet it looks more like a fist with the thumb prominent--a figure I have frequently found in the inscriptions of Palenque. It must also refer to the sacrifice offered to B, which is confirmed by the _a_ added to it in 4 and probably denoting a good day. 7 is the hieroglyph of F to which the sign in 8 corresponds, while the prefixed arm in 8 seems to refer to the presentation of the sacrifice.

Pages 10b--11b.

VIII 8 III 9 XII 9 VIII 10 V 16 VIII Chuen Akbal Men Manik Cauac.

I have corrected the 15 in the manuscript by making it 16.

20 hieroglyphs correspond regularly to the five sections in the following order:--

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

This section seems to refer chiefly to the harvest. First the Muluc sign with suffix and affix, which is repeated in 1, 5, 9, 13 and 17 at regular intervals, suggests rain as a preliminary condition of the harvest. Next in 2 the hieroglyph of K, the wind-god, is added to this Muluc sign, and K is the patron of the day Muluc. Then the signs _a_ and _o_ follow in 3 and 4. There is no picture belonging to this group; it ought to be the god K. The second group adds to the Muluc in 6 the glyph of the sun, which is the second preliminary condition of the harvest. This is followed in 7 by the sign _u_ apparently denoting wind and cloud and having the prefix of the storm-god, and in 8 is the sign, which, strange to say, stands also in the last Tonalamatl in the eighth place. I am not very clear in regard to this sign. The sun-god G with copal pouch and a vessel containing grains of maize is appropriately represented with this group. With equal fitness the third group contains E, the harvest-god proper, with copal pouch and grains of maize, and, as usual, a Kan sign on his head, but also with a parrot, probably as an enemy of the harvest. Sign 10 is E's hieroglyph, to which, as is so often the case, sign 11 (Imix-Kan) is added and in 12 the double Manik (_i_). The last two groups are without figures of deities; the double Manik (14 and 18), possibly a repeated summons to sacrifice, is common to both groups. There seems here to be a further reference to the _enemies_ of the harvest, for 15 is the hieroglyph of the vulture, 16 that of the death-bird and 19 that of the night-god, after which this section closes with the quite universal sign a. If space had permitted, the vulture and the night-god would have been represented here.

Page 12b.

I 13 I 26 I 13 I Ix Cimi Ezanab Oc Ik.

This is again a regular arrangement, half of the 52 days being in the middle and a quarter each at the beginning and end.

The first four days refer to the purport of the prediction, Ix, the tiger, Cimi, death, Ezanab, the wounding lance point, and Oc, the lightning dog. The 12 hieroglyphs indicate the connection with the foregoing Tonalamatl, for 1, 5 and 9 contain the same Muluc sign which we found there in the same places.

The three figures, it seems to me, signify the approach of death, the wound occasioning death, and the arrival of death.