Part 8

3) 1,538,342 = IV Ik 15 Zac (12 Muluc). It also = 5916 × 260 + 182. The 182, however, the half of the ritual year of 364 days, is the interval between IV Ahau and IV Ik and between IV Ik and IV Kan. The fact that the interval is the same in each case is clearly the reason for the choice of the days IV Kan and IV Ik, which are otherwise not at all prominent.

It is remarkable that the third number is obtained by the addition of 51,419, _i.e._, of 197 × 260 + 199 (there are 199 days between XIII Akbal and IV Ik). But it was evidently desirable to obtain as large a number as this. On page 63 a number of nearly similar value is associated with it, viz:--1,535,004. It is set down almost in the middle between the 13th and 14th Ahau-Katuns, for it is 57,902 days greater than 1,480,440, and 55,978 days less than 1,594,320.

Now, however, the Manuscript presents in the last column but one of page 31 a number, 2,804,100, which occupies a very unique position, since it is nearly twice as great as all the other large numbers, with the exception of those in the serpents. It must refer to the year 9 Muluc, and to the date IV Ahau 13 Mol. It has many remarkable properties, for it is:--

1) = 10,785 × 260

2) = 17,975 × 156 (156 = IV Kan - IV Ahau).

3) = 35,950 × 78 (78 = IV Ik - IV Ahau and IV Kan - IV Ik).

4) = 719 × 3900. We have already met with this 3900 above. Now, however, the 2,804,100 by virtue of its magnitude creates the suspicion that it may be composed of two ordinary large numbers. It might be

5) 1,308,580 + 1,495,520, therefore 14,380 (91 + 104).

6) 1,380,600 + 1,423,500, therefore 3,900 (354 + 365).

That is to say, the important 3900 multiplied by the days of the lunar year and also by those of the solar year, hence the 719, referred to under 4, separates into these two parts. The lunar year of 354 = 6 × 29 + 6 × 30 days was not unknown to the Mayas. We shall find its half, 177 days, several times on pages 51-58.

We might also use the two important numbers 14,040 and 18,980, the first of which is divisible by 260 and 360, and the second by 260 and 365, without remainder.

Then we have the large number desired:--

7) 147 × 18,980 + 14,040.

8) 200 × 14,040 - 3900.

What future student will penetrate more deeply into the meaning and purpose of these numbers?

We might now expect to interpret also the upper right-hand corner of page 31, but here almost everything is in a deplorable state of obliteration. In the first three of the five columns over each of the three large numbers there was a date consisting of a numeral and a hieroglyph, but these admit of no certain nor even probable determination.

Four hieroglyphs still remain in the fourth column, respecting which compare my treatise "Zur Maya-Chronologie" in the Berliner Zeitschrift für Ethnologie XXIII, pp. 141-155.

In the top sign I recognize an Imix with a prefix and probably also a superfix. I think this denotes the period of 18,980 days.

I am forced to pass over the second entirely, inasmuch as a red 6 inserted in it remains a mystery (6 × 18,980 = 113,880?).

As I stated in the above-named work, I think the third is three times the sacred period of 2920, _i.e._, 8760 days.

Finally, the fourth sign certainly denotes the period of 7200 days.

Whether or not there was a fifth sign above the one now at the top is as uncertain as the meaning of the whole.

The most remarkable thing about it is that in three other passages of this Manuscript these three signs appear in close proximity to another. On page 61 we find the third in the 11th place in the second column, the first in the 12th place in the same column, and the fourth in the 14th place in the first column. Page 70 has the first sign in the middle of the 4th column; the second somewhat lower down in the 3d column and the 4th two places below. Finally all three signs appear in succession on the top of page 73 in the same order as on page 31.

The fifth column on page 31 may have contained another numeral belonging to the series, the loss of which is not so serious a matter, but there may have been one or two hieroglyphs above it, the obliteration of which is greatly to be deplored.

Pages 32a--39a.

This is a large section extending over eight pages, which is difficult of interpretation owing to the prevailing disorder and because a large part of the hieroglyphs are effaced. Here, too, the principal subject is the god B, who is represented in manifold activity. A series of numbers extends through the entire representation. I read them as follows:--

I 11 XII 28 I 12 XIII 26 XIII 12 XII 19 V 5 X 1 XI 20 V 12 IV 6 X 8 V 5 X 7 IV 12 III 5 VIII 8 III 11 I.

There are thus 18 divisions, the different lengths of which reveal no rule. They embrace 208 days, _i.e._, 2 × 104, which may well be considered as a continuation of the computation in the preceding section, of which the 104 was so important a number. The red numbers are entirely lacking in the beginning, then they are very slightly indicated, and finally they are distinctly written out on pages 36-39. I assume that the scribe has set down the 4th, 3d and 2nd numbers from the end, one too little. The last number has been entirely omitted. I have supplied these omissions though in a manner somewhat different from that adopted by Cyrus Thomas, "Aids," p. 28. I would note in addition that a period such as this, consisting of 208 days = 16 weeks, might be explained in an entirely different way, if there were a column of five days at the left having a difference of 8 days; then the whole would signify four Tonalamatls. But there is no such series of days.

Another point of view presents itself, however. If we take cognizance of the fact that a group of four hieroglyphs usually belongs to a picture, then it is evident that here there are such groups not for 18, but for about 22 subdivisions. It may, therefore, be assumed that about four subdivisions averaging 13 days are not specified, in which case this passage would extend not over 208, but over 260 days. The very irregularity in the arrangement of these numbers is an argument in favor of this hypothesis; it may be occasioned by the fact, that the pictures do not correspond exactly to the subdivisions. For the present, however, we shall discuss the single pictures assuming that there are 18 subdivisions.

1. Pages 32a-33a. Here at the very beginning it is uncertain whether the signs at the end of page 32 and at the beginning of page 33 are to be regarded as a single group of 8 hieroglyphs, as seems to follow from the numbers, or as two groups of 4 hieroglyphs each. At the end of page 32 we see two persons facing one another, one of whom, to be sure, is barely visible. The other wears a head-covering like a man's silk hat, similar to that worn by the priests on the inscriptions of Palenque. It is a remarkable fact that of the four hieroglyphs above these figures, 1, 2 and 4 (the last probably the god C) seem to have the sign for the west as a prefix, while the prefix of 3 (Imix) suggests the usual representation of the tortoise head. Below the persons there is a Kan sign, the prefix of which is also the sign for the west.

On page 33, B is represented walking and carrying the Caban sign in his hand. The first of the four hieroglyphs is the sign for B, the second is Imix, probably again with the sign for the west as a prefix, the third is an Akbal sign with Kin, and the fourth is the cross-hatched sign with Kan.

2. The rest of 33a is occupied by two persons, one of whom is clad in a gala mantle, but neither admit of further identification. They are occupied in fishing, inasmuch as they are sitting on the shore of a body of water and are either casting a net or drawing it in. There is a fish between them and above it is a vessel with something apparently cooking in it. Of the 8 hieroglyphs belonging to this picture, only the following are distinguishable:--the 1st containing an Akbal, the 3d, which is the common cross _b_ with a 9, the 4th, an Imix also with 9, and of the 7th only the prefix Yax. The 3d and 4th appear again on page 35a, 28 days later.

3. Page 34, like page 3, represents a human sacrifice. The victim, very vaguely drawn, lies on a step-shaped sacrificial stone, or on the pyramid of a teocalli. There is a Caban (earth) sign between the sacrifice and the pyramid, and also on the walls of the buildings; the shrieking of the victim is plainly indicated. As on page 3, there are four persons in the form of gods surrounding the sacrifice, but here they are different ones. The one at the left above is the black god (L?), holding the rattle-stick (Seler, "Mittelamer. Musikinstrumente," p. 111), and at the right, above, F, the companion of the death-god, is sitting with a rattle in his hand. Below, the two have changed places, F is on the left and L on the right. The former is beating the drum and the latter blowing a wind-instrument. The sounds emitted by the two instruments are represented by drawings. This may, therefore, be regarded as an instrumental quartette. The following objects are also in this picture:--at the left above is a vessel the contents of which are cooking; at the left below, another vessel with three Kan signs, and at the right above, a Kan sign with a bird's head and below the food known to us from pages 27b and 29b. These four objects refer to the sacrificial feast. Lastly, at the bottom on the right there is a ladder, probably intended for scaling the pyramid. Ten hieroglyphs in the upper line belong to this picture:--the first, which is effaced, is followed by a Cauac, then comes the cross _b_, then a Cimi appropriate to the sacrifice, and lastly a head with an Akbal eye, probably D's. The first sign in the lower row is likewise destroyed, the second sign is a Kan, the next is the cross _b_, both having a different prefix, then here too is the hieroglyph of B with Yax as a prefix, and the last is an unknown sign.

4 and 5. Page 35a. According to the numbers there are two sections here, but neither the pictures nor the hieroglyphs can with certainty be assigned to either. On the left is a house in which C sits holding a Kan sign in his hand; on the roof, as if guarding him, and also holding a Kan sign, lies the god B. In the Cort. 24b-25b, there are six gods lying on houses, within which other gods are also represented in a recumbent position. Then follow two vessels, again denoting the sacrificial feast, the contents of which are probably cooking, and which, from the sign on the second, are probably liquid. Above these are three others, one with the Cimi sign (human flesh?), one with a bird and the third with the haunch of venison. At the right of these is an implement, which is unfamiliar to me and is similar to that held in the god's hand on pages 5c and 6c. And quite on the right sits B with foot-prints pictured below him and on his clothing.

The hieroglyphs on page 35, when they were all legible, numbered 14 and were arranged in two rows. 4 of the upper row are preserved, the lower part of the first is a year-sign (?), similar to that which often appears on pages 25-28, the upper element is the cross, and the prefix is the one resembling a leaf, which occurs so frequently. The second sign is an Imix with a prefixed 9, the third a cross and the fourth a head (probably D's) with Akbal. In the second row there is a cross with a prefixed 9 (sign of the second or third month?). These two signs with the prefixed 9 are perhaps to be read as a calendar date IX Imix 9 Zip (1 Ix), as on page 33a. Ix, however, belongs to the west, which is the predominant cardinal point from 32a onward. The second sign is a compound of Kin and Akbal (day and night) which often occurs here, the third is the compound of the Moan and Caban signs with the number 1 above each, and the fourth is the hieroglyph of B. The fifth sign is unfamiliar to me. The sixth contains an Imix with the sign for the west as a prefix, and the seventh is effaced.

At this point the representations begin to display a more orderly arrangement.

6. Page 36a. Here the head of B forms the head of a serpent (cf. pages 61 and 62) represented in pouring rain, while on page 35b it is emerging from the water. Of the four hieroglyphs 1 and 2 are entirely and 3 for the most part destroyed, and 4 is the usual Kan-Imix.

7. The lightning-beast with flames pouring forth from his forepaws and tail, is plunging down from the rectangle, which primarily designates stars and then the sky in general. This rectangle occurs for the first time here, but will often be met with later. Here it may be a combination of Mars and Venus. Of the four hieroglyphs, 1 is effaced, 2 is a compound of Kan and Kin, 3 a head with Akbal and Kin (D?) with the uplifted arm as a prefix, and 4, corresponding with the picture, is the compound of the rain sign Cauac with the prefix of the storm-god K.

8. Here B himself is the bringer of lightning. In one hand he holds a burning torch and flames are bursting from his carrying-frame. The third hieroglyph is his sign. It is doubtful whether the fourth is the hatchet (machete) or is not rather intended for an ear pierced for the purpose of ritual blood-letting, as on pages 44b and 45b; the first and second signs are rather indistinct.

9. Page 37a. Unless I am entirely mistaken, B is here represented with his arms bound behind his back. Cf. the pictures on page 2, top, and 60, bottom. Are the ends of the rope fluttering in front of the god intended to render this still more plain? Hieroglyph 1 contains the sign _t_, which resembles, but is not the same as, the year sign. This sign has already occurred frequently, especially on pages 25a-28a, and the last time on page 35 in the first hieroglyph. As on page 35, hieroglyph 4 is the compound Kin-Cauac, but here it is joined to the year-sign, _i.e._, it denotes the Kin-Cauac year, just as it does on page 26a. 3 is again Cauac and 2 is the hieroglyph for B.

10. Rain is falling from the heavenly shield, already seen on page 36, here however designating different planets (Mars and Mercury?) and the figure represented in the rain is the one which we have already seen on pages 12c, 17a and 21c. It is that of the old Uayeyab god N with a hatchet in one hand and an unfamiliar object in the other like the one on page 39a, and with another unknown object on his back shaped like a shield marked with a Kin. That this figure is really meant to represent N follows from the fourth hieroglyph (which, however, is not his regular sign 5 Zac), which is repeated on the head of the figure. The lower part of the hieroglyph is replaced by the year-sign just as it is in the hieroglyph on page 47, left, middle. The third hieroglyph contains 2 Caban signs, the first and second cannot be clearly identified.

11. This is a deity which I hardly think appears elsewhere. It has an animal's head resembling that of a bear, thus recalling page 7a, and it also has the paws of a bear. Of the hieroglyphs only a Kin-Akbal is recognizable.

12. Page 38a. Here we have another heavenly shield (Mars and Venus?) and under this shield B is represented seated and strangely enough facing himself, the figures not being back to back as on page 68a. Hieroglyphs 1 to 3 are wholly and 4, which is a head, is for the most part destroyed.

13. B is here represented in very close connection with a female figure. Cf. pages 21c-23c. The representation on page 68b is a still closer parallel to this passage. The first hieroglyph is destroyed for the most part, the second is B, the third is probably only a determinative of the latter, but has the sign for the west, and the fourth is Kan-Imix.

14. B holding a Kan sign is sitting on an object, which may be meant for the stone on which the idols were set up at the change of the year. Of the hieroglyphs the third is again B, and the fourth is probably the frequent sign a. The first sign is the most remarkable. In the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Vol. XXIII, p. 147, I stated that this was the sign for the change of the year, which is its meaning on pages 41b, 52b and 68a. The Kan year follows here after the Cauac year of page 37. The prefix of the sign is the hieroglyph for the east to which the Kan years belong. The Kan sign in B's hand also corresponds to this. The second hieroglyph is destroyed.

15. Page 39. The picture represents the lightning-beast with two flaming torches walking under the heavenly shield (Mercury and Jupiter?). Of the hieroglyphs the third belongs to B, the fourth has as a prefix the sign of the storm-god K, but otherwise admits as little of determination as do the first and second.

16. Here we see B in the rain holding in one hand a machete, and in the other a strange implement similar to that on page 37a. Of the hieroglyphs the second was the god's sign, the third is _a_, and the fourth may be an Akbal sign with Kin. The first sign somewhat suggests the sign for the Moan; its prefix is curious.

17. Here in place of the picture and the superscription, owing perhaps to lack of space and in order not to omit the last picture, we have a vertical row of seven hieroglyphs interrupted between the sixth and seventh by the red and black numeral belonging here. The top sign is effaced and the second is B's. I will not venture to determine the third, which contains a Yax. Could it belong to the serpent deity H? The fourth is probably Kan-Imix and the fifth is indistinct. And the same is true of the sixth, the prefix of which we have already met with as the sixteenth hieroglyph on page 24, and shall meet with again on pages 53, 56, 58, 61, etc. The seventh sign, which is quite at the bottom, consists of a vessel with a foot-print beneath it; it seems to be in the place of the picture.

18. The entire section ends with a picture of B, who carries the hatchet and probably the copal pouch. The hieroglyphs are wholly obliterated.

Pages 40a--41a.

The following Tonalamatl, one of the form of 10 × 26, has suffered much from the carelessness of the scribe and from injury. I have attempted to restore it as follows:--

X X 7 IV 4 VIII 4 XII 2 I 1 II 8 X Ahau Oc Cimi Cib Eb Ik Ezanab Lamat Kan Ix.

The first row should be read from top to bottom, and then the second in the same order.

The six subdivisions all refer to some activity of B. Among the 6 × 4 hieroglyphs his sign occurs five times as the fourth and only in the last group as the third. Let us now examine the six groups individually.

1. B is traversing the water in a canoe, as on pages 29c and 40c, with the paddle in his hand. All the hieroglyphs belonging to him are obliterated.

2. B is sitting on the laterally elongated head _q_, which here, as on page 69, is enlarged and drawn with special care. Seler ("Charakter der aztekischen, etc. Handschrift" in the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 1888, p. 83) discusses this sign in connection with the day Men. It seems to me to denote unlucky days, the influence of which may here be checked by B. B holds in his hand a hatchet. The head (_q_) is repeated in the third sign, perhaps also in the second, and the superfix of these two signs is probably the same as that of the sign beneath the picture of B. The first sign is mostly destroyed.

3. As on pages 30a and 31c, and again just as on page 69a, B is sitting on the tree of life or sacrificial tree. A branch of this, which he grasps in one hand, ends in a serpent-head, and the root of the tree also represents B's head. Around the god's head are again the familiar dots, probably signifying stars. Of the hieroglyphs, the first is probably _f_, the second is destroyed, the third may be a variant of _a_, although it recalls the sign which, I believe, has the meaning of 73 days on pages 46-50; the prefix of 1 also suggests this meaning.

4. B's head is again surrounded by stars and he holds in one hand the outline of a hieroglyph. He is sitting on a peculiar ornamented structure resembling the crenelations of a wall. This wall displays the spiral which we found also on pages 33b-35b, and which in the treatise, "Zur Maya-Chronologie" (Zeitschrift für Ethnologie XXIII, p. 147), I regarded as an abbreviation for a serpent and hence as a symbol of time. It is further to be noted that B is wet with rain and with this the third hieroglyph is in keeping, if it is actually intended to denote the rainy season and not the week of 13 days ("Zur Entzifferung" V, 6); still the red numeral 13 below is more in keeping with the second meaning. The second sign is an Ahau with the leaf-shaped prefix, which also appears in the first sign of the third group. The first is effaced.

5. B, represented with a gala mantle hanging down in front and with the copal pouch, is sitting on a head, which looks like his own, especially as to the eyes, but which notwithstanding probably belongs to D and is marked with Ik (wind) and Cauac (cumulus clouds). Of the hieroglyphs the first and second do not admit of positive identification, and the third is Kan-Imix.

6. The god is sitting on a mat in a house. All the hieroglyphs except his own are obliterated.

Pages 42a--44a.

Another Tonalamatl of the form of 10 × 26; I have restored the effaced day-signs as follows:--

XIII XIII 3 III 2 V 2 VII 6 XIII 2 II 2 IV 2 VI 7 XIII Oc Cib Ik Lamat Ix Ahau Cimi Eb Ezanab Kan.

Thus the month days are the same as in the preceding Tonalamatl, but should be read in a different order:--Oc, Cib, Ik, Lamat, etc.

Here each of the 8 subdivisions has 6 hieroglyphs, and the order is as follows:--

1 2 3 4 5 6.

A few of these signs are common to all the groups. Thus the first sign (_v_), as far as what remains is distinguishable, seems to occur in all the groups. It has the leaf-shaped prefix, but I cannot understand the rest of it; we shall find it again several times on pages 29c-41c.

Again the sign in the sixth place, as far as we can see, is always the head without an underjaw and the tuft of hair tied up on top of it (O, according to Schellhas), which we found above on page 25 and which we shall meet again on pages 65-69 no less than 13 times, with regular intervals of 6 signs between them. Indeed that passage is a remarkable parallel to this one.

That the sign for B, who here too plays the most important part, occurs often, is self-evident. It appears in the fourth place, in the 1st, 3d, 4th, and 7th groups, and in the third of the 8th group; in the 6th group it is destroyed. In the 2nd and 5th groups B has neither picture nor sign.

The hieroglyphs of the cardinal points I shall mention in connection with the separate groups. They are especially conspicuous in this section, being sometimes represented in full and sometimes in an abbreviated form as mere prefixes.

1. B with arms crossed sits above a serpent denoting time, and holding in its coils the cross _b_, which so often refers to astronomical conditions. Above the head of the serpent is the vessel with the three Kan signs, which we have already found several times on pages 25-28. It is remarkable that the flourish, which usually appears as the nose-ornament of the sun-god G (_e.g._, pages 11b and c), is added to these Kan signs. As the stars are again indicated on B's head, he plainly denotes a time-god here. The third hieroglyph, the sign of the east, corresponds with this meaning, and the Kan sign, which we see in the fifth hieroglyph probably combined with Ahau, also belongs to the east; the prefix of the fourth hieroglyph is the sign for the west.