Class _?-\-m^l Book SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/mexicancentralamOObowd SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY: W. H. HOLMES, CHIEF BULLETIN 28 MEXICAN AND CENTRAL AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, CALENDAR SYSTEMS, AND HISTORY TWENTY-FOUR PAPERS BY EDUAI^D SELER, E. FOR STEM AIsTTsT PATJE SCHEELHAS CARE SARRER axicl E. R. RIESELEORFF TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF CHARLES R. BOVv^DITCH WASHINGTON OVERNMENT PRINTING OFFI 1904 ■■ :% f C 470013 3 W' CONTENTS Page The Mexican chronology, with special reference to the Zapotec calendar, by / Eduard Seler 11 Ancient Mexican feather ornaments, by Eduard Seler 57 Antiquities of Guatemala, by Eduard Seler - . 75 Alexander A'on Humboldt's picture manuscripts in the Royal Library at Berlin, by Eduard Seler 123 The bat god of the Maya race, by Eduard Seler 231 The wall paintings of Mitla, by Eduard Seler 243 The significance of the Maya calendar for historic chronology, by Eduard Seler. 325 The temple pyramid of Tepoztlan, by Eduard Seler 339 The Venus period in the Borgian codex group, by Eduard Seler 353 - Aids to the deciphering of the Maya manuscripts, by E. Forstemann 393 Maya chronology, by E. Forstemann _ 473 Time periods of the Mayas, by E. Forstemann 491 Maya hieroglyphs, by E. Forstemann • 499 The Central American calendar, by E. Forstemann 515 The Pleiades, by E. Forstemann 521 The Central American tonalamatl, by E. Forstemann 525 Recent Maya investigations, by E. Forstemann 535 The inscription on the Cross of Palenque, by E. Forstemann 545 - The day gods of the Mayas, by E. Forstemann 557 From the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque, by E. Forstemann 573 Three inscriptions of Palenque, by E. Forstemann 581 Comparative studies in the field of Maya antiquities, by Paul Schellhas 591 The independent states of Yucatan, by Carl Sapper 623 Two vases from Chama, by E. P. Dieseldorff, Eduard Seler, and E. Fdrstemann . 635 3 Si. c ILLUSTRATIONS Page Plate I. Map of Yucatan 17 II. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment I, part 1 129 III. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment I, part 2 135 IV. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment I, part 3.1 139 V. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment I, part 4 148 VI. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment I, part 5 .■ 1 52 VII. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment II 154 VIII. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment III 176 IX. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment IV 185 X. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment V 188 XI. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment VI 190 XII. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment VII .V 196 XIII. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment VIII 200 XIV. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment IX. 208 XV. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment X 210 XVI. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment XI 212 XVII. Mexican painting — HumbokU fragment XII 214 XVIII. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment XIII 216 XIX. Mexican painting— Humboldt fragment XIV 218 XX. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment XV 221 XXI. Mexican painting — Humboldt fragment XVI 227 XXII. Plan of Mitla ruins, Oaxaca 251 XXIII. Ground plan of Palace I, Mitla 253 XXIV. Sketch of the facades on the north and south sides of the adjoin- ing court, Palace I, Mitla 256 . XXV. One view of Palace II, Mitla 258 XXVI. A second view of Palace II, Mitla 262 XX VII. Front of Palace II, Mitla 264 XXVIII. Hall of Columns, Palace II, Mitla 267 XXIX. Interior court of Palace II, Mitla 269 XXX. Interior of a room of Palace II, Mitla 1 273 XXXI. Relief designs from the walls at Mitla 276 XXXII. Relief designs from the walls at Mitla 295 XXXIII. Pottery from a tomb at Zaachilla 297 XXXIV. Pottery from a tomb at Zaachilla 301 XXX V. Pottery fragments from Zaachilla and Cuilapa 303 XXXVI. Pottery fragments from Zaachilla and Cuilapa 305 XXXVII. Wall paintings at Mitla 313 XXX VIII. Wall paintings at Mitla 318 XXXIX. Wall paintings at Mitla 322 XL. Plan of the temple Pyramid of Tepoxtlan 345 XLI. The Tablet of the Cross, Palenque 547 5 6 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Page Plate XLII. Painted clay image of the god Macuil Xochitl 549 XLIlIr Inscription on tlie Tablet of the Cross, Palenque 551 XLIV. Glyi^hs from the Temple of Inscriptions 554 XLV. Dress as shown in sculptured figures, Yucatan 604 XL VI. Headdresses from the codices and monuments 618 XLVII. Mexican and Maya household utensils 622 XLVIII. Design on a vase from Chama 639 XLIX. Design on a yase from Chama 665 Fig. 1. Symbols of the cardinal points, colors, etc 28 2. Mexican calendar wheel from Dun'in 29 3. Symbols from the Maya codices 34 4. Day signs and related glyphs, from the codices 39 5. Day signs and related glyphs, from the Maya codices 51 6. Copy of figure in Cozcatzin codex 60 7. Mexican warrior's dress and shield 62 8. Disks from Mexican codices 63 9. Mexican shields 65 10. Mexican drums ( ueuetl ) 67 11. Mexican figures showing human heads in eagle's mouth 70 12. Mexican feather ornaments 72 13. Bowls from Guatemala 84 14. Pottery vessels from Guatemala 85 15. Pottery vessels and other articles from a Guatemalan mound 86 16. Pottery vessels in the form of animals' heads, (^uatemala 89 17. Pottery fragments from Guatemala , 93 18. Pottery fragments from Guatemala 96 19. Face-form vessels from Guatemala 98 20. Pottery ornaments from Guatemala 100 21. Pottery figures from Guatemala 102 22. Pottery vessels from Guatemala 104 23. Animal-shaped vessel from Guatema,la 106 24. Ornamented bowls from Guatemala 108 25. Pottery vessels from Guatemala . .. . 109 26. Symbolic figures from Guatemalan pottery Ill 27. Glyphs from Guatemalan pottery vessels 113 28. Figures from Guatemalan pottery vessels 114 29. Adjunct glyphs from Maya codices 120 30. Headdresses and flags from Mexican codices 130 31. Variatioiis of the Mexican seventh day symbol 133 32. Symbols of gold plates and bowls of gold dust from Mexican codices. . 144 33. Figures of priests, from Mendoza codex and Sahagun manuscript 147 34. Symbols of cloth and precious stones 149 35. Symbols of personal and place names in Mexican codices 151 36. Symbols of place and personal names, Mexican codices 153 37. Mexican symbols of persons and places 159 38. Symbols of names 169 39. Symbols from Mexican codices 172 40. Symbols and figures from Mexican co(iiees 179 41. Mexican glyphs from list of names 184 42. Figure from Mexican manuscript, fragment I \' 186 43. Mexican name glyphs 187 44. Mexican symbols of various objects 197 45. Mexican glyphs denoting various objects 202 ILLUSTRATIONS 7 Page Fig. 46. Mexican symbols for various articles 208 47. Official signatures 215 48. Symbols for certain persons and for numbers 218 49. Mexican figures of the bat god 236 50. Maya hiei'oglyphs of the bat god ^ 237 51. Maya hieroglyphs of the bat god 238 52. Maya hieroglyphs of the bat god 239 53. Maya hieroglyphs of the bat god 240 54. Symbols of official titles froui Mendoza codex 259 55. Symbols of years and persons, from the Codex Telleriano-Remensis. . 262 56. Battle scene from Mexican painting, Aubin-Goupil collection 263 57. Mexican symbols of years and pueblos 264 58. The five rain gods, from Borgian codex 268 59. The twenty day signs, from Borgian codex 271 60. Drawing blood from the ears, and implements of castigation from Mexican codices - - 282 61. Self-punishment and symbols of two kings from Mexican codices 283 62. Deity of the morning star, Mexican codex 287 63. Figures of the deity of the morning star, Mexican codices 287 64. Tepeyollotl and Tlacolteotl, Mexican deities, Borgian codex 291 65. Tlaelquani, Mexican goddess, Borgian codex 291 66. Tepeyollotl, Mexican deity, Borgian codex 292 67. Mexican symbols and figures of deities, from Mendoza codex and Sahagun manuscript 295 68. Gods Maciulxochitl and Ixtlilton, Mexican codices 297 ' 69. Relief fragments from Teotitlan del Valle, Zapotec 298 70. Relief fragments from Teotitlan del Valle, Zapotec 299 71. Mexican deities, from Vienna codex 303 72. Symbols and figure of deities, from Mexican codices 307 73. Supposed descent of Quetzalcouatl and house symbols, Vienna codex. 309 74. Venus symbol and figures of mountains and house, from Maya and Mexican codices -. 310 75. Temple and sun symbol, Borgian codex 310 76. Mexican deity, Vienna codex 311 77. Sculptured slab, Santa Lucia Cosamalhuapa, Guatemala 312 78. Symbols and figures of Quetzalcouatl, from Mexican codices 315 79. Mexican deities, after Dunin and Sahagun 319 80. Procession and sacrifice, from Sahagun manuscript and Borgian codex . . 320 81. Sacrifice and tribute bearer, from Mexican codices 321 82. The sun god, Borgian codex 323 83. Symbols of pueblos, from Mexican codices 342 84. Temple pyramid of Tepoztlan, Valley of Cuernavaca 345 85. View of interior of Tepoztlan, after Sevilla 346 86. Glyphs of Mexican kings 347 87. Tepoztecatl, the pulque god, from Mexican painting in Biblioteca Nazionale, Florence 349 88. Stone idol, from Tepoztlan 350 89. Stone figure, from the Uhde collection 350 90. Stone figure of pulque god, Trocadero Museum 351 91. " Juego de pelota", from Tepoztlan 352 92. Mexican figures of the sun, moon, certain stars, and constellations... 356 93. God of the morning star and fire god, Mexican 360 94. Figures of the fire god and other deities, from the Mexican codices.. 363 BUREAU 01^ AMERICAN ETHNOLOGy [bull. 28 Fig. 95. Figures of supposed deities, Mexican codices 368 96. Mexican deities and Maya hieroglyphs 369 97. Deity figures from the Mexican codices 372 98. Figures and glyphs of Ah-bolon tzacab, Maya codices 377 99. Figures and symbols of Maya and Mexican deities 378 100. Symbolic figures, from the Maya and Mexican codices 381 101. Glyphs and deity figures, from the Maya codices 383 102. Glyphs and deity figures, from the Maya codices 388 103. Glyphs of the month Kayab, and turtle figures, from Maya codices and inscriptions ^ _ _ 424 104. Glyphs and figures, from the Maya codices 425 105. Glyphs of animals and month Mol, from Maya codices 428 107. Glyphs from the Maya codices 441 108. Glyphs from the Dresden codex 448 109. Glyphs from the Dresden codex 469 110. Glyphs from the Dresden codex 503 111. Glyphs from the Dresden codex 505 112. Day signs from the Maya codices 5I8 113. Glyphs from the Palenque inscriptions 585 114. Glyphs from the Dresden codex 598 115. Glyphs from the Dresden codex 599 116. Figures showing tattooing and facial decoration 600 117. Representations of sandals, from Dresden codex and inscriptions ... 603 118. Representation of sandals and leg ornaments 604 119. Leg and wrist ornaments 605 120. Dress of the lower part of the body of females 606 121. Dress of the lower body, from codices and sculptures 608 122. Dress of females, from Dresden codex and monuments 609 123. Mantles from Maya codices 610 124. Figures showing dress, feather work, and necklaces 612 125. Necklaces, ear ornaments, and so-called elephant trunk 614 126. Ear ornaments and collars 616 127. Ear ornament and symbol 616 128. Headdresses from Maya codices and monuments 618 129. A weaver's shuttle, from Yucatan 621 130. Glyphs from Maya codices and inscriptions 644 131. Figures of warriors, from the Mendoza codex 653 132. Messengers and traders attacked, from Mendoza codex 653 133. Travelers and whip, from Columbino codex and Chama vase 654 134. Figures from codices showing beards, and glyphs from vase 659 INTRODUCTION For a number of j^ears English-speaking- students of aboriginal American historj^ have given much attention to the archeology and especiall.y to the glyphic writing of the semicivilized peoples of middle America. Researches relating to the latter subject are of exceptional importance, not only because of their bearing on native history, but on account of their application to the problems of the origin and development of writing in general. Investigations regard- ing the American glyphic system have been greatly stimulated in recent years by kindred researches in various parts of the world, and more especially by the remarkable results achieved by Egyptologists, who, through the discovery of the Rosetta stone, have been aMe to present to the world historic treasures of the greatest value. Although there is no prospect that an American " Rosetta stone" will be found, since only one well-advanced system of writing had developed in the New World, the present investigations along this line are well worth the attention of the American Government. Among the scholars engaged in the studv of the native American writing is Mr Charles P. Bowditch, of Boston, who is earnestly seek- ing to promote researches in this direction. He found that American students who essayed to enter this field svere greatly embarrassed by the fact that much of the literature bearing on the" subject was pub- lished in foreign languages, and often in forms that placed it beyond their reach. Access to this literature is essential to the success of English-speaking- students of the glyphs, and Mr Bowditch resolved to undertake the translation and publication of a number of the more important papers. He advised with Major Powell with respect to pub- lication, and it was arranged that the translations, when completed, should be brought out by the Bureau of American Ethnology. The manuscript translations were furnished in 1900, but were not edited or finally presented for publication until 1903. They are now' issued in the present bulletin, without modification, save that the illustrations are somewhat differently assembled. It is considered advisable to present the papers as nearly in their original form as translations per- mit, in order to faithfully record the state of the researches at the period of their original publication. 10 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 The translations were made, under the direction and at the expense of Mr Bowditch, by Miss Selma Wesselhoeft, with the assistance of Miss A. M. Parker. Supervision of the publication was entrusted to Dr Cyrus Thomas, of the Bureau, whose familiarity with the arche- olo^}^ and especially with the glj^phic writing of middle America has been of much value in the revision of the proofs. Dr Eduard Seler, author of a number of papers herein republished, was engaged in exploration in Central America and Mexico while his memoirs were being put in t3q3e, hence it was not possible to submit the proofs to him at the time. Having returned recently to Berlin, however, Doctor Seler, has prepared brief notes and ha^ made necessary corrections and important additions. These appear at the close of the volume. In 1886 the Director of the Bureau was authorized to begin the publication of a series of bulletins in octavo form and in paper covers, designed for the expeditious printing of minor papers relating to American ethnology. Between 1886 and 1900 twenty-four bulletins appeared, and in 1900 provision was made for the publication of suc- ceeding numbers in large octavo form, and uniform in binding with the annual reports. Nos. 25, 26, and 27 were issued in this style. In 1903, in the interest of economy, Congress authorized the return to the octavo form, in which the present number is issued. THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ZAPOTEC CALENDAR BY EDUARD SELER. 11 THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ZAPOTEC CALENDAR « By Eduard Seler The peculiarities of the system of chronology in use among the various civilized nations of ancient Mexico and as far as Nicaragua are well known. We know that it was based on a period of 20 days, which were known by the names of various tangible objects, half of thfem the names of animals, and which were hieroglyphically designated hj pic- tures of these animals or objects. Twenty signs were taken on account of the vigesimal system of numeration, which all these races usM. The calculation of the days, however, at least in the prevailing chronology, was not carried on according to this vigesimal system, but the numerals 1 to 13 were combined with these twentj^ signs, so that each of the suc- cessive days was distinguished by a sign and a numeral in su(;h a way that when the numeral 1, combined with the lirst sign, served to desig- nate the tirst day, the fourteenth day took the fourteenth sign, but with the n umeral 1 again. Th us, a period of 13 X 20, or 260, days was obtained as a higher chronologic unit. For only after the lapse of this period of time did a day again obtain the same numeral and the same sign. In the following table (Table I) the twenty signs are designated by Roman, the thirteen numerals by Arabic, numerals. Table I (first half) 1 I 8 I 2 I 9 I 3 I 10 I 4 I 2 II 9 II 3 II 10 II 4 II 11 II 5 II 3 III 10 III 4 III 11 III 5 III 12 III 6 III 4 IV 11 IV 6 IV 12 IV 6 IV 13 IV 7 V 5 V 12 V 6 V 13 V 7 V 1 V 8 V 6 VI 13 VI 7 VI 1 VI 8 VI 2 VI 9 • VI 7 VII 1 VII 8 VII 2 VII 9 VII 3 VII 10 VII 8 VIII 2 VIII 9 VIII 3 VIII 10 VIII 4 VHI 11 VIII 9 IX 3 IX 10 IX 4 IX 11 IX 5 IX 12 IX 10 X 4 X 11 X 5 X 12 X 6 X 13 X 11 XI 5 XI 12 XI 6 XI 13 XI 7 XI 1 XI 12 XII 6 XII 13 XII 7 XII 1 XII 8 XII 2 XII 13 XIII 7 XIII 1 XIII 8 XIII 2 XIII 9 XIII 3 XIII 1 XIV 8 XIV '2 XIV 9 XIV 3 XIV id XIV 4 XIV 2 XV 9 XV 3 XV 10 ■ XV 4 XV 11 XV 5 XV 3 XVI 10 XVI 4 XVI 11 XVI 5 XVI 12 XVI 6 XVI 4 XVII 11 XVII 5 XVII 12 XVII 6 XVII 13 XVII 7 XVII 5 XVIII 12 XVIII 6 XVIII 13 XVIII 7 XVIII 1 XVIII 8 XVIII 6 XIX 13 XIX 7 XIX 1 XIX 8 XIX 2 XIX 9 XIX 7 XX 1 XX 8 XX - XX 9 XX 3 XX 10 XX aZeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, Berlin, 1891. 13 14 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY Table I (second half) [bull. 28 11 I 5 I 12 I 6 I 13 I 7 I 1 I 12 II 6 II 13 II 7 II 1 II 8 II And so on. 13 III 7 III 1 III 8 III 2 III 9 III 1 IV 8 IV 2 IV 9 IV 3 IV 10 IV 2 V 9 V 3 V 10 V 4 V 11 V 3 VI 10 VI 4 VI 11 VI 5 VI 12 VI 4 VII 11 VII 5 VII 12 VII 6 VII 13 VII 5 VIII 12 VIII 6 VIII 13 VIII 7 VIII 1 VIII 6 IX 13 IX 7 IX 1 IX 8 IX 2 IX 7 X 1 X 8 X 2 X 9 X 3 X 8 XI 2 XI 9 XI 3 XI 10 XI 4 XI 9 XII 3 XII 10 XII 4 XII 11 XII 5 XII 10 XIII 4 XIII 11 XIII 5 XIII 12 XIII 6 XIII 11 XIV 5 XIV 12 XIV 6 XIV 13 XIV 7 XIV 12 XV 6 XV 13 XV 7 XV 1 XV 8 XV 13 XVI 7 XVI 1 XVI 8 XVI 2 XVI 9 XVI 1 XVII 8 XVII 2 XVII 9 XVII 3 XVII 10 XVII 2 XVIII 9 XVIII 3 XVIII 10 XVIII 4 XVIII 11 XVIII 3 XIX 10 XIX 4 XIX 11 XIX 5 XIX ■12 XIX 4 XX 11 XX 5 XX 12 XX 6 XX 13 XX This period of 260 daj^s, the tonalamatl ("book of days"), in Mexican, ch'ol k'ih ("reckoning- of da3^s"j, or k'am uuh ("book of fates"), in Guatenialleoan, was on the contrary called by the Mayas in Guatemala, it seems — though the general opinion is different — kin katun ("the order of days"), and was made to agree w4th the rest of the system of chronology in various ways. The nations of ancient Mexico reckoned 365 da3^s to their year. This appears from the nature of their designation of the year and from the number of years which the}^ combined into a larger period. Since 365 = (28 X 13) + 1 and also (18 X 20) + 5, it follows that when, for instance, a year began with a day which took the numeral 1 and the sign I, then the initial day of the following year must necessaril}' have been called by the numeral 2 and sign VI, that of the third year by numeral 3 and sign XI, of the fourth year by numeral 4 and sign XVI; while the initial day of the fifth year would take the numeral 5 and go back to sign I. We have thus the following series of begin- nings of years: selee] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY Table II 15 1 I 1 VI 1 XI 1 XVI 1 I 2 VI 2 XI 2 XVI 2 I And so 3 XI 3 XVI 3 I 3 VI on, as at 4 XVI 4 I 4 VI 4 XI the be- 5 I 6 VI 5 XI 5 XVI ginning. 6 VI 6 XI 6 XVI 6 I 7 XI 7 XVI 7 I 7 VI 8 XVI 8 I 8 VI 8 XI 9 I 9 VI 9 XI 9 XVI 10 VI 10 XI 10 XVI 10 I 11 XI 11 XVI 11 I 11 VI 12 XVI 12 I 12 VI 12 XI 13 I 13 VI 13 XI 13 XVI We see that, if we presuppose a year of 365 da3^s, only four of the twent}^ day signs fall on initial days — four signs vs^hich are five signs distant from each other. And we see that if we accept the theory of a year of 365 days a period of 62 years necessarily ensues. For since 365 = 5 X 73, and 73 is a prime number, it can only occur after 260h-5, or 52, years, that the same number and the same sign of the tonalamatl will fall on the initial day of the year. Now we know by the unanimous statements of his- torians and documents that the Mexican nations designated their years after the fashion shown by the above tables of initial days of the year, and it is authoritatively stated of certain races that these names of the years were taken from the names of their initial days. On the other hand, we know that all the ancient nations of Mexico knew a period of 52 years and reckoned by it. We must therefore conclude that the year of 365 days was indeed accepted in Mexico, as was stated above, and therefore that the computation of time fell behind the actual length of the year by 6 hours, 9 minutes, and 10 seconds in the inter- calary year and by 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 48 seconds in the ordinary year. This simple and clear, and, when we consider the degree of civilization ■ of the ancient Mexicans, by no means very remarkable fact, has up to the present time been obstinately overlooked by the authors who have written upon Mexican chronology. There are three circumstances in particular which interfere with a correct conception of the state of affairs— first, certain assumptions in respect to the last five days of the year; then, the assertions of historians in regard to interpolations which are supposed to have taken place at certain regularly recurring periods; and, lastly, the variability of the beginning of the year among various races and also, as it seems, at various times, which has hitherto 16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 rendered impossible any authentic concordance of -fixed historically ceitified dates of the Mexican calendar with our chronology. The chronologic unit, 20 days, is contained eighteen times in 365 days. Each of these eighteen twenties — falsely called "months" by the Spanish — was dedicated to a special deity and gave rise to a special lestival, which was connected with the season of the year, the work to be done at that season, and with that which was expected of the season. I'ive days were left over, to which, as superfluous, a certain sinister meaning was ascribed. The Mexicans called them nemontemi or nen-ontemi, that is, "the superfluous, supplementary days", with the secondary significance, "the useless da3^s, which were consecrated to no deity, useful for no civic business" — acam pouhqui, "which neither fell to any nor were dedicated to any, which were held in no esteem", as appears from the Aztec text of book 2, chapter 37, of the historical w^ork by Father Sahagun, in which the}" are explained in these words: Estos cinco dias a ningun dios estan dedicados, y por eso les llamavan nemontemi, que quiere decir_ por demas ("These five days are dedicated to no god, and hence they are called nemontemi,, which is to say superfluous "). They were held to be harmful days (baldios y aciagos). For with the word nen, "that which exceeds", was also connected the idea of "superfluous", "unfit", "useless". No action of an}^ importance whatever, nor any which transcended the circle of the most necessary offices of life, was undertaken. The house was not swept, no cause was tried, and the unfortunate person who was born on one of these days, "is destined to no happiness; miserable and wretched and poor shall he live upon the earth" (quihiotinemiz ompa onquiztinemiz yn tlalticpac). But these days had, especially, a prophetic power for the whole yenv (a3^ac teauaya, ayac manaya, auh yn aca oncan teaua, quilmach cenquicui) " No one quarreled, no one got into any dispute, for whoever quarreled on these days, it was believed, would always continue to do so ", we read in Sahagun's Aztec text. And still more explicit is another passage, which Sahagini gives in the following words; Guardabanse en estos dias fatales, de dormir entre dia, ni de renir unos con otros, ni de tropezar, ni de caer, porque decian que si alguna cosa de estas les acontecia que siempre les habia de acontecer adelante ("Thev were careful during these fatal days not to fall asleep during the day, not to quarrel together, not to trip or to fall, because they said that if any of these things befell them, they would continue to befall them thence forevermore"). We find the same notion in Yucatan. On these days men left the house as seldom as possible, did not wash or comb themselves, and took special care not to undertake any menial or difficult task, doubt- less because they lived in the conviction that they would l)e forced to keep on doing it through the whole ensuing year. The Mexicans wer« BULLETIN 28 PLATE I BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY seler] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 17 more passive in regard to these days, inasmuch as they merely took care to avoid conjuring up mischief for the coming year, while the Mayas did things more thoroughly. During these days, so portentous for the entire year, they banished the evil which might threaten them. They prepared a clay image of the demon of evil, Uuayayab, that is, u-uayab-haab (" by whom the year is poisoned"), confronted it with the cleity who had supreme power during the year in question, and then carried it out of the village in the direction of that cardinal point to which the new year belonged. Of these five days writers commonly say " they were not counted." And we take this to mean that the ordinary designation of the days by numerals and signs was not applied to these days. It is true that Sahagun's Aztec text affords ground for this supposition, for it says of the nemontemi: Yn aoctle yn toca tonalli, yn aocmo ompouih, yn aocmo om pouhque ("The days no longer have names; they are no longer counted"). And farther on: Ca atle ytonal, ca atle ytoca . . . ca nel amo ompouhque atle ypouallo ("They have no signs, no names . . . for in truth they are not counted"). Duran states even more clearly: Los cinco dias que sobraban, tenian los esta nacion por dias aciagos, sin cuenta ni provecho; asi los dejaban en bianco, sin ponerles figura ni cuenta, y asi los llamaban nemontemi, que quiere decir dias demasiados y sin provecho ("The five days that remained this nation held to be unfortunate days, of no account or advantage; so they left them blank, without giving them figure or account, and so called them nemontemi, which means days superfluous and of no advantage"). In Yucatan these days were also directly designated as xma kaba kin ("days without names"). And what Duran states is illustrated in Landa; in the calendar recorded by him, the five superfluous days are left blank, without number or sign. Are we therefore actually to suppose that these days interrupted the con- tinuous tonalamatl calculation? I think not. The acam pouhqui and aocmo ompouhque do not state that these days are dropped out of the reckoning, but, as Sahagun also quite correctly explains, that no feast was celebrated upon them; that they were held improper and worth- less for civic action. Compare acan ompoui, cosa insuficiente y falta, 6 persona de quien no se hace caso ("insuificient and faulty thing, or person held of no account"). (Molina.) We must also attach the same meaning to the phrase atle ytoca and the Maya designation xma kaba kin. And if these days were left blank, according to Duran and Landa, this only signified that men avoided mentioning these unlucky days in any v/aj. They were counted in silence. Otherwise Landa, for instance, could not state that the successive years began with the dominical letters Kan, Muluc, Ix, Cauac, that is, with signs IV, IX, XIV, XIX; but we should have to assume, as, indeed, old Gama does, 7238— No. 28—05 2- 18 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHTSTOLOGY [bull. 28 though doubtless incorrectly, that all years began with the same num- eral and the same sign. It seems, on the contrary, to be correct, as Gama (Dos Piedras, page 76) states, that the live days nemontemi were destitute of acom- panados, that is, that the constantly repeated series of the nine so-called seiiores de la noche ("lords of the night"), which were continuousl}^ counted along with the signs for the days, were onh" extended to the three hundred and sixtieth day of the year. Gama's chief sources for his assertions in regard to the old chronology are the notes written in the Mexican language by Don Cristobal del Castillo, an Indian of the aristocratic Tetzcocan race, who died in 1606 at the age of 80. His notes are also undoubtedly the source from which Gama took the calendar which he prints on pages 62 to 75 of his book, and this therefore has the authority of unbroken tradition in its favor. This calendar begins the j^ear with ce Cipactli, that is, II, and further counts the nemontemi with numerals and signs (10 1, 11 II, 12 III, 13 IV, 1 V). But the series of nine senores de la noche breaks off with the three hundred and sixtieth day of the j^ear. Orozco y Berra makes the interesting suggestion that the object of this double computation was to distinguish the days of the year which, by the tonalamatl reckon- ing, would take the same numeral and sign, by omitting the "acom- panado". In fact, if the first day of the year, which Gama places on the 9th of January, were distinguished b_y 11, then the two hundred and sixty-first day of the year, that is, September 26, would receive the same name. But if the first day (II, or Januarj^ 9) were accom- panied by the first of the "acompanados" (Xiuhtecutli Tletl), the last day (II, or September 26) would take the ninth (Quiauitl-Tlaloc), for 260-^-9 = 28 and 8 over. If Gama's statement that the nemontemi are destitute of acompanados be correct, then the successive years Avould always begin with the same acompaiiado. And if we take the first of them, the fire god, as that of the initial da}^, we may perhaps have in this circumstance the simple explanation of the most com- mon of the various names of the fire god, that is, Xiuhtecutli ("Lord of the year"). With the nemontemi are connected the oldest statements in regard to interpolations, which are said to have been made at stated periods by the Mexicans, in order to bring their 3'^ear of 365 days into har- mony with the actual length of the solar j^ear. Father Sahagun says in the heading to the nineteenth chapter of his second book: Hay conjetura que cuando ahujeraban las orejas a los ninos .y ninas, que era de cuatro en cuatro anos, echaban seis dias de nemontemi, y es lo mismo del bisiesto, que nosotros hacemos de cuatro en cuatro aiios ("There is a conjecture that when they pierced the ears of the boys and girls, which was every four years, they rejected six days as nemontemi, and it is the same as the leap jea,r which we make everj^ four years"). SELER] THE MEXICAlsr CHRONOLOGY 19 And in another place: Otra fiesta hacian de cuatro en cuatro anos a honra del f ueg-o, en la qual aliujeraban las orejas a todos los nifios, y la llamaban pillauanaliztli, y en esta fiesta es verosimil y liay conjeturas que hacian su bisiesto, contando seis dias de nemontemi ("They cele- brated another festival every four years in honor of tire, in which the}^ pierce the ears of all the children, and they called it pillauanaliztli, and in tliis festival it is probable and there are conjectures that they made their leap year, counting six days as nemontemi"). Observe, the Father saj^s: Es verosimil j hay conjeturas ("It is probable and it is conjectured"). He does not say that he has heard it, and, indeed, there is not a word about it in the passages in question of the Aztec text. Father Sahagun's conjecture is repeated as an actual fact hj later authors. The learned Dominican Father Burgoa gives it as such in regard to the Mixteca and the inhabitants of Tehuantepec (Geografica Descripcion, quoted by Orozco y Berra, volume 2, page 136), without furnishing any evidence for his assertion. On the other hand, other ancient authors directl}^ conti-adict this supposition. Father Motolinia, who was one of the first missionaries to the country, sa3^s: Los indios naturales de esta Nueva Espana, al tiempo que esta tierra se gano y entraron en ella los Espanoles, comenzaban su afio en principios de Marzo; mas por no alcanzar bisiesto, van variando su ano por todos los meses ("The native Indians of this New Spain, at the time when this land was gained and the Spaniards entered into it, commenced their 3^ear at the beginning of March; but not under- standing leap 3"ear they keep changing their year through all the months"). Father Torquemada is of the same opinion. And the author of the Chronica de la S. Provincia del Santissimo Nombre de Jesus de Guatemala of the year 1683 remarks: Porque como ni los Mexicanos ni estos (los Guatemaltecas) alcanzaron el bisiesto . . . se apartaban y diferenciaban de nuestro calendario, j asi ni estos ni los Mexicanos comenzaban siempre su aiio a primero de nuestro Febrero sino que cada cuatro afios se atrasaban un dia . . . ("Because since neither the Mexicans nor these (the Guatemalans) understood leap 5^ear . . . they differed from our calendar, and so neither they nor the Mexicans commenced their year always at the first of our Febru- ary, but every four years they were behind one day . . . "). Indeed, had such an intercalation actually occurred, the period of 52 years and the consequent further designation of the da3^s in it would be an absurdit}^; or, at least, this intercalation must have been noted as an important factor in every enumeration extending over the period of four years. But I have not hitherto been able to find any trace of it either in the Aztec or the Maya manuscripts. Knowing the difficult}^ of establishing any agreement in this way between the old Indian chronology and the more correct European computation of time, later writers have suggested that an entire week 20 BUEEAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 of 13 days was interpolated at the end of the xiuhmolpilli, the period of 52 years. This theory is probabl}^ to be ascribed to the learned Jesuit Don Carlos Sigiienza y Gong-ora, who lived in the second half of the seventeenth century. The work of this author, Ciclografia Mexicana, is apparently lost, but Gemelli Carreri and Clavigero refer to it. Sigiienza had important documents at his disposal, papers and picture manuscripts, which belonged to Don Juan de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, a descendant of the royal Tetzcocan family, and he was a trained astronomer. His conjecture is all the more acceptable also because it leaves the arrangement of the daj^s in the period of 62 years untouched. In spite of this I think that his assertions rest upon groundless con- jectures. Nowhere in the older authors do we learn that a festival of 13 days' duration was held at the end of the period of 52 years. They always refer to one night only, the turning point of the century, dur- ing which the people awaited the flaming up of the new lire upon Uixachtepec with fear and trembling. In the picture manuscripts we find periods of time set down which extend over the period of 52 years, and where the arrangement of the days is carried over without a jump from one period to the other (see, for instance, pages 46 to 50 of the Dresden manuscript, the well-known pages from which E. Forstemann proved the series of dates to be 236, 90, 250, and 8 days apart). On them are recorded, beginning with the day 1 Ahau, the thirteenth of the month Mac, 13 X 2,920 days, or a period of 13 X 8, that is, 2x 52, or 104, years, in dates separated by regular distances, without a hiatus of any kind between one and the other of the two cycles of 52 years. Still greater periods of time are noted down upon the last leaves of the Dresden manuscript by continuous, uninterrupted dates accompanied b}^ check numbers. But the advocates of intercalation also appeal to manuscripts. Clavigero (volume 2, page 62) says: Questi tredici giorni erano gl'intercalari, segnati nelle lor dijunture con punti turchini; non gli contavano nel secolo gia compito, neppur nel seguente, ne continu- avano in esse i periodi di giorni, che andavano sempre numerando dal primo sino alio ultimo giorno del secolo ("These thirteen days were the intercalary ones, designated in printing them by blue dots; they were not counted in the century already completed, nor in the follow- ing one either, nor were the periods of days continued in them which were continuously numbered from the first to the last day of the century"). Clavigero himself has not seen these manuscripts, but refers to Don Carlos Sigiienza. The materials which Sigiienza pos- sessed seem for the most part to have passed into the possession of Boturini. In consequence of their seizure by vice-regal authority they disappeared from the scene. A part of them are in the Aubin collec- tion, whose present owner is M Eugene Goupil, of Paris. I do not think that there are any papers among them which justify Clavigero's SEi.ER] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 21 assertion. And yet I have seen blue numeral signs in a Maya manu- script, which might be interpreted in the sense of a correction or possibly also of an interpolation. On pages 23 and 24 of the Perez codex, the Mexican manuscript of the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris are thirteen columns of 5 days each, which must be read from right to left and from above downward, as the addition and as the position of the hieroglyphs show, which, unlike the mode of writing employed elsewhere in the Ma}^^ manuscripts, is face backward (to the left). The separate dates in the series each differ by 28 days and the last date in the first (top) row differs from the first date in the second row by 28 days also. There are in all 5 X 13 X 28, or 7 X 260 days, that is, the space of 7 tonalamatl. The numerals belonging to the dates of the days are, as usual, written in red, but above or below each column of figures another figure is written in blue, which would denote a date some 20 days further on. This is evidently a correction, but scarcely one which can be taken for a sort of intercalation. It is a correction which states what figures belong to the dates when the beginning of the whole series is pushed forward by a unit of 20 days. Leon y Gama varies Sigiienza's theory of intercalation by stating (Dos Piedras, pages 52 and 63) that the Mexicans interpolated 25 days at the close of a double cycle of 104 years, or 12i days at the end of a 52-year cycle, and according to this the days of the one cycle began in the morning, those of the other in the evening. But this is mere spec- ulation. Finally, the theory of the Jesuit Fabrega, with which A. von Humboldt agrees (Vue des Cordilleres, volume 2, page 81), that the Mexicans suppressed 7 days at the close of a great period of 20 cycles, or 1,040 years, and thus reduced their year to almost the exact length of the tropical year, rests upon an actual error. The passage in question from the Borgian codex (pages 62 to 66) by no means treats of so long a space of time. The simple series of twenty day signs is repre- sented by beginning with Malinalli, or XII, on page <6Q and ending on page 62 with Ozomatli, or XI. The signs were undoubtedly originally intended to be distributed around four sides of a square with the last (Ozomatli) in the middle. If, as I believe, the theory of intercalation is to be rejected, the question arises all the more forcibly. How did the Mexicans contrive to make their system of chronology agree with the actual time? Must they not have speedily observed that their annual feasts, which fell in portions of the year determined by the course of the sun, the alterna- tion of wet and dry weather, winter sleep and perfection of vegetation, were noticeably advanced in the course of successive years ? Doubtless they did observe it, but they could hardly have known how to remedy it. And doubtless the confused and contradictory statements given by the Indians themselves in regard to the time of their new year and the true time of the various festivals were due to this uncertaint}^, to 22 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 the lack of intercalations. Es de notar ("It is to be noted''), sa3^s Sahag-un at the close of his seventh book, que discrepan mucho en di versos lugares del principio del ano; en unas partes me dijeron que comenzaba a tantos de Enero; en otras que a primcro de Febrero; en otras que a principios de Marzo. En el Tlaltelolco junte muchos viejos, los mas diestros que yo pude aver, y juntamente con los mas Imbiles de los coleg-iales se alterco esta materia por muchos dias, y todos ellos concluyeron, diciendo, que comenzaba el ano el segundo dia de Febrero ("that the beginning of the year differs greatly in different places; in some parts they told me that it began on such a day in Januarj^; in others on the 1st of February; in others at the beginning of March. In Tlaltelolco I assembled many old men, the most skillful possible, and together with the most learned scholars they disputed as to this matter for many days, and they all concluded by saying that the year began on the second day of February "). The festivals connected with the course of the seasons, with their elaborate ceremonies, had undoubtedly been observed from the earliest ages and were similarly celebrated over large portions of the country. The fixing of the beginning of the year was closely connected with these festivals, and was also, as may positively be asserted, originally the same over large portions of the country. The earlier, however, that a tribe gave up vaguely determining these festivals according to the course of tlie sun and the condition of the crops and the priests began to keep account of them by means of the continuous tonalamatl computation, the more must the beginning of the year and the festi- vals, or the relation of the latter to the beginning of the year, have been displaced for that tribe. There is reason to believe that what the Indian conference called together at Tlaltelolco by Sahagun finally determined, namely, that the year began with the Quauitleua, the feast of the rain god (Tlaloque), and on the 2d of February, according to Christian computation, very nearly corresponded to the original custom; for in far distant Yucatan, inhabited by a different civilized nation, we ffnd an approach to this idea in Landa's statement that the Mayas celebrated in honor of the rain gods (Chac), the feast Ocna ("Entrance into the house"), or, as Landa translates it, "Renewal of the temple", in one of the so-called months (really units of 20 days) Chen and Yax; that is, about the month of January, on a day which the priests expressly deter- mined, doubtless according to the chronology kept by them.^ Mira- ban los pronosticos de los Bacabes ("They beheld the prophecies of the Bacabs"); that is, they decided according to the deity who ruled over the year whether the year would be good or bad. Y demas desto renovavan los idolos de barro y sus braseros, y si era menester, hacian de nuevo la casa 6 renovabanla, y ponian on la pared la memoria destas cosas con sus caracteres ("And besides this they renewed their seler] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOUY 23 idols of clay and their braziers, and if necessary they rebuilt the house or renovated it, and placed upon the wall the memory of these things in their proper characters"); that is, they established the character which the year was to have and renewed their objects of worship and house- hold utensils— ceremonies whose original meaning can only have been that the beginning of the year was set at this time. In fact, the Zotzil of Chiapas, whose people were near kin to the Mayas, seem also to have begun the year with the month Chen, which they called Tzun, that is, ^'beginning" (see Pineda, quoted by Orozco y Berra, volume 2, page 142). I may remark by the way that, just as we tind the New Year's feast of the Mexicans among the Mayas, so, too, the man- ner in which half a year later, in the month of July, the Mayas observed their real New Year by solemnly conducting the spirit of evil out of the village tinds an analogy among- the Mexicans in the broom festival (Ochpaniztli), observed in August. The decision of the Indian conference at Tlaltelolco— that the first day, Quauitleua, fell at the beginning of February— must therefore also be regarded as corresponding quite closely to the actual custom, because if it did so the various festivals were suited to the seasons in which they fell. The sixth feast, Etzalqualiztli, which refers to the setting in of the rainy season, fell on May 13. Don Cristobal del Castillo, who drew his information from Tetzcocan sources, and whom Gama follows, begins the year with the feast Tititl, which lay two twenties back, but sets the beginning of the year full 24 days earlier, so that by his reckoning the feast Etzalqualiztli, belonging to the opening of the rainy season, falls on the 29th of May. The interpreter of the Codex Yaticanus A in one place accepts the 15th, in another the 24th of Feb- ruary, as the beginning of the year. According to this Etzalqualiztli would fall on May 26 or June 4. Clavigero's opinion that the 26th of February and Duran's that the 1st of March was the beginning of the year do not differ very widely from what is indicated by the nature of the seasons. Etzalqualiztli, the setting in of the rainy season, would fall on the 6th or 9th of June. We should thus have for the latter event, specially important in the life of the civilized peoples of Mexico, a range of about the length of one of our months, which fully corresponds with the natural conditions. If, finally, Tlaxcaltec sources make the year begin with Atemoztli, a feast occurring some three twenties before Quauitleua, this gives us as the latest term which we find appointed for Quauitleua the last of December as the beginning of the year— a theory which again changes the beginning of the year to what was a significant time as well to the YIexicans as the Mayas: the middle of the dry season. But the very fact that the nemontemi, the final and supplementary days of the year, were set now before Quauitleua, now before Tititl, now before Atemoztli, or elsewhere, as before Tlacaxipeualiztli, as according to the Guatemalan Cronica Fran- ^4 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 ciscana of 1683, was usual among the Cakchikels, proves that festivals were displaced among- the Mexicans, that their years were actually too short, and that they were constantly falling into confusion in iheir calendar of feasts. But if among the Mexicans festivals were constantly displaced in consequence of their inability to express the real length of the year in their system of chronology, on the other hand the tonalamatl computa- tion offered a strong framework, which, elaborated by the expert hands of priests, left not a moment's doubt as to the space of time which divided a given day from another. At one point only is the uncer- tainty of Mexican chronology apparent here; that is in regard to the iirst day of their year and to the titles which were assigned to the different years, corresponding to their initial days. If, as I said above, it necessarily follows from the system of the tonalamatl and the acceptance of a year of 365 days that of the twenty day signs only four fall on the opening days of the year, which four were each four signs apart, one from the other (that is, there were four intermediate signs), and if we further find that the years were usually designated by four day signs standing four signs apart, it is then the most natural inference that it was from- the initial days of the year that these years themselves were named. But this does not seem, or at least not uni- versally, to have been the case. Among the Mexicans the years were designated by the signs Acatl (reed), Tecpatl (flint), Calli (house), Tochtli (rabbit); that is, XIII, XVIII, III, and VIII, of the twenty day signs. To these correspond exactly the Chiapanec, Been, Chinax, Votan, Lambat, while in Yuca- tan the signs Kan, Muluc, Ix, Cauac— that is, IV, IX, XIV, and XIX of the day signs— were used for successive years. The four signs, Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, Tochtli, were registered upon the four arm*s of a cross with hooks, in the style shown in figure 2. By following a circle in the direction opposite to that in which the hands of a clock - move we pass from 1 Acatl past 2 Tecpatl, 3 Calli, 4 Tochtli, to 5 Acatl, etc. , until we come to 13 Tochtli. As this registration suggests, the years recorded on one arm of the cross with hooks were ahvays referred to a particular quarter of the heavens; the Acatl vears to the east, Tecpatl to the north, Calli to the west, and the Tochtli years to the south. Computation within the cycle began in the east with the Acatl years, not with 1 Acatl, but, singularly enough, with 2 Acatl, so that the cycle closed with 1 Tochtli. The present period of the world began, so the Mexicans believed, in the year 1 Tochtli. The earth was created in this period, or rather the heavens, which fell at the close of the last prehistoric period of the world, were again lifted up. Not until this was completed could fire be again produced and the first cycle of 52 years be thus begun. This is expresslv stated in the Fuenleal codex of the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, Selee] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 25 Therefore 2 Aeatl is the opening 3^ear of the first and of all following- cycles. As such it is also designated in all picture manuscripts of historical nature by the tire drill. The statement of the interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, part 4, page 24, on which Orozco y Berra lays so much stress, that the beginning of the cycle was first changed from 1 Tochtli to 2 Acatl in the year ] 506, under Motecuhzoma, on account of the famine which regularly occurred in previous years, is merely an attempt to explain the remarkable fact that the cycle begins with the numeral 2 in a euhemeristic way. But Clavigero's assertion that the cycle began with 1 Tochtli is simply an error. It contradicts the accounts of ancient authorities and all that documents tell us. With what days did the years begin? Duran and Cristobal del Castillo say that the year began with Cipactli, the first of the twenty signs for the days. And if this is to be accepted as the initial day of one year, then the others would begin with Miquiztli, Ozomatli, Cozca- quauhtli, VI, XI, and XVI of the signs for the days. This is Clavi- gero's theory. He begins the years Tochtli, Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, corresponding with Cipactli, Miquiztli, Ozomatli, Cozcaquauhtli. I, myself, formerly believed that the years Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, Tochtli were to be coupled with the days Cipactli, Miquiztli, Ozomatli, and Cozcaquauhtli as initial days, relying upon page 12 of the Borgian codex which agrees with Codex Vaticanus B, page 28, where we see represented by five Tlaloc figures the five cardinal points and their significance in the life and housekeeping of men, and among the first four of them the signs for the four years coordinated in the above manner with the signs of the aforesaid four days. But I have recently become puzzled again, since the above-mentioned pages of the manu- scripts very readily admit of another explanation. For not only were the years of the cycle apportioned among the four cardinal points, but so also were the four divisions of the tonalamatl, beginning with 1 Cipactli. The initial days of the four quarters were plainly designated in the Zapotec calendar— which, as we shall see, perhaps represents one of the most primitive forms of this chronologic system— as the Cocijo or pitao, that is, "the holders of time", "the rain gods", or " the great ones", "the gods". In these names we find, then, a direct reference to the Tlaloc figures, which we see depicted in the Borgian codex, page 12, and Codex Vaticanus B, page 28, as representatives of the cardinal points. And the day signs set down under the latter signify those very initial days of the tonalamatl divisions and the initial years of the cycle divisions which were supposed to be coordinated with the cardinal points. The wisdom of the Mexican priest chroniclers spent itself in elabo- rating the tonalamatl from its arithmetico-theoretic and augural side. There is not— aside from a passage in the Maya manuscript, of which 26 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 28 I shall speak further on— a single place in the entire mass of picture manuscripts belong-ing- to the pre-Spanish time where the successive years are enumerated with their initial days. This fact alone should make us suspicious in regard to the assertions of Duran and Cristobal del Castillo. For Cipactli, the first day of the tonalamatl, and the following signs are generally used in the manuscripts somewhat as are our numerals 1 to 20. Bishop Landa also states directly of the Maya calendar, that the first day of the year and the first day of the tonala- matl had absolutely nothing to do with each other. If we take into consideration the confusion, which, as I have explained above, pre- vailed in Mexico in regard to the beginning of the year, we can not avoid the impression that the opening days of the year were also dis- placed in the course of time, and thus could not always keep the same names. If we once admit this, then the fact that it became necessary to call the successive years by the names of the days Acatl, Tecpatl Calli, Tochtli, acquires increased meaning. We can not well refuse to assume that at the time when and in the place where it first occurred to the learned that only four of the twenty signs for the days fall upon the initial days of the years, it was just these very days, Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, Tochtli, with which the year then and in that place began, or at least, that these days, for whatsoever reasons, then and in that place were chosen for the opening days of the year. I find an indirect proof that this was indeed the case in the fact that ancient accounts from two remote and widely separated localities, from Meztitlan, on the boundaries of Huaxteca, and from Nicaragua,' make the series of twenty day signs begin with Acatl. In the Dresden manuscript the years do not begin with Kan, Muluc, Ix, Cauac, the fourth, ninth, fourteenth, and nineteenth day signs, with Avhich, at a later period, to judge from Landa and the books of Chilan Balam, the Mayas began their years, but with Been, Ezanab, Akbal, and Lamat, that is, the thirteenth, eighteenth, third, and eighth signs, which answer to the Mexican Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, TochtliT In a paper presented before the International Americanist Congress at Berlin E. Forstemann, to whom we owe so many discoveries, espe- cially in regard to the mathematics of the Dresden manuscript, fur'nished proof that the many high numbers which are to be found, particularly in the second part of the Dresden manuscript, take for granted that the day 4 Ahau (4 XX), the eighth of the month Cumku (the last of the eighteen annual festivals), is to be regarded as a zero mark, inasmuch as^ if we count on from this day for the number of days which the figure 'stand- ing above gives us, we obtain a difi'erent date, which— again exactly indicated by numeral and sign and statement of what day of which month— is noted beside it. Now Mr Forstemann saw very plainly that this zero mark, 4 Ahau, 8 Cumku, with which the other dates in the manuscript, with a very few exceptions, agree, clearly can not be SELEK] THP] MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 27 made to harmonize with Landa's theory of the beginning- of the year. He therefore says that 8 Cumku is to be understood as '' the eve of a festival", the day which is followed by the eighth day of the month Cumku. The ingeniousness of this explanation certainly satisfied Mr Forstemann less than anyone. 1 hold that 8 Cumku can not well be anything else than the eighth day of the month Cumku. And if a day 4 Ahau (4 XX) was the eighth day of the month Cumku, then the lirst day of that month must be a day 10 Been (10 XIII) and the year must also have begun with Been, the thirteenth day sign, the Mexican sign Acatl. According to this, therefore, the signs of the first days of the years were not the fourth, ninth, fourteenth, nineteenth day signs (Kan, Muluc, Ix, Cauac), but the thirteenth, eighteenth, third, eighth day signs, Been, Ezanab, Akbal, Lamat, or in Mexican, Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, Tochtli. That this is actually the case in the Dresden manuscript is also confirmed elsewhere. Not unlike the Mexicans in their custom stated above, the Mayas also assigned the successive years of the cycle to the four cardinal points. The books of Chilan Balam, a copy of which, prepared by the late lamented Doctor Berendt, I had occasion to use in Doctor Brinton's library, unani- mously ascribe the Kan years to the east, the Muluc years to the north, the Ix years to the west, and the Cauac years to the south. To be sure, Landa contradicts this, Still the same relation follows from his assertions. For the Kan years, which he assigns to the south, were the years in the days preceding w^hich, according to his statements, the spirit of evil dominating the Kan years was brought into the vil- lage from a southerly direction, and then borne out of the village on the eastern side, that is, in the direction probably significant of the new year. And so, too, with the other years: V' The Chac-uuayayab of the Muluc years is taken out toward the north, the Zac-uuayayab of thelx years toward the west, and the Ek-uuayayab of the Cauac years toward the south." Now, what years and what cardinal points are connected in the manu- scripts ? There is no lack of hieroglyphs for the four and the five cardi- nal points, respectively, in the manuscripts. We know distinctly that a to din figure 1 represent the four cardinal points, and that e to g are probably variants of a hieroglyph for the fifth cardinal point, the direc- tion upward from below, or downward from above. It was, however, still doubtful how a to d, figure 1, are to be referred to the four cardinal points. Schultz-Sellack (Zeitschrif t f iir Ethnologic, volume 9, page 221, 1879) and Leon de Rosny were of the opinion that a to d, respectively, denote the east, north, west, and south. Cyrus Thomas, in his Study of the Manuscript Troano, exchanges a and e and asserts that the former represents the west, the latter the east. In his recent work, published in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, he reverses the entire order and states that a to d, figure 1, correspond respectively 2S BUTIEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 to the west, south, east, and north. But the argument which leads kim to this assertion is obviousl}^ incorrect. It is true that the Mexi- cans generally arranged the sequence of the cardinal points in the direction opposite to the course of the hands of a clock, as is shown in figure 2. But as for the double page 41 and 42 of the Cortes codex, on which Cyrus Thomas rests his assertion, the glyphs of the cardinal points a to d there inscribed within the quadrants do not refer, as €^^^ r^r(R>))\ s ^ ^(^^)i) j m Fig. 1. Symbols of the cardinal points, colors, etc. Professor Thomas states, to the dates written in the left-hand corner of the quadrants (1 Ix, 1 Cauac, 1 Kan, 1 Muluc), but to the whole series of days which are denoted in the said quadrants, partly by their glyphs, and partly by the dots connecting the glyphs. In the quadrant containing the cardinal point of «, figure 1, are recorded the days from 1 Imix (1 I) to 13 Chicchan (13 V), that is, the whole tirst quarter of the tonalamatl, the days beginning at the innei left-hand corner and following one another over the outer left-hand selee] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 29 corner and the outer right-hand corner as far as the inner right-hand corner; and in the same manner in the quadrant following in the direction opposite to the course of the hands of a clock, in which the cardinal point h, figure 1, is written, are recorded the days which form the second quarter of the tonalamatl; and again in the third quadrant, which contains the glyph c, figure 1, is the third quarter; and in the last quadrant, with the glyph d, figure 1, the last quarter of the tonalamatl. Since we know that the four quarters of the tonalamatl, beginning with 1 I. 1 VI. 1 XI, and 1 XVI, were respec- Fig. 2. Mexican calendar wheel form. tively ascribed to the east, north, west, and south, this double page from the Cortes codex is the strongest proof that Schultz-Sellack and Leon de Eosny were right in referring the hieroglyphs a to d, figure 1, respectively to the east, north, west, and south. In a and c, figure 1, is contained, in their lower half, an element which is contained in the month name Yaxkin {k and /, figure 1) and undoubt- edly denotes the sun (kin), the disk sending out rays of light to the four cardinal points. In h and I this element is combined with another, which also occurs in the glyph of the month name Tax 30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 (i, same fig-ure), and which, as comparison with other glyphs shows, denotes "green tree" (yax). In «, figure 1, the element kin is combined with the glyph of the twentieth day sign, which is in Maya called Ahau. Ahau, abbreviated ah, means "the lord", "the king". The word is connected with a verb ah, which means "to rise up", ^'to awake", "to rise"; ahal-ik, "the wind rises"; ahal-cab, "the world wakes" (the day breaks); ahi cab, "from the beginning of the world". This glyph should therefore be read ahal-kin, ''the sun rises," and this is equivalent to likin, the true Maya expression for the cardinal point of the east. In c, figure 1, on the other hand, the element kin is combined with another, which serves as the glyph of the seventh day sign, in Maya called Manik, which corresponds to the Mexican mazatl, "deer". The element represents a hand with the four fingers curved toward the thumb. I have already explained this in my essay on the Character of the Aztec and Maya manuscripts (Zeitschrift flir Ethnologic, volume 20, page 65), but at that time I was uncertain as to its true signifi- cance. It is sign language for "to eat". When we traveled in Huaxteca, a district inhabited in old times and down to the present day by a nation whose language shows them to be nearly akin to the Mayas of Yucatan, the invitation to eat, Vamos a comer, was invari- ably accompanied by a gesture in which the hand, bent in the style of the glyph Manik, was repeatedly carried to the mouth. This symbol was taken as the glyph for Manik, "deer", because the deer was regarded as "meat" Kar i^oxvv^ "that which is eaten". In Maya "to bite", "to eat", and "to be bitten", "to be eaten", is chi. The glyph G would accordingly be read chikin, and this is well known to be the Maya word for the cardinal point west. The other two glyphs of the cardinal points, h and <7, figure 1, are not phonetically constructed. In d we have the same element that we have already seen in i, k, and I, the glyphs Yax and Yaxkin, and which, as I stated, denote "tree". We see it here surrounded by figures which are to be explained as smoke or fire. Therefore d, figure 1, must be the region of fire, the south. Glyph J shows us a head and a jaw, the two not infrequently combined as if the head were being drawn into the jaw {i and k, figure 3). Occasionally an eye, looking toward the head, occurs as a variant of the jaw (see /, figure 3, in the manuscript Troano codex, page 24*tf). Finally, the hieroglyph m, figure 3, occurs (manuscript Troano codex, page 20*^^) for the hieroglyph h, figure 1; instead of the head drawn into the jaw we have a head held or lifted up by an open hand. The symbolism is clear. It is the live devouring earth mouth, the underworld, which, as we know, was located by the Mexicans in the north. In Aztec the north is called mictlanipa ("the direction of the realm of the dead''). Analysis of the hieroglyphs thus leads to the same result as that seler] THE MEXICAISr CHROTSTOLOGY 31 which our study of the Cortes codex, pages il, 42, suo-o-ested, that the hieroglyphs a to rf, figure 1, are indeed to be coordinated in the way already stated by Schultz-Sellack— that is, that a to (^, respectively, denote the east, north, west, and south. Here we do indeed encounter a difficulty which must be overcome before we can with any confidence profit by the knowledge thus far acquired. Schellhas has already (Zeitschrif t f iir Ethnologic, volume 18, page 77) drawn attention to the hieroglyphic elements t to w, figure 1, which are coordinated with the cardinal points in such a way that, according to the cardinal point, they form the variable constituent of a hieroglyph otherwise similarly constituted. Thus, in the Dresden manuscript, pages 305 and 2,1b and pages 29c and 30c, the hieroglyphs n to q, figure 1, are invariably combined with one of the hieroglyphs of the four cardinal points. And so, too, on pages SOc and 31c we see the same elements of t to v) (always changing with the cardinal points) forming part of another hieroglyph otherwise not clear. Finally, the same elements are (Dresden manuscript, pages 31?> to 315) added to the principal glyph of Chac itself and combined with the same cardinal points. I have already suggested in my earlier work (Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, volume 20, page 1) that these hieroglyphic elements chang- ing with the cardinal points are meant to denote colors. We know that the Mexicans, like the Mayas and many other American nations, ascribed certain colors to the cardinal points, and that the objects or beings whose various forms were supposed to reside at the diflterent cardinal points were distinguished by the color appropriate to the cardinal point in question. Thus in Landa, in speaking of the xma kaba kin ceremonies, accord- ing to the year— that is, according to the respective cardinal point— a yellow, red, white, and black Bacab, a yellow, red, white, and black Uuayayab, a yellow, red, white, and black Acantun is men- tioned. But if this be the case, then the element of w, figure 1, must denote the color ek, "black". For in both the above-mentioned passages of the Dresden manuscript the rain god (Chac) is repre- sented in black color below the glyph provided with this element (while he is left white elsewhere). The element y (same figure), on the contrary, is most probably to be described as expressing the color zac, "white", for it forms the characteristic element in the glyph of the month name Zac, h. The element u may be taken to express chac, "red", for it forms the characteristic element in the glyph of a goddess, m, a companion of Chac, who is represented in the Dresden codex, pages 67« and 71, in red color and with tiger claws. Finally, the glyph t (same figure), seems as if it must be intended for kan, "yellow". This is proved by the similarity of the element to the fio-ures by which gold, the yellow metal, is represented in Mexican 32 BUREAU OF AMERICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 glyphs; also by the fact that, in conjunction with the element "tree", it is used to denote honey and honey wine {n and c», figure 3), and that it appears vicariously for kin, "sun", and is sometimes replaced by the hieroglyphic expression for the latter. According to this, indeed, we should have the four colors, yellow, red, white, and black, in t to vj, figure 1, and in the same order of succession as they are given by Landa for the four cardinal points. But these elements, which I call kan, chac, zac, and ek, are not, in the above-mentioned passages, as we should suppose, assigned to the east, north, west, and south, but, in the same way as Landa — though, as we must assume, incorrectly— refers the variously colored Bacabs and their years to the cardinal points, they are assigned to the south, east, north, and west. I must confess that this fact disturbed me for a long time, until it gradually became clear to me that in this instance other ideas were decisive in referring the rain god, Chac, to the cardinal points, and hence other colors were necessarily chosen to express that refer- ence than those chosen for the Bacabs prevailing in the different years. Wherever the Bacabs themselves and the different years and the cere- monies performed before the beginning thereof are represented in the Dresden manuscript, especially on the familiar pages 25 to 28, there the elements of figures t to w are not coordinated with d, a, 5, c, but with a, 1), c, d (figure 1)— that is, actually with the east, north, west, and south. This can not, indeed, be noted on all four pages, the upper parts of 25 and 27 being unfortunately too far destroyed. But we can still see that on all four pages in a certain place on the upper part there was a per- vading hieroglyph, which contained the elements of t to lo as a varia- ble constituent part. The same is retained on two pages, 26 and 28 (see r and s, figure 1), and there we actually see that the elements of u and ^0— that is, as I assume, red (chac) and black (ek)— are allotted to the north and south. That yellow (kan, f) and white (zac, y) are also correspondingly arranged is, I think, as good as certain. And these assumptions are confirmed by corresponding passages in the Troano codex. There the various Chacs are represented, pages 30 and 29J, beginning with that of the west, c. And the elements ek, kan, chac, zac answer to the directions of c, d, a, I. On pages 31 and 30^, on the contrary, the various Bacabs are represented, beginning witTi that of the east (chac and hobnil). And here, as comparison with the Cortes codex, pages 41 and 42, show the elements kan, ek, zac, chac correspond to the directions of «, d, c, 5— that is, east, south, west, north. Thus, that which I think 1 have discovered in regard to color nomenclature agrees with the old Schultz-Sellack idea that a to d represent hiero- glyphically the cardinal points— east, north, west, south, or likin, xaman, chikin, nohol. Now if we turn with this, as 1 believe, certain knowledge to pages 25 to 28 of the Dresden manuscript, on which the various yea'.-3 are rep " SELERl THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 33 resented and the ceremonies performed before the beginnino- of them, in the xma kaba kin, I have still another exception to make. There is an error in these pages. In the lowest row of hieroglyphs, the very one which contains the hieroglyphs of the various cardinal points, north and south, xaman and nohol, d and J, are transposed. It is obvi- ous that this is an error. Nowhere else in this manuscript do we find the order of succession c/, rf, c, h. Only in the carelessly drawn Codex Troano-Cortes do we meet with a couple of inversions of the true order. So we find in Troano codex, page 36, where, however, there seems also to be an error, for the series goes on afterwards in the proper direction. And so, too, in Troano codex, pages 30 and 31, we have a reversal of the order, as the succession of the colors kan, ek, zac, and chac shows. But these are exceptions. As a general thing the order of succession of the 3^ears follows the correct order also in the Troano codex. If we make these corrections in pages 25 to 28 of the Dresden manuscript, we have on these pages, as is fit, beginning with the east, the years answering to the east, north, west, and south — that is, therefore, according to the books of Chilan-Balam, the Kan, Muluc, Ix, Cauac years. But we look in vain for the signs for these years on those pages. On the front of those pages, on the other hand, two successive day signs are repeated thirteen times, which can hardly be anything but the last day of the old and the first day of the new year. " We have on i^age 25 Eb (XII) and Been (XIII); on page 26, Caban (XVII) and Ezanab (XVIII); on page 27, Ik (II) and Akbal (III), and on page 28, Manik (VII) and Lamat (VIII). It therefore follows, according to the Dresden manuscript, that the years corresponding to the east, north, west, and south — that is, the later Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac years — must have begun with the days Been, Ezanab, Akbal, and Lamat; that is, with the Mexican characters Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, and Tochtli. This is precisely what we learn from the date 4 Ahau, 8 Cumku, and the other dates com- bined from figures, signs, and statements in regard to months. In one of mj^ first works, in which I stated the result of my Maya studies (Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, volume 19, Verhandlungen, pages 224 to 231), I attempted to identify the deities represented on pages 25 to 28 of the Dresden manuscript with the deities mentioned by Landa in connection with the Xma kaba kin ceremonies. I think my inferences at that time Avere perfectly correct. But because I did not read the hieroglyphs of the cardinal points aright, and because I had no knowledge of the circumstance set forth above, namely, that the Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac years begin with the days Been, Ezanab, Akbal, and Lamat, I was forced to make the somewhat bold conjecture that the names given by Landa were probably to be applied to the fig- ures in the Dresden manuscript, but not in the order Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac, as Landa reckoned the years, but in the order Ix, Cauac, Kan, and Muluc, as they appear in the Dresden manuscript. This 7238— No. 28—05^—3 34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 conjecture is now wholly superfluous. The Dresden manuscript does, indeed, reckon the 3^ears precisely as Landa does, that is, beginning with the east, but the years which Landa designates by the dominical letters, Kan, Muluc, Ix, Cauac, are here specified b}^ the initial days Been, Ezanab, Akbal, and Lamat. The chief figure on the first page is a god with a remarkable branching nose, whose principal hieroglyph is «, figure 3, a hieroglyph which otherwise serves to designate the lightning animal, the heavenly dog darting from the clouds. Instead of the latter, t^(same figure), that is, the head of Chac, appears as the principal hieroglyph in the Dresden codex, page 3. It is therefore obvious that this god is a god of rain and thunder. Landa mentions in the Kan year Bolon Zacab, a name which is not Fig. 3. Symbols from the Maya codices. known elsewhere. But he also states, and that only of the Kan years, that they are said to be rich in rain. On the second page (26) of the Dresden manuscript the chief figure is a god who has the sign kin written on his eyebrow, and whose chief hieroglyph, h, figure 3, likewise contains the sign kin. This agrees with Landa's statement, who, in the Muluc years, mentions Kinchahau, the "Lord with the sun face". On the third page the old god is represented, whose chief hieroglyph is c, figure 3. This again agrees with Landa, who mentions the god Itzamna in the Ix years. And on the last page (28) of the Dresden manuscript a death god is designated by the hieroglyph d, the face with gaping jaws; elsewhere written also in the form of glyph h. This, too, agrees with Landa, who calls the Uac mitun ahau of the Cauac years "Lord of six hells". I can not go into further details concerning these deities SELERj THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 35 here, and refer the reader to my work quoted above. The two glyphs, which I have given in the plate accompanying this work {f and , in which we tind the vertebral column of a skeleton, as also in v, the hieroglyph of the month Kan-kin, the 3^ellow, that is, the scorching sun high in the zenith. The dog shares this role of lightning beast in the manuscripts with two other creatures. One represents a beast of prey, unspotted, with long tail, a rather long head, and the sign Akbal over the e3^e, which is denoted in the Dresden codex, page 36«, by the principal hieroglyph of the tiger and also by 5, a glyph, which is com- posed of theda}^ sign Kan and the glyph kan, ""yellow", and therefore probabh?^ denotes the yellow beast. I think that it is meant for the lion or jaguar (coh), which is also, for instance, in Zapotec, described as "the yellow beast of prey" (peche-yache). The other creature has a head with a proboscislike, elongated snout, ?', and hoofs on its feet; it is glyphically described b}^ this same head and also by glyph u^ which is composed of an ax, a feather, and the abbreviation of a head, or the sign uinal ("a whole man")'^'. 1 take this creature to be tzimin, ("a tapir"). We know that Central American nations connected the tapir closel}^ with the deities of the four cardinal points. We are told of the Itzaex at Peten that the}^ worshiped an idol " de figura de cavallo (of the tigure of a horse)", which bore the name Tzimin-Chac, Caballo del Trueno 6 Rayo ("'horse of the thunder or lightning") and was regarded by them as the god of thunder and lightning. Nuiiez de la Vega says of the great god Votan at Chiapas: Que en Huehueta, que es pueblo Soconusco, estuvo, 3^ que alii puso dantas y un tesoro grande en una casalobrega, que fabrico a soplos. ("That he was at Huehueta, which is a village of Soconusco, and that there he placed tapirs and a great treasure in an obscure house which he erected in an instant.") Certainly, the conception of the tapirs supporting the heavens and the words for it have penetrated even into Mexico. The six tzitzimime ilhuicatzitzquique, angeles de aire sostenedores del cielo que eran, segun decian dioses de los aires que traian las lluvias, aguas, truenos, relampagos 3^ ra3ros 3" habian de estar a la redonda de Uitzilo- pochtli ("angels of the air, upholders of the heavens; thev were, as we are told, gods of the air, who brought the rain, waters, thunder, lightning, and sunbeams, and must have been in the neighborhood of Uitzilopochtli"), which Tezozomoc mentions, are nothing else but the plural forms of tzimin, "tapir", constructed according to the rules of the Mexican tongue. From it, indeed, iuversel3^, a singular form, tzitzimitl, which is the title of a particular warrior's dress combined "Seler, Ueber die Bedeutung des Zahlzeichens 20 in der Maya-Schrift (Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, V, 19, Verhandlungen, pp. 238, 239). 46 BUREAU OF AMEJRICAISr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 with a skull mask, is derived. And if the rain g-od Chac is distin- guished in the Maya manuscript bj^ a peculiarly long nose, curving over the mouth (see the hieroglyph in e^ figure 3, page 36), and if in the other form of the rain god, to which, as it seems, the name Bolon Zacab belongs, the nose widens out and sends out shoots, I believe that the tapir, which was employed identically with Chac, the rain god, furnished the model for this also. The tapir is called in Zapotec peche-xolo, and the native hairless dog peco-xolo. Dog and tapir, then, the two animals darting from heaven, who carry lightning and thunderbolts in their hands, are brought together here in the common designation xolo. This word Xolo itself is the familiar name of a demon, the demon Xolotl, who rules over the sixteenth week (Ce Cozcaquauhtli), and the seventeenth day sign (Olin), and who is represented directly as a dog (Codex Vatican us B, pages 4 and 77) or at least with the cropped ears of a dog (Borgian codex, page 50, and Codex Vaticanus B, page 33), and who is distinguished as the deity of air and of the four directions of the wind by QuetzalcoatFs breast ornament, and by the fact that the four colors, symbols of the four cardinal points, and the sign naui olin ("the four movements"), are represented close beside him. There is therefore no doubt that this demon is to be considered as equivalent to the beast darting from heaven of the Maya manuscript. The spirit Xolotl is usu- ally described by translators as the "god of abortions". He is actu- ally also depicted in the Borgian codex, page 27, as crooked-limbed and blear-eyed. And in Mexico all sorts of mongrel figures, which were regarded as abortions, were described by the word Xolotl. If we now return to the word tela, b}^ which the tenth day sign is denoted in the Zapotec calendar, it appears that we can find no mean- ing for it if we simply employ the word "dog", corresponding to the Mexican itzcuintli, but that the word at once becomes intelligible if we think of the dog darting from heaven, as represented in the Maya manuscript. For tela is tee-lao, boca abajo, "with the head down", hence answering" to the Mexican Tzontemoc. The contracted form tela occurs in Zapotec in various derivatives, such as ti-tela-nii, used of the kicking out behind of animals; tinnij-natela, "to hold perverse speech"; totela, "to shake the dice from the cup (with its mouth downward)"; quela-natela-lachi, "confusion (when every thing is upside down and topsj^-turvy in our minds)." For the elev^enth day sign the Zapotec calendar, after removing the prefix, gives the form loo or (in 1 XI) goloo. This answers to the Mexican Ozomatli, "ape", for the vocabulary gives pillao, pilleo, pilloo gonna, mona animal (gonna is onlj^ the feminine designation). I have shown in my former work that the other calendars, as well as the Maya glyphs ot this day sign, agree with this meaning. For the twelfth day sign the Zapotec calendar gives the form pija. SELEK] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 47 But when it is combined with the numeral 1, where we should expect to find quia pija or quiepija, qui cuija is g-iven. It seems as if there must be some mistake here, and that we should read it quie pija or quie chija. Pii, chii means " to be turned ". Thus pija corresponds exactly to the name (Malinalli) which the day sign bears in the Mexican cal- endar. But the name and the delineation of this sign are ditt'erent in the Maya calendar. The name is ee or eb— that is, "a row of teeth", "a row of peaks". It is translated in the Guatemalan chronicle, as in the Mexican Malinalli, by escobilla (" brush"). This translation is undoubtedly correct. The escobilla is a broomlike or brushlike instru- ment, made of plant fibers bound together, which is still very gener- ally used by the Indian women to clean their clothes and comb their hair (in Zapotec peego). The brush is therefore the symbol of purifica- tion and the instrument of women. It is the attribute of the mighty goddess Teteoinnan, or Toci, the ancient earth goddess, in whose honor the ''broom feast" (Ochpaniztli)— that is, the feast of purification, or atonement for sin — was celebrated in the middle of the summer. The Maya hieroglyph for the twelfth day sign (see a a, figure 5) shows us the face of the ancient goddess, and behind it, as a distinguishing mark, the escobilla. For the thirteenth day sign we find the word forms quij, ij, and laa. Quij means "the reed", corresponding to the name Acatl, which this day sign bears in the Mexican calendar and with which the Guate- malan title ah seems to agree. The Maya word been is obscure; but I have proved in my former work that the glyph Been refers to the same idea of the reed or, perhaps more accurately, to the woven reed roof, the woven reed mat. I do not find the meaning "reed" given in the dictionary for the word laa. As, however, in considering the second day sign (" wind", "fire") we found these same word forms, quij and laa, to be synonymous, it is probable that there was also a synonym laa for quij, "reed". Moreover, it is a remarkable coincidence that in the Maya text the glyphs of these two day signs, which have the same names in Zapotec, the glyphs Ik and Been, should most fre- quently occur in company (see h, figure 3). For the fourteenth day sign, the Mexican Ocelotl, "tiger", the Zapotec calendar gives gueche, eche, ache, just as in the fourth day sign. As there in the words peche, peeche, beeche, "frog" of the dictionary, we were able to prove an agreement with the Mexican name, so here the dictionary gives peche-tao (" the great beast"), tigre, animal feroz. I have shown in my earlier work that the Maya glyph is also expressive of the tiger. The Cakchikel title, Yiz, that is in Maya h-ez, "the magician", is to be regarded as explanatory of the Maya name for this day sign (Ix), to my idea one more link in the chain of reasoning in favor of the theory that the system of day signs 48 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOaY [bull. 28 became known to the Mayas through the medium of the kindred races of Chiapas. For a Tzental-Zotzil x frequently corresponds to the Maya z. In the Zapotec calendar the fifteenth day sign had the form naa and, where it is combined with the numeral 1, quinnaa. The Mexican name is Quauhtli, "eagle", which is easily reconciled with the Guatemalan tziquin, "bird", but not so readily with the Maya word men and the Maya hieroglyph (y, figure 4). But here again the Zapotec name afi'ords linguistic evidence of what I felt compelled to infer, in my earlier work, from the form of the hieroglyph. The Maya hiero- glyph, y, shows an aged, wrinkled face. And we see this hiero- glyph, lengthened out, decorated with pompons, w^ applied in various ways pictorially and hieroglyphically, among others in the hieroglyph which usually accompanies the chief hieroglyph of the eagle. I decided at that time that the Maya hieroglyph repre- sented the picture of the old earth mother, the universally adored goddess known as Tonantzin, "our mother", who goes about stuck over with the fine white downy feathers of the eagle, and who appears in the Vienna codex, under the name hieroglyph ce Quauhtli, or "eagle". Now the Zapotec name gives us the same, for naa, iiaa means "mother", a word which usually appears only with the prefix xi of genitive significance, because names of relationship were never used without an indication of possession. The sixteenth day sign is designated in the Mexican calendar by the picture of the vulture (Cozcaquauhtli). The Maya races of Guatemala designate it as ah-mak, and this word also seems to denote the vul- ture, "who eats out eyes", "who makes pitlike excavations". The Zapotec word is loo, or guilloo. This indeed could not mean the vulture, but a ditterent bird, the raven (pelao, halloo). The vulture in Zapotec is pellaqui (pelahui, balai, baldai). Now it is not impossible that one and the same conception underlies both these titles. Lao, loo, means "eye", "face", "front", "outside". Laqui, lahui, lai, means "set into the veiy midst", "between", "common", "public". But at any rate, the meaning which lies at the bottom of the root of pellaqui, baldai, "vulture", also occurs in the root loo. We have, for instance, xi-loo-eela, co-loo-eela, "in the middle of the night", "midnight''; loo-thoo, the "middle of the body", "breast", "trunk". Still a third bird is mentioned in the Mexican calendar, of the Cronica Franciscana of Guatemala, namely the tecolotl, "the night bird", "the owl". The idea of death forms a connecting link between the vulture feeding on corpses and the dark bird of night which is easily understood. So, too, in picture writings we often find the cozca- quauhtli and the owl used interchangeably. The Maya hieroglyph, as I have already stated in ni}^ earlier work, gives rise to very diti'erent conceptions. It shows us (see a?, figure -i) a SELER] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 49 figure which is invariably used in tlie manuscripts on the jugs from which the intoxicating drink mead foams (see ^, figure 3, page 36), and which seems to be nothing but a somewhat conventionalized form of the yacametztli, the half-moon-shaped nose ornament of the pulque god, which is used on drinking vessels in Mexican picture writing.^ The upper part of the hieroglyph shows the stripes usually employed for snakes, and seems to indicate the snake, which is often drawn winding about the wine jug. The name Cib also suits this con- ception, for ci is the maguey plant and is also used to denote the pulque made from it, as well as all other intoxicating drinks. Cib might therefore be formed with the instrumental suffix and mean "that which is used for making wine", either the honey or, perhaps more correctly, the narcotic root which was added to the fermented drink. The Mexicans called this addition patli, "medicine", from which the pulque god was known as Patecatl.* There is a connection between these conceptions and the Mexican name for the day sign (Cozaquauhtli, "vulture"), as I have already pointed out in my earlier work, arising from the conception of the vulture, "the bald- headed," as the symbol of age, for the enjoyment of pulque, the intox- icating drink, was in Mexico granted to old age only. It now seems as if the Zapotec name for this day sign also fitted into the framework of these conceptions, for loo, loo-paa, is the root, and may therefore correspond to the Mexican patli, the Maya cib, that is, the pulque seasoning. In German there is an undoubted etymologic connection between Wurzel (" root") and Wiirze ("seasoning"). So I believe that the double meaning of the Zapotec name has perhaps more to do with the divergent representation and designation of the sixteenth day sign, as it appears in the Mexican and Maya calendar, than the connection of ideas which links the conceptions of vulture, baldness, old age, and pulque. If I am not mistaken, a divergent representation of this day sign is also actually expressed in the Maya hieroglyph. For we occasionally find a variant of it [y, figure 4) in which the distinguish- ing element is not the pulque symbol, but a feather, or perhaps the night bird itself, the owl (see hh, figure 4, one of the glyphs of the owl). This would also answer to the above-mentioned Guatemalan name for this day sign. The forms in the books of Chilan Balam [z and «a), also seem to indicate or reproduce a feather. The seventeenth day sign in the Zapotec calendar is xoo. This corresponds exactly with the Aztec name for it, Olin, "motion", for the Zapotec word xoo combines with the more general meaning "powerful", "strong", "forcible", the special one "earthquake": aSee VerSffentlichung des Koniglichen Museums fiir Volkerkunde in Berlin, v. 1, pp. 132,133 and flgs. 61, and 62, p. 169. ft In my article on "DasTonalamatlderAubin'schenSammlung" (Compte rendu du septi^me session du Congrfes international d'Americanistes, Berlin, 1888), I accepted the incorrect reading Pantecatl. All the deductions based on this reading are therefore faulty. 7238— No. 28—05 4 50 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 xoo, xixooni, temblor de tierra ("earthquake"); tixoo layoo, temblar la tierra ("for the earth to shake"); pitao-xoo, dios de los terremotos (" god of earthquakes"). And it is well known that in Mexican picture- writings on historical subjects, as those in Codex Telleriano-Remensis and Codex Vaticanus A, the sign Olin— usually, to be sure, in connec- tion with the brown and black dotted stripes, which signify the earth or the tilled field— is generally used to denote a coming earthquake, as the verb olini is especially used of earthquakes: auh in tlalli olini (Olmos). But if this is the original meaning of olin, we shall likewise have to search for a similar first conception for the hieroglyph by which the seventeenth day sign is known in the Maya manuscript. And, in fact, the very name which the day sign bears in the calendars of the Maya races points to this fundamental conception. The Tzental-Zotzil word chic means "to shake". The Guatemalan word noh means "great", "powerful", answering to the original meaning of the Zapotec xoo. The Maya name caban means "that which is brought down", "that which is below", that is, "earth", "world". The root cab has a still more pregnant meaning: in Charencey's vocabulary it is translated as terrain volcanique, that is, "earthquake region". In a broader sense it is also used for "earth", "world". And if the same root, cab, also means "excretion" and "honey", miel, colmena, ponzona de insecto, untuosidad de una planta o fruta, ("honey", "beehive", "venom insect", "juice of a plant or fruit"), then the intermediate idea is, it seems to me, that of dripping down. The forms of the hieroglyph Caban («, figure 5) are very nmch alike. But I did not recognize the real meaning in my earlier article. The hieroglyph contains an element which forms the characteristic constit- uent of the glyph of the young goddess Chibirias, or Ixchebelyax, who, as I think I can prove, takes the name Zac Zuhuy, "the white virgin ", a name which we also recognize in Zac Ziui, the Bacab of the Ix year, mentioned by Landa. It is evident in the hieroglpyh of this goddess {h and c, same figure) that the element which forms the distinguishing constituents of the hieroglyph Caban is meant to represent a part of the dark tuft of hair, with the long, waving, whiplike strands which give the whole figure of the goddess, where she is drawn in full, so characteristic an appearance. According to this we should conceive of the hieroglyph Caban merely as an abbreviation of the hieroglyph of this goddess, and thus recur to the same meaning which I have already derived from the Zapotec word xoo, namely, "the earth"; for Ixchebelyax, the young goddess, is only another form of the earth goddess, who occupies the same position in regard to the old earth mother Ixchel that Xochiquetzal does to Tonantzin among the Mexi- cans. I find a striking proof of the accuracy of this conception of the hieroglyph Caban in the fact that this hieroglyph appears homolo- seler] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 51 gously with the hieroglyphic men {v, figure 4), which, as I stated above, is the picture of the old earth goddess, the earth mother, Ixchel, or Tonantzin (compare the two forms g and A, figure 5, which are used for the bee fl3''ing down, in Troano codex, page 9*a). And, finall3^ this conception of the sign Caban also agrees very well with the part played by the hieroglyph Caban in the compound hiero- glyphs in the Maya manuscript; for this element forms an essential constituent in all hieroglyphs which symbolize the word "below" or Fig. 5. Day signs and related glyphs from the Maya codices. "descent from above". Thus in the hieroglyph of the fifth cardinal point {e to ^, figure 1), which denotes the center; in the hieroglyph of the bee {e to A, figure 5), which represents an insect swooping down from above; in the hieroglyphs {I to n., figure 5) which illustrate pouring from a jug or wine skin; in the hieroglyph 6», which denotes the felling of the tree; in the snake formed b}^ the sign Caban, upon which, in the Dresden codex, page 30«, the green Chac, the Chac of the fifth direc- tion, is descending. When, in my former article, I described this caban 52 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 snake, as well as d^ which in the Dresden manuscript in several places serves as a seat or footstool for Chac, and the element Caban generally as the heavenly seat, I gave the wrong emphasis to descent from above instead of to descent. In fact, this figure, like lo, figure 4, which serves in other parts of the Dresden manuscript as the seat of ('hac, should be defined as "the lower place", the "earth". Indeed, the face of the old earth goddess is clearly visible in w^ figure 4, while the figure of the hieroglyph Gaban, as I stated above, shows us the goddess's hair. 1 will also mention /, figure 6, which in the Troano codex, page 25*J, accompanies the figure of the tobacco-smoking god of heaven. Accord- ing to a view still prevailing in Yucatan, the Balam, the gods of the four cardinal points, or the four winds, are great smokers, and shooting stars are merely the burning stumps of gigantic cigars which these beings fling down from heaven. And when it thunders and lightens, the Balam are striking fire to light their cigars. « Glyph i gives us the element of the stone and the element of descent from on high. The popular belief just described explains therefore in a simple way these singular pictures and the hieroglyphs which accompany them. In another place (Troano codex, page 26*5) the smoker is described in the text by the hieroglyph h. This is either to be translated as " the noc- turnal" (see the hieroglyph Akbal) or as "the red", Chac. For I have found the element Akbal in various places (for instance, in the Cortes codex, page %)d) used as a substitute for u, figure 1, Chac, " red". The eighteenth day sign in the Zapotec calendar bears the name opa or gopa. This is undoubtedly the same word as copa, "cold", "the cold"; taca-copa, tipee-copa, "to be cold"; tixopa-ya, "I am cold." This name agrees with the meaning of the sign in the Mexican calendar (Tecpatl, "flint") and with the pictures of the Maya hiero- glyphs (Ezanab), which also represent the stone which is struck, the tip of the flint; for the notions "stone", "tip", " cold" are merged, one into the other, in the conceptions and language of the Mexicans. Itztlacoliuhqui, the god of stone, is also the god of cold, of infatuation, and of sin. The Zapotec name for the nineteenth day sign is harder to interpret. After removing the prefixes, we have the forms ape, appe, aape, gappe. This is probably to be resolved into aa-pee or caa-pee, and this would signify "covered with clouds" or " cloud covering". Now, this does not answer directly to the Mexican name Quiauitl, " rain", but it does to the form of the Maya hieroglyph (;:?, figure 5), which, as I have shown in my former work, contains an abbreviation of the head of the moan bird (Z", /, and in, figure 4), the mythical conception of the muyal, the "cloud covering of the heavens." The name also seems to correspond to the other Mexican names, for the sign in Guatemala was ayotl, " tortoise"; for the cloud was also expressed by the picture wBrinton, Folklore Journal, v. 1. SELER] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 53 of a flj'ing tortoise. In Cortes codex, page 17^, we see its picture accompanied b}^ the g-roup of hierogl^rphs of <7, figure 5, which con- tains in its first part above the element of flying and below it the ele- ment Cauac. And elsewhere we see the tortoise, now in a stream of water, with the frog, coming down from above; again with open jaws hanging to the heavenly shield. '^ But if the Zapotec name for the nineteenth day sign can only be placed among the names of the other calendars with a certain doubt attached to it, on the other hand the Zapotec language afl'ords the only and direct clue to an explanation of the part which the hieroglyph Cauac plays in the Maya manuscript. We find on the one hand, it is true, terms which approach to the idea of clouds and rain. Thus there is the hieroglyph s, the companion hieroglyph of k, figure 4, that is, the ]>ird moan. So also in _/, figure 3 (page 36), is the companion hiero- glyph of the name Kinchahau, which besides Cauac also contains the element of fire and that of the ax, which would suggest the lightning- flashing from the clouds. But the hieroglyph Cauac is chiefly used simply with the meaning "stone" or "weight". This is most strik- ingly shown in the animal traps which are represented in Troano codex, pages 9a and 22*^, where the stones laid upon the beams to weigh them down have the element of the hieroglyph Cauac written on them. But we must also accept this same explanation when we find the pyramidal substructure of the temple covered with the element of the sign Cauac. And if in Troano codex, page 15*«, the Chac felling a tree is confronted with the death god felling a tree which is covered with the element of the sign Cauac, it probably onl}^ means that a barren stone is substituted in the case of the death god for what is a living tree in the case of Chac. The man}^ instances where the hieroglyph Cauac serves as a seat or foot- stool for the gods are probably to be interjDreted sometimes as clouds, but in most cases undoubtedly as stone, homologous with the hiero- glyph Caban and the element tun ("stone") itself (;2?, figure 5), both of which we so often find depicted as the seat and footstool of the gods. There is quite as little doubt that the element Cauac in the hieroglyph of //', which denotes the bearing of a burden on the back, is to be con- ceived of simply as the expression of "that which weighs down", "the burden". In the remarkable instances where we find the gods holding a board in their hands on which are the elements of the sign Cauac or where a board provided with a plaited handle is drawn in front of the gods, the surface being covered with the element Cauac, it seems to denote a sounding-board, for the hieroglyphs added seem to mean music. Finally, there are also direct resemblances between the element Cauac a The tortoise plays a similar part among the northern Indians. Catlin learned from the Mandan that " there were four tortoises— one in the north, one in the east, one in the south, and one in the west. Each one of these rained ten days and the water covered the earth." (Manners and Customs of the North American Indians, v. 1, p. 181.) 54 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 and the element tun. Thus in the hieroglyph of the g'od of hunting, v, whose distinguishing characteristic usually is that lie bears on his diadem an eye or the element tun, that is, a "jewel". The hiero- glyph of this god is sometimes written in the form shown at t; some- times in that of u. And that the element substituted in a for the element Cauac is actually to be conceived of here as tun or "stone", "precious stone", follows, on the one hand, from its use as a precious stone in the head ornament (tun, "stone", "precious stone"), and, on the other hand, from its being the basis for the post on which Mam, the Uuayayab demon, is set in the xma kaba Idn (Dresden codex, page 25c). Now, it is surely quite safe to assume a connection of ideas between clouds, rain, and stone, for in those regions every rain is a thunderstorm. Nevertheless, it will be plain that an armj'^ of doubts was routed when I hit upon the fact in the course of my Zapotec studies that the very same word, that is, quia, quie, is used in Zapotec for "rain" and "stone". For the last day sign we find in the Zapotec calendar the name lao or loo, and this means "eye", "face", "front." This again does not agree directly with the Mexican Xochitl, "flower", but with the form of the Maya hieroglyph {y and 2), which undoubtedl}'- represents a face. The name of the Maya sign Ahau, "leader", also agrees. There is also undoubtedl}^ a connection of ideas between "eye" and "flower". To be sure, I can not now actually prove it from the Zapotec tongue. But I showed the metamorphosis of the eye into the flower in the Zapotec figm-es which I described and copied in Veroffentlichungen aus dem Koniglichen Museum fiir Volkerkunde, volume 1, parts 1 to 4. And indeed the Zapotec word for flower may explain some singular resemblances of the hieroglyph Ahau. In Zapotec, for instance, "flower" is quije, which is very much like the word quie, "rain", and "stone". The i, as is stated in a gram- mar, was pronounced with stronger emphasis ("for this ij is empha- sized more than to signify the stone"). Now, it is indeed a striking fact that the element Ahau (Mexican xochitl, "flower") in some hieroglyphs seems to be homologous with the element Cauac (Mexican quiauitl, "rain"). If this were a single instance, 1 should not lay much stress upon it. But as the above researches as to the meaning of the Zapotec day signs have in almost ever}' instance shown that the Zapotec names formed the connecting link for apparently irreconcil- able difl'erences in the Mexican and Maya names and designations, I believe that I may also add this coincidence to the rest. It is obvious from its situation and it is also historically proved that the country of the Zapotecs was the region above all others in which an interchange was efl'ected of cultural influences which spread from the Mexican region to that of the Mava races and vice versa. But SELEE] THE MEXICAN CHRONOLOGY 55 the present researches force us to the conclusion that the Zapotec country was more than a region of interchange; that it was the land in which the Mexican calendar, a most important factor in our knowledge of the Mexican races, had its origin. Indeed, among no other races did the calendar and the determining of fate connected with it exert so powerful an influence over all the relations of life as among the Zapotecs. We can speak with greater confidence upon this point when more is known of that Maya race bordering on the Zapotecs, the Tzental-Zotzil of Chiapas. ANCIENT MEXICAN FEATHER ORNAMENTS EDUARD SELER 57 ANCIENT MEXICAN FEATHER ORNAMENTS" By Eduard Seler In the question raised by Mrs Nuttall as to whether the ancient Mexican feather ornament in the Imperial Museum of Natural Histor}^ at Vienna, which came from the collection at the castle of Ambras, is to be reg-arded as a standard, such as prominent Mexican warriors wore strapped to their backs in battle and in dances, or rather as a headdress, I have not declared for one theor}^ or another, and have taken part only in so far as I was justified in believing Mrs Nuttall's proofs to rest on mistaken premises. She maintains that the ornament in question should be considered as a headdress, and, indeed, onlv as the headdress of Uitzilopochtli, which at the same time was also worn b}^ the Mexi- can king. This view I am inclined to reject. As for the matter itself, Valentini has already pointed out in an article in the American Antiquarian that headdresses similar to the Vienna headdress are to be found here and there upon figures in the Maya sculptures. Mrs Nuttall subsequently brought forward the figure of a god from a picture manuscript which she was so fortunate as to dis- cover in the Biblioteca Nazionale at Florence (and which is an older and better copy of the codex attributed to Ixtlilxochitl than is in the Aubin-Goupil collection), a figure wearing a head ornament which is indeed strikingl}^ like the Vienna ornament as it now exists with missing frontlet. But this is not the god Uitzilopochtli, as Mrs Nut- tall asserts and as 1 also credulously repeated, but Tezcatlipoca. I recentl}^ assured myself of this when I had an opportunity to examine the original in Florence. This figure is surrounded by impressions of a child's foot imprinted in the scattered meal, which announces the arrival of the young god Telpochtli Tezcatlipoca, the first of the gods returning home to their citv. The god Tezcatlipoca is represented in exactly the same way in the Codex Vaticanus A, and there denotes the twelfth feast of the year, the feast Teotleco ("the god has arrived"). Finally, I have tried, in my second article, to make it seem probable that the quetzalapanecayotl ("quetzal-feather ornament of the people of the coast regions"), a Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie, 1893, p. 44. 59 60 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 which, together with xiuh-xayacatl, or coa-xayacacatl, the snake mask of turquoise mosaic, forms the most conspicuous piece of adornment of the god known as Quetzalcouatl in the legend cycle of Tollan,« was a headdress similar to that worn by the god in the manuscript of the Biblioteca Nazionale. Being convinced of this, I could accept Mrs Nuttall's conjecture that the upper part of the hieroglyph apanecatl in the Boturini codex was intended to represent an apanecayotl. While I fully recognized that the interpretation offered by Mrs Nuttall was not unwarranted, I still believed that the other con- struction, given by von Hochstetter, which is based on an old oil painting in the Bilimec collection, was not to be set aside. For, six months before, during an inspection of the Aubin-Goupil collection, I had discovered the original of the Bilimec warrior in the figure of King Axayacatl, who advances to battle against the arrogant Moquiuix, king of Tlatelolco, with the banner bound upon his back. I could Flu. G. Copy of figure in tlie Cozcatzin codex. merel}^ allude to this in my communication of that date. For during the hour which was allowed me to examine the Aubin-Goupil collection I had no time for even the hastiest sketch. Doctor Uhle, who under- took to defend Mrs NuttalTs views in a reply, was quite reluctant to accept this statement, brought forward without proof. Fortunately, I am now in a position to offer a photographic reproduction of the pages in question (Cozcatzin codex, pages 14 and 15), which is taken from E. Boban's published synopsis of the Aubin-Goupil collection. The very first glance shows us that the selfsame warrior in the self- same ornaments is represented here as in the Bilimec picture (compare figure 6 and d, figure 9), only the latter is not a mere cop}" of one of the figures in the Cozcatzin codex, but of kindred originals, and at any rate the same tradition guided the artist in both cases. o Botli these pieces are ascribed to Quetzalcouatl of Tollan, not only in the passage from the Anales de Quauhtitlan, which I quoted in my former article, but also in the Aztec text of the twelfth book of the historical work of P. Sahagun. SELEE] ANCIENT MEXICAN FEATHER ORNAMENTS 61 At the time when Axaj^acatl was king, that is, supreme war chief of the Mexicans, the kingdom passed through a severe crisis. After Itzcouatl freed the Mexicans from the supremac}'^ of Azcapotzalco and the elder Motecuhzoma had prepared the conditions for the later rapid extension of Mexican dominion b}- establishing the alliance of the three states and forcibly subjugating Chalca, the enemy arose against Axayacatl in his own house. Close by Tenochtitlan, on the same marsh island, was the sister city of Tlatelolco, whose inhabitants, although of another and an older race than the Tenochca, living accord- ing to laws of their own, had hitherto united their interests with those of the Mexicans and fought shoulder to shoulder with them— for instance, against Azcapotzalco. In the early years of Axayacatl's reign, discontent, which had probably long been smoldering, broke out. Histories give various insignificant provocations as the cause. Suffice it to say that Moquiuix, king of Tlatelolco, openly took up arms against Tenochtitlan. The danger was all the greater because the neighboring cities allied to the Tlatelolca, Azcapotzalco, Tenayocan, and Quauhtitlan, also turned theii- arms against the Tenochca. Here young Axayacatl seems to have decided the matter in favor of the Mexicans by his own military ability. The Tlatelolca were forced back from street to street and finally surrounded in the great market place of Tlatelolco, near which the terraced pyramid of their god rose like a citadel. The warriors of the Tlatelolca took refuge upon its apex, and it was Axayacatl himself, as historians unanimously state, who, pressing forward, slew King Moquiuix and hurled him down the steps of the pyramid. It is this event which is portrayed in the accompanying cut (figure (5) from the Cozcatzin codex. On the left we see King Moquiuix, in eagle array and denoted by his name hieroglyph, escaping up the steps of the pyramid pursued by Axayacatl; on the right, the victorious Axayacatl on the pyramid and Moquiuix lying vanquished at the foot. I have pointed out in earlier works that it follows from history, as well as from picture manuscripts, that Mexican kings and commanders in chief in later times assumed in war the dress and attributes of the god Xipe, the red god of the Yopi, who was called Tlatlauhqui Tezcatl or Tlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoca, the god who was clad in a fiayed human skin. This follows from various passages in the Cronica Mexicana of Tezozomoc. It is confirmed by Sahagun, who mentions as first among the military equipments of kings the tlauhquecholtzontli ("crown made of the feathers of the roseate spoonbill"), which was worn together with the coztic teocuitlayo ueuetl ("the gilded timbrel"), the tlauhquecholeuatl ("the jacket of spoonbill feathers"), and the tzapocueitl ("the petticoat or apron of green feathers lapping over one another like tiles"), all parts of the dress of Xipe. And it is clearly demonstrated by a passage in the Codex Vatican us A (page 12S), 62 BUREAU OF AMERICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 where we find, in the year "9 Calli" or A. D. 1501, King Mote- cuhzoma the 3^oung-er represented in the complete dress of Xipe as victor over Toluca {a, figure 7). This Xipe dress is expressly men- tioned in a passage of the Cronica Mexicana by Tezozomoc as the dress formerly worn by King Axayacatl. I copy the passage in full, because it is of interest in relation to our picture. It refers to an enterprise against Uexotzinco, lying on the other side of the mountains and hostile to the Mexican confederation, in the reign of Motecuh- zoma the younger. Tlacauepan, the younger brother of the king, comes to Motecuhzoma and says: "Lord, I believe that my eyes to- day behold you for the last time, for I am minded to put myself at the head of the troops and make my way through or die in the attempt." To this the king replies: "If such be thy will, then take this armor, which once belonged to King Axayacatl, the golden device teocuitla- tontec with the tlauhquechol bird upon it and the broad wooden sword Fig. 7. The god Xipe's dress and shield. with broad obsidian blades " (Pues que asi lo quereis, tomad estas armas que fueron del rey Axayacatl, una divisa de oro llamado teocuitla ton- tec con una ave en cima de el tlauhquechol y un espadarte ancho maac cuahuitl de ancha navaja fuerte). "' Now it is indeed this Xipe armor in which we see King Axayacatl represented here in the cut from the Cozcatzin codex, as well as in the Bilimec picture. This is most plainly apparent in the human skin, the hands of which hang down over the king's wrists, the feet forming a sort of cuff over the ankles. So also the wholly un-Mexican feather skirt, almost like a theatric costume, which surrounds the hips of the Bilimec warrior, the tzapocueitl, is a part of the Xipe dress. This Xipe petticoat is made of feathers, running into points and overlapping each other like tiles. Likewise the tiger-skin scabbard with which the obsi- dian sword is provided in both pictures points to Xipe. In other par- ticulars the dress differs in no small measure from that of representa- a Tezozomoc, Cr6nica Mexicana, chap. 91. selee] ANCIENT MEXICAN FEATHEE OKNAMENTS 63 tions of this deity hitherto known. The god usually wears on his head the yopitzontli, a pointed crown made of the rose-colored feathers of the spoonbill, with fluttering- ribbons, forked like a swallow's tail. Axayacatl, however, is usually represented in the Cozcatzin codex with the xiuhuitzontli, the turquoise mosaic headband of Mexican kings, and the Bilimec warrior wears the quetzallalpiloni, the fillet with quet- zal-feather tassels. The plume which in both figures of Axayacatl (figure 6) rises behind the shield is likewise nothing else than an essen- tial part of the royal Mexican dress. It belongs, as a tuft, to the machoncotl, the shell bracelet which the king wore on his upper arm (compare the picture in the atlas of Duran). Yellow or Green. Blue, brown. Fig. 8. Disks from Mexican codices. Xipe's shield is the tlauhteuilacachiuhqui, a round shield covered with the rose-colored feathers of the spoonbill, showing concentric circles of darker tint on its surface. It is not infrequently bisected vertically, in which case one half is divided by an oblique line into a larger lower and a smaller upper panel. The former has a tiger- skin design, the latter the figure of an emerald in a blue field, or one trav- ersed by wavy lines (see 5, figure 7). I foi'merly explained the emerald as a mirror. This is not quite correct, although in the drawing of both (mirror and emerald) the same fundamental principle of the glittering disk throwing rays in all (four) directions is expressed. See a, figure 8, 64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull.28 where 1, 2, 3, and 4 are taken from the manuscripts, and in fact from hieroglyphs whose phonetic value is known, while 5, which occurs on a beautiful cla}^ vessel found in the vicinity of Tlaxcala, with tiger and snake heads, a bundle of spears, and a feather ball, is perhaps only meant to represent the fiery luminous disk in general. The emerald in a watery field is to be read chalchiuh-atl. This may mean, in general, the ''precious fluid"; but it is more probably the same as chalchiuh-uitz-atl, the "precious water flowing in penance"— that is, the sacrificial blood, the blood. Indeed, upon the beautiful feather mantle belonging to the Uhde collection in the Royal Museum of Eth- nology we see the emerald above, on a bright green field, and below it a stream of blood with a skull on its surface. These characteristic symbols, which are seen on Xipe's shield, on the Chimalli stone from Cuernavaca (J, figure T). and also, although only indicated, on the shield borne by Motecuhzoma dressed as Xipe («, figure 7), are wholly wanting in the Axayacatl disguised as Xipe of the Cozcatzin codex and in the Bilimec warrior. In both an arm is painted on the surface of the shield. This is not very common as a shield emblem. And the agreement upon this point, in conjunction with the identity of the devices on the back, is a striking proof in favor of the theory that the painter of the Bilimec picture and the artist of the Cozcatzin codex had the same original or, at least, the same tradition in mind. In the Sahagun manuscript of the Academia de la Historia a shield with a drawing of a hand under the name macpallo chimalli is repre- sented among the shields of chiefs and warriors of lower rank. But this name does not explain the meaning of the emblem. On the other hand, I find the shield with the hand on a beautifully drawn colored page in the Aubin-Goupil collection, which the publisher, Eugene Boban, describes as " worship of Tonatiuh (the sun), a document relating to the theogony and astronomy of the ancient Mexicans", and which, as he explains, perhaps represents looking up at an eclipse of the sun.« This cut reminds us, by the style of painting, of the Vienna manuscript, and originated somewhere near the Olmeca Uixtotin Mixteca. The paintings are done on a piece of leather, which is covered with a kind of white stucco, such as we find in the Mixtec manuscripts of the Philipp J. Becker and Dorenberg collections. The sheet is a repre- sentation of the tonalamatl in five, instead of four, directions. The tonalamatl divisions in question are not, strange to say, desig- nated by the initial days, but by two dates, which, as it seems, repre- sent the name hieroglyphs of the divinities which adorn this division, a A copy, and that a very bad one, of this was made by Le6n y Gama, in which the middle part is restored, doubtless incorrectly, as may be clearly seen in several preserved portions. This copy was reproduced by Brantz Mayer (" Mexico as it was", etc., New York, 1844) as the upper side of a buried stone found in Mexico, which was said to have served for the sacriflcio gladiatorio. This copy is also given by Chavevo in "MC^xico & travcs de los siglos", v. 1, as " Piedra policroma del sa- criflcio gladiatorio ' ' . seler] ANCIENT MEXICAN FEATHER ORNAMENTS 65 one of which is combined with the numeral 1 and the other with the numeral 5. The five dates with the numeral 1 and the five with the numeral 5 are just 51 days apart. And these five times 51 inter- mediate da3^s are marked on the sheet by small circles in the circum- ference of the five divisions. Here we find a male and a female deity placed opposite to each other in the first (upper right) division, which is shown to belong- to the region of the east by the drawing of the heavens with the image of the sun upon it and, moreover, by a rising Fig. 9. Mexican shields. sun {h, figure 8). Beside the latter stands ce Mazatl ("one deer"), as the name hieroglyph of the day. Beside the former (c, figure 8) as name hieroglyph of the day is macuilli Cuetzpalin ("five lizard"). The former god, whom I must take, for various reasons, to be the same as Xolotl in the Borgian codex, page 29 {a, figure 9), wears on his left arm a shield, which has a hand as its emblem, and the ends of his loin cloth are also painted with large black hands. Xolotl is a figure which orig- inated in southern regions, and may possibly represent fire rushing down from heaven or light flaming up in the heavens. In the manuscripts 7238— No. 28—05 5 66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 the setting sun, devoured by the earth, is opposed to him, similarly as the sun god is opposed to the death god. He may perhaps be described as a sun god of southern tribes (Zapotecs?). In the Mexican legend he appears as the representative of human sacrifice and as the god of monstrosities, perhaps identical with Nauauatzin, the "poor leper", who leaps into the flaming fire, sacrificing himself, in order that he may rise again as the sun in the firmament. The Xolotl head (quaxolotl) is therefore one of the most prominent warrior devices." Xolotl is doubtless a kindred figure to the god Xipe, and his home should be sought in the immediate vicinity of Xipe's home. The shield with the human arm as its emblem, which is worn by Axayacatl of the Cozcat- zin codex and by the Bilimec warrior, is therefore hardly to be regarded as an irregularity or as anything contradictory to the former costume. I now come to the device on the back, the remarkable standard, which von Hochstetter has used to interpret the Viennese ornament. For the sake of clearness I have drawn it once more from the Cozcatzin codex as c, figure 9, and contrasted it with the Bilimec warrior, d. Here, first of all, we should consider the framework, from which the standard apparently rises. It is obvious that it is not a house, as von Hochstetter and Mrs Nuttall assumed, and as Doctor Uhle finally "proved". We grant Doctor Uhle, to be sure, that the "dark distinguishable door and window openings " in the small Bilimec picture might lead him astray. In other respects the frame on the Bilimec warrior resembles a Mexican house as little as possible. On the contrary, that the object in question is a genuine framework carried on the back is clearly shown by the straps crossing over the breast of the figures in the Cozcatzin codex. But what kind of a framework can it be? Of course, it has nothing to do with the ladderlike carrying frame (cacaxtli), to which devices for the back are fastened elsewhere. I hesitate between two theories. The most natural conjecture would be to consider it only an ill-drawn ueuetl, a drum, such as King Nezaualcoyotl wears in J.* a See Zeitschrift flir Ethnologic, 1891, v. 23, p. 127. 6 Singular conflicts have arisen in regard to this portrait. It belongs, with three others, to a manu- script which is ascribed to the historian Don Fernando Alva de Ixtlilxochitl, a decendant of Tetz- cocanic kings; later it doubtless came into the hands of the learned Jesuit Don Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora with all Ixtlilxochitl's possessions, and now forms a part of the Aubin-Goupil collection. At the time that it was in Siguenza's hands, the Neapolitan traveler, Gemelli Carreri, visited Mexico and copied these four portraits, with other parts of the manuscripts, to use in the account of his travels. These four portions represent, as the legends accompanying them state, the Tetzcocanic kings Nezaualcoyotl and Nezaualpilli and two Tetzcocanic nobles (tribal chiefs ?), named Tocuepotzin and Quauhtlatzocuilotzin. But Gemelli Carreri classed these with a fifth portrait, which, according to Boturini, also represents King Nezaualpilli, and gave them the names of the Mexican kings Tizoc, Axayacatl, Auitzotl, Motecuhzoma, and Quauhtemoc. But it happened that in the first Neapolitan edi- tion of his "Giro del mundo " (Naples, 1699-1701), the original, correct name (Nezaualcoyotl) was left attached to the second figure. In later editions (Venice, 1719; Paris, 1719) the list of Mexican kings is complete. Kingsborough's five portraits are reproduced from the first Neapolitan edition, and I owe it to this circum.stance that 1 was enabled to give King Nezaualcoyotl {b, fig. 9) his true name in my work. SELER] ANCIENT MEXICAN FEATHER OENAMENTS 67 For such an object, the yopiueuetl, is actually a part of Xipe's costume. In the drawing of the Cozcatzin codex the lower appendages may very well represent the feet of the ueuetl. The dotted upper portions maybe meant for a tiger skin— such, for instance, as serves in the Borgian codex, page 55, as a drumskin for the ueuetl beaten by the coyote-eared god represented there. To be sure, the square form of the framework contradicts this theory, for the ueuetl is usually drawn round, cylindric (see figure 10). If we reject this interpretation, we can conjecture that it may be a quetzal comitl, a feather basket, which Tezcatlipoca and other gods are often represented wearing on their backs. . The handle of the standard, which rises from this framework, in the Cozcatzin codex is apparently dotted, like the wooden sword which the king holds in his hand. We must suppose that the handle was also meant to be represented as covered with tiger skin. This, I think, is the case with the Bilimec warrior. The handle of his stand- ard is composed of three per- pendicular lines. Between two of them we see a diagonal strip- ing, which led Mrs Nuttall to read the mecatl here as ' ' rope". I think this diagonal striping, like that on the Xipe shield {h, %ure 7), is meant to express the hairy belly of the tiger, which should be indicated on the right hand, between the other two vertical stripes, by spots, but was omitted in the original from which the painter worked by an oversight such as often occurs in the manuscripts. Lastly, the fan-shaped ornament Avhich is fastened to this handle is identical in character in both illustrations, except that in the Bilimec warrior {d, figure 9) an arrow is added to the base. But this can scarcely have any special meaning. Perhaps it is only meant to accentuate the reed frame which sei'ves to support the ornament. How, then, are we to interpret the device worn by King Axayacatl in the Cozcatzin codex and by the Bilimec warrior? It may be accepted as a matter of course that it is only a further completion of Xipe attributes. Those who are influenced by Mrs Nuttall's interpretation of the Vienna ornament may be led to con- jecture that it is Xipe's headdress borne upon the pole, just as we actually find the pointed Uaxtec cap, which is commonlv the actual head covering, also fastened on a frame as a device for the back. « But Xipe's feather headdress, at least in so far as we may conclude from "See Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1891, v. 23, pp. 132, 151. Fig. 10. Mexican drums (ueuetl). 68 BUREAU OV AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 existing illustrations, was of a different form (see h, figure 7). From the arrangement of the whole ornament it also seems to me, as von Hoch- stetter asserts for the Vienna ornament, that it is based upon the idea of a bird swooping down from above with outspread wings, the middle, higher, upright part representing the tail, the side parts the wings, while head and beak are not indicated in the drawings in ques- tion. The idea that the Deity came down from heaven in the form of a bird is a widely spread conception that plays an important part in the mythologies of Central American races. From the Xipe dress of the Mexican kings, which I have described in my earlier article," it follows that the god was regarded in three forms: as the red god (hav- ing the color of the tlauhquecholli, the roseate spoonbill), as the blue god (of the color of the xiuhtototl, the blue cotinga), and as a tiger (jaguar, ocelotl), probably corresponding to the three regions (heaven, earth, and underworld) or the three elements (fire, water, and earth). These are, moreover, the same three colors or variations represented on his tripartite shield described above. In the manuscripts Xipe himself is usually represented in one form only, as the red god; just as Ixcozauhqui, the fire god of Tlatelolco,, only appears in the manuscripts in one form, as the burning, devour- ing fire, although he, too, as we know from the description of his fes- tival, was represented in twofold form, as the light-blue one with the turquoise and emerald mask and as the burning one with the mask of red shell plates and black tezcapoctli. On the other hand, we find the god Tezcatlipoca represented in the manuscripts now as the red one and again as the black one, and as both of these— for instance, in the Borgian codex, page 18— placed together. It is worthy of note that the red Tezcatlipoca (Tlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoca) is not only given as one of the names of the god Xipe, but that occasionally also, just where Xipe should be drawn, a red (tlatlauhqui) Tezcatlipoca is drawn instead, as in the Borgian codex, page 28, with the fifteenth day sign (quauhtli, "eagle''). The manuscripts originating in more southern regions, Zapoteca and Mixteca, seem to be more authoritative than the genuine Mexican ones in regard to the representations of the deities in ques- tion. Among the former, the manuscript preserved in the Vienna library is the most important. In the first part of this w^e find the god Xipe in his classic form, clad in the fiayed human skin, and des- ignated by the date chicome Quiauitl, "seven rain". As in the Bor- gian codex we have the red and the black Tezcatlipoca, so too we have here a red and a l)lack god placed together, side by side or one above the other. But in this case the conception is quite different. The strangely formed face shows a tiger's jaw introduced into a human face and eyes surrounded l)y serpentine lines. The red variant of this god, designated by the date naui Mazatl, "four deer", is dressed a See Zeitschrift fur Ethnologic, 1891, v. 23, pp. 133, 134. SELEK] ANCIENT MEXICAN FEATHER ORNAMENTS 69 in the flaming garb of an eagle-like bird, dj^ed with the color of the tlauhquechol, or has the' head of a similar bird as a helmet mask (5, d, and e, figure 11, right). The other, distinguished by the date naui Miquiztli, "four death", is clad in a similar but blackish bird garment or wears its head as a helmet mask («, c, and e, left). I believe that I am right in recognizing in these two figures the southern counterparts of the red and the black Tezcatlipoca. The same idea certainly underlies them both, and I am even tempted to see a reference to Tezcatlipoca in the footprints, which are given under a, and in the cobweb under both personages in e. Tezcatlipoca descended from heaven by a spider's thread.^ And lo-peyo ("the face or image of the moon") is the Zapotec name for cobweb. I therefore conclude that the bird dress dyed with the color of the tlauhquechol was equiva- lent among southern races to a disguise of the red Tezcatlipoca— that is, Xipe. In the little Bilimec picture there is painted on the surface of the fanlike ornament, which is carried on a pole, a broad stripe of deep- rose color and also one of white; that is, the colors of the roseate spoonbill (tlauhquecholli) and the colors of Xipe. In this fanlike ornament, I repeat, I find the idea of a bird swooping down with out- spread wings distinctly expressed. If these facts are taken into consideration, and if we further con- sider that in dangerous military enterprises Mexican commanders in chief were accustomed to put on the Xipe dress, formerly worn by King Axayacatl (see the passage quoted above from Tezozomoc, chap- ter 91), all must, I think, admit that it is not an idle conjecture if I regard the device with which King Axayacatl is depicted in our draw- ing as a direct illustration of the description which is given in Tezo- zomoc's (Jronica Mexicana of the armor which Motecuhzoma wore at the storming of Nopallan. We read there (chapter 81) that Motecuh- zoma awaited his men armado todo de armas, con una divisa muy rica de plumeria, y encima una ave, la pluma de ella muy rica y relum- brante, que llaman tlauhquecholtontec: iba puesto de modo que pare- cia que iba volando, y debajo un atamborcillo dorado muy resplan- deciente, trenzado con una pluma arriba de la ave arriba dicha, y una rodela dorada de los costeanos muy f uerte, y una sonaja omichicahuaz, y un espadarte de f uerte nabaja ancha y cortadora ("fully armed, with a very rich device of feathers, and above a bird, its plume very rich and resplendent, which they call tlauhquecholtontec: it was placed in such a manner that it seemed to be flying, and below a small drum, gilded and very shining, braided above with a feather of the above-mentioned bird, and a very strong shield gilded on the sides, and a rattle (omichicahuaz), and a big sword with a strong, wide cutting blade"). <-!■ Menclieta. 70 EUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 1}^ Frr,. 11. Tho black Kod iinil tlu' red god, from tlie Vieiina iiiaiui.ifript. SELER] ANCIENT MEXICAN FEATHER OENAMENTd Yl The meanino- of this passage can scarcely be construed otherwise than as a reference in this case to a combined ornament for the back, consisting- of a drum attached to the carrying frame at the bottom^ and of a bird (swooping down?) with outspread wings fastened at the top of the pole/' I am therefore doubtful, in regard to figure 6, whether I may not have done P. Sahagun an injustice in assuming that the passage (book 8, chapter 9) where he states that the tlauhquecholtzontli was a device for the back— y trayan un plumage a cuestas que se llamaba tlauhque- choltzontli muy curioso ("and they carried on their backs a very curious plumage that was called tlauhquecholtzontli ")— was based on a false translation or a false application. The passage does, indeed, contradict book 8, chapter 12, where Sahagun says that the tlauhque- choltzontli is a head covering— un casquete de plumas muy coloradas, que se llamaban tlauhquecholtzontli,^ y al rededor del casquete una corona de plumas ricas y del medio de la corona salia un manojo de plumas bellas que Uaman quetzal, como penachos ("a helmet of col- ored feathers, which was called tlauhquecholtzontli, and around the helmet a crown of rich feathers, and from the middle of the crown projected a tuft of beautiful feathers which they call quetzal, like crests"). But the Aztec text in the latter passage does not directly state that the tlauhquecholtzontli was worn on the head, and in the former passage may possibly be understood to mean that the tlauhque- choltzontli, together with the drum, ueuetl, formed the back device— tlauhquecholtzontli tla^otlanqui quetzalli ycuecuetlacayo, yuical veuetl coztic teucuitlayo yn tlauiztli yn quimama mitotia ("the wig of spoon- bill feathers, the precious one with the waving tuft of feathers, and its appendix, the drum covered with gold; that is, the device [or, are the devices] which he wears on his back in the dance"). It is very possible that Father Sahagun, as was frequently the case, did not translate directly, but explained from circumstances known to him. Of course I do not now assert that the feather ornaments described as tzontii, "wig \ were all carried on poles. Of the next object, the xiuhtototzontli, the Aztec text says directly: ytzontecon conaquia tlatoani ("with this the king covers his head"), but it seems to me quite possible, as I suggested from the first,« that this ornament, like the Uaxtec pointed cap,^ was also sometimes worn on the head and sometimes borne as a device on a pole.*" I now return to the Vienna ornament. Mrs Nuttall's attempt to a. Uhle asserts, we scarcely see on what authority, that the reference here is to a stuffed bird. 6 The word amended after the Aztec text of the passage. cZeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1889, v. 21, p. 63. fiZeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, 1891, v. 21, p. 132, Doctor Uhle introduces, on p. 151, an illustration from the Aztec text of the Florentine Sahagun manuscript where we see, side by side, the cuextecatl with his pointed cap on his head and a similar pointed cap, quetzalcopilli, borne on a pole upon the back. e Contrary to Doctor Uhle, I must say that it has never occurred to me to connect the expression tzontii, "hair", with patzactli, "device". I distinctly described tzontii as "feather crown", patzactli as "a comb-shaped device worn on the back" in my pamphlet of 1891. 72 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bui^l. 28 explain away the Bilimec picture, an attempt which must seem in the highest degree fantastic to all who are familiar with Mexican subjects, is proved by our figure 6 to be false in all its premises. So, too, is the argument recently set forth by Doctor Uhie, that "warriors in battle, who, like the Mexicans, carried their own banners, would not have car- ried a banner likely to prove a hindrance in battle from its size or the manner of carrying it'\ The Mexicans did not consider such "practi- cal points of view". The armor which the more prominent warriors assumed for battle was the dress of a deity of whose power they became possessed when they put on his array, and to be assured of this power was probably the first "practical point of view" for the Mexi- cans. If the costume of the god required a bird with outspread wings Fig. 12. Mexican feather ornaments. to be worn, it would have been worn without much question as to whether it was practical or not. As far as form is concerned, how- ever, the l)anner which King Axayacatl and the Bilimec warriors wore on their l)acks, and also the bat dancer («, figure 12) from the Duran Atlas (Ti-atado 2, plate S), to which 1 drew attention in my first com- nmnication, may of course be used for purposes of comparison in studying the nu^ming of the Vienna ornament quite as well as the headdress apanecayotl of the god Tezcatlipoca in the manuscripts in the Hil)lioteca Nazionale. The horseshoe-shaped curve, on which Uhle lays such especial stress, probably only occurs in the Vienna ornament in consequence of its imperfect state of preservation, the golden beak which originally belonged on tiip front having now disappeared. SELER] ANCIENT MEXICAN FEATHER ORNAMENTS 73 We may perhaps go further. The oi-narneiit now preserved in the Vienna Museum was found in the Am})ra8 collection, tooether witii a feather ja(?ket (ain Morischor Roelvh), a feather shield (ain Kundell Von Roten feclern), a plume (ein morischer Feder Puschen, so aim Ross auf die Stirn gehort, "a Moorish plume, such as is used on the head of a horse"), and a feather fan (ain Wedler von Federn). The feather fan and feather shield were found later." All ai'e articles which belono-ed to the adornment of distinguished Mexican warriors. For the "plume, such as is worn on the head of a horse," is undoubtedly an aztaxelli — a plume which Mexican warriors stuck into their })ack tuft of hair when they joined in the dance. This plume and the feather fan most certainly constituted the civic dress (festive dress), the back device, feather jacket, and feather shield being- the military dress. If we continue our conjectures, we may also consider it probable that the Vienna ornament was a warrior's device. If this be the case, then the Axayacatl of the Cozcatzin codex and the Bilimec warrior ar-e more appropriate subjects foi- comparison than the god in the manuscript of the IMblioteca Nazionale. However, these are mere conjectures. Archeologic considerations do not lead to the goal. Since we are without historical proof, for the note in the catalogue, "ain Morischer liuet", can hardly be regarded as decisive, the matter must be relegated to that final resort to which, as I have always insisted, it properly belonged from the first— that is, to a study of the object itself. Von Hochstetter is the only one who has really studied the Vienna ornament in reference to its construc- tion. Mrs Nuttall only worked with a model. In opposition to von Hochstetter, Mrs Nuttall maintains that in his experiments with the original the crease in the stiffening prevented him from recognizing the possibility of its use as a headdress. We grant Mrs Nuttall that the limitation of the transverse stiffening to the side parts indicates a bending of these latter; but this is also quite compatible with von Ho(;hstetter's interpretation. The idea of a bird with outspread wings douljtless underlies the ornament. This kind of stiffening made a movement of the wings possible. Lastly, Mrs Nuttall claims for her theoi-y that, according to von Hochstetter's own state- ment, there was a pocket or hood-shaped opening large enough to admit a head between the nets which formed the foundation of the ' front and back of the ornament. But here again von Hochstetter gives a perfectly satisfactory explanation, since he says that in his opinion this pocket merely served to receive the upper part of the carrying pole. While these conditions offer no grounds which oblige us to accept Mrs Nuttall's theory, there are yet two facts which, in my opinion, Mrs Nuttall has not considered sufficiently. One is the defective condition of the ornament. According to the oldest catalogue f'See Fraiiz Heger. Antifilon dcs KTmi^iiflicJi-KHiserliohcn Natnrhistori.sfhen Hofmuseums v 7 r-t. 4. ' ■ ' 74 BUREAU OF AMERICAJSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 note there was a golden beak upon the front. Since we do not know how this was applied, or whether it covered the entire width of the front or not, all inquiry as to the possibility of its having been bound around the head is useless and really proves nothing. Von Hochstetter has further established that the back of the ornament was covered with feathers, which, like those on the front, were fastened to a line netting. This is intelligible if the ornament is flat. In a crown bound upon the head it would have been, to say the least, superfluous; but in this case we would, above all, expect to find a contrivance of some sort on the back of the net to regulate the folding while it is being bound about the head. The absence of this contravenes Mrs Nuttall's theory. I have not mentioned one piece which is seen on the sheet from the Cozcatzin codex (figure 6), that is, the large wheel-shaped ornament at the left on the back of the Axayacatl figure. I hold this ornament to be of exotic origin, an ornament adopted with the Xipe costume. We are confronted with the question as to how this ornament should be worn, whether in a perpendicular position fastened to a pole, like a kind of movable comb, or whether we should imagine it as a huge horizontal collar falling over the back. I am inclined to accept the latter theory, for similar horizontal collar-shaped feather ornaments were common in the tierra caliente, and were worn especially in the Pacific tierra caliente (see h, figure 12 from the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, which represents a member of the iinconquered tribes of Jalisco, against whom Pedro de Alvarado took the field). At Oaxaca I saw a pair of clay figures (man and woman), coming from the district of Zimat- lan. which combined with a huge aureole-shaped feather headdress another feather ornament worn across the back of the loins like a collar (see c, figure 12). I am the more inclined to use these figures for purposes of comparison, because both wore a mask on the middle of the girdle, and this is a peculiar feature found in the Xolotl(?) with the macpallo chimalli {h, figure 8), already used by me for comparison, as well as in all the other male and female figures on this sheet. The question of feather ornaments is a very complicated one and their meaning not easily explained, because these insignia and the whole politico-hierarchic system of the Mexicans are connected with their religious ideas and their cult, resulting from many centuries of development, amid perpetual contact and interchange with kindred and foreign cultures. The basis for the Mexican territory, taken in the strictest sense, must always be the Sahagun chapter, from which I quoted in my previous treatise its most essential pictorial and other contents. I have thus far found little to alter in what I stated then. Our field of vision would be greatly broadened if equally reliable and equally complete sources in regard to the same conditions existed con- cerning the other nations of Mexico. Unfortunately it is hardly to be expected that these will ever be found. ANTIQUITIES OF GUATEMALA EDTJAI^r) SELER 75 ANTIQUITIES OF GUATEMALA" By Eduakd Seler In the admirably written book, Guatemala, in which Doctor Stoll describes the impressions and experiences of a live years' sojourn in the reg-ion of this most important of the Central American Republics, the author in several places mentions the Indian burial mounds, which are scattered over the country from the plains in the neighborhood of the present capital up to the tierra f ria of Tecpam and the highlands and down again into the tierra caliente of Retal huleu and Soconusco. In this connection he adds the remark that a systematic search of these mounds in various geographically separated localities would contribute much to increase our knowledge of the primitive people of Guatemala. There were, to be sure, even then collections of antiquities in Guatemala, of which the most important was that of the Sociedad Economica in the capital. At the American Historical Exhibition in Madrid in 1892 Guatemala was represented by a series of beautiful vessels, among which were especially conspicuous the toothed vessels of Amatitlan, the sacrificial vessels of the Usumacinta, to be further discussed below, and beautiful vessels of the Maya type, with figures and hieroglyphs partly painted and partly wrought in relief. All these objects, however, were obtained through occasional finds, and accurate information was lacking in regard to the origin of many of them. There was even exhibited in their midst the Egyptian scara- baeus which Stoll mentions in the collection of the Sociedad Economica, said to have been found in the lake of Amatitlan. Consul-General F. C. Sarg, who formerly lived in Coban, but who now resides in the capital, has likewise made quite extensive collections of antiquities, and some years ago a number of smaller antiquities from the Vera Paz region came, through him, into the possession of the Royal Museum. Recently, however, that for which Stoll (in 1886) expressed a vague hope has been actually begun. Excavations have been undertaken systematically in at least two regions— in the neighborhood of Copan aVeroffentlichungen ausdem Koniglichen Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin, 1895. 77 78 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull.28 under the direction of the Peabody Museum in Boston, and in Alta Vera Paz by the private enterprise of Mr Erwin P. Dieseldorff and Dr Karl Sapper. 1 have nothing to report here concerning results achieved by the Americans in Copan, and full reports concerning them have not been made known. But the Royal Museum, on the contrary, has been able satisfactorily to open communications with Messrs Dieseldorff and Sapper and has received rich material from both gentlemen, especially abundant from the latter. Mr Dieseldorff has himself begun to report the results of his excavations in the Transactions of the Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology, and Archeology.^ Doctor Sapper has presented to the Royal Museum his share of the results of the excava- tions undertaken in cooperation with Mr Dieseldortf and what he has been able to collect on his geologic expeditions in Guatemala. In addition to the reports of this traveler, which form the second article of this number, I will discuss some important specimens of this collec- tion and compare them with such material as the Royal Museum already possesses in earlier collections from the same region. Beginning in the north, we have before us in the frontier tracts near Yucatan and the mountainous regions of Alta Vera Paz the interesting territory to whose peoples, in pre-Spanish times, an extended maritime intercourse was unknown, which then formed the great highroad of traffic and travel, and which also had doubtless been the ancient highway of migratory nations. Now, however, this region is largely waste and desolate, uninhabited, and covered with primeval forests. Concerning the ancient conditions of this territory, which are obscure in many respects, I wish to make some introductory observations. Cortes passed through this territory in his famous expedition to Honduras in 1525.* He found his way as far as the Usumacinta with the help of charts which the aborigines of Coatzacualco had given him. On the other side of the Usumacinta he came to a territory called Acalan, whose inhabitants on one side carried on an uninterrupted traffic by boat with Tabasco and Xicalango and on the other side had their factories on the Golfo Dulce, on the boundaries of Honduras. There Cortes received more reliable news of the Spaniards settled on the Golfo Dulce, to see whom he had undertaken his expedition. On a piece of cloth they painted for him all the rivers, lakes, and swamps he would have to cross on his overland journey to the Golfo Dulce. In a similar way Canek, the cacique of Peten, the island city of the Lagoon of Itza, proved to be accurately informed. He, too, had his n Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, 1893, v. 25, pp. 574 and 548; same journal, 1894, v. 26, pp. 372 and 576. (' Cortes has himself given a description of this expedition in his fifth letter. Bernal Diaz, who took part in this expedition and describes it very thoroughly, differs from Cortes in some details, especially in a certain place in the order of events. Still, Cortes is here the more authentic source, for he wrote much earlier and had naturally much better opportunity to collect reliable information. SELER] ANTIQUITIES OF GUATEMALA 79 factories and his cacao plantations in the districts which border on the Golfo Dulce, and on the route thither he maintained shelter houses for his native traders and for foreign merchants who came that way. As to the ethnologic relations of this ancient district of intercom- munication and migration, the people of Taica, as Cortes spells it— that is, Tahitza — the inhabitants of Peten, the island jo-r' i^oxw, were pure Mayas, who had emigrated from Yucatan, and were doubtless later intruders, and hence continually at war with their various neighbors. The location of the inhabitants of the region called " Acalan" is more uncertain. The name, which is occasionally spelled Aculan, but probably by error, is Mexican, and means "land of the boats" (Acallan, as the correct form sounds). Furthermore, two of the cities in this territory had Mexican names. The first, Tizatepetl, means ' ' the white earth mountain" or "village of the white earth". The name may be preserved in the word Sahab, by which a place and a river in this neighborhood are called to-day, Zahcab being the word used in the different Maya languages to express the Mexican word ti^atl. The name of the second city, which is spelled Teutiercas, Teutiiaccaa, and (by Gomara) Teuticcac, is probably to be read Teotl icac, "the upright standing god".« There they worshiped a female deity to whom maidens were sacrificed. The name of the capital of Acalan alone, Izancanac, belongs to a strange idiom, and, as it seems, to a Maya language. The first part of the word is known to this day as the name of a little lagoon on the north of the Rio de la Pasion, where Doctor Sapper found a settlement of Lacandon Indians. * It also seems possible to explain by a Maya dialect^ the title of the prince of Acalan, Apaspolon (or Apoxpalon, as Gomara spells the word). The dialect' however, can not now be determined. '^ The third territory mentioned in Cortes's letter, that lying between Acalan and Tahitza, was generally called by a Mexican word, Mazatlan, that is, " the deer land." Cortes, however, several times gave Quiacho or Quiache « as a synonym for this word. It is doubtless the same name as Quehache, given in the historical work by Villagutierre y Sotomayor, by which is designated a branch of the Maya found at the end of the a Vatun Chu, idolo derecho, is mentioned as a place of worship in tlie territory of the Chols. See below. The name of the chief god of the Quiches, Tohil C'abauil, might be translated in the same way. 6 Ausland, 1891, p. 892. Perhaps Ahpo xbalon or Ahpo xbolon. Ahpo or Ahpop is a customary expression in the Guatemala language for "lord" and Xbalon, or Xbolon, which means "Mistress of the nine," was, perhaps, the name of the goddess of the country. Of. the Maya god Ah Bolon Tzacab, the "Lord of nine generations" or "Lord of the nine medicines." din their intercourse with Cortes and the Spaniards they appear to have used the Mexican idiom, with which they were probably familiar on account of their active trade with Tabasco and Xicalango' and which likewise Marina, Cortes's interpretress, spoke fluently. Where Bernal Diaz repeats the information which the people of Acalan gave the Spaniards, he used exactly the words acalea (that IS, Mexican acalli, "ship")-que en su lengua acales llaman a los navios-and teules (that is, Mexican tecutli, or teuctli, " prince ")— que asi nos llamaban a los soldados. e other copies give Quiatleo and Quiatha, but they are surely incorrect variations. 80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 seventeenth century in the savannas north of the Paso San Andres, neighbors of the Ah Itza, or Itzaex. The Maya word queh, "deer", is contained in the name; it is ahuost a direct translation of the Mexi- can mazateca, or mazatlan. That we have to do with a race closely akin to the Maya also appears from the two names of cities, already men- tioned, which Cortes left us. Tiac would mean in Maya "city of the tortoise " and Yasuncabil something like "green earth ". « The fortifi- cations skillfully constructed by the inhabitants of this territory prove that they had to protect themselves against constant hostile disturb- ances. Bernal Diaz believes that he heard the word " Lacantun" used as the name of these enemies. It will, however, remain undecided whether this name, which was familiar in the place where he wrote, did not come into his mind or to his pen by error The description of the fortified city of the Mazateca in the middle of a lagoon reminds one very strongly of the city built on a rock in the Laguna del Lacandon, which the expedition of Licenciado Pedro Ramirez de Quihones conquered and destroyed,^ There still remain the ancient inhabitants of the mountains to the south and above the road traveled by Cortes. Those to the west were designated the Lacandons, and those in the country about the Rio de la Pasion, to the east, were called Chols. . Lacandon is more a geographic than an ethnographic designation. And, if we are to believe Doctor Berendt,^^ at least two diflierent races must be included under this name even to-day. On the east are the Maya-speaking Lacandons, who live scattered on the lower Rio de la Pasion, and also west of the Usumacinta, on the Lacan ha, the river of Lacan, that is, the Rio Lacandon, and on the west. the Lacandons speaking the Putum, or Choi, language, whose chief locations are said to be found in Pet ha, in Chiapas. This account, which was repeated by. both Stoll and Sapper in earlier articles, is now contradicted by Doctor Sapper, who recently traveled through the boundary region between Guatemala and Chiapas. He informed me by letter that he had met Mayas speaking Lacandon on the road from Tenosique to Ococingo, and that there were no western Lacandons speaking Choi, and that the ancient Lacandons, who were for a long time the terror of the Spanish settlements in Chiapas, Guatemala, and on the lower Usumacinta, spoke, in part at least, the Maya proper, as appears from a few words which have come down to us. Against these Lacandons a succession of costly campaigns was made, almost entirely in vain. Thus the Lacandons who met the column of Melchior Rodriguez, in 1695, when it was advancing from Itzatan toward the north and alt ia interesting that the name which Gomara mentions for the second of these two cities, Xuuca Cahitl, is doubtless, at least in its first part, a translation into Mexican, for xoxouhca in Mexican means the same as the Maya yax, that is, " green " . '' Villngntierre y Sotoniayor, v. 1, chap. 12. cBerendt, Report of Explorations in Central .Vmerica, 1867, p. 415. SELER] ANTIQUITIES OF GUATEMALA 81 northeast to the Rio Lacandon, called to the Spaniards in pure Maya: Utz im pusical, "my heart is g'ood" — that is, "g-ood friend, we are .harmless people". « The Chols, on the other hand, who still dwelt in the mountain forests at the source of the Rio de la Pasion as far as the Sarstun at the beg-inning- and at the end of the seventeenth centurj^ having- a numeri- cal strength of 30,000 souls, were genuine Chols. To them belonged the Menche,* the Axoye, and other lesser tribes; and the Mo pan must also have been ver}^ closely akin to them. These Chols not only had the same name as the tribe still existing- to-day in the north, in the neighborhood of Palenque, but also proved their kinship by certain peculiarities of language, especially the change of c to ch.^ This fact is the more important because it seems established according- to the notes made by Doctor Sapper ^^ that the Chorti, the tribe whose descendants are settled to-da}^ in the neighborhood of Copan, likewise belong- to the same family.' Thus, in fact, we have in that ancient thoroughfare a broad zone of related tribes, into which the Mayas wedged themselves only on one side, in the north, from Yucatan, and on the other side, in the south, in the valley of the Rio Grande, or Motagua river, the Mexican branch of the Pipils conquered a place for themselves. Based on ethnologic conditions the kinship is apparent in the architectural style of the magnificent structures at the beginning and at the end of this great highway of nations — on the one hand, those of Palenque, and, on the other, those of Quirigua and Copan, to which in the intermediate region are joined the ruins of Menche Tinamit and some others less well known, Maudslay, in a short paper which he wrote for Nature in 1892, calls attention to the fact that the colossal figures on the stelte of Copan represent female deities exclusively, in contrast to the Yucatec reliefs, on which male and warlike forms pre- dominate. In this connection I would like to point out that the prin- cipal deity worshiped in the territory of Acalan was likewise a female; that the next largest city, which stood farther down on the Usumacinta, bears the name Ciuatecpan (Zagoatezpan, Ciguatepecad), "palace of the woman (the goddess)"; that, likewise, the mightiest city in the center of Tabasco, which Cortes and Bernal Diaz call Zagoatan, Zaguatan, is actually called Ciuatlan, "the city of the woman (the n Villagutierre y Sotomayor, v. 4, p. 262. ftMencht' was actually only a certain village at the foot of the north side of the holy mountain Vatunchu, and on the left bank of the river Cacuen; bat Remesal mentions all the villages under the collective name of Menche, which later in Villagutierre are called villages of the Chols. (•This change of c into ch appears in different names, for example, Vatun-Chu=idolo derecho, where Chu stands for Maya Ku; and also in a specimen of the language transmitted to us in Vil- lagutierre, V. 3, chap. 2, Chamay tzam bucana xaguil Jesu Christo tut Santa Cruz umenel ca tanal, muri6,estendido en su cara de este palo que se 11am la Santa Cruz Nuestra Sefior J. C. por nuestros pecados. dPetermann's Geographische Mittheilungen, 1893, p. 6. eThe word Chorti itself only means "the language of the Chols", as the 1 of the Choi becomes r in Chorti. 7238— No. 28— 05 6 82 BUREAU OF AMERICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 goddess) "; and that also the only iDlace which Landa mentions on the Laguna de Terminos, Tixchel, "to the aged goddess", seems to have been a place for the worship of a female deit3^ Copan, Quirigua, and Palenque lie beyond the limits of the present treatise. Their prosperity was evidently temporary, caused by cer- tain trade combinations, and for a time by the resultant conditions of accumulated wealth and power. It had doubtless already passed away when Cortes entered this region. The intermediate territory was prob- ably always on a lower plane of governmental, social, and material development, although in pre-Spanish times it was never as low as it afterward became on account of the entire cessation of traffic and the subversion of all existing conditions in the surrounding regions.- As the above statements show, we had, then, in ancient times two nations existing side by side, distinct, though closely related one to the other. Of the two the Mayas have preserved their nationality to the present day, while the other, the Chols, appear to have been absorbed, partly by the former and partly and chiefly b}^ the neighboring Qu'ekchi. * Here, as in other regions, notwithstanding original difl'erences of race, sim- ilar conditions of environment and extensive mutual intercourse have produced a fairly uniform picture of civilization. This fact is at once seen by comparing the descriptions of Choi settlements in the north of Cahabon, given by the old Dominican monks, with that which Doc- tor Sapper gives of the Lacandons on the lower bank of the Kio de la Pasion. But it is also shown in several other details. At the con- quest of the rock city in the Laguna del Lacandon, as the chronicler expressly mentions, no idols whatever were found, for the Lacandons worshiped the sun only (el cuerpo solar), and brought their ofl'erings and sacrifices to the sun itself and not to any representations of it, difi'ering in this way ver}^ distinctly from the Itzaex and other tribes of those mountains, who had countless idols, .statues, and images of metal, stone, and wood, with many superstitious customs and diabolical ceremonies. * The same statement is made in another place concerning the Acalans and Lacandons. Similarly, the Dominican monks reported tht^t they had found no idols at all, either of stone or any other material, among the Chols in the north of Cahabon. Sacrifices of black wax and other inflammable material were made, and chickens and other birds were occasionally sacrificed, as well as blood, which the Indians drew from themselves by piercing their tongues, their ears, their temples, or the muscles of their arms and legs. But the Indians said that they made these sacrifices to the woods and the high mountains, the dangerous fords of the rivers, the road crossings, and the lakelike expansions of the rivers. In fact, the fathers found a place of sacrifice on the summit "Sapper, in Petermaiin's Ueographische Mittlieiliuisrt'ii. 1W13, p. S. '•Villagutierre y Sotomayor, v. 1, chap. 2. SELER] ANTIQUITIES OF GUATEMALA 83 of the mountain over which they had to pass on their return journey, where a tire was evidently kept burning, fed by the wax and copal offerings of passers-by. There were, besides, places of worship in the villages, consisting only of a round structure or (in the temple or meetinghouse) of a couple of stones upon which the wax candles and the copal were burned/' In the ermita of the Lacandons Doctor Sapper likewise found no idols whatever, but only a " low table upon which wax candles appeared to have been burned" and the singular sacrificial vessels in which wax, copal, etc., were offered.* Peculiar clay vessels were found some time ago in this extensive region, which has lately been made more accessible by the felling of timber along the Usumacinta and the Rio de la Pasion. These vessels are distinguished by a face mask of a rather stereotyped form, which is placed on the rim. In the Guatemalan exhibit in Madrid there was a series of such vessels displayed, and their origin was given as from Usumacinta. The Royal Museum of Ethnology received from Consul- General Sarg two such vessels with a similar label, one of which is represented by J, ffgure 13. An exactly similar vessel is found in the museum at Copenhagen, said to have come from Peten {h, figure 14). No such vessels are known to come from other parts of Guatemala. The nmseum in Copenhagen possesses two similar vessels of somewhat varying but probably related forms {a and c, figure 14), which bear the general label ' ' from Tabasco ". Charnay found vessels like a, 1>, and c, figure 13, in great numbers in the chief temple of Menche Tinamit, near the idol and in almost every room.« He copies two of them, and since the face mask of one is distinguished from the other by a very promi- nent nose he supposes that these two types represent, perhaps, two different races. Charnay considered these vessels to be prehistoric. We have to thank Doctor Sapper for the knowledge that the Lacan- dons still make such vessels to-day and bring wax and copal to their gods in them. Doctor Sapper saw these vessels in the great ermita of the settlement of Izan, and he collected fragments of them in the ruins of Menche Tinamit, "where the Lacandons were accustomed to meet once a year to celebrate their festivals by balche feasts and pecul- iar ceremonies, and to offer sacrifices to their gods in various buildings, especially in a three-storied building distinguished by beautiful reliefs and a large sitting stone idol".'^ I have had some of the fragments which were collected by Doctor Sapper copied in c to/, figure 13, while a shows a specimen which was given to the Royal Museum from the Ecuadorian exhibit at the Colum- bian Exposition in Chicago, and which is evidently of similar origin. In the latter, as well as in the different fragments sent in by Sapper, thick masses of a waxy or resinous substance were found. On the a Remesal, v. 2, chap. 19. f Les Aneiennes Villes du Nouveau Monde, p. 384. feAuslarxi, iSQi.p. 893. f'Ausland, 1891, pp. 893-894. 84 BUREAU OB^ AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 outside, as it seems, all the pieces were orio-inally smeared over with a white earth, which usuall}^ nearly covered even the prominent details of the face mask. Shapes like those of the vessels represented here were naturally not Fk;. 13. Bowls from Guatemala. an original invention. One can imagine that they originated in ves- sels like a^ tigure 14, and that the latter shape arose from the need of distinguishing the back from the front. But one can also consider them as .survivals of whole-figure vessels, which seems to me more selek] ANTIQUITIES OF GUATEMALA 85 probable. The inclined position which was given to the face masks in the vessels of the Lacandons proves that the original shape can not have been an erect iig-ure like those of the Zapotec figure vessels and the vessels of Ranchito de las Animas. The}^ are, it would seem, more like the vessels represented in d^ figure 23, and «, fig'ure 24, below — that is, animal figures whose bodies form the hollow of the vessel. The human face which our vessels show might have originated as a substitute for the animal head. It seems more probable to me that the human face held in the open jaws of the animal on the vessel in d^ fig- ure 23, and similar ones, as well as in numerous small clay figures of Yucatan, in the stone monuments of Menche Tinamit, and else- where, has finally become predominant. This would best explain to me the projecting band by which the face mask of our Lacandon vessels is bordered above the forehead, which is wanting only in the mask of A ^\mi i. ' li} -$■' i If -^ SELEE] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT II 155 dilleres et Monuments des Peuples indigenes de PAmerique, under the title " Genealogie des Princes d'Azcapotzalco ". The drawings on this page (plate vii) occupy a space bounded by straight lines, to the right of which a path showing footprints and to the left a body of water, stream or sea margin, indicated by drawings of waves and whirlpools and by a light blue color, run the whole length of the page. Near the lower edge a second path, beginning at right angles to the first, leads straight across the page to the water, and about the center of the page a small body of water, also beginning at right angles to the principal path, crosses the page in like manner. The whole space above the lower path is divided by horizontal lines into 27 divisions, which, however, decrease in leng-th from the seventeenth down in consequeirce of a boundary line wMch begins at the left and runs diagonally upward to the right. In one of these divisions, the fourth counting from the lower path, a row of dark figures filled in with dots and angular lines runs straight across the i^age. In Mexican picture writing this is the way in which the idea of tlalli, or milli, " acre ", or " field ", is expressed. The other divisions, except two which are empty and a third in which a kind of explanatory note is written, are each provided Avith the head and the hieroglyph of a particular person. This general arrangement of the page shows that we can hardly have to do here with a genealogy, as von Humboldt supposed. The whole arrangement far more closely resembles a doomsday book, a map of public lands, or a register of landed , property ; and this in fact it is proved to be by the writing, which occurs in the lowest division below the lower path. In this division we see to the right the picture of King Motecuh- zoma, the ninth king of the Mexicans, known as Xocoyotzin, " the young", in contradistinction to Ueue-Motecuhzoma, the" elder Mote- cuhzoma, the fifth king of the Mexicans, whose other name was Ilhuicamina, "he who shoots at the heavens". To the left is the picture of a hut built of straw or reeds, painted yellow above a white circle. And between the picture of the king and the figure of the hut are the words: y xacallo camaca y tlatovani motecuh- zomatzin mochi ytonal catca (" the country house of Camaca : all parcels of land which belonged to King Motecuhzoma ") . The word tonalli, which is here the most important word, deciding the mean- ing of the whole, means " glow ", " warmth of the sun ", " summer " in its more literal application: but it also means the " character " or " signs "of a day or a year; that is, one of the. 20 pictures by which the Mexicans designated their days or one of the 4 of these which designated the years. Hence follows the secondary meaning, " fate decided by the day of birth ", and lastly, in general terms, " that which is assigned to anyone ", that is, what is allotted to him, his ;1^56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 portion, his fate. Thus Molina in his dictionary gives: " racion de alguna, 6 cosa diputada para otro " (" aUowance of something, or a thing assigned to another "), and for tlalli te-tonal, " suerte de tierra agena " ("a piece of land belonging to another person "). I will now proceed to describe the separate pictures and hiero- glyphs. King Motecuhzoma, in the lowest divisions of the fragment, below the lower cross path, is represented at full length, seated on a chair woven of reeds (tepotzo-icpalli), which is like the others, but is provided with a back. He is dressed in the royal blue garment (xiuhtilmatli), which is woven in openwork and trimmed with a red border of eyes (tenchilnauayo), probably of feather work. On his head he wears the band of turquoise mosaic (xiuh-tzontli, or xiuh- uitzolli). There is a small blue tongue before his mouth, the symbol of speech and power (tlahtouani means both " the one who speaks '' and " the king "). Mexican kings are drawn in almost precisely the same way in the Sahagun manuscript belonging to the Academia de la Historia (see g, figure 36), except that here is given the turquoise bar (xiuh-yacamitl) which Mexican kings wore in the pierced sep- tum of the nose, as a distinguishing ornament, when they put on gala dress. I have also taken from the Sahagun manuscript the terms just used for the various articles of royal Mexican dress. Motecuhzoma means " the angry lord ". The idea of angry could not well be expressed by the Mexicans in hieroglyphs; but it was otherwise with the idea tecuhtli, " lord ", " prince ". To express this idea they merely drew and painted the turquoise headband (xiuht- zontli, xiuhuitzolli), the emblem of kings. Thus we find both the older and the younger Motecuhzoma hierogiyphically designated simply by the xiuhtzontli (compare h and n, figure 36, from Codex Telleriano-Kemensis, volume 4, pages 6 and 13). The former is intended for the elder Motecuhzoma and the latter for the younger. Usually, however, to prevent confusion, the elder Motecuhzoma is hierogiyphically designated by an arrow sticking in the picture of the heavens, i, a hieroglyph, which represents his other name, Tlhuicamina, " he who shoots at the heavens ". The younger Mote- cuhzoma, on the other hand, is more particularly designated^ by a peculiar element added to the royal headband, which is visible in the hieroglyph of our picture as well as in k, figure 36 of the Mendoza codex, and Sahagun manuscript, Academia de la Historia, page 68. Why this element should express the idea xocoyotl, " the younger ", I can not state, and would merely mention that a similar element is to be seen in the Sahagun manuscript of the Academia de la Historia on the leg painted white and dotted with black, m, figure 36, which rep- resents the name of the seventh Mexican king, Tizoc or Tizocic (Tiz- ocicatzin). I still think it very doubtful whether o, which occurs SELER] MEXICAN PICTUKE WRITINGS FRAGMENT II 157 on the great so-called calendar stone in the upper left-hand triangular space, is meant for a hieroglyph of Motecuhzoma, as is often assumed. Here the xiuhtzontli is combined with the breastplate of the fire god. In a corresponding place on the other three triangular spaces are the dates, 1 Tecpatl, 1 Qniauitl, 7 Ozomatli, which appear also to denote certain deities. I think that King Motecuhzoma took his name from one of the cognomens of the fire god; for el seiior enojado, " the angiy god ■", which is the meaning of the name Mote- cuhzoma, is a fit title for the god of devom-ing fire. I think I dis- tinctl}?- recognize the hieroglyph of the younger Motecuhzoma in ;;>, which occurs on the inner side' of the cover of a cineraiy casket, which bears on the outer side (the top) the date 11 Tecpatl. Peiiafiel repro- duced this casket in his " Monumentos del arte mexicano '', and regarded the hieroglyph as that of King Nezaualpilli, of Tetzcoco, said to have died in the year 11 Tecpatl, or A. D. 1516. But, in the first place, the year of Nezahualpilli's death has never been precisely determined. According to Chimalpahin, he died a year earlier, in tlie year 10 Acatl, or A. D. 1515. Furthermore, the hieroglyph has absolutely no connection with the elements of the name Nezaualpilli. On the contrary, all the elements contained in the name Motecuh- zoma seem to be expressed in this figure. The royal headband gives us the element tecuh, *•' prince ". The little tongue (symbol of speech) with clouds of smoke rising from it seems to express the element mo- zoma, " angry ", fiery speech, as it were. And finally, the element with which we became familiar in the hieroglyphs k and ?, and which we also see in the hieroglyph of our manuscript, is plainly contained here, and represents the idea of xocoyotla. Opposite the figure of Motecuhzoma in our manuscript is the pic- ture of a hut built of reeds, called xacalli in Mexican, or jacal. as they still say in Mexico. The circle below probably refers to the place which is here meant, but I can not explain it more fully. As for the location itself, there is no place by the name of Camaca given on more recent maps, and I have sought for it in vain on the older ones. On the map which accompanies the text of the Conquistador anonimo l^ublished by Ramusio," there seems to be the only hint of it. This is probably based on the first map that was made from the one officially sent in by Cortes. It differs from the latter, however, inas- much as the fresh-water lake, which on Cortes's map is shown in very much contracted dimensions on the left of the sheet, is repeated independentl}^ on a larger scale on the upper part of the sheet.^ Upon this map, exactly as on that of Cortes, two forked causeways are given on the north side of the town, which is, however, incorrectly " Ramusio, Delle navigationi et viaggi, v. 3, Venice, 1556 ; Garcia Icazbalceta, Docu- mentos ineditos para la historia de Mexico, v. 1, p. 390. " Dahlgren, " Nagot om det forna och nuvarande Mexico" (Ymer, No. 1, 1889). 158 BITEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 designated bv the author as the west side. One of these causeways leads to the left toward Azcapotzalco. The other runs back of the fork due north. Where this causeway reaches the mainland the name Calmacam is written down. Of course, it is doubtful whether we are justified in connecting this name with the Camaca on our frao-ment II, for on the map of Alonzo de Santa Cruz, of the year 15.55 « the name Caltlitlan appears in about the same place. Never- theless, I am inclined to think that there was a boundary hue m this region that is, northward from Azcapotzalco toward Guadalupe. Azcapotzalco was the first of the cities subdued by Mexico and it is expressly stated that the lands of Azcapotzalco were divided among themselves by the nobles of Mexico, the king taking the lead. There are in fact, fertile farm lands at the base of the mountain, traversed by 'streams of water which come down from Tliliuhyacaii, Tlalne- pantla, and Atizapam. The water drawn on the left side of the frag- ment may be the seashore, and the road running along the right side may be the one which ran along the southern base of the mountains ot Tenayocan and Guadalupe. . . , .1 xi • Lastly, on the right side of our fragment, outside the path, there is drawn a figure which seems to represent a kind of box provided with a mecapalli, the broad band of woven straw which was placed across the forehead, bv means of which the burden resting on the back was carried. Perhaps this was meant to symbolize agricultural imple- ments. • T XI 1 • Above the figure of Motecuhzoma, as I have said, runs the drawing of a path The figures seen on this and on the path at the right are very realistic reproductions of the imprint of a bare foot, the sole and the five toes, in sand or other light soil. These footprints ai-e gen- erally used in Mexican- hieroglyphic writing to denote a path, travel- ing over a path, or journeying or moving in a certain direction. I will designate the separate divisions or sections above this cross path, proceeding from below upward, by the figures 1 to 2i. Divi- sions 7 and 8 are the most important. In division i there is ahove- a hieroglyph, which T will describe later with the others. Beside it is the hieroglvph and the head, adorned with the royal headband of the brave Quauhtemoc, upon whom the Mexicans conferred the office of king, that is, chief military commander, after the death of Cui- tlauac. Motecuhzoma and Cuitlauac were sons of Axayacatl the sixth kino- of the Mexicans. Quauhtemoc was a son ot Ahuitzotl, ei-hth khig of Mexico, and the power was conferred upon him rUhongh there were nearer heirs. In Mexico bii^h only pai^tially influenced succession to the throne, as also to the other hig^i offices o state. It is well known how heroically Quauhtemoc defended the « Noi-aenskiold, Facsimile Atlas, p. 109, and Dahlgren, work cited, p. 10, selbr] MEXICAN PICTUKE WEITINGS FRAGMENT II 159 city of Mexico for 90 days against Cortes, in spite of European mili- tary science. His capture, which took place on the date ce Coatl yei Calli, or August 13, 1521 (discussed in the previous chapter), put an end to the war. Cortes at first treated him kindly, but later (accord- ing to a marginal note in Chimalpahin it must have happened on the day 1 Ocelotl, that is, as we reckon it, 169 daj^s later, about the end ol (he year 1521) sent him and four other influential Mexicans prisoners to Coyouacan and strove to extort from them by torture information as to wdiere Avere hidden the treasures which the Spaniards had to r s t Fig. 37; Mexican symbols of persons and places. U leave behind in Mexico the year previous at the time of their flight. Quauhtemoc was afterward baptized and named for his godfather Don Hernando de Alvarado Quauhtemoctzin. Cortes appointed him gobernador of Mexico, but afterward had him hanged on sus- picion of conspiracy, together with Tetlepanquetzatzin and Couana- cochtzin, the kings of Tlacopan and Tetzcoco. This happened in the year 1524 at Ueimollan during the expedition to Honduras. "He died in some sort like a Christian " (ye yuhqui ye christianoyotica momiquilli), says Chimalpahin. "A cross was put into his hand, his IQO BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 feet were bound together with iron chains, and by these they hung him to a ceiba tree ". The execution is represented on page 138 of Codex Vaticanus A; but there he is represented as hanged by the neck in the usual way. From Chimalpahin's words, however, it would seem as though he had been cruelly hung up by the feet. The hieroglyph of Quauhtemoc, " swooping eagle ", is represented in section 7 of our manuscript by the head of an eagle and a foot- print directed downward. In the Sahagun manuscript of the Academia de la Historia it is represented by an entire eagle flying downward {d 1, figure 37). In Codex Vaticanus A, plates 137 and 138, we also have a swooping eagle and footprints directed down- ward {d 2 and d 3, same figure) . The remark added in the following division, the eighth of our manuscript, apparently by the same hand which entered the other names and remarks, also refers to Quauhtempc's death. In order to read the words the fragment must be turned upside down. In this division we have two large circles and one small one, filled with an irregular network of lines and painted blue. These are hiero- glyphs of the xiuitl, " turquoise ", a word Avhich, as I stated above, is frequently expressed by a small disk of turquoise mosaic (see 7n, figure 35). But the word xiuitl means not only "turquoise", but afso "grass", "comet", and "year". It is used here in the last sense, for the little flag over the two large circles means " 20 ". The two large circles and one small circle together, therefore, give us 41 years. Accordingly, there is written below them hon poval xivitl oce axca, "(it is) now' 41 years". Besides the number at the left is 7 Calli, " 7 house " ; that is, the year 1524, the year of Quauhtemoc's death. To the right, beside the number, is 8 Calli, " 8 house " ; that is, the year 1565, which is more fully explained by the accompanying words: (the numeral is not distinctly legible) del mes de abril 1565 ahos (" on the — of April of the year 1565 "). From the year 1524 to the year 1565 there are actually 41 years. The year 1565, in which this note was added,' had a certain sig- nificance for the descendants of the ancient royal family of Mexico, as in that year Don Luis de Santa Maria Nanacacipactzin died. He was the son of Acamapichtli and grandson of Ahuitzotl, who was the eighth king of Mexico. He Avas the last descendant of the ancient .royal family, and was still nominally recognized as regent (gober- nador) of Mexico under Spanish rule : " Yehuatl oytech tlamico ynic Mexica Tenucha tlagopipiltin ", says Chimalpahin. ^ This year, therefore, marks the actual end of the ancient royal family, and for this reason Chimalpahin here adds a sketch of the entire ancient history of the city of Mexico and of the Mexican race. We read « that " Chimalpaliin, Seventh Relfiliou, pp 104, 105. SELER] MEXICAN PICTURE WHITINGS FRAGMENT II 161 when the city of Mexico surrendered to the victorious Cortes after the capture of Quauhtenioc, the chiefs of the Mexicans were assem- bled at Acachinanco. They were the following: (1) Quauhtemoc- tzin, King of Mexico (tlahtohuani Tenuchtitlan) ; (2) Tlacotzin, cihuacohuatl, that is, the King's deputy; (3) Oquiztzin, Prince of Azcapotzalco (tlahtohuani Azcapotzalco-Mexicapan) ; (4) Panitzin (or Ilanitzin), Prince of Ehcatepec (tlahtohuani Ehcatepec) ; (5) Motelchiuhtzin, the keeper of the royal stores (calpixqui), not a man of royal blood, but a great war chief (amo pilli, yn yece huey yaotiacauh catca). Cortes had them put in chains and taken as prisoners to Coyouacan. The same four men who are mentioned here with Quauhtenioc are mentioned again in the same order in the account of Quauhtemoc's execution and that of the other two at UeymoUan: Cenca yc tlao- coxque, motequi-pachoque, quichoquillique, yn quinhuicac Mexica tlahtoque (" The princes of Mexico, who had been brought hither, were deeply moved and wept for him "). Their names are given as Don Juan Velazquez Tlacotzin, cihuacohuatl, Don Carlos Oquiztzin, Don Andres Motelchiuhtzin, and Don Diego de Alvarado Huanitzin. There is still another native account of events that haj)j)ened during the siege and after the taking of the city of Mexico. This is the account preserved in the Sahagun manuscript of the Biblioteca Dorenziana, which forms the tv/elfth book of the work. It is stated there that on the day after Quauhtemoc's capture he and all the dignitaries were taken to Cortes at Atactzinco, to the house of the tlacochcalcatl Coyoueuetzin. Here, directly after Quauhtemoc, are named Coana- cochtli and Tetlepanquetzatzin, the kings of Tetzcoco and Tlacopan, and then the following men of high rank: (1) cioacoatl Tlacutzin; (2) tlillancalqui Petlauhtzin; (3) vitznavatl Motelchiuhtzin, mexi- catl achcauhtli; (4) tecutlamacazqui (" high priest ") Coatzin; (5) tlatlati (•' steward ") Tla^-.olyautl. When the princes came before Cortes, the three kings of the allied cities of Mexico, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan took their seats beside Cortes. Then follow mixcoatlailotlac Auelitoctzin and tlatzacutica yopicatl Pupucatzin pilli, who, as a comparison with previous pas- sages shows, are to be regarded as leaders of the Tlatelolcas. And then we read : '' On the other side sat the Tenochcas ". Their names are given as Tlacutzin, Petlauhtzin, Motelchiuhtzin mexicatl achcauhtli, tecutlamacazqui Coatzin, and tlatati Tlagolyautl. These names are mentioned repeatedly on previous pages of the narrative. If we compare the tw^o accounts, that of Chimalpahin and the one in the Sahagun manuscript, we must at the outset discard the last two persons named in the Sahagun narrative, for they are priests. Of the other three, two are identical with two of those mentioned by 7238— No. 28—05 11 162 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Chimalpahin, The difference between the two narratives apparently can be explained by the fact that in the Anales of Chimalpahin we have in the beginning an account of the interview held with the Mexi- can princes immediately after the surrender of the city, while the list which then follows does not mention the princes present at this inter- view, but those whom Cortes afterward sent as prisoners to Coyouacan and put to the torture in order to wring confessions from them in regard to the treasures left behind by the Spaniards in their flight from the city. If we now return to our manuscript we see that in divisions 5, 3, 2, and 1, below Quauhtemoc, the same four men are named whom Chi- malpahin mentions as Quauhtemoc's companions; but the order of succession is somewhat changed, for, whilst we must always think of Tlacotzin as occupying the first place, Oquiztzin must be in the fourth place here instead of the second, as in Chimalpahin. The four persons, like those named in the other divisions, are ex- pressed in our manuscript by a head with the name hieroglyph behind it. Besides which a scribe, who, as we have seen, made his entries in the year 1565, has added the names of the persons in writing. Here, as elsewhere, the heads serve to show the rank of the person designated. In our manuscript, Uanitzin and Oquiztzin, who are named above as kings of Ehcatepec and Azcapotzalco, have the royal headband of turquoise mosaic, like Motecuhzoma and Quauhtemoc. These two alone of the four have the little tongue before their mouth, the symbol of speech and also of power. Von Humboldt was of the opinion that the Mexicans intended to designate persons as living by the addition of this little tongue. That this is not the case liere is obvious, for Oquiztzin died earlier than the three others, and Mote- cuhzoma, who also has the little tongue, earlier than any of the four and before Quauhtemoc, who is represented without the little tongue. Apparently the tongue is meant here as the direct hieroglyph for tlahtouani, " the one who speaks ", or " the lord ", " the king ", a pen- dant, as it were, "to the royal headband. The third of the four, Motelchiuh, who was described above as a war chief, is represented by the peculiar manner of wearing the hair which was a distinguishing mark of warriors. Sahagun tells us (App., chapter 5) that when warriors adorned themselves for the dance they bathed, covered their whole bodies, except the face, with black color, and painted their faces with black stripes, and that in- stead of combing their hair " they made it stand on end to give them- selves a terrible aspect ". There were two different ways, as the pic- tures show, in which it was customary to arrange the hair on these occasions. One was to draAv the hair together on the crown and wind round it a leather strap, to which, on gala occasions, large tassels of ornamental feathers were fastened, while the rest of the hair, as it SBLEE] MEXICAISr PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT II 163 seems, stood out short and stiif' all around the face. It is worn thus by the figures of warriors in the Mendoza codex (see I, figure 37) and on the head of Yacatecuhtli, the god of traveling merchants and caravan leaders, in the Sahagun manuscript of the Biblioteca del Palacio, m. This manner of wearing the hair was called temillotl, '• stone-pillar hair dress ", and the great tassels were called quet- zallalpiloni, " ornamental feather band ".« The name temillo, " wear- ing the stone-pillar hair dress (warrior's hair dress)", occurs fre- quently in the list of names from Uexotzinco (Manuscrit Mexicain number 3, Bibliotheque Nationale), already mentioned several times, and is represented there sometimes by the figure of a pillar, some- times by a stone or a stone in a setting, or, finally, by a stone in con- nection with a head of dressed hair (see n, figure 37). In the other manner of Avearing the hair it was made to stand up high over the forehead and allowed to hang down from the crown of the head over the neck, where it was wound by a strap, into which a feather orna- ment was stuck on gala occasions. This fashion is shown in the pic- ture of a chieftain arrayed for the dance, o, which in Codices Telleri- ano-Remensis and Vaticanus A designates the feast Tecuilhuitl, and in the drawing of the head of Tlacochcalco yaotl in the Saha- gun manuscript in the Biblioteca del Palacio, p. The cliief tains of the Tlaxcaltecs are also, drawn with this hair dress on the lienzo of Tlaxcala, in the representation of the festivities which the republic of Tlaxcala prepared for the reception of the conqueror Cortes, whom they hailed as their ally. This manner of wearing the hair was called tzotzocoUi, and the feather ornament stuck into the strap, consisting of a furcated plume of heron feathers, was called aztaxelli.^ In q I give a picture from the Sahagun manuscript in the Biblioteca del Palacio, in which warriors are represented executing a dance at the feast of Ochpaniztli, where these two modes of wear- ing the hair are to be seen side by side, distinctly drawn. The former, the temillotl, is the distinguishing mark of the actual chief- tains, the tequiua. Motelchiuh, the great war chief, is therefore represented with it in division 3 of our manuscript (plate vii). Finally, Tlacotzin, in division 5 (counting from the lower path), lias neither the royal headband nor the chieftain's hair dress, but is represented simply with hair hanging straight down, without any insignia whatever. He was drawn without the royal headband, because at that time he was probably not yet in possession of the royal power which was afterwards conferred upon him. Nor was the warrior's hair dress appropriate to him, because the title ciua- couatl, which he bore, was apparently not a military one. I will mention, however, that above Tlacotzin, in division 6, there was » Vei-offentlichnngen aus dem Koniglichen Museum fur Volkerkunde, v. 1, p. 140. » Veroffentlichungen aus dem Koniglichen Museum I'ur Volkerlvunde,' v. 1,' p. 166.' 164 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 painted a head with the royal headband like Quauhtemoc, but that this has been pasted over ; that is, expunged. As for the hieroglyphs, there are two in division 5 with Tlacotzin, which, however, do not both refer to the name. The first one seems rather to express the title and the second the name of the man. The latter represents an implement, a sort of wooden shovel which was used to work the ground, but also served to shovel earth, lime, etc. (see t and u) . The former is taken from the Mendoza codex. Above is the tool, below the basket (chiquiuitl) , in which the earth, Ihne, etc., was transported, with the broad carrying strap (mecapalli) to be placed over the forehead. In u, taken from the Osuna codex, is shown the Mexican laborer using this tool, the name of which is uictli, or coauacatl. In our manuscript it serves to express the name Tlacotzin because it was the symbol of servitude or bondage, of slave labor. The serf, the slave, was called tlacohtli. A tlacotl, somewhat differently pronounced, with the vowel short in the first syllable, meant the blossoming bough, an example of which is depicted in the hieroglyph Tlacopan (Tacuba). As in the present case the name Tlacotzin is expressed by a tool, we may conclude that the first pronunciation (with the long a) and also the first meaning belonged to it. The first hieroglyph shows the picture of a snake Avith open jaws holding a human face. The snake is painted yellow, excepting the rattles and belly, the human face brown, and on the cheek there seem to be traces of the two stripes which are almost invariably drawn in the hieroglyphs of the Mendoza codex when a female face is to be expressed" (see r, figure 37, the hieroglyph Ciuatlan, from the Men- doza codex, volume 40, page 1) . The first hieroglyph in division 5 is therefore the exact reproduction of the word ciuacouatl, '' female snake ", the title, which it is stated by Chimalpahin and in the Saha- gun manuscript was borne by the Tlacotzin mentioned here. The title ciuacouatl belonged to the highest dignitary in the realm, who was in a certain sense the colleague or deputy of the king ( tlahtouani) . This fact is so often and emphatically repeated in Tezozomoc's Cronica mexicana that it is natural to suspect intention and to conclude that the power claimed by the ciuacouatl was not always recognized by the king. In general, the colleagueship was plainly and clearly enough established. When in the narrative of the deeds of the elder Motecuhzoma,Tlacaelel, ciuacouatl of that period, makes a suggestion, Motecuhzoma answers that he agrees to everything, '^ for indeed I am the master; but I can not order everything, and you, ciuacoatl, are as much master as I am ; we must both govern the INIexican state '\ The name ciuacouatl has several meanings. It means ^' female snake ", • but it may also signify " female twin " or " female companion". The name probably refers to the ancient earth goddess, who, in different SELER] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT 11 165 places, was called variously Cinacoatl, " the snake woman ", Ton- antzin, " our dear mother ", or Teteo innan, " mother of the gods ", and who was to the father, the ancient god of heaven, exactly what the ciuacouatl was to the king in the earthly realm of the Mexican commonwealth. I give in 5 a painting of this goddess corresponding exactly to the one in our hieroglyph. It occurs on plate 63 of the Goupil-Boban atlas, and there denotes Ciuacoatl, the goddess of Colhuacan, to whom Mexican prisoners are being sacrificed. Motelchiuh means " the despised ". The hieroglyph which here ex- presses this name is the well-known hieroglyph te-tl, " stone ", which is painted in brown and black, to express the various colors or the veining of stone. Of course, this hieroglyph is only an approxima- tion of the sound which it is actually intended to represent. It is not impossible that there is some et^aiiologic connection, though only an indirect one, between the Avords te-tl, " stone ", and tel-chiua, " to despise "'. Besides, Motelchiuh is designated also in the Sahagun manuscript of the Academica de la Historia in precisely the same way; that is, by the hieroglyph te-tl '" stone " (e, figure 37). Uanitzin, division 2, is hieroglyjjhically denoted by the flag (pamitl). p, b, and w are all kindred sounds, and our (German) av, or, more correctly, the English av, is the sound Avhich the old gram- marians intended to express by u or v, and the Jesuits by hu. It seems to be only an error Avhen Chimalpahin occasionally writes Panitzin instead of Huanitzin ; that is, Uanitzin. Uanitl is also de- noted by a small flag in the Sahagun manuscript of the Academia de la Historia (g, figure 37). Lastly, Oquiztli, in the first division above the lower path, is simply described by the hieroglyph of the city Azcapotzalco, Avhose ruler he was. Azcapotzalco means " in the place of the ant-hills ", The city is therefore hieroglyphically expressed by the picture of an ant-hill (see a and h, the former taken from the Mendoza codex, the latter from a record preserved in the library of the Duke of Osuna). Here Ave see in the midst of small pebbles and grains of sand a crea- ture, usually painted red and of a somewhat exaggerated shape, Avhich is intended to represent an ant (azcatl). I Avill noAV state briefly Avhat is knoAvn concerning the subsequent fate of the four persons Avhom Chimalpahin mentions as companions of Quauhtemoc, the last free king of Mexico, and Avho in our manu- script are set doAvn in due order underneath Quauhtemoc. Tlacotzin seems to have been a grandson of Ahuitzotl, the eighth king of the Mexicans.^ He Avas therefore a near relative of Quauhte- « See Anales de Chimalpahin, Seventh Relation, ed. Remi Simeon, p. 266, where the yxhuiuhtzin inyn, " the grandson cf rhe previous one ". can hardly refer to anyone but the previously mentioned Ahuitzotl. 166 BUEEATJ OF AMERICAN- ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 moc, who was a son of Ahuitzotl. This probably explains the high position as ciuacouatl, which he held with and under Quauhtemoc. He took a very energetic part in the defense of the city of Mexico, according to the Aztec account preserved in the Sahagun manu- script of the Biblioteca Lorenziana, which was probably written by an eyewitness who was shut up in the beleaguered city with him. Tlacotzin is mentioned there with tlillancalqui Petlauhtzin and uitz- nauatl Motelchiuhtzin, and these three, as leaders of the Tenochcas, are placed opposite tlacateccatl Temilotzin and tlacochcalcatl Coyo- ueuetzin, the leaders of the Tlatelolcas, the inhabitants of the sister city of Tenochtitlan. After the conquest he, too, was baptized, and was then called Don Juan Velasquez Tlacotzin. After the execution of Quauhtemoc and his companions at Ueymollan, Cortes made him King of Mexico (tlahtohuani rnochiuh yn Tenochtitlan) and equipped him like a Spaniard, presenting him with a sword, a dagger, and a white horse." Tlacotzin, however, was not destined to enter his native city as King. After having been absent for nearly three years with Cortes on the expedition to Honduras, which was one of hard- ships and privations, he died on the homeward journey, in 1526, at Nochiztlan. Of Motelchiuh it has already been stated that he was not a prince of the blood, but had won his rank by distinguishing himself in war. In the passage from Chimalpahin quoted above he is mentioned with the title calpixqui, " keeper of the royal stores ". This was the name given to the governors of subjugated provinces, whose chief duty it was to collect the tribute and convey it to the royal storehouses. In the Aztec account in the Sahagun manuscript he is called uitznauatl and mexicatl achcauhtli. The latter means simply "Mexican war chief". The former is one of the many military titles which were in use among the Mexicans, the actual meaning of which has not yet been determined. They probably referred to a particular gens (cal- puUi) ai;d to its temple. After the conquest of the city Motelchiuh was also baptized, like the other noble Mexicans, and was named for his godfather, Don Andres de Tapia Motelchiuh. We also see Thapia Motelchiuh written in our manuscript. After Tlacotzin's death at Nochiztlan, Motelchiuh was appointed his successor, but, as he was not a prince of the blood, actual royal dignity, the title tlahtouani, could not be conferred on him. I feel convinced that Cortes took this opportunity to somewhat degrade the dignity. He is therefore merely mentioned as a war chief of Mexico (Zan quauhtlahtohuani omochiuh Tenuchtitlan), but we learn nothing of his activity in this capacity. He, too, ruled but a few years and died in the year 1530, during an expedition to the provinces of the northwest (Teo-culhua- can, the province of Jalisco), where he was serving in the Spanish " See Anales de Chimalpahin, Seventh Relation, ed. R^mi Simeon, p. 207. SELER] MEXICAi^ PiCTUEE WRITINGS FRAGMENT II 167 army under Nuiio de Guzman. While bathing in the neighborhood of Aztatlan he was struck by the arrow of a Chichimec, a hostile Indian, and died of the wound.*^ Uanitzin was a nephew of the king Motecuhzoma. His father, whose name was Tezozomoctli Acolnauacatl, was an elder brother of Motecuhzoma. Motecuhzoma was eventualh^ called to the throne as the successor of his father, Axaj^acatl, by the choice of those who had the appointing powder. But, according to a passage of unusual ethno- logic interest in the annals of Chimalpahin, Tezozomoctli inherited the dance ^^aociuacuicatl from Axayacatl, who bought it of the Tlailotlaque, a tribe of the Chalca, whose property it seems to have been. Uanitzin's mother belonged to the house of the princes of Ehcatepec, a place lying north of Mexico, at the northern base of the mountains of Guadalupe, near the lake of Xaltocan. In the year 1519; shortly before the arrival of the Spaniards, when Motecuhzoma had somewhat recovered from the extreme consternation into which he had been thrown by the first news of the appearance of the Spaniards, Uanitzin was installed by his uncle as ruler of Ecatepec, which belonged to him as his mother's heir. According to Chimalpahin, Uanitzin was at that time 20 years old. He seems to have taken no special part in the fighting during the siege. The Aztec account in the Sahagun manuscript of the Biblioteca Lorenziana does not men- tion him; but Chimalpahin states, as I have quoted above, that he was one of the Mexicans of high rank who were taken with Quauhte- moc as prisoners to Coyouacan. Cortes had so much regard for his descent (or for his youth ? ) that he did not have him put in chains like the others. After the princes were released from prison his mother immediately took him with her to Ehcatepec; as Chimalpahin says, she concealed him there (ca ompa quitlatitq yn inantzin Ehcatepec), and the people of Ehcatepec recognized him as their king (ynicompa quintlahtocatlallique no yehuantin Ehcatepeca). As a Christian he bore the name of Don Diego de Alvarado Uanitzin. After Motelchiuh's death in the year 1530 the throne of Mexico was for a time unoccupied. After the return from Teocolhuacan, which occurred in 1532, the office of chieftain was conferred on a certain Xochiquentzin, who also was not a prince of the blood (ynin ga no Mexica amo pilli), but had only been a large landowner (yece huel chane catca Mexico) and had held the office of a calpixqui, " a keeper of the royal stores " under the old kings. His house was in Calpul Teopan, the southeastern quarter of the city of Mexico, called already at that time the barrio of San Pablo. Xochiquentzin died, however, in the year 1536. The viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, who had arrived in Mexico the year before, at first hesitated to fill the « Chimalpahin, pp. 209, 222, 266. 168 BUREAU OP AMERICAN" ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 post again; but, in pursuance of his efforts to regulate the relations between the natives and the Spaniards, he found it advisable again to give a chief to the Indian population of the capital. In the year 1538 he appointed to the office Uanitzin, who, however, was not proclaimed king (tlahtohuani), nor could he be quauhtlahtouani, "war chief", on account of his rank ; therefore he was installed in office under the Spanish title of " gobernador ". He died as early as 1541. One of his sons, Don Cristoval de Guzman Cecetzin, or Cecepaticatzin, was afterward, in 1559, the third gobernador of Mexico. Finally, regarding Oquiztli, the fourth person, set down in our manuscript underneath Quauhtemoc, we know from Tezozomoc's Cronica that he was installed as king at Azcapotzalco at the same time as Uanitzin at Ecatepec. Tezozomoc also designates him as a nephew of Motecuhzoma; but I have no positive information as to who his parents were. Azcapotzalco had become subject to the Mexicans since 1429, when the old rulers were driven out and the land was divided.'* Oquiztli also seems to have taken no conspicuous part in the fighting during the siege. He was forced, with the other noble Mexicans, to accompany Cortes on his expedition into the forest regions of Chiapas and Honduras, and died there soon after the execution of Quauhtemoc, in the year 1542.'' So much concerning these four. Of the other persons set down in our manuscript from the ninth division upward, only the one entered in division 16 (counting from the lower i^ath) is better know^n. This, as the explanatory note tells us, is Don Diego de San Francisco Teuetzquititzin, the son of Tezcatlpopocatzin, who again was a son of Tizocicatzin, seventh king of Mexico, and lived sub- ject to Spanish rule in Calpul Teopan, the barrio of San Pablo of Tenochtitlan. He was appointed gobernador of Mexico after Uani- tzin's death, in 1541, and died there in the year 1554.^ The name Teuetzquiti means " the jester ", " he who makes others laugh ". The hieroglyph in our manuscript seems intended to represent a kind of comic mask. Elsewhere in the Sahagun manuscript of the Acade- mia de la Historia, he is represented by an open mouth, /?, and a namesake of his, Tetlaueuetzquititzin, who beloiiged to the royal family of Tetzcoco, and was gobernador of Tetzcoco at about the same time, is represented by an open mouth with the little tongue (/>\ figure 37), indicative of speech, before it. The head, behind which the hieroglyph in our manuscript is placed, is drawn with the royal headband of turquoise mosiac, as in the cases of Motecuhzoma, Quauhtemoc, Uanitzin, and Oquiztzin. Like them, Teuetzquitizin belonged to the royal family of Mexico. " Chlmalpahin, p. 99. ''Chlmalpahin, p. 207. « Chlmalpahin, pp. 241, 250 ; Sahagun mannscripl, Academia de la Historia. sklkr] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT II 169 Of the other jDersons, I will first mention the one in division 7 delate vii), counting from the lower path, besides Quauhtemoc, whom the explanatory^ note calls Don Martin Cortes Nezahual tecolotzin. The name is not known to me from other sources. The head is drawn with the hair hanging straight down, without the chieftain's hair dress and the royal headband; but above the head is the royal headband of turquoise mosiac. This is the well-known symbol used in the Mendoza codex for the oflice of tlacateccatl (see «, figure 38, page 17, of the Mendoza codex). The hieroglyph behind the head corresponds exactly to the name Nezahual tecolotl, which means / Fig. 38. Symbols of names. " fasting owl ", for the back part of the hieroglyph shows plainly the face of an owl, and the front part a ribbon, woven of many- colored strips, with ends standing out, which is a familiar and universally understood symbol for nezahualli " fasting " (see the hieroglyphs of Nezahualcoyotl, " the fasting coyote ", b and c, same figure, and Nezahualpilli, "the fasting prince" or "the fasting child", d and e). Those marked h and d are taken from the Codex Telleri- ano-Remensis and c and e from the Sahagun manuscript of the Academia de la Historia. The symbol was derived from the custom iVO BUREAtJ OF AiViEEICAlSf ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 of shutting oneself up for the purpose of fasting. When seclusion was not actually accomplished, it seems to have been indicated by a ring plaited of the stalks of the aztapilin, or aztopillin, a variety of rush of a whitish color below and green above (see /, taken from the Borgian codex, which represents the fasting person blowing the conch and carrying a water jug on his shoulder within an inclosure plaited of green and white strips). In parallel pas- sages of the Borgian codex and Codex Vaticanus B a man is drawn, inclosed in a chest, waving the thorn of castigation in one hand and the green acxoyatl bush in the other. In corresponding passages of the Codices Telleriano-Remensis and Vaticanus A Quetzalcoatl, the god who was considered the inventor of castigation, appears armed in similar fashion in a boxlike inclosure, consisting of two parts. . A head follows in division 9 (plate vii), which, like that of Motel - chiuh in division 3, wears the chieftain's hair dress (temillotl). The explanatory note calls this Anauacatzin, that is, " from the land by the water", " from the seacoast ".« This name is hieroglyphically T-epresented here by a circle (island?) surrounded by water. In the list of names of persons (Manuscrit Mexicain number 3, Bibliotheque Nationale), already frequently quoted, Anauacatl occurs as the name of a citizen of Almoyauacan and is expressed by r/, that is, by a stream of water which is depicted before the mouth of a person, after the fashion of the little tongue which signifies speech. For atl is water and nahuatl clear, or intelligible, speech. I am unable to say where the Anauacatl of our manuscript belongs. In division 10 follows a head with hair hanging straight down, which is designated in the accompanying note as Xaxaqualtzin. Xaqualoua means " to rub ", and this action is represented in the hieroglyph by two hands using a sort of scouring brush. In the next division, 11, is another head with the chieftain's hair dress (temillotl). The explanatory note calls it Cuetlachivitzin, " wolf's feather '\ and this is expressed in the hieroglyph by the head of a wolf with tufts of down. In Chimalpahin's annals a Cuetla- chiuitzin is mentioned who was installed as ruler of Tequanipan in 1561, and who died in 1572, but I am unable to say whether this is the one referred to in our manuscript. I do not think it at all prob- able, as there is nowhere in our manuscript an allusion to the region of the Chalcas. In division 12 Ave have another head with hair hanging straight down. The note calls it uitznauatl, A\hich is expressed in the hiero- glyph by the thorny point of an agave leaf (uitztli, " thorn '') and the small tongue of speech in front of it (nauatl, '' clear speech "'). « I have shown in the comples rendus of the eighth session of the Cougrfes InterRittional des Americanistes, Paris, 1800, pp. 580, r>S7, that the word Anauac means tlie seacoast, ant? that it is absurd to spealt of the plateavi of Aaahuac. SELRR] MEXICAN PIOTUHE WRITINGS FRAGMENT II 171 The thorn, the sharp point of the agave leaf, is divided bj^ an oblique line, and one half is painted red, to indicate that it is covered with blood. These thorny points of the agave leaf were used in religious self-castigations, and, as we frequently see on the last pages of the Mendoza codex, also largely for purposes of punishment and edu- cational discipline. The word uitznauatl was a title, which in Mexico and elsewhere was connected with a certain military or polit- ical office. We saw above that Motelchiuh bore this title. Tlie plu- ral, uitznaua, denoted a class of evil spirits, which were conquered and destro3^ed by Uitzilopochtli, and uitznauac, or uitznauatlampa, is the region of the south. In division 13 we have again a head with hair hanging straight down. The note says uaxtepecatl petlacalcatl. The first name means "one from Uaxtepec " (from the place of the uaxin. Acacia esculenta). Uaxtepec was a place in the district of Cuernavaca, therefore in a temperate region (" tierra templada "). Here was the Jardin d'Acclimation of the kings of Mexico; that is, they trans- planted hither such trees and plants from the tierra caliente as seemed to them interesting, and came themselves for rest and recreation. The place is hieroglyphically represented by /^ figure 38, that is, by a mountain and a tree from whose branches hang the long knobby acacia pods (usually painted red). Petlacalcatl means " the steward of the mat house ''. This was a kind of public storehouse, where Avere kept mats and other articles of furniture which Avere used wdien foreign royal guests came. The petlacalcatl directed the public works, as shown in i taken from the Mendoza codex, page 71. Here the petlacalatl is represented on the left, with many little tongues before his mouth, to express the admonitions which he bestows upon those commanded to do the work. In the middle are the basket and the tool (uictli, or coauacatl), with which we are already acquainted, and to the right crouches the weeping youth commanded to do the Avork. The hieroglyph behind the man's head in division 13 of our manuscript (plate vii) refers to this function of the petla- calcatl, and represents the above-mentioned implement, Avhich Ave haA^e already met with as the hieroglyphic expression of tlacohtli. The first Avord in the accompanying note, " uaxtepecatl ", is not ex- pressed in the hieroglyph. I knoAv of no person by this name. It is probable that " uaxtepecatl " does not stand here for the name of a person, but denotes the district to Avhich the official belonged. We often find the governors of provinces mentioned by the adjectiA^e form of their district instead of by their proper name — Cuetlaxtecatl, " the governor of Cuetlaxtlan ", etc. So here, too, uaxtepecatl petla- calcatl may mean merely " the keeper of the stores, the steAvard of the district of Uaxtepec ". 172 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Between divisions 13 and 14 in our manuscript there is a lesser stream of water, which, as I have said, leads straight across the page, from the path on the right to the w^ater on the left. Then fol- lows above, in division 14, a head with hair hanging straight down, in the explanatory note of which some of the letters are destroyed and made unintelligible by a dark stain; but the hieroglyph behind the head informs us that the note must be read Itzpotoncatzin ; that is, '• He who is stuck over with obsidian knives instead of with feathers". The hieroglyph shows us a stone knife (iztli, '' knife ", " obsidian ") with tufts of down sticking to it (potonqui, " stuck over with feath- ers"). Feathers fastened to the hair and naked skin were part of the holiday dress. Young girls adorned themselves for a festival by Fig. 39. Symbols from Mexican codices. sticking red feathers to their arms and legs, and because this stick- ing on of feathers was part of the holiday dress the victim of sacrifice was similarly adorned, except that white feathers were used, to show that he was doomed to death. Those intended for the sacrificio gla- diatorio, in particular, were smeared with white infusorial earth (tizatl) and stuck over with white down (iuitl) a, figure 39. To send tizatl and iuitl was therefore a declaration of war. The oppo- nent was thus symbolically doomed to a sacrificial death. Hence in Codex Telleriano-Eemensis the conquest of a city is invariably rep- resented by the picture of a man painted white, with dots, and cov- ered with tufts of down ( ?>, figm-e 3!)) , and in the Mendoza codex, page 47, we see the declaration of war against an insubordinate cacique SELEK] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT II 173 also represented in this way, c. The envoy of the king while he deliv- ers his message is sticking feather tufts upon the head of the cacique, who sits in his chair clotlied in a rich mantle. Another brings him the shield, which was also part of the equipment of those destined for the sacrificio gladiatorio. In the next division, 15 (plate vii), we have a head with hair hanging straight down, which is called Ixeuatzin in the accom- panying note. Ix-tli means " face ", " front ", " presence ", " eye " ; euatl means " the skin ", and was also used especially to denote the gala doublets, made of feather w^ork which were worn by Mexican warriors of rank over the wadded armor, ichca-uipilli, which served for the actual protection of their bodies. In c/, figure 39, I have re- produced one of these military doublets of feather work which is used in the Mendoza codex, pages 40 to 49, as a hieroglyph for the city of Cozouipilecan " Avhere the people wear military doublets of yellow feathers ". A true euatl, that is, the skin flayed from a man (tla- caeuatl), is worn by the god Xipe, " the flaj^ed one ", the red god of the Yopi and Tlapaneca. The hieroglyph in division 15 of our manu- script (plate vii), corresponding to the meaning given here for the name, is an eye (ixtli) ; above and below it is a shirt, as shown in d, figure 39, but having hands lianging from it and with a gash straight across the breast and a few stains below. It is evident that this drawing is not meant to represent a feather shirt, but a genuine human skin, such as Xipe wore. The opening straight across the breast indicates the incision which was made to tear out the victim's •heart, and the stains are for blood stains. This is still more clear in the kindred hieroglyph in division 24 (plate vii), where the red stains — blood stains on a yellow groinid, Avhich indicates the death hue of a human skin — are plainly to be recognized. After division 15 comes division 16, with the head and hieroglyph of Don Diego de San Francisco Teuetzquititzin, of which I have already spoken. In division 17 is another head having the chieftain's hair dress, temillotl. The note says coua-yvitzin, " snake-feather ", and this is represented in the hieroglyph by a snake covered with tufts of down. The name Coua-iuitl is mentioned in the annals of Chimalpahin. Chimalpahin tells us there that after the surrender of the city the above-mentioned five princes of Mexico were taken captive to Coy- ouacan, and then adds: yhuan teohua Quauhcohuatl yhuan Cohu ayhuitl Tecohuatzin Tetlanmecatl quintemolli (" and they sought for the priest Quauhcoatl and for CouaiuitI Tecouatzin, Tetlanmecatl"). It is not impossible that the CouaiuitI mentioned here, concerning whom I know no further particulars, is also the one referred to in our manuscript. 174 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 In division 18 is a head with hair hanging straight down, which, according to the marginal note, bears the name Imexayacatzin. The hieroglyph is a human leg, upon the thigh of which is painted a face. This exactly reproduces the meaning of the name. Xayacatl means " the face ", and imexayacatl is literally imex-xayacatl, which is derived, with syncopation of the final consonant of the first word, from imetzxayacatl, that is, " the face made of her thigh (metz-tli)". The name refers to a ceremony which was performed at the broom feast, Ochpaniztli, the feast of the goddess Teteo-innan, or Toci. A woman was sacrificed at this feast, who, as was customary at the feasts of the Mexicans, was considered an image of the divinity in whose honor the feast was held, and Avho represented this deity in dress and action. This woman was sacrificed by decapitation, a priest hold- ing her on his back, and was then immediately flayed. A priest dressed himself in the skin, and represented the goddess during the remainder of the feast. From the skin of the thigh a mask was made, which was called mexayacatl, or more correctly i-mex-xayacatl, " the face made of her thigh ". It was worn, together with a peculiar headdress, which was called itztlacoliuhqui, " the sharply curved ", particularly described in the respective chapter of Sahagun (volume 2, chapter 30) . It was considered the symbol of coldness and hard- ness, of infatuation, of evil, and of sin. I reproduce this mask and headdress, /, from the Sahagun manuscript of the Academia de la Historia, where the two combined are depicted as the insignia of a warrior, under the name mexayacatl. The mask (mexayacatl) and the headdress (itztlacoliuhqui) were put on by Cinteotl, the god of the maize plant, or more exactly of the ripe, hard, dry ear of corn, which was called cintli, who was the son of the old earth mother, Teteoinnan, and a battle then ensued between him and his followers on the one hand, and the priest clad in the human skin, representing the goddess, on the other, which was undoubtedly meant to symbolize the driving away of frost and other harmful things which threaten the Indian corn. These harmful things were supposed to be conjured into the mexayacatl. Therefore at the close of the feast a chosen band of warriors carried it at a running pace somewhere across the borders into hostile country .« ■ In the next division, 19, the note gives the name xipanoctzin. This should really read xip-panoc-tzin, derived by assimilation from xuili- panoc-tzin, just as xip-palli, "color turquesado", is derived from xiuh- palli. Accordingly, the name contains the elements xiuh (or, with the article, xiuitl), "turquoise", and panoc, ''he who crosses a river" ( from pano, " to cross a river ") . Both elements are clearly expressed in the hieroglyph. Xiuh is expressed by the hieroglyph for tur- " Sahagun, v. 2, chap. 30. SELEit] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT II 175 qiioise (see I, figure 34) and '^crossing the river " by the boat which is drawn below it. In division 20 (plate vii) the note is again rendered quite illegible by the crease ni the page, but I think that I can distinctly make out Tepotzitotzin. The name contains the elements tepotz-tli, " hump- back ", and itoa, " to speak ". Hence the hieroglyph shows a human body with a curved back and beside it the little tongue, the symbol of speech. In the next division, 21, the note is somewhat illegible, owing to an attempted correction. I think I can make out yaotequacuiltzin, which might be translated " the old priest of Yaotl, i. e., Tezcatli- poca ". There is no hieroglyph. In division 22 the explanatory note reads aca-zayol-tzin, that is, " reed gnat ". The hieroglyph is the picture of the reed (acatl) and, above it, of a gnat (zayolin) , painted brown. In division 23 we read Amaquemetzin, "he who wears a garment of bark paper". By quemitl, "garment", the Mexicans meant a kind of covering usually made of more or less costly feathers, which was tied around the neck of idols and hung down in front, and was therefore commonly called by the Spaniards " delantal ". Amatl is the inner bark of a variety of fig, which was much used in ancient Mexico, especially as a cheap adornment for idols. Amaqueme, " dressed in a garment of bark paper ", was the name of the idol on the mountain near Amaquemecan, in the territory of the Chalca, which. Christianized and called Monte Sacro, is still held in great veneration by the inhabitants of all the neighboring valleys, pil- grimages being made to it from great distances. The hieroglyph in division 23 shows the form of the quemitl usual in the manuscripts (see e, figure 39, the hieroglyph of Tequemecan, and also c, figure 35, the hieroglyph of Aztaquemecan), but it is blank and unpainted save for a few black designs, which were probably made with drops of hot liquid caoutchouc. Similar paper quemitl with caoutchouc-drop markings played an important part in the worship of the mountain gods at least. With them were decked the little idols of the moun- tain gods, the Eecatotontin, which were made during the Tepeilhuitl, the feast of the mountain gods (see g and A, figure 39, the figures of the mountains Popocatepetl and Matlalcueye, from the Sahagun manuscript of the Biblioteca del Palacio). I will mention, by the way, that Kingsborough's artist has erroneously colored this hiero- glyph red and yellow, though it must be and is colorless. In division 24 (plate vii) the explanatory note gives the name eua- tlatitzin, that is, " he who hides the skin ". An euatl, a doublet made of a human skin, forms the hieroglyph, like the one in division 15. The name eua-tlati-tzin probably refers to the ceremony which was performed at the close of Tlacaxipeualiztli, the feast of the god Xipe, 176 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 when those who for 20 days had worn the skins of the sacrificed vic- tims, out of special devotion to Xipe, carried them in solemn proces- sion to a certain place in Xipe's temple. This was called eua-tlati-lo, " the hiding or putting away of the skins ". The twenty-fifth square is blank. In the twenty-sixth square a head is drawn which the Avriting above it calls Teilpitzin, that is, " he who binds people ". The hieroglyph shows a rope tied in a knot, a sufficiently intelligible symbol. This ends the list. Few familiar names are mentioned, as Ave see, and these belong to about the same period. They are all the direct successors of Motecuhzoma, excepting the first one, Cuitlauatzin (c, figure 37), who, it is well known, died of smallpox after reigning a few weeks, and Avho, excepting the last two gobernadores, Cece- patitzin, who succeeded Teuetzquititzin, and his successor, Nanacaci- pactzin, were the last of the ancient royal family to exercise any kind of royal authority. It therefore seems as though our fragment treated of territory which was a royal demesne, but which after Mote- cuhzoma's death probably did not pass as a whole to hi^ successors, but was in part divided with others. It is my opinion that this manuscript formed a part of the col- lection brought together by Boturini, and that it is described as num- ber 8, section 8, in his Museo Indiano. Boturini there gives the following description : Otro ma pa en papel indiano, donde se pin- tan, al parecer y por lo que se puede decir ahora, unas tierras sola- riegas de senores, empezando de dicho Emperador Moteachziima, y siguiendo a otros hasta los tiempos de la cristiandad ("Another map on Indian paper, where are painted, apparently and so far as can be said now, lands belonging to different lords, beginning with the said Emperor Moteuchziima, and afterward to others down to the times of Christianity"). FRAGMENTS III AND lA^ These (plates viii and ix) are two fragments of a larger manu- script, which belonged to the collection of the Cavaliere Boturini. In the inventory of the coUection made after Boturini's imprisonment it is described in the fourth list, under number 2G, in the following words: Un mapa grande, papel de maguey gordo con pinturas toscas, muy maltratado; trata de las cosas de la conquista de Cuanmana y otros lugares, de los Espaholes, con inios rios de sangre, que indican las batallas crueles que hubo de los Indios ("A large map on coarse aloe paper, with rude paintings, in very bad condition, treats of events during the conquest of Cuanmana and other places by the Spanish, with rivers of blood, whicli indicates the cruel battles which they waged with the Indians")." Boturini himself describes it as " Penafiel, Monumentos del arte mexicano. Text, p. 61. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY k^ A^ i .. ■ isr-M MEXICAN PAINTING-HL BULLETIN 28 PLATE VIII ILDT FRAGMENT III SBLER] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENTS III, IV 177 number 2, section 20, in the Catalogo del Museo Indiano del Cavallero Boturini, somewhat more in detail. He says there : Otro mapa muy grande de una pieza, y maltratado a los dos lados, de papel grueso mdiano. Tiene de largo algo mas de ocho varas, y de ancho dos varas y quarta, y trata con toscas pinturas de las crueles guerras de la gentilidad entre diferentes pueblos, cuyos nombres son Hecatepec, Huyatepec, Amoltepec, Nientlah, Tzatzaqualan, Hueymotlan, Colte- pec, Antlacaltepec, Tepechalla, Xiquipilco, Achalalan, Zayutepec, Teconhuac, Totolhuitzecan, Yahueyocan, Zacatzolah, Mazapila, y despues de haver demonstrado con unos rios de sangre, assi lo cruento de la guerra, como de los prisioneros sacrificados, apunta la llegada del gran Cortes, y de los Padres de San Francisco en Quauhmanco, etc. ("Another map, very large, in one piece, in bad cojidition at both sides, on thick Indian paper. It is some 8 ells long and 2| ells wide, and treats in rude paintings of the cruel wars of the gentry with various tribes, whose names are Hecatepec, Huyatepec, Amol- tepec, Nientlah, Tzatzaqualan, Hueymetlan, Coltepec, Antlacaltepec, Tepechalla, Xiquipilco, Achalalan, Zayutepec, Teconhuac, Totol- huitzecan, Yahueyocan, Zacatzotlah, Mazapila, and after having shown by rivers of blood both the cruel nature of the war and the prisoners who were sacrificed, it relates to the coming of the great Cortes and of the Franciscan fathers to Quauhmanco, etc.")« That these descriptions refer to the manuscript of which fragments III (plate viii) and IV (plate ix) of the present collection are parts follows from the general characterization of the manuscript and from the reference to the rivers of blood (rios de sangre) , which are indeed very conspicuous on our page ; unfortunately, they are not as obvious in the uncolored photographic reproduction. This is clearly proved by the fact that three of the names of places mentioned by Boturini are actually mentioned in the explanatory notes of our fragment III. The last three places mentioned by Boturini, Yahuayohca, Zacateotlah, and Mazapillah (I read the names thus), are the ones that occur on the fragment. Our fragment must belong to one of the original lateral margins of the manuscript. The missing pieces, which must be very considerable, since in Boturini's time the whole measured 8 ells in length and 2^ ells in width, are extant elsewhere, whether intact or not I can not say. The Museo Nacional de Mexico possesses lari?e portions of them. I saw copies of them last year in the Mexican de- partment of the American historical exhibition at Madrid, and other parts— as it seems, very important ones, taken from what was orig-i- nally the middle— I saw years ago in the Biblioteca Nacionarin Mexico. Boturini states that there had been in his possession a second, similar Mdea de una nueva liistoria general de la America septentrional. App., pp 38 39 7238— No. 28— 05 12 • 178 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 manuscript, on which, among others, were the place names Tonalxo- ehitlan, Qnauhtepan, Ynenechcoyan, Tepeyahualco, Ohocotlan, Tlilal- pan, and Ameyalato on the one side ; and on the other, Huixocotepec, Huecoyotzi, Coyocan, Quetzalcohuapan, Tlacotlan, Atlan, Quimichocan, Chipetzinco, Qnanapa, Tepeyahualco, Yxtlahuaca, Ocotzoquauhtla. This and the first manuscript were found together— enterrados en una caxa baxo las ruinas de la antigua ermita de la jurisdiccion de Huamantla, Provincia de Tlaxcallan, y de alii los hice sacar (" buried in a box beneath the ruins of the ancient monastery in the district of Huamantla, province of Tlaxcallan, and from there I had them taken")— and he adds: "Y solo se p-.eden interpretar en un todo, en occasion que se consulten los manuscritos de la Historia general (" and they can only be interpreted as a whole, whenever the manuscripts of the general history are con- sulted"). This information is very important, because the region from which fragments III and IV of our collection came is thus definitely fixed. The place called " Quauhmanco " in Boturini's description of the leaf and " Cuanmana " in the inventory is undoubtedly Huamantla, situ- ated in the province of Tlaxcallan, at the northeast base of the Cerro de la Malinche (the mountain called in ancient times after the goddess Matlalcueye) , in the neighborhood of which Boturini found the two remarkabie manuscripts. Huamantla doubtless stands for Qua- mantla, which, in turn, is derived by contraction from Quauh-man- tlan. In fact, there are still extant in that region many of the names which Boturini mentions as occurring on these two charts. I can not, it is true, accurately define the position of the three several places whose names occur on fragment III (plate viii), but it is beyond a doubt that they were in the same region. As for the representations on these pages, the portions belonging originally to the middle must be distinguished from those belonging to the borders. The principal part of the left side of fragment III (plate viii) belongs to the part which was originally the middle. Here we see, first, surrounded by flying spears and fighting warriors, a curious design in Avhich a stream of water, painted blue, Avith draw- ings of currents and whirlpools and with the usual snail shells on the branches, is intertwined with a band winding in a similar manner and frayed at the ends, composed of alternate sections of gray with dark figures and yellow with red figures. The alternate dark sections and light yellow sections with red figures denote fire, and the entire symbol is nothing more than the pictorial hieroglyphic expression for the well-known phrase atl tlachinolli, or teoatl tlachinolli, which may be understood as meaning literally " water and fire ", although its original meaning was probably something else, and which is generally used in the sense of " war ". The same symbol, somewhat ditfereutly SELER] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENTS III, IV 179 drawn (see «, figure 40), may be seen in the headdress of the god Camaxtli, the war god of the Tlaxcaltecs, who is opposite the fire god, the ruler of the ninth Aveek, which begins with ce Coatl, on page 9 of the Tonalamatl in the Aubin-Goupil collection. I have shown that the tonalamatl occurs in the most diverse Mexican picture writings Avith the same regents and essentially the same symbols or symbols derived from the same idea." If w^e take the Borgian codex, for instance, we find here, too, the fire god depicted as the ruler of the nintli Aveek, ce Coatl. But opposite him we have not the effigy of Camaxtli, the war god of Tlaxcala, but a design (&, figure 40) in which we clearly recognize, besides a scorpion and flying arrows, the / 22S C 9 Fig. 40. Symbols and figures from the Mexican codices. stream of water and the ascending smoke of fire. In another parallel passage in the same manuscript there is again draAvn opposite the fire god, instead of the war god, merely a scorpion, a stream of water, and a burning house, c, teoatl tlachinolli, the symbol of w^ar. The bodies of the warriors on our fragment (plate viii) , to the right of the teoatl tlachinolli, the symbol of war, are painted brown and the faces yellow, like the other figures on this fragment. Moreover, all the Avarriors have a characteristic red face painting, which con- sists of one vertical stripe and two horizontal stripes. This painting undoubtedly has some special ethnic significance. At least it differs " tJber den Codex Borgia und die verwandten aztekischen Bilderscbriften. 180 BUREAU OF AMERTCAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 from the joainting customary among the Mexican warriors, who, as we learn from Sahagun, app. 3, chapter 5, and as we see represented throughout the Mendoza codex, colored the whole body black except the face, and this they painted with a few black stripes, on which they sprinkled powdered iron pyrites — niman michio, mitoaya motliltzo- tia, hapetztli ic conpotonia ininechival, " Y en la cara se ponian cier- tas ray as con tinta y margagita ".'* On the other hand, I find face painting like that of the warriors of our fragment III (plate viii) on the head set upon a mountain, which is given in the Mendoza codex as the hieroglyph of the city of Otompan, " in the district of the Oto- mis ", d (figure 40), as well as in a draAving, e^ which, in the list of names of persons of Uexotzinco (Manuscrit Mexicain number 3, Bib- liotheque Nationale), denotes a man named Chichimeca. We know that the name Chichimeca was borne as an honorary title by the rulers of Tetzcoco and, especially, by the Tlaxcaltecs. Keel and yellow j)ainting is mentioned as occurring among the Mexicans, but it was not a mark of distinction regularly conferred by official consent, as I would emphasize in controversion of some recent statements, but a symbolic ceremon}^, performed but once, by which it was publicly made known that a warrior had taken a prisoner alone, without help from others. This painting, which consisted in coloring the body and temples yellow and the face red, was applied to the fortunate warrior in the presence of the king by the calpixque, the governors of the provinces, and the commanders of divisions of troops stationed at a distance, the recipient being afterward rewarded by the king. It is exactly the same decoration as the one worn by those who sacri- ficed a prisoner by fire at the feast Xocotl-uetzi in honor of the fire god. I have spoken elsewhere of the meaning of this manner of painting the face, which is really that of the goddess Ciuacouatl, or Quilaztli (see Ausland, 1891, page 865). Beside atl tlachinolli, the symbol of war, we have six warrior fig- ures and the lower half of a seventh in our fragment III (plate viii). Five of them wear the warrior's hair dress (temillotl) (see 7 and m, figure 37, and the heads in divisions 3, 9, 11, and 17, counting from the lower path, on fragment II (plate vii) of this colle<:tion). All these are armed with the shield (chimalli) and the club (maquauitl), which has an edge of obsidian splinters on both sides.'^ So, too, the three warriors drawn on the right side of the fragment have the temillotl and are armed with shield and maquauitl. Only one warrior in the left-hand row, the fifth from below, has the other style of hair dress, Avhich I described above as tzotzocolli, and which is illustrated by o, " Zeitschrift fiir Bthnologie, 1887, v. 21, p. 175 and following, "das Tonalamatl der Aubinschen Sammlung ". Comple rendu, seventh session, Cougr&s International des Americanistes, Berlin, 18SS, pp. .521-523. " See also the pictures of Mexican warriors' ornaments, m, p, and q, fig. 37. SELER] MEXICAN PTCTUKE WRITINGS — FRAGMENTS III, IV 181 />, q. figure 37. This warrior is not armed with shield and club, but with arrow (mitl), bow (tlanitolli), and quiver (mi-comitl). The different mode of wearing the hair may be due merely to difference of rank, for the hair dress (temillotl), was the distinguishing mark of the tequiua, the great war chieftains. Still I think that there is also an ethnic difference apparent here. The maquauitl was the national weapon of the Mexican tribes, that is, of the inhabitants of the valley of Mexico and those who spoke their language. Besides this the spear (tlacochtli, tlatzontectli), thrown with the spear thrower (atlatl),was also used as an effective weapon. On the other hand, bow, arrow, and quiver were the weapons of the mountain tribes, the Chichimecs. The name Chichimecatl is reproduced in the Boturini codex and elsewhere simply by the picture of a bow and arrow (/ and g. figure 40). The word Chichimecatl includes a multitude of very different tribes, speaking different languages. In the vicinity of the highlands of Mexico, and also in the district referred to on our fragment, that is, the region lying east and north of Tlaxcala, the only mountain tribe of importance is the Otomi. It is a remarkable fact that this very tribe wore the hair in a mode most closely resembling that which I have described above as tzotzocolli, which may be seen worn by the fifth figure from below in the left-hand row on our fragment. The Otomi, says Sahagun (volume 10, chapter 29), shaved the hair on the forehead and let it grow very long at the back of the head. This hair hanging down long behind was called piochtli. At the gates of Tlaxcallan, as we know from Gomara, Otomi was actually spoken. The god of the Tlaxcaltecs was not TezcatlijDOca bearing the spear thrower, but the arrow-shooting Camaxtli, who is never seen without the pouch in which he carries his arrowheads of flint. And the ruder, more rustic, but also warlike, nature which was attributed to the Tlaxcaltecs was undoubtedly due to the stronger admixture of the indigenous Chichimec, that is, Otomi, element. The shields which the chieftains hold in their hands are of three sorts. The fourth figure from below in the left row holds a shield whose surface is decorated with five tufts of down arranged in a quin- cunx. Such shields are mentioned in the Sahagun manuscript mider the name of iui-teteyo, " decorated wdth single balls of feathers ". Another shield, on whose surface are five small gold plates arranged in a quincunx, is called, correspondingly, teocuitla-teteyo. The shield with the tufts of down arranged in a quincunx is carried by the idol of Uitzilopochtli (see the picture of it in Codices Telleriano-Remen- sis I, page 9, and Vaticanus A, page 71, which represents the fifteenth annual festival, Panquetzaliztli, the feast of Uitzilopochtli) . Uitzilo- pochtli's shield is called teueuelli. It is described as follows in the Sahagun manuscript of the Biblioteca Lorenziana : Otlatl in tlachi- 182 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 valli, otlachimalli, nauhcan tlapotonilli quauhtlachcayotica, iuicha- chapanqui, moteneua teueuelli ; that is, " made of reeds, with eagle's down stuck on it in four places in conglomerate masses; it is called teueuelli ". Together with the shield, Uitzilopochtli bears four spears that are tipped with tufts of down instead of stone points, which were, called tlauagomalli.'^ The shield with the tufts of down also appears constantly in the Mendoza codex, where the symbol of war — shield, spear thrower, and bundle of spears — is represented before the pic- ture of the king. From this latter fact it has been concluded that this shield was used by the Mexican kings; but I doubt whether this was the case. Uitzilopochtli bears this shield, as he bears the tlauagomalli (the four spears tipped with tufts of down instead of stone) ; that is, he has the weapons which were placed in the hand of those destined to a sacrificial death — to the sacrificio gladiatorio (see a and 5, figure 39), because to a certain extent he represents the conception of a warrior's death — a death by sacrifice on the round stone (temalacatl). There is an interesting statement in regard to these weapons of Uitzilopochtli in the annals of Chimalpahin. We read there that the elder Motecuhzoma in the year 1440, before he was installed as a ruler, went to the Chalca to beg the princes of Amaquemecan to set in motion the otlanamitl and the teueuelli (ynic conolinique in otlanamitl in teueuelli), in order that the Tepanecs might be subdued (inic opopoliuh in Tepanecatl).'' Here teueuelli is the name of Uitzilopochtli's shield and otlanamitl should read otlanammitl. The latter word is derived by contraction from otla- nauh-mitl and means " the four bamboo arrows ". The whole is undoubtedly only a figure of speech.'' Motecuhzoma simply asks the Chalca to support him in y\-ixv against the Tepanecs. But that a figurative expression of this kind could be used proves that teueuelli universally denoted the shield of the war god, for the god of the Chalca was not Uitzilopochtli, but Tezcatlipoca. The shields of the other warriors on our fragment III (plate viii) are of two types, the two which occur most frequently among the armor depicted in the tribute list and in the Mendoza codex. The first, third, and sixth warriors, from below, in the left row and the lower of the two on the right side, have shields whose surface exhibits a stepped meander pattern, undoubtedly executed in feather work, as on the ancient Mexican shields in the Museum of National Antiqui- ties at Stuttgart. A shield of this kind was called xicalcoliuhqui ° VerofCentlichungen aus dem Koniglielien Museum fiir Volkerkunde, v. 1, p. 122. 6 Chimalpahin, Seventh Relation, pp. 105, 106. " Remi Simeon translates the passage: qu'ils transportassent les engins de guerre pour renverser les Tepaneques ("that they would transport the engines of war to overthrow the Tepanecs"). It does not refer to engines of war. nor would the Chalcas. if they had owned such a fetish, have actually given it out of their keeping, nor, finally, does ou-oli-nl mean to transport to any other place. SELER] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS — -FRAGMENTS III, IV 188 chimalli." The pattern on the Stuttgart shield is executed in green and yellow, and the shields of this kind on the tribute list have the same colors, without a single exception. On our fragment the colors chosen are blue and red. The second warrior, from below, in the left row and the adjacent upper right-hand warrior have a shield with concave cross bands curving upward, Avith one golden crescent above and three below. Such shields were called cuexyo chimalli.'^ The background of these shields is usualh'' red, and so it is on our frag- ment. The warrior who follows in the upper row on the left, of whom only tlie lower half is visible, has a shield with a plain red surface. Concerning the other weapons and articles of dress there is not much to be said. The maquauitl, strangely enough, is painted blue in every instance. The Mexicans frequently denoted metal (silver), and usually tur- quoise mosaic, by blue in their paintings. But there can be no ques- tion of metal here, for a metal club would not be armed with splin- ters of obsidian, and turquoise mosaic was employed only in the ornamentation of costly gala weapons, if at all. The clubs might have been painted blue in imitation of turquoise mosaic, just as war- riors wore wooden ear pegs painted blue instead of those incrusted with turquoise, as worn by the king.'' Arrows and spears are represented, as in all Mexican paintings, tipped with stone. The feathers at the nock end are applied some- what below the end of the shaft, so that the end of the arrow can be placed on either the bow string or the peg of the spear thrower. The feathers are drawn en face, that is, with the broad side next the shaft. This, however, is probably due to defective drawing. In reality they must have lain perpendicular to the shaft. Thus, eyes are never drawn in profile, as they actually are in a face draw^n in profile, but are always drawn en face. A ball of clown is invariably attached to the base of the feather. The quiver worn by one w^arrior on our frag- ment is painted yellow. Math black sj^ots, and is therefore supposed to be made of jaguar skin. All the figures are naked, save for the maxtlatl, " breechcloth," which is here painted red in all cases. The warriors in the row on the left are represented as engaged in combat. Each of the three on the right side is dragging a prisoner, and broad streams of blood mark the paths they have traversed with their captives. Opposite the middle one of the three warriors is a man who seems to be in the act of receiving the victim with animated gestures. He wears only a red cap on his head, and is perhaps meant for a priest. " Veroffentlichungen aus dem Koniglichen Museum fiir Volkerkunde, v. 1, pp. 140, 141. BZeitschrift fiir Etlinologie, 1S91, v. 23, p. 137. •^ Yuan conaquia xiuhnacochtii, uel xiuitl, auh yu cequiutin gan quauitl yn tlachiualli tiasiuhycuilolli (" and they wear turquoise ear pegs, whicli are made of turquoise, and otliers wear them of wood only, which are painted after the manner of turquoise"). Sahagun, v. 2, chap. 37. Manuscript Bihlioteca del Palacio. 1-. ' G i o p q t Pig. 43. Mexican name glyphs. the word nicah, the same word in the same dialect form with Avhich the notes begin on fragment III (plate viii) of our collection. It is greatly to be desired that the present very able and energetic director of the Museo Nacional of Mexico may speedily publish also the fragments of this gi-eat manuscript, now in the possession of the museum, for in spite of its coarse and clumsy drawings the manuscript is very interesting. FEAGMENT V Next we have a piece of agave paper 42 cm. long and 15i cm. wide, divided into ten divisions by cross lines (plate x). The writer seems to have begun in the old way (see fragment I, plates ii to vi of this 188 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 collection), at the bottom, and to have proceeded upward, for there appears to have been nothing above the topmost line. It is to be noted that the drawings are made in a different ink, blacker and more permanent, than that in w-hich the names were entered. About the middle of the fragment, in the sixth division from below, we have the hieroglyph of a place. I think the explanatory note should be read tezontepec. The hieroglyph is in the familiar form of a mountain (tepe-tl) bearing a tree. But the mountain is here divided, as it were, into a series of cliffs and prominences, which are painted a light bluish green in the middle and reddish at the edges, and its surface is diagonally crossed by a band contrasting sharply with the rest of the coloring. The light diagonal band is prob- ably intended to recall the familiar hieroglyph of the stone (tetl) (see n, figure 37, and «, figure 43, the hieroglyph of Tepoxauac, "where the stones are loose"). The alternately lighter and darker portions in this hieroglyph reproduce the various veinings of stone. In our hieroglyph irregular black stripes occur, both on the diagonal band and on the various cliffs and prominences of the mountain. This, I believe, is meant to indicate, the porous quality of the stone, for tezontli means "stone froth". This was the Mexican name for a porous stone which occurs in the valley of Mexico, and which, like the Roman travertine, has been much used for building purposes from the earliest times. In the Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regi- dores de Mexico, which is preserved in the archives of the Duke of Osuna, a village called Tezontepec (6, same figure) is mentioned in a list with Hueypochtlan, Tequisquiac, Nestlalapan, Tlemaco, etc., as subject to a " comandero ". It is very likely the place in the dis- trict of Tula, state of Hidalgo, which is still known by that name. The report published by Doctor Pehafiel, concerning the municipal divisions of the Republic of Mexico in 1884, mentions still another Tezontepec in the district of Pachuca. Of course it is impossible to state with certainty which Tezontepec may be meant here. In the other divisions (plate x) there is a man on the left and a woman on the right, except the two uppermost divisions, in which there is only a woman. The woman is always recognized by the manner of wearing the hair, which is marked by a bunch on the neck and two braids standing erect above the forehead, like horns. The names of the persons are written over them, and behind some of the heads a name hieroglyph is given. Several red dots are painted between the man and the woman in each division, varying from 4 to 8 in number. They are usually arranged in two rows, and where the number is uneven the row containing the smaller number of dots is placed uppermost. Here again the writer seems to have proceeded from below upward. The whole was probably a sort of parish register of the village of Tezontepec, in which the BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 28 PLATE X ^''M 1v ,.i? ;V ■%<:li ji 3- # ^*~^ t'i^ '^?c, Sj £■(1 {U'A ri iM MEXICAN PAINTING-HUMBOLDT FRAGMENT V SELEE] MEXICAN" PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT V 189 man and wife in every household were given, with their names and the number of their children. This is confirmed by the fact that in the two topmost divisions, where only a woman and a number of red dots are entered, after the woman's name is the remark " yc ", which is the abbreviation for ycnociuatl, " widow ". In the lowest division, over the man's head is written the name lolenzo te s. fo, that is, Lorenzo de San Francisco — for in the Mexican language there is no r nor d — and behind it is a hieroglyph which is partially destroyed and somewhat hidden by a fold in the paper, but is still clearly to be recognized as the drawing of a gridiron (see (?, figure 43), the hieroglyph for the name Laurentius. The woman opposite him is named Ana, and the number of red dots is eight. In the second division (plate x) from below the name Antonio is written above the man's head. Behind it was a hieroglyph, but unfortunately it is now wholly obliterated. The woman opposite him is called Catharina, and the number of red dots is eight. In the third division from below the head, the name, and the hieroglyph of the man have been entirely destroyed by the fraying and tearing of the paper. The woman's name is Ana, and the num- ber of red dots is eight. In the fourth division the name over the man's head has also been destroyed, and the hieroglyph was hidden by a fold in the paper. I reproduce in f/, figure 43, as much of it as I could see. The number of red dots is eight. In the fifth division (plate x) from below I think I can read, above the man's head, matheo te s. sepastian. The hieroglyph is an arm painted yellowish broAvn, and in the hand is a round object painted light blueish green. I think that this is meant for the hieroglyph designating matheo, for ma-itl is the Mexican for " the arm ", " the hand ". The name of the woman opposite is not clear to me. " The number of reddish dots is six. In the sixth division, as I have already stated, are the name and hieroglyph of the village Tezontepec. In the seventh division, above the man's head, only clemente can still be read. I can not interpret the hieroglyph. The woman's name is missing. Six (or eight) red dots are given. In the eighth division, from below, in the note over the man's head, I can recognize distinctly only the second word. It is osola. The hieroglyph behind it seems to be intended for a bird's head with a tall crest of feathers. This may refer to the name ; for col-in means the quail. Over the woman's head is a very much faded explanatory note, of which I can make out nothing but ana d Rey tz. The number of red dots is four. Before each of the windows in the two uppermost divisions there ][90 BUREAU OF AMERTCAN- ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 are five red dots. The lower one is named Juana, the upper one Maria. Behind the upper one is a design which looks like the mono- gram M A when cut in wood, and probably stands for the name Maria. Elsewhere— for instance, in the Duke of Osuna's Pintura— the name Maria is represented by a crown; for Maria is the queen of heaven. Behind Juana's head is a hieroglyph which represents an eye in an angle pointing upward, and below it three drops of water. This may be the hieroglyph for icno, " orphaned '\ " wid- owed ". In the lists of names of persons in the Manuscrit Mexicain number 3 of the Bibliotheque Nationale this idea is always expressed by tears (see e, Icnotlacatl; /, icno-ix). This document, too, in my opinion, belonged to the Boturini col- lection. In the catalogue of Boturini's Museo Indiano, under num- ber 10, section 21, are mentioned siete pedazos de mapas en papel Indiano, de los pueblos Tezarco, Tlacoapan, Coyotepec y Tezontepec (" seven pieces of maps on Indian paper, of the villages of Tezarco, Tlacoapan, Coyotepec, and Tezontepec ") . One of these seven frag- ments, therefore, was designated by the name of a village, whose name and hieroglyph were found on our fragment V (plate x^l. Since the majority of the fragments of our collection belonged, as we shall see, to the Boturini collection, it is probable that this is not an accidental coincidence. FEAGMENT VI This is a piece of agave paper of the size of a quarto sheet (dimen- sions of fragment, 20 by 21 cm.), and is covered on one side with fig- ures and drawings (plate xi). This is the document reproduced and described by A. von Humboldt in his Vues des Cordilleres et Monuments des Peuples indigenes de I'Amerique, under the title " Piece de proces en ecriture hieroglyphique (legal document in hiero- glyphic writing)." In the middle of the fragment is a ground plan of buildings. To the left of it are written the words ciudad de Tezcuco {'' city of Tezcuco "). It is therefore clear that this is the ground plan of the capital of that name situated opposite Mexico on the other shore of the lake. In the middle of the right side a path leads into, or, perhaps more correctly, from the heart of the city, as the position of the footprints shows. At right angles to the first path and parallel to the right side, near the edge, there is a path which, as it seems, separates two smaller quarters from the mam body of the town. In the center of the main part there is a large group of buildings, which is doubtless meant to represent the palace. Most conspicuous is a square room, which is entered by a door on the right. Door posts and rafters, which were usually of wood, are ^designated by their red color. Bows of r V SELEK] MEXICAN PICTURE WHITINGS FRAGMENT VI 1^1 pillars similarly painted, therefore probably of the same material, traverse the room. This corresponds exactly to what Juan Bautista de Pomar tell us of Nezahualcoyotl's palace at Tezcuco. He says that the buildings stood on raised terraces. The principal room was a hall over 20 ells in length and breadth. In the interior were many wooden pillars standing at interA^als on stone bases, the pil- lars in their turn supporting the beams and joists: Son sobre terraplenos de un estado, lo que menos de cinco, u seis el que mas. Los principales aposentos que tenian eran unas salas de veinte brazas y mas de largo, y otras tantas en ancho, porque eran cuadrados, y en medio clellos muchos pilares de madera de trecho a trecho, sobre grandes brazas de piedra sobre las quales ponian las madres en que cargaba la demas madera (" Thej^ stand on terraces of one height, five or six. The principal apartments were halls more than 20 ells in length and of width as great, because they were square, and in the middle were many wooden columns at intervals upon great stones, upon Avhich pillars rested the beams of the ceilings ") . Pomar's other statements in regard to the palace seem also to correspond with what we find drawn on our fragment. He says the entrance to these halls led from a courtyard, the ground of which was covered with a smooth layer of cement, and which was reached by a flight of steps. Besides these state apartments there were also a great number of special buildings for distinguished guests, for the women, and for the other numerous and various attendants of the palace, kitchens, closed courtyards, etc. Abia en estas casas aposentos dedicaclos para los reyes de Tacuba donde eran aposentados, quando a esta ciudad venian. Tenian aposentos para los demas seiiores inferiores del vej, sin otras muchas salas en que hacian sus audiencias y juzgados, y otras de consejos de guerra, y otras de la musica y cantos ordinarios, y otras en que vivian las mugeres, con otros muchos palacios y grandes cocinas y corrales ('' There were in these houses apartments set apart for the kings of Tacuba, where they were lodged when they came to this city. There were apartments for all the other lords, in- ferior to the king, besides many other halls in which they gave audi- ences and delivered judgment, and others for councils of war, and others for music and ordinary singing, and others in which the women lived, with many other palaces and great kitchens and courtyards "). We see in fact on our fragment a staircase leading up to these edifices. We see, besides the principal building, five smaller, straw-thatched houses, and also a small square room, in which posts, but no doors, are indicated, and it might therefore be a closed courtyard (corral). A few similar courtyards, adjacent to each other, are indicated on our fragment, in addition to the main congeries of buildings, the actual palace, in the upper left-hand corner of the plan. Around the sides of the main body of the town, as well as of the two 192 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [cull. 28 separate quarters, numerals have been set down : single marks, which must mean ones ; groups of five marks, of which, however, there are never more than three sets ; and black circles, which must necessarily mean twenties, and therefore stand here in the place of the little flag which is generally the sign employed for the numeral 20. A^^iere more than five black circles occur five of them are connected by a line, the number 100 being thus emphasized. Besides these numerals,, wherever space allows there is the draAving of the heart, yoilotl, that isliterally,yol-yo-tl," having life ", so familiar in Mexican paintings. Hence, it is clear that living beings, the human souls actually present in the city, are being counted here. If we sum up, beginning on the right side at the bottom, we have the following numbers for the main body of the town : 96, 86, 148, 79, 158, 155, or a total of 722 per- sons. In the upper of the two separate quarters of the town the number is incomplete on the right side, the twenties being destroyed. On the other two sides, beginning below on the left, we have the figures 86 and 48; total, 134 persons. For the lower of the two separate quarters, on the right, left, and lower sides Ave have 84, 95, and 50; total, 229 persons. If we increase the second sum to the amount of the third by way of supplementing it wath the missing numbers, the total would amount to slightly less than 1,200. Are we to suppose that this was the amount of the entire population of Tez- cuco? I think not. The population had indeed greatly dimin- ished after the conquest. ^'\n[iile formerly, says Ixtlilxochitl, the smallest village in the district of Tezcuco had 1,100 heads of house- holds or more, as is proved by the ancient doomsday books and lists of inhabilants, they now numbered scarcely 200, and some families had died out entirely. I do not think, however, that at the time to which we must attribute this page the number of inhabitants in the capital could have dwindled to 1,200. This very passage quoted from Ixtlilxochitl proves beyond a doubt that our fragment (plate xi) does not contain an enumeration of individuals, but only of heads of house- holds (vecinos). Therefore, for the period in which our fragment was written, we ought to have a population of about 7,000, which is probably in accordance with the true condition of things. I would further remark that the special arrangement of the num- bers in this plan of the city probably owes its origin to the distribu- tion of the inhabitants into quarters, or gentes (barrio, calpulli). Each separate tally probably corresponds to a separate calpulli, of which we must suppose that there- were six in the main body of the town and three in each of the tAvo detached quarters. Around the plan of the toAvn are seA^en sitting figures, six Span- iards and one Mexican. A. von Humboldt already correctly under- stood and has admirably characterized the general meaning of the proceeding which is thus represented. He errs only in regarding the SELEE] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT VI 193 plan of the city in the middle of the picture, which, as we have seen, is that of the city of Tezcnco, as the ground plan of an ordinary estate and as the object in dispute. He says in Vue des Cordilleres et Monu- ments des peuples indigenes d'Amerique, page 56: Le tableau qui presente la douzieme Planche parait indiquer un proces entre cles naturels et des Espagnols. L'objet en litige est une metaine, dont on voit le dessin en projection orthographique. On y reconnoit le grand chemin marque par les traces des pieds ; des maisons dessinees en profil; un Indien dont le nom indique un arc; et des juges espa- gnoles assis sur des chaises, et ayant les lois devant leurs yeux. L'Es- pagnol place immediatement au-dessus de I'lndien, s'appelle pro- bablement Aquaverde, car I'hieroglyphe de I'eau, peint en verd, se trouve figure derriere sa tete. Les langues sont tres inegalement reparties dans ce tableau. Tout y annonce I'etat d'un pays conquis; I'indigene ose a peine defendre sa cause, tandis que les etrangers a longues barbes y parlent beaucoup et a haut voix, comme descendans d'un peuple conquerant ("The picture seen in the twelfth plate seems to indicate a law suit between the natives and the Spanish. The object of the dispute is a farm, a plan of which we see. We see the high road marked out by footprints, houses drawn in profile, an Indian whose name means a bow, and the Spanish judges seated on chairs, with the laws before them. The Spaniard immediately above the Indian is probably named Aquaverde, for the hieroglyph for water, painted green, figures behind his head. The tongues are very unequally distributed in this picture. Everything declares it to be a conquered country. The native hardly ventures to plead his cause, while the long-bearded strangers talk much and in loud voices, like descendants of a conquering race "). The three figures on the left side of the page are undoubtedly three judges, in fact the president of the audiencia and the two oydores. We must thus explain the relation in which the three stand to one another, for the judge in the middle is distinguished from the other two by a richer cap. The illustration as a whole corresponds per- fectly with the manner in which the oydores are represented in the Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regidores de Mexico (Osuna codex). The chair and the stafi^ are their badges of office (see (/, A, /, figure 43, the picture of Doctor Horozco, oydor, from page 3 [465] of the above-mentioned manuscript) . The papers lying before them are probably not meant for the statute books, but for the written rec- ords of the suit. It is worthy of note that there are absolutely unin- telligible characters on these papers. They represent the confused impression of writing made on one who can not read. The two men sitting beside the Mexican are his vouchers, the witnesses summoned 7238— No. 28—05 13 194 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 by him. The Spaniard on the opposite (the upper) side of the fragment, who turns his head away and answers at great length, is evidently the defendant, who denies the accusation brought against him. There were hieroglyphs behind all these persons, except the second witness. Unfortunately those behind two of the judges are destroj^ed. One of the persons can be identified beyond a doubt by these hiero- glyphs. This is the Mexican. Behind him is the figure of a bow (tlauitoUi) as his name hieroglyph. It is apparent that he occupied a high position among the natives, that he must have been of royal rank, for he is represented sitting on the tepotzoicpalli, the straw chair with a high back. Now, we actually know, that in the middle of the sixteenth century men by the name of Tlauitol, descendants of the old Tezcucan royal family, ruled in Tezcuco. Chimalpahin mentions one, San Antonio Pimentel Tlauitoltzin, whom he cal]s the son of King Nezahualpilli, who died in 1515— Torquemada describes him as the grandson of Nezahualpilli — who was installed as king (tlahtouani) of Tezcuco-Aculhuacan in the year 1540 by the Span- iards, and died in 1564 after reigning twenty-five years. This state- ment is unquestionably based on an error. In the Sahagun manu- script, which was written in the year 2 Acatl, that is, 1559, Don An- tonio Tlauitoltzin is mentioned as the twelfth king of Tezcuco, the seventh after Nezahualpilli, and it is stated that he reigned six years. And after that Don Hernando Pimentel is mentioned as the thirteenth king of Tezcuco, his Mexican name being luian, that is, " the mild ", " the modest ", a word which is reproduced in the name hieroglyph accompanying the picture of this king by two bare feet, perhaps ex- pressing " chi va piano, va sano ". The latter at the time that this was written (in the year 2 Acatl, or A. D. 1559) must already have reigned fifteen years, and therefore have come to the throne in 1545. The six years during which Don Antonio Pimentel Tlauitoltzin was said to have reigned must have been the years 1540-1545. Chimal- pahin has evidently merged the periods of rule of these two men into one. Of Don Antonio Pimentel Tlauitoltzin we know from Torquemada, who mentions him in various places, that he was a quiet, sensible man, who devoted himself with special interest to collecting and writing- down the ancient traditions of his family and his race. Torquemada possessed a " Memorial " written by him, in which he gives an account « of ancient things, en estilo de historia, al modo que usamos nosotros ("in historic style, in the manner which we use"). Juan Bautista de Pomar says of him, that he cultivated mulberry trees and bred silkworms, that in his (Pomar's) time, that is, in the year 1582, there w^ere still mulberry trees in the vicinity of Tezcuco, y en o Mpnarquia Indiana, v. 16, chap. 19. SELER] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT VI 195 tiempo antigiio la cogia (la seda) Don Antonio Tlauitoltzin cacique J gobernaclor que fue de esta ciudad, hijo de Nezahualpiltzintli (" and in ancient times Don Antonio Tlauitoltzin, who was cacique and governor of that city, son of Nezahualpiltzintli, gathered it (the silk)"). It is not so easy to determine the other persons on our fragment. Since Tlauitoltzin only reigned until the year 1545, the event to wliich our fragment refers must have occurred before that date. At that time the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, was still reigning— from the year 1531. The bishop of Santo Domingo, Don Sebastian Eamirez de Fuenleal, was president of the audiencia until 1535. His oydores were the licenciados Juan de Salmeron, Alonzo Maldo- nado, Zeynos (or Zaynos, as it is also written), afterwards president of the audiencia, and Quiroga.« The names of Spaniards were fre- quently reproduced by the Mexicans in hieroglyphs, which are often perfectly intelligible, but often too very hard to understand and, without doubt, frequently do not represent the name itself, but a nickname by which the person in question was known among the Indians. It is well known that Pedro de Alvarado went by the name Tonatiuh, " sun ", among the Indians. He is therefore hieroglyph- ically designated by a picture of the sun. The viceroy Antonio de Mendoza is designated in Codex Telleriano-Eemensis by a spear, k, figure 43; the third viceroy, Luis de Velasco, in the Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regidores de Mexico (Osuna codex), by I, which is composed of the tongue of eloquence, an eye, and, above it,' another object, difficult to explain. The name Gallego is expressed in the same manuscript by m, and that of Doctor Vasco de Poga by n. Both are easily understood. In m we have the figures of a house (cal-li) and of beans (e-tl), or Cal-e; and n is explained bv the fact that poc-tli in Mexican means " smoke ". The hieroglyph for Doctor Zorita, r, the head of a quail, is also perfectly obvious, because gol-in is the Mexican word for quail. But o for Doctor Villanueva, and p for Doctor ViUalobos still puzzle me; so does q for Doctor Bravo The hieroglyph, s, for Doctor Zeynos seems to represent the prickly point of a leaf, and t, the hieroglyph for the fiscal Maldonado, is the picture of a pair of wooden tongs and a red (red-hot?) object which IS held in their grasp. Lastly, the hieroglyph for Doctor Horozco, 7i, is most strikingly like that of San Francisco, i. Most of the hieroglyphs which I have mentioned here belong to persons of a later time than that to which our fragment VI (plate xi) belongs. Unfortunately, but few hieroglyphs of Spanish names of this earher period are positively known to us, and they are not to be interpreted at haphazard, as can readily be seen from the examples ]ust given. " Motolinia, v. 3, chap. 3. 196 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY Fbdll. 28 It still remains to discuss the pictures on our page (plate xi) , which are on the left of the plan of the city, directly in front of the presid- ing magistrate. Two of them, the two circles, painted bluish green in the original and filled in with irregular squares, are perfectly clear. They represent turquoise mosaic and have the phonetic value of Xiutl, that is, " year " (see page 160) . We must conclude that the occurrence which is treated of here took place two years before, or else that the trial lasted two years. The other object is not so easily interpreted. It looks like a bag or a bottle-shaped vessel. A stick or pipe is apparently joined to it above, and a fine thread seems also to be fastened to it. The inside is entirely filled with wavy red lines. Although various suggestions occur to me, I do not venture to express a definite opinion in regard to the meaning of this object. Fragment VI (plate xi) seems to have belonged to Boturini's col- lection and to be described by him in his Museo Indiano, number T, section 3. He says there : « Otro mapa en una quartilla de papel Indiano, donde se ve pintada la ciudad de Tetzcoco, con unas cifras, que especifican su extension en lo antiguo ("Another map of a quarter sheet of Indian paper, where we see the city of Tezcuco, painted with figures, which specify its size in old times"). Our page, too, is a map in quarto (im mapa en una quartilla de papel Indiano), and has a picture of the city of Tetzcoco, and numerals are inscribed upon it, as we have seen, only they do not indicate the size of the city, as Boturini here supposes, but the ninnber of its inhabitants. FEAGMENT VII This (plate xii) is a strip of agave paper, 25 cm. long and about 18 cm. wide, with four rows of writing beginning below at the right, a fifth row being only indicated. On the right side of the divisions are circles. One of them, that in the fourth row from the bottom is painted red and contains a ver- ticillate design, a kind of two-armed swastika. This undoubtedly means a Sunday. In accordance Avith this the circles at the right end of the lower divisions must likewise mean days, and since the progression is upward Ave should have Thursday in the lowest divi- sion, Friday in the second, and Saturday in the third from the bot- tom. In accordance with this, Friday Avould be characterized by the circle, the upper half of which is painted black. This would be comprehensible. It was the day of Christ's crucifixion and a fast day commanded by the church. Thursday and Saturday Avould be alike designated, to wit, by a circle Avith a kind of arrow on it. I think that this was only a hieroglyph for a working or Aveek day. <" riace cited, p. 5. 5UREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 28 PLATE XII O P Q (o) liiij Ppj-iHi arifi^JnliuM,, '-0/7/ ill (Vf 4 \. MEXICAN PAINTING-HUMBOLDT FRAGMENT VII seler] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT VII 197 Inside in the lowest row, between fishes, were baskets woven of straw (painted yellow), apparently of pliable material, each of which in this lowest row rests on a fiat disk having three feet. These are apparently the little baskets in which hot tortillas were brought. Last, on the left, follow bundles, apparently meant to represent / '7i o \3 q r s Fig. 44. Mexican symljols of various objects. zacatl, " green cornstalks ", which have been used in preference for horse fodder from the time of the conquest to the present day (see a, 1 and 2, figure 44, the former taken from the Goupil-Boban atlas, plate 27, the latter from the Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Ilegidores de Mexico, and both described in the text as Zacatl). 198 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 In the topmost row (on Sunday) there is a turkey, the Sunday roast, instead of the fishes. For the better understanding of the somewhat crude drawing I have reproduced in 5, figure M, the rather more carefully drawn head from the Goupil-Boban atlas, plate 27, which is there expressly mentioned in the text as " gallina de la tierra ". Above these objects, which represent food for man and beast, are various figures: Small flags which designate the numeral 20 and groups of small circles, each of which means 1, and also larger circles, which are either empty or contain one or two small circles (plate xii). These large circles, which in the more carefully drawn manuscripts are always painted blue, signify money, silver coin, and in respect to this there is indeed an unvarying style of designation observable. The old Spanish coin was the peso, which was divisible into 8 reals, known in Mexican as tomin. Half a real was a medio, and half of that a quartillo. The Indians divided the latter once more. For this smallest fractional coin there is no Spanish name, only the Mexican tlaco, " half ". The peso was sometimes represented in Mexican paint- ings by the scale pan of a balance, answering to its name, " weight ", (c, figure 44), but usually by a blue circle with a cross on it, d, apparently from the stamp which at that time was impressed upon silver money. It is very rarely that any other stamp occurs (see, for instance, e, from the Osuna codex, pages 30 [492] and 31^ [493]). Reals, or tomines, were designated by a blue circle, containing as many small circles as there were reals to be represented. Usually not more than four small circles were inscribed within one circle, that is, 4 reals, equal to half a peso. Only, when the pesos were not specially mentioned, but, as often happened, and in spite of the new dollar and centavo system still often happens, the sum was reckoned in reals, then we find within the blue circle as many as eight small cir- cles (see/). The medio, on the contrary, was designated by a real cut in halves (see d). Thus c (Osuna codex) is explained in the text as 1 peso ypan 6 tomines, 1 peso and G reals ; and d, taken from the same manuscript, as ompohualli pesos ypan 7 tomines ypan medio, that is, twice 20 pesos, 7 reals, and 1 medio. In our fragment VII (plate xii) the price of the turkey (quaxolotl, guajolote) in the top row has the highest number of figures: for it is marked 2 reals. All the rest are marked 1 real. For this reason the large circles seem to be used here very often alone, without the small inner circles. According to the prices noted here, 2 bundles or loads of zacate, 20 tortillas, and 8 fishes were sold, respectively, for 1 real. The fishes can not, therefore, have been of any great size. Since, therefore, we find days set down on our fragment VII, and Avithin the days provisions and fodder with their ])rices, it is clear that this fragment must be a bill. This is proved by the writing which I SBLER] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT VII 199 had the pleasure of discovering on the reverse of the paper after having separated the leaf from its backing. These words are written there : Resebi yo miciiel mayordomo de la comunidad deste pueblo de misquiaguala del sehor manuel de olvera dos pesos q. monto en comida desta pintura en quatro de fevrero de mill y q^ y setenta y un ahos. MiGTJEI; DE SaNC Ju°. ante mi Juan de p . (" I, Miguel, major-domo of the community of this village of Miz- quiyauallan, received from Seilor Manuel de Olvera 2 pesos, the price of the provisions, which are here depicted, on February 4, 1571. Miguel de S. Juan. Before me, Juan de p .") (I can not wholly decipher this signature.) The village of Mizquiyauallan lies in the district of Actopan of the state of Hidalgo. The name means " where the mesquite trees (algaroba, Prosopis juliflora) stand in a circle ". It is therefore rep- resented hieroglyphically by a mesquite tree bent in the shape of the bow (see g^ figure 44), but occasionally merely by a mesquite tree, or a mountain with a mesquite tree upon it, li. The place was in the Otomi territory and was early subject to the Mexican kings. On the tribute list it is in the group Axocopan between the towns of Tezcatepec and Itzmiquilpan. In the Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regidores de Mexico (Osuna codex), it is mentioned with these and other places in the same region, but Mizquiyauallan was subject to double authority, for it was a domain of the crown and had an encomendro besides (see A., taken from the manuscript just named, where this double relation is expressed h^ the croAvn over the hieroglyph and the head of a Spaniard beside it). The major- domo who signed the receipt quoted above was no doubt responsible to the crown. As for the persons themselves, I can not decipher the name of the official in whose presence the act was executed. In a and 5, figure 47, I have reproduced the signatures of the witness and the receipting major-domo from tracings which I made. We shall later meet again with the Manuel de Olvera mentioned in the text. The major-domo was undoubtedly an Indian. Family names like this, borrowed from a saint (or a diocese?), are often encountered in the lists of names of persons. I would draw attention to the fact that the sum of 2 pesos, mentioned in the receipt, is the actual amount obtained if we add the 200 BUEEAU OF AMEKICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 28 reals marked on fragment VII (plate xii). In the lowest row there are 5, in the second 3, in the third 5, and in the fourth again 3 ; in all, 16 reals or 2 pesos. I shall show later that another page of our collection, fragment VIII (plate XIII ) can be proved to have come from the same village. This latter fragment, as I shall show later on, is most closely related to one of the manuscripts which passed from the collection of the Hon Joel E. Poinsett, former minister to Mexico from the United States, into the possession of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, and was published in the Transactions of that society (new series, volume 12, 1892, article 4). It is interesting to note that our fragment VII (plate xii) should also find its exact parallel in a piece in that collection. The latter is designated by the editors as Tribute Roll (Calendar 2). Here, too, the page is divided by hori- zontal lines into a series of consecutive divisions. On the right is a day, invariably designated by a di^k, Sunday by a red disk with a, three-armed verticillate design (^, figure 44). Then follow various articles of food, with their prices; but the bill of fare is somewhat enlarged. Besides turkey, painted red {k^ same figure), fish (Z), a little basket of tortillas {n)-. and bundles of zacate (s), we have in p still another cheap article of food, of which eighty are marked at 1 real, but to which I can not at present give a name; in q we apparently have baskets of tamales (a kind of dumpling Avith a filling, which was steamed in a wrapper of corn husks) , eight of which were sold for 3 reals; in m, some articles of food painted red, possil^ly chile con carne, four of which cost 1 real; in r, a fanega of Indian corn for 3 reals (see j) and q^ figure 46) ; and in c», an article of diet with which I am unacquainted, which was sold for 2 reals. Finally, in two squares there are figures of Spaniards {t, figure 44). It seems highly i^robable that this page belongs to the same date and same region as our fragment VII (plate xii). It is very probable that our fragment VII (plate xii) likewise once belonged to the Boturini collection. The catalogue of Boturini's Museo Indiano mentions under number 1, section 21 : Tres mapas en papol Indiano como faxas. Tratan de los tributos que pagaba el pueblo de Mizquiahuallan, y en el se ven las cifras numericas de cada cosa que entregaban los vecinos (" Three maps on Indian paper like strips of ribbon. They treat of the tribute paid by the village of Mizquiahuallan, and in them are the numerical figures of everything Avhich householders furnished "). FRAGMENT VIII This is a strip of agave paper, 33 cm. long, 22 cm. Avide, much injured at the edges and in the middle by folding, and imperfect at the upper left corner (plate xiii). On the upper side of the fragment BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY """1— ""IWW'^' )\m ^7/s ^-.1 (gig DLiiLa. |f_ %%^. ^\ i '4^ 'p MEXICAN PAINTING-HL BULLETIN 28 PLATE Xlil ,^^. ^1. .M!:^ i* « \t-* fl ^4 Jl_ ##^-.4. r~is-Tihr-i r ^? 1/ Mi M <» I 11® '*> //•.■;jt/»Mii -O J-fflJ >LDT FRAGMENT VIII SELER] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS- — FRAGMENT VIII 201 there are drawings, done Avith a fine pen, most of wliich are touched up with colors. On the left side are heads of men. Behind each is a hierogh'ph, which gives the name of the man in question, and in front of each is the wooden implement used for field work, known as uictli, or couauacatl (see t and u, figure 37). These persons are thus marked as husbandmen. Before each person is a row of fields with quad- rangular boundaries, on the sides of which are numbers similar to those which we encountered on fragment VI (plate xi). The num- bers on the opposite sides of the fields, as far as can be determined, are alike, except in some minute particulars. This shows that these were meant for pieces of arable land with quadrangidar boundaries. There are hieroglyphs on the upper boundary and on the surface of the fields which are repeated in the different rows. In some of the fields, in the lower right-hand corner, there is also a representa- tion of grass (zacatl), painted yellow (see a, figure 36), and on the last field of the first row, in the upper right-hand corner, is the picture of a house (calli), and also in the first and second field in the third row. Finally, the name of the respective j^erson is written with a coarse pen beside each head. From the character of the drawing and the structure of the hieroglyphs this fragment (plate xiii) resembles most closely the so-called Vergara codex. That is a manuscript mentioned by Boturini in his Museo Indiano, now in the Aubin- Goupil collection, consisting (originally) of 56 pages, which gives the statistics of the villages of Calcantlaxiuhcan, Topotitlan, Patla- chiuhcan, Teocaltitlan, and Texcalticpac. The heads of families and their descendants are set clown first, then lists of the persons in each village (tlacatlacuilolli) ,the lands claimed by individuals (milcocolli) , and of what was allotted to individuals at the time of the adjustment (tlauelmantli). On the first (originally the second) page the remark " 1539, marques del valle virey " has been added evidently later, by another hand. But this note has probably as little value as those added on pages 21 and 22, where a certain Don Augustin cle Rosas asserts his claim to the estates of Tzilaquauhtepoztlanallan. At the end stands the name Pedro Vasquez cle Vergara, possibly the name of some one who had the manuscript in his possession. The manuscript has usually been cited under his name since Aubin's time. On those pages of that manuscript which treat of the distribution of lands the heads of persons, with their names and hieroglyj^hs, are depicted in exactly the same way as on our fragment VIII (plate xiii) , and beside them, in rows, are the fields, those claimed by them or those which were assigned to them (Goupil-Boban atlas, plate 39. See «, 6,and c, figure 45, which are taken therefrom). In the Vergara codex the numbers Avhich give the dimensions are placed on only one of the long, vertical, and on one of the short, horizontal, sides of the fields, and there are hieroglyphs only in the middle of the fields, but 202 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 not, as on our fragment VIII (plate xm), on the upper boundary as well. There is still another document on the left side of which persons are depicted and, opposite them, the fields belonging to them, in the same way as in our fragment. This is page 34 of the Goupil-Boban atlas. Here, too, as in the Vergara codex, the dimensional figures are on only two sides of the square. But, as in our fragment (plate xiii), hiero- glyphs are drawn on the upper boundary of the fields, or beside it, and there are additional designations which make it evident that these hieroglyphs represent the name of the field or piece of arable land. • • ^(7u)m • •/in fT litl fSl »- ^ Jm f /' k I m Pig. 45. Mexican glyphs denoting various obiects. Moreover, the word chinamitl, " inclosed field ", or milli, " arable land", is often quite superfluously written beside them (see d, e, /, figure 45). Comparison with these manuscripts, I think, leaves no room for doubt as to the general meaning of our fragment VIII (plate xiii) . I will now resume the discussion of its separate features. The dimensional numbers, which are written on four sides of the fields, are, as I have already said, the same on the two opposite sides. Their construction and characteristic features are exactly the same as those which we have already seen in the plan of the city of Tez- cuco on fragment VI (plate xi) of our collection. There, as here, SELEE] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT VIII 203 twenties are denoted by black dots, ones by lines; groups of five ones are connected by a line ; and where there are more than five twenties the first five are also connected by a line to form the number 100. We have the same system of notation in the Vergara codex, a to c, and on page 34 of the Goupil-Boban atlas, d to /, except that here the twen- ties are usually denoted by a black dot and a little flag, the four hun- dreds by a black dot and a sign resembling a pinnated leaf, which is the symbol for tzontli, " four hundred " (literally, " hair "). But on this page, too, twenties are denoted simply by black dots, g and h. On fragment VI of our collection the souls were counted. Therefore we saw, preceding the numbers, the picture of a heart (yollotli), expres- sive of the conception " life " (yol) or " soul ". On fragment VIII (plate xiii) we should expect to find, preceding the figures, the picture of some unit of measure. And this is actually the case. We find, pre- ceding the numbers, the picture of a hand. This is in the first, sec- ond, and fifth fields of the third row. But in other fields, preceding the numbers, we find a picture resembling an arrowhead. This occurs in the fourth field of the upper row (the front of which is incomplete), in the last field in the second row, in the fifth field in the third row, and in the first and second fields of the fourth row. I have interpreted this picture, from its appearance, to be an arrow- head. That it is actually intended for one is, in my opinion, fully proved by the fact that in the first field of the fourth row the arrow- head, which we see on the upper side, is replaced on the lower side by the hieroglyph tecpatl, " flint ", that is, by the material from which arrowheads were made. We also find the hand as a unit of length on page 34 of the Goupil- Boban atlas, where the dimensions of the estate or village of Tzom- pantitlan are given (see g, figure 45) .« The hand as a unit of measure is readily understood. For ma-itl means not only the hand, but also the arm, the forearm, including the hand. The use of the hand, there- fore, might denote either an arm's length or an ell. In fact, Molina's vocabulary gives cem-matl( literally defines, " an arm ")by " una braca para medir ", that is, an ell. I have not found the arrow elsewhere as a unit of length. But that it was actually used as such is again proved by Molina's vocabulary, where we find cem-mitl, " an arrow ", trans- lated by " medida desde el un codo hasta la otra mano ", that is, the measure from one elbow to the tip of the other hand, a somewhat longer measure, therefore, than the former, equal to about 2 ells. I think it possible, however, that the two symbols, the hand and the arrow, both refer to one and the same customary unit employed to measure distance. « Let me draw attertion, in passing, to the interesting form wtiieli tliis liierolglyph has here. The element tzompan is usually expressed hy the wooden framework tzompantii, upon which the heads of the sacrificed victims were exhibited. But here it is expressed by the tree tzompanquauitl (Brythrina corallodendron). 204 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 As for the hieroglyphs, those on the upper side of the fiekls undoubtedly stand for the names of the boundaries of the land. They are repeated in tlie separate rows of fields belonging to one owner, because they do not denote the individual field, but the domain within which it lies. In exactly the same way, on page 34 of the Gouj)il-Boban atlas, the same names of domains recur above and beside the fields which are set down in rows after the various owners. In our fragment eight different domains seem to be given. The first one is the same in all the rows (plate xiii) and is desig- nated by the picture of a house above the field. The house in the fourth row is drawn with a high, pointed, straw roof (painted yel- low), that is, like the xacalli, which we saw in fragment II (plate VII ) . The others are apparently meant to represent the adobe houses with flat roofs of beams, known as tlapechcalli (see i, figure 45, taken from page 34 of the Goiipil-Boban atlas) . The layer of beams form- ing the roof is marked here by red paint, like doorposts and the frames of doors, which were always made of wood** and were therefore always painted red or brown. The second field in the third row (which is the most perfect) has a hieroglyph at the top which represents the head of a coyote between two streams of water. This domain may, therefore, have been called Coyoapan. The name of this domain is set down over the last field in the first row. The third field in the third row has no hieroglyph at the top. Perhaps the same one should be here which is over the fourth field in the second row and over the second field in the fourth row, and also over the third field in the row to the right of the fragment (plate xiii). It consists of a flag and two rows of teeth. The name of the domain may have been Pantlan or Pancamac. Over the second field in the fourth row there is a stream of water in addition to the flag. The hieroglyph over the fourth field in the third row is somewhat effaced; but I think that it is meant for the same hieroglyph that is over the fourth field in the first row, and over the third field in the second row, which consists of the picture of a haijd and a stream of water. The same hieroglyph probably occurred also over the third field in the fourth row. In its jDlace there is a hole in the page, and the edge of the i^aper is somewhat turned down; but the stream of water belonging to this fourth hieroglyph is still plainly discernible under the turned-down edge. The fifth field in the third row has above it a hieroglyph, which occurs nowhere else in what is preserved of the other rows. It con- sists of a fruit tree, a small flag, and a stream of water. The hieroglyph over the sixth field in the third row consists of the symbol zaca-tl, ''grass" (painted yellow), and a stream of water. " See J. Bautista Pomar, Relacion de Tetzcoeo, manuscript. SELER] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT VIII 205 It is evidently the same hierogl}^:)!! as that over the fourth field in the fourth row, which, in addition to the grass and water, has also a set of teeth (tlan-tli, " tooth ") and a small flag- (pan-tli). The seventh hieroglyph occurs in all four rows. It is over the sixth field in the first, the fifth field in the second, the seventh field in the third, and the sixth field in the fourth row. It consists of a green bush and a stream of water. The eighth hierogiyj^h likcAvise occurs in all of the four rows: in the seventh field of the first, the sixth field of the second, the eighth of the third, and the fifth field of the fourth row. It is the picture of a bird. Another separate domain may possibly be designated over the sec- ond field of the row on the unfinished right side. A small flag is recognizable. Whatever else may have been there is now obliterated. We see, then, that tlie hieroglyphs over the fields, which, it seems tol- erably certain, represent the names of tlie domains, exhibit a consid- erable variety. We have been able to count eight or nine of them. Of the hieroglyphs on the surface of the fields, only three kinds can be distinguished, which, as Avill appear immediately, must have been intended to express various qualities of soil. The first presents the hieroglyph te-tl, " stone ", and a series of fine dots proceeding from it, undoubtedly indicating sand (xalli). (See /i', figure 45, xalpan mjlli, that is, the arable field, xalpan, " in the sand "; Goupil-Boban atlas, page 34.) This hieroglyph, then, would denote stony, sandy soil, which the Mexicans called tetlalli xallalli. The second hieroglyph which we see, for instance, in the second field of the third row, shows the picture of a maize plant (toctli), with the tassel (painted yellow) at the top and the ear (painted red) having long drooping bunches of silk lower down at the left of the stalk. Beside it, on the right, is a stream of water (a-tl) and below it a row of teeth (tlan-tli). These three elements together give the word atoctlan, that is, "rich in a-toctli (fertile vegetable mold)." Compare Sahagun, volume 2, chapter 12, section 3 : A la tierra fertil para sembrar, y doncle se hace mucho lo que se siembra en ella, llaman a-toctli, que quiere decir, tierra que el agua ha traido: es blanca, suelta, hueca y suave; es tierra donde se hace mucho maiz 6 trigo (" earth fertile to sow seed in, and where that which is sowed increases greatly, they call a-toctli, which is to say, earth which the water has brought: it is light, loose, rich, and smooth; it is earth which pro- duces much corn or wheat ") . It is, however, possible that the row of teeth here is not meant to express the whole syllable " tlan ", but only "tla", in Avhich case it might stand for tlalli, "earth", so that we should have atoc-tlalli. This seems to me probable on account of what follows. 206 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 The third hieroglj^ph, which occurs, for instance, in the fifth field of the third row, shows at the top a tree (quau-itl), below it a jug (com-itl), and below that the row of teeth (tlan-tli) ; these ele- ments give us the word quauh-con-tlan, or quauh-con-tlalli, and the latter may perhaps be resolved into quauhtlalli, contlalli. Quauh- tlalli is wood soil. Sahagun says, volume 2, chapter 12, section 3 : Hay otra manera de tierra fertil, donde se hace muy bien el maiz y trigo, llamanla quauhtlalli, que quiere decir, tierra que esta estercolada con maderos podridos, es suelta, amarilla, y hueca ("there is another sort of fertile soil, in which corn and wheat flourish very well, they call it quauhtlalli, wdiich is to say, earth which has been manured with rotten wood, it is soft, rich, and golden"). And contlalli is clay. Sahagun says, volume 2, chapter 12, section 5 : Hay barro en esta tierra para hacer loza y basijas, es muy bueno y muy pegajoso; amasanla con aquellos pelos de los tallos de las espadahas, y llamase texoquitl y contlalli: de este barro se hacen comales, escudillas, platos, y toda manera de loza (" there is clay in this earth for making tiles and pots, it is very good and very easily molded; they knead it with fibers of the shoots of- reed mace, and they call it texoquitl and con- tlalli : of this clay they make plates, bowls, dishes, and all manner of pottery ") . The same earth is described in the preceding section 3, as follows: Hay otra (tierra) pegajosa buena para hacer barro de paredes y suelos para los tlapancos; es fertil, pues se hace bien el niaiz y trigo (" there is another kind (of earth) good to mold so as to make clay for walls and floors for the tlapancos; it is fertile, since corn and wheat do Avell in if'). The three hieroglyphs in the center of the fields would there- fore denote sandy or stony soil, vegetable mold, and clayey soil. It is to be noted that the hieroglyphs on the upper side of the fields and those in the middle of the fields always have a certain regular relation to each other, that is, the various domains show a distinct qual- ity of soil. Thus domain 1 has sandy soil : 2 has vegetable mold ; 3 has sandy soil ; in 4 vegetable mold is given in three cases, but in the third field of the fourth row, if it belongs to this domain, is a clayey soil; domain 5 has clayey soil; domain 6, likewise partly vegetable mold, partly clay; domain 7 has vegetable mold throughout; domain 8, nothing but clayey soil. On the last page of the Vergara codex, the third of those pages of that manuscript Avhich are reproduced in the Goupil-Boban atlas (plate 39) , the quality of the soil in the fields is likewise stated, and it seems in every case to be partly stoney and partly sandy soil (see a, h, and (?, figure 45). Before every row of fields on our fragment (plate xiii), and also on page 34 of the Goupil-Boljan atlas and in the Yergara codex, there is a drawing of the person who is declared to be the owner of the fields SELEK] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT VIII 207 in question. These persons, as I have said, are designated plainly, not only by a hieroglyph, but also by the name written beside it. Here, therefore, it is easy to decipher the hieroglyphs. But it should be noticed that, as a matter of course, the Spanish name is not taken into account. Moreover, we must omit some letters, which stand after the names and are probably an abbreviation of a Nauatl word. After the names of the persons in the second and third row we read the syllables omo ; after those of the person in the fourth row and of the one on the right of the fragment, the syllables aja,". I am inclined to regard the latter as an abbreviation of ayamo, " not yet ", and, accord- ingly, the former must be an abbreviation of omotlali, " he was installed ", " he has been confirmed ", or something similar. The hieroglyphs are of complex structure, and the pictures em- ployed, like those in the Vergara codex, are not always used according to the full value of their syllables, so that there is presented a phase of transition from the old symbolic and syllabic mode of writing to a kind of phonetic writing. The first person, the one in the second row, according to the explan- atory note, bears the name Damian xotlanj. The hieroglyph is com- posed of some flowers, two rows of teeth, and the figure of a sitting man. The flowers (xoch-tli) give the syllable xo ; the teeth (tlantli), the syllable tlan. The seated man I take to mean omotlalli, " he was installed '\ into which, as I said, the omo after the name xotlani should be expanded. The second person, the one in the third row, bears the name Luys Netlacahujl. The hierogtyph shows us a doll, a row of teeth, a basket of tamales (filled dumplings made of Indian corn), and a utensil like a skillet. Beside it is the same seated figure. The doll (nenetl) gives the syllable ne; the teeth (tlan-tli), the . syllable tla. The tamales and the skillet, which is doubtless supposed to be filled with chili, or red pepper, sauce give the syllable cauil. Nino tlacauilia (derived from caua, " to stay behind ") means " I keep something for myself ", or " I am taking a meal "; netlacauiliztli, " the meal (meri- enda)". The person seated is again to be taken as an expression of omo, that is, omotlali, " he was installed ". The name of the person in the fourth row is Pedro Ylhuj. Tiie hieroglyph is a remarkably conventionalized repeated verticillate figure in bright colors, red and yellow with a blue diagonal part, and a yellow feather. Here the yellow feather probably denotes an ele- ment not expressed in the name as it is written. The man's name may really have been Ilhuitoz, for toztli is the yellow parrot feather (or one artificially dyed yellow). The front part consists of two squares, each of which shows two little tongues j)ut together after the manner of a swastika, or fylfot, which is undoubtedly meant, like h 208 BUREAU OF AMEKICAN ETHNOLOGY. [boll. 28 and i fi-ure 46, to express the ^™rd il-hm-tl, that is, " the sun's orb " "dnv' " festival ". I clreA. attention to this figure some years ago," but did not at that time interpret it correctly It occm. on Mex.can culp ures in the Berlin Koyal Museum of Ethnology ( , figure 45 on hilece opposite the picture of the ohalchiu.tl, the uminous, bnl- an beld o jadeite. This simple veiticillate symbol («, same fig- r a so occirs on the celestial shields in Maya manuscripts xn connection with all sorts of variants of the sun h.erag yph, o. The last person on the imperfect right Bide of the fragment i c...lled n the accompanying note, Antonio Totoli Pdhuehue. Totol -p me n "the yoing'turtey ", and this is expressed in the hiero- ^=3r^ o P Fig. 46. Mexicau symbols for various articles. g. o-lyph by the picture of a bird with short wings, But I am not clear as to tlie other element below it or what syllable it is meant to express^ From all that we can make out and determine on fragment \Ili (plate xm) , it is perfectly obvious that it is very closely analogous, on the one hand, to our fragment VI (plate xi) and, on the other hand, t(, pa..-e ;U of the Goupil-Boban atlas and the so-called Vergara codex, llic most striking characteristic of all these manuscripts is the pecul- iar sxstcMu of notation— the ones being denoted by marks instead of dots aiul ahvi.vs coinl.iued iu groups of five— and also the complicated « Zeitschrift fur Etlmologie, 1S88, v. '20, pp. 53 and 55. o o LJ $. .A^- Jh K r 9am>m>^mima^iimm^»*'VA r^ ^<*y.*-i:.-« SELBR] MEXICAN PICTURE WHITINGS FRAGMENTS IX-XII 209 composition of the hierogij^phs, which approximates syllabic and pho- netic writing. All the manuscripts of this kind seem to have origin- ated within the boimdaries of the ancient kingdom of Tezcuco, and it seems that this local element, rather than the time of their origin, ought to be taken into account in explaining these peculiar features, for the Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regidores de Mexico (Osuna codex), which is later than our fragment VI (plate xi), counts with dots instead of marks. We knoAV that Tezcuco was anciently regarded as the seat of refined culture and of a certain kind of scholarship; but Tezcuco was also the first to adapt its native ele- ments, in a certain measure, to the customs and civilization of the foreign conqueror. As long, therefore, as the same peculiar features occur in the manuscripts quoted (Vergara codex and others) in genuine old pre-Spanish documents I shall still incline to attribute this development to the Spanish period. For this reason I can not consider these documents of the great importance which Aubin and others attach to them. FRAGMENTS IX, X, XI, AXD XII These four fragments are alike in character. Fragments IX (plate XIV ) and X (plate xv) evidently were once a single strip, as were also fragments XI (plate xvi) and XII (plate xvii). Fragments X (plate xv) and XII (plate xvii) have a line across the top, cut with a sharp instrument; in XII (plate xvii) the cut follows a line drawn across the fragment, parts of which are to be seen at the bottom of fragment XI (plate xvi). The strips are all of the same wddth, about IT cm. Fragments X and XI (plates xv and xvi) together are 98 cm. in length, which is therefore the length of the whole strip originally. Fragments XI (plate xvi) and XII (plate xvii) together are 146|^ cm., the original length of the second strip. The first strip was once longer above. There are still faint traces of drawings there. The second strip seems to have been cut off sharply at the bottom ; moreover, one corner has been cut out with the scissors. It would seem, then, that this strip was also longer. The drawings are done in ink with a coarse pen, and decidedly resemble the illustrations on fragment XV (plate xx), and also someAvhat those of ecclesiastical subjects on fragment XVI (plate xxi). The colors used are crimson and yellow, while for the stone wall on fragment XII (plate xvii) a blackish ink has been employed. I'he circles and squares in the low- est division of fragment IX (plate xiv) are painted crimson. So, too, are the tubs which the three rows of Indians in the upper divi- sion of fragment XI (plate xvi) carry on their backs, the transverse rows over and under them, and the hat, coat, and footgear of the 7238— No. 28— O: 14 210 BUEEATJ OP AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [buli,. 28 Spaniard; so also is the carpenter's ax on fragment X (plate xv). All else, if colored at all, is painted yellow. As for the general character of this manuscript, the figure of the Spaniard, on fragment XI (plate xvi), who is pulling two Indians along by a rope and the four Indians, on fragment X (plate xv) , who, with their hands bound behind their backs, hang upon a sort of gal- lows, show that this is a bill of complaint. The Indians enter com- plaint of oppression on the part of the Spaniards of ill treatment, work unjustly required, and of supplies unpaid for. This is there- fore a document similar to the Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regidores de Mexico, which was discovered in the archives of the Duke of Osuna. But our manuscript unfortunately is not provided with text ; therefore a degree of uncertainty will always attach to the interpretations. Among the various illustrations, I will first draw attention to the one at the top of fragment XI (plate xvi). Here Ave see the head of an Indian and behind it his hieroglyph, a white roll, probably meant to represent paper (amatl) (see a, figure 46, from the tribute list in the Mendoza codex, page 27, and described in the text as " papel de la tierra "). After this comes a house, with walls evidently sup- posed to be built of reeds, like the xacalli in the lower part of frag- ment II (plate vii). But the roof is different. It looks as though there had been an attempt to draw the prickly point of an agave leai on the house. These sharp points of the agave leaf were called uitztli, " thorn ", and uitztli, or uitzoctli, " pricking pulque ", was also the name given to newly fermented pulque, the intoxicating drink pre- pared from the juice of the agave.« That there is here a reference to something of the kind appears from what follows the house in the drawing. We see there three jugs with basket-work covering, fur- nished with straw or rope handles. This illustration is valuable in itself, as it incidentally throws light upon the locality and the outward circumstances. We are forced to conclude that there is a reference here to occurrences on a pulque hacienda. Furthermore, we learn from the jugs on fragment XI (plate xvi) that the peculiar design to be seen on them and simi- lar objects represented on these fragments (an unpainted white border with a stripe running through it on one side) is meant for the mouth of a vessel. The artist may have had in mind a vessel with a sort of lip or spout which was formed by narrowing the mouth at one side. We find the same design on the two transverse rows of red, four- cornered objects corded with ropes, which are represented in the upper portion of fragment XI (plate xvi), as well as on the similar objects painted yellow to be seen in the two transverse rows at the "Sahaguu, v. 4, chap. 5. i?. » eH dH ftif wo E- t. r' .^~^i^., ' t; SRLKR] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENTS IX-XII 211 bottom of fragment X (plate xv) directly above the Indians hanging on the gallows; furthermore, I believe that these and the four- cornered objects made of yellow staves and corded round the middle, shown at the top of fragment X (plate xv), are all meant to repre- sent vessels, namely, wooden butts or casks for pulque or brandy. I think that I see further proof of this in two other facts : in the first place, because, as we shall see, the delivery of wood and of wooden ntensils is noted elsewhere on our fragment; and, further, because we find a snake above the objects which I have explained to be butts or casks — the red ones at the top of fragment XI (plate xvi). The snake was often introduced into ancient pictures when pulque jugs were to be represented. The ring or base on which the pulque jug stands is most frequently formed of the coils of a snake. The three rows of Indians on fragment XI (plate xvi) with sticks in their hands carrjdng on their backs tubs which are bound to a ladderlike frame (cacaxtli), would illustrate the transportation of pulque, Avhich labor the Spaniards imposed upon the Indians. In the same connection I am inclined to believe that the two Indians on fragment XII (plate xvii) with great pots upon their backs are meant to represent the bringing or transportation of condensed agave juice (see &, figure 46), which is in the tribute list, Mendoza codex, pages 29 and 77, and explained in the text as miel de maguey espesa ''thickened maguey honey"). The two Indians at the bottom of fragment XI (plate xvi) wdth the small jugs on their backs might convey the same idea, or perhaps they are bringing real honey (see the similar but smaller figure in the tribute list of the Mendoza codex, page 38, wdiich is explained in the text as cantarillo de miel de abeja (" small jug of bee's honey "). The drawing at the bottom of fragment XII (plate xvii) is also perfectly intelligible. Here we see three slaughtered pigs. It is obvious from the shape of the hoofs that they are meant for pigs, and that they are supposed to be slaughtered is plainly indicated by the red color under the snout; but if these are pigs, then it is clear that the animal's head in the ten or eleven rows of baskets, which are bound to a ladder-shaped carrying frame (cacaxtli), on fragments XI (plate xvi) and XII (plate xvii), must likewise signify pork. If this should not be perfectly plain to anyone, I would refer him to the lowest row, on fragment XII (plate xvii), where the pig's foot is distinctl}^ drawn in addition to the pig's head. The great majority of other representations deal with the delivery of wood and wooden utensils. The long pieces with a hole at the end, in fragments X (plate xv) and XII (plate xvii) represent beams (see c, figure 46, which is explained in the tribute list, Mendoza codex, page 34, as vigas grandes — " large beams "). The smaller and more 212 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 slender pieces probably represent boards and laths (see d and e, which are explained in the tribute list, Mendoza codex, pages 25 and 28, as tablones de madera grandes and morillos de madera — " large wooden planks"). The large round circles and the broad four-cor- nered pieces may be meant for table tops or possibly blocks of wood. MoreoA^er, on fragments TX (plate xiv) and X (plate xv) there are drawings of pieces of bent wood ; on fragment X (plate xv) two rows of seats; and on fragments X (plate xv) and XI (plate xvi), draw- ings which seem to be bedsteads. The objects in the row at the bot- tom of fragment IX (plate xiv) are probably meant for lath frames or sleeping benches, for we find very similar figures drawn on page 34 of the Goupil-Boban atlas under the name of tlapechtli, rendered tablado, andamio, cama de tablas (" framework, scaffolding, a broad bed"), Molina (see /, figure 46). Finally, carpentry is clearly de- noted by the figure of a carpenter (tlaxinqui) with an ax (tlaximal- tepoztli) in his hand (see g, which designates carpenters, carpinteros, in the Pinturna del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Kegidores de Mexico). And, lastly, the delivery of stone or masonry is represented on fragment IX (plate xiv) by a heap of stones, and near the lower end of fragment XII (plate xvii) by a row of stones. If, then, we read the details correctly, complaints are made in our manuscript, first, at the bottom of fragment X (plate xv) , of ill treat- ment; then, of compulsory labor, at the top of fragment XI (plate xvi) ; and, lastly, of unjust requisitions of or failure to pay for wood and various wood articles, pulque casks, stone, and pork. FKAGMENT XIII This is a strip of tolerably thin fine agave paper, 49 by 31 cm. in size (plate xviii). Only the lower half is written on, and of this only the lower portions are colored, the upper part being merely out- lined, that is, unfinished, a proof that here, too, the writer began in the old way, at the lower end of the strip, proceeding upward with his entries. The lower end is imperfect; but, judging by the space occu- pied by the Spanish document written on the reverse side, there can not be much missing. At any rate, there was no other roAv beneath the lowest one. The document is of precisely the same character as one of the manuscripts which passed from the collection of the Hon Joel R. Poinsett, formerly United States minister to Mexico, into the pos- session of the American Philosophical Society, in Philadelphia, and which is published in the Transactions of the American Philo- sophical Society, new series, volume 12, part 2, article 4 (Phila- delphia, 1892), under the title Tribute Eoll 4 (Calendar 1). There, as here, we see circles painted yellow alternating Avith red circles I- Q _i o DQ I I z I- z < Q. z < o X UJ SELER] MEXICAN PICTDEE WEITINGS — FRAGMENT XIII 213 containing a verticillate drawing, a sort of swastika. There are alwaj^s six yellow circles between the red ones, which is a clear proof that the yellow circles are meant for week days, the red ones for Sundays. Indeed, the whirling figure of the swastika is only a some- what different form of the sign {h and /, figure 46) which the Mexi- cans used for the word ilhuitl, which meant " day ", but in a special sense " feast day ", " festival ". In the manuscript of the American Philosophical Society we must begin with the lowest row on the right, follow this to the left, and the next from left to right, and so on, back and forth. Wherever a new month begins the series of week days is interrupted by the picture of the moon, which is alternately drawn facing to the right and the left (see h and ?, same figure), and is not to be included in counting the series of days. Proceeding from below upward, we have, in succession, first a month of 31 days, then one of 30 days, again 31 days, 30 days, 31 days, and, lastly, 31 days once more. This last month must, therefore, have been August or January, the first one March or August. On our fragment (plate xviii) the sign for the first day of the month is missing. The rows are probably to be followed back and forth, as described above, as we are led to conclude by certain facts which will be mentioned below. But the true circumstances can no longer be determined because several days have been cut away with scissors from the right-hand side of the page. Over each separate day on our fragment there is a woman's head, recognizable by the two erect hornlike braids over the forehead — the hair dress of Mexican women (see r, figure 37). . This can hardly mean anything else than that on the daj^s in question women were commanded to do service. The heads are arranged over the days in pairs, facing each other, and between the two faces there is always a little flag, the hieroglyphic expression for the number 20. In the two upper rows the matter is simj^lified. Only one head is drawn and this is connected by a straight line with two consecu- tive days, the number 20 standing beside the single head. At the left end of the lowest row an odd day was left over. The woman's head is placed over this, but only the half of 20, the numeral 10, is added, and this is correct. But, in addition, this odd day is con- nected with an odd day at the left end of the second row from the bottom, and then, pleonastically, as it were, the numeral 20 is placed between them. All this can hardly be explained except- ing on the assumption that the shifts of workers were changed every two days, that is, that different women came every two days. But the fact that the writer passed from the left end of the lowest row to the left end of the next higher proves that he began at the right- hand lower corner, as in the case of the document of the American 214 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY f bull. 28 Philosophical Society, and followed the rows back and forth always connecting directly with the last end. But there seems to be a hiatus at the left end of the third row. The writer must have begun anew here, that is, at the right of the fourth row. In the manuscnpt of the American Philosophical Society a woman's head is likewise always joined with two days. Thus the shifts of workers must there also have been changed every two days. There are no numerals with the heads. , , , ^ ^-, The chief service in which women have been employed among all the tribes has always been cooking. With the Mexicans this was an especially important office, as the chief article of diet, the tortiUa ■ (tlaxcalli), could not be prepared in large quantities to be kept, hke our bread, but was freshly prepared by a somewhat elaborate process for every meal, and eaten fresh and hot. The American Philosophical Society's manuscript clearly and distinctly shows that this is the feminine office alluded to in our manuscript, because in one instance beside the woman's head a mealing stone (metlatl) is depicted with the pulverized grain on it, followed by the baking slab {o, figure 46), and in another the head is followed by a dry measure, p, which m Mexican painting denoted a fanega of corn (see ^, taken from a page in the Aubin-Goupil collection, Goupil-Boban atlas plate 2<. On the page referred to there are five such measures with tlie little flag above them (20), and the Spanish text below explains that this means 100 fanegas of corn (que se entiende cien hanegas de mahiz). ' But since not only the mealing stone, but also the corn measure was drawn beside the women's heads, I think it can be safely deduced that the account represented in the American Philosophical Society s man- uscript noted not merely the service performed, but also the material delivered. ^ . • . a.,.^.^ In our fragment XIII (plate xviii) no such objects are diawn beside the women's heads. But the writing on the iwerse side ot the pac^e proves that the reference is to similar services. The manuscripts in A von Humbokh's collection are, as I have already stated with the exception of the first, pasted upon large sheets of paper of the size ot the atlas of which this is the descriptive text. In examining frag- ment XIII (plate xviii), which is rather thin paper, it first occurred to me that there must be writing on the reverse side. I began cau- tiously to detach it, and by calling in expert assistance I succeeded m removing the sheet uninjured from its backing. On the reverse side T found the following document : ' Dio-o yo diego hermano del mayordomo deste pueblo de misquia- <.uala%. resebi del senor manuel de olvera coregidor deste dicho pueblo 101 peso y medio de las yndias quelles q. an hecho tortillas en su casa y me a pagado todas las demas q. han servido hasta oy. fecho M4^ ^ m^y..^. T i7.k;l>^f -'¥ 4M seler] MEXICAN PICTUEE WRITINGS FRAGMENT XIII 215 a veynte y nueve de mayo de mill y quiniento y sesenta y nueve anos tg mechior de contreras y galp q. firmo per el otrgante ante mi s melchior de P- de palen contreras (" I, Diego, brother of the bailiff of this village Mizquiyauallan, acknowledge that I have received from Mr Manuel de Olvera, mag- istrate of this said village, 101-| pesos for the women who made tor- tillas at his house, and (that) he has- paid me for all the other (women) who have performed services up to the present date. Done on May 29, 1569. Witness, Melchior de Contreras y Galp in evidence of which I sign for him who executes this document. " Melchior de Contreras. " Before me, P. de Palen, .") jaytc ^ / ■f On ^Ym> Oi-OcktAUCe*- Fig. 47. OiBcial signatures. It is therefore clear that this fragment XIII was likewise an account, one indeed of services rendered by women, who were ordered to bake tortillas and to do other work. The account comes from the same village of Mizquiyauallan, to which the account on fragment VII (plate xii) of our collection belongs, and the reverse contains the receipt for wages paid for these services. The days which were cut out of the right side of the sheet seem to represent a deduction, a reduction of the account or a correction to which the person present- ing it was obliged to submit. This document is two years older than that on fragment VII (plate xii). As for the persons concerned, the receiver of the money is the brother of the major-domo of Mizquiyauallan, and is mentioned here, as is common among Indians, merely by his Christian name, Diego. The major-domo's name is not given, but it is probable that he is 216 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 the person who signed the receipt on fragment VII (plate xti). There the major-domo himself signed the receipt («, figure 47) . Here his brother does not know how to write. A Spaniard, Melchior de Contreras y Galp (c) signs for him. The bill is paid by the same Manuel de Olvera mentioned on fragment VII (plate xii). Here, two years earlier, he was corregidor; that is, village magis- I can not quite decipher the signature of the official before whom the business was transacted, d. Finally, it is to be noticed that there are moreover three men s heads on our fragment, each with a hieroglyph behind or over it, which undoubtedly gives the name of the man. The heads with hieroglyphs in the top row both stand at the beginning of a section marked by a line of partition. The same seems to be the case m the second row from the top ; for the progression here, as shown by the position of the women's heads, is from left to right, although the beginning of the division here (at the left end) is not especially denoted by a line. In exactly the same way a man's head with a hieroglyph is placed at the beginning of a section, designated by a line, in the document of the American Philosophical Society. These men's heads most probably represent the gobernadores de Indios or the village magistrates who furnished the women to bake tortillas. The man on the left end of the second row from the top has the head of a bird of prey behind him as a hieroglyph. His name may have been quauhti, " eagle ", cuixtli, " hawk ", or something of the kind. The man on the right end of the top row must have had a similar name. The man at the left end of the top row has a hieroglyph which seems to consist of two pointed leaf ends, with thorns on the upper surface. This may be the hieroglyph for Uitznauatl, for in the list of names of persons of Uexotzinco, where Uitznauatl is a quite common name, it is invariably expressed by the points of two agave leaves drawn side by side. It is very remarkable that in the document of the American Philosophical Society one of the two men's heads represented there, the one at the left end of the third row from the top, is marked by the same hieroglyph (see m, figure 46). The one at the right end of the fifth row was probably named Quiyauh, for his hieroglyph consists of three drops of rain hanging down (or falling) (see ?i, same figure). Fragment XIII (plate xviii) of our collection and the Tribute EoU 4 (Calendar 1) of the American Philosophical Society are doubtless distinct and independent documents, but so closely akhi m ■ idea, in drawing, and in various details, that we can safely attribute them to the same locality and period. Our fragment XIII (plate xviii), having its explanation on the reverse side, is, therefore, a BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGV ^^i^ 4pI^ 4 11$ sm MEXICAN PAINTING-HU BULLETIN 28 PLATE XVIll QQO X i 4$ 4I§^ 7 ^-^ A^ A P I& / A DT FRAGMENT XIII SELEH] MEXICAN PICTUEE WEITINGS FEAGMENT XIV 2l7 valuable document by which to judge the manuscript in the posses- sion of the American Philosophical Society. I have already mentioned that fragment VII (plate xii) of our collection, which, like fragment XIII (plate xviii), now under dis- cussion, came from the village of Mizquiyauallan, seems to have belonged to the Boturini collection. I quoted the passage in Botu- rini's Museo Indiano (Catalogo, number 1, section 21) which de- scribes these manuscripts from Mizquiyauallan : Tres mapas en papel Indiano como faxas. Tratan de los tributes que pagaba el pueblo de Mizquiahuallan, y en el se ven las cifras numericas de cada cosa, que entregaban los vecinos (" Three maps on Indian paper like bands. They treat of the tribute paid by the village of Mizquiyauallan, and contain the numerical statement of each article furnished by the householders"). Now, if the one page of the Poinsett collection, at present belong- ing to the. American Philosophical Society, is so closely related to fragment VII (plate xi) of our collection, and the other to our frag- ment XIII (plate xviii) that we feel tempted to attribute them to the same place and date, then the question arises whether the two Amer- ican manuscripts are not also mentioned in Boturini. This seems, indeed, to be the case; for, directly after the passage quoted above, two other and longer manuscripts from the same village are men- tioned in section 21 of the Museo Indiano, under numbers 2 and 4 : 2. Otro [mapa] de la misma materia y mas largo, de dicho pueblo [Mizquiahuallan] ("Another [map] of the same material and larger from the same village [Mizquiyauallan]"). 4. Otro del mismo papel y mas largo del mismo pueblo ("Another on the same paper and larger from the same village"). FRAGMENT XIV This (plate xix) is a piece of tolerably thick, firm agave paper, 34 by 15 cm. Near the upper end two strips have been pasted one over the other. The frayed end of the strip underneath is plainly visible. Below the top row are the words estangia de tlatonpan. The fragment may be divided into two essentially different parts, an upper and a lower one. In the upper part everything is painted crimson and in the lower yellow predominates. The base of the upper part is formed by a strip inclosed within two transverse lines, in which are three men's heads, each having a remarkable character behind it which looks like a key. Two of them are, moreover, pro- vided with special hieroglyphs. I take the character which looks like a key actually to be one, and consider it as an expression of the word tlatlati, which means " he who hides something, or shuts up or guards something " (el que guarda alguna cosa, o el que esconde algo, 218 BUEEAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 Molina) , for in the Xaltepetlapan list of names of persons (Manu- scrit Mexicain number 3, Bibliotheque Nationale) I find mention of a man named Juan Tlatiatin, who is described by the hieroglyph «, figure 48; that is, by a hand holding up a key. The first person from the right seems to be hieroglyphically designated by two horns on his head. His name may therefore have been Quaquauh (see l and c, same figure) , which in the list of names of persons ( Manuscrit Mexicain number 3, Bibliotheque Nationale) denote persons of that name. The second person seems to be hieroglyphically designated by a stone (te-tl) and water (a-tl). The third person has no hiero- glyph, and I can not interpret the circular design in front of him. e H m% KX ^ ®^ i§ M QCC h Fio. 4S. Symbols for certain persons and for numbers Both divisions of the page treat of the same, matter, the delivery of articles for which payment is asked or nonpayment is complained of; that is, it is an account or a bill of complaint. If we take for granted that we are to proceed from below upward, as in the other fragments, then the first representation below would be ten turkey hens, followed by five cocks. Beside the cock at the left end of the row, however, there is a small flag, the sign for 20. This, therefore, must mean 24 cocks. In the next row above, first on the right, there is a vessel and above that a figure, which I can not explain, surrounded by featherlike rays, very much like those (see the upper half of this fragment) which are drawn to denote the num- BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 28 PLATE XIX m mi <^^J4ryyx oV 5* ^a. -fcnxfi^ w ' -a ^.D Q^ S' & ^^ H/ B & \y M &{^U (^a V T^t- C r M- if iij)i S^^^O^^^^^^ •^"^(^a. MEXICAN PAINTING-HUMBOLDT FRAGMENT XIV SELKR] MEXICA]Sr PICTURE WRITINGS FRAGMENT XIV 219 ber 400 (tzontli). Then follow small oblong objects, each with a small flag (20), and in the row above there are ten vessels, each of which probably stands for a fanega of corn (see p and 9 as my starting point, and will give in each successive section, first, the paragraph from the catechism and then the description of the picture which explains it. The first roAv begins at the left : Section 1. Los articulos de la Fe son catorce ("There are fourteen articles of faith"). The picture shows us first a page covered with writing and a hand Avhich points to it. This means article. Then comes a cross on a base formed by a series of steps; this means faith. Then comes the numeral 14, ar- ranged in the usual way in groups of five. Section 2. Los siete per- tenecen a la divinidad (" Seven appertain to the deity"). The pic- ture gives us first the numeral 7 and then a bearded (Spanish) face, and over it a drawing, apparently meant to represent a halo, consist- ing of a metal disk, in the center of which and at regular distances in the periphery there are perforations. This is the hieroglyph regu- larly used throughout to denote God. Section 3. Y los otros siete [pertenecen] a la santa humanidad de nuestro Seiior Jesucristo (" And the other seven [appertain] to the holy humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ ") . The picture gives first the numeral 7. Then, on a base, cross, spear, and the sponge soaked in vinegar and fastened to a reed, Avhich means the crucified, the God-man. Section 4. Los [siete articulos] que pertenecen a la divinidad son estos (" Those [seven articles] wdiich appertain to the deity are these "). The picture gives first the numeral 7, then (.he hieroglyph for " article " (see section 1), then the picture of God (see section 2), only there is a flowing gar- ment indicated here below the head. Section 5. El primero [arti- culo] creer en un solo Dios Todospoderoso ("The first [article], to believe in one Omnipotent God "). The picture gives the numeral 1, the hieroglyph " article ", and the picture of God. With the hiero- glyph " article " is combined a figure which is difficult to interpret. Possibly it is meant to represent the One over all things, the iLlmiglity. Section 6. El segundo [articulo], creer que es Dios Padre ("The second [article], to believe that He is God, the Father"). The picture is partly destroyed. The numeral 2 must have stood at the top. Then follows the hieroglyph " article ", and the picture of God as He was represented in section 1, but here He has two arms. The left hand holds the imperial globe. In the right He probably SELEKl MEXICAN PICTURP: WRITINGS FRAGMENTS XV, XVI 228 held a scepter. Section 7. El tercero [ articiilo], creer que es Dios Hijo ("The third [article], to believe that He is God, the Son"). Part of the numeral 3 is still visible with the hieroglyph " article ", below, and, close by, a figure with a garment like the one in section 4 and an outstretched arm. The head and essential parts, however, are destroyed. The second row begins at the right: Section 1. El cuarto [arti- culo], creer que es Dios Espiritu Santo ("The fourth [article], to believe that He is God, the Holy Ghost"). On the right a part of the numeral 4 is still discernible. Then follows the hieroglyph " article ", and then the dove descending from heaven, which is the Holy Ghost. Section 2. El quinto [articulo], creer que es Criador ("The fifth [article], to believe that He is the Creator"). At the right of the division is the numeral 5, and in front of it the hiero- glyph " article ". On the left is God with the imperial globe in His hand. Above, are depicted the starry heavens; below, a house built of bones, that is, the lower regions. Section 3. El sesto [articulo], creer que es Salvador (" The sixth [article], to believe that H\'. is the Saviour "). On the right is the numeral 6; then God Avith the cross in one hand and in the other the spear (which made the wound in His side). Section 4. El septimo [articulo], creer que es Glorificador ("The seventh [article], to Ijelieve that He is the Glorifier"). On the right is, first, the hieroglyph "article"; then the numeral. On the left is the head of a priest — not of God, for the bearded face is represented with plain hair, without the massive halo. In the middle of the division are two thick, black figures, like iron bolts, symbols employed below to express the idea of commandment. This is clearly intended to represent the priest filled with the Holy Ghost, who regulates the life of the parish. Section 5. Los [articulos] que pei-- tenecen a la Santa Humanidad de nuestro Sehor Jesucristo son los [siete] siguientes (" Those [articles] Avhich appertain to the holy humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, are the [seven] following"). The picture shows us first at the right a figure which reminds us of the tufts of eagle's down in the old manuscripts. I can Jiot Avholl_y explain it. It apparently serves here as a mark of separation. Then follows the numeral 7 ; then the cross and instruments of the passion, just as in section 3 of the first row. Section 6. El primero [articulo], creer que nuestro Sehor Jesucristo en cuanto hombi^e fue concebido por obra del Espiritu Santo (" The first [article], to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ in so far as He was man, was conceived of the Holy Ghost"). The picture shows us to the right 1 (a circle); l)elow it the hieroglyph " article " ; then the Holy Ghost as a dove and, in a manner proceeding from it, the face of God, as heretofore. From this section on there is some confusion in the numeration. A new section ought to follow now with the numeral 2, and with what 224 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 is pictorially represented in the rest of section 6, for there now fol- lows in the catechism: El segundo [articulo], creer que nacio de Santa Maria Virgen siendo elk virgen antes del parto, y despues del parto (''The second [article], to believe that He was born of the Holy Virgin Mary, she being a virgin before and after His birth "). The picture shows us the Virgin Mary with a halo, and issuing from her body is God, as previously represented, but with the spear, the instrument of the passion, in his hand. But the numeral 2, which should be here, is in section 1 of the third rov>^ following. The third row begins at the left: Section 1. El tercero [articulo], creer que recebicS muerte y pasion por salvar a nosotros pecadores (" The third [article], to believe that He suffered and died to save us sinners"). The picture shows us first, on the left, the numeral 2, which really belongs in the second half of the preceding section; then God crucified, and then in the grave, marked by a cross, the corpse, recognizable by the closed eyes. Section 2. El cuarto [articulo], creer que descendio a los infiernos y saco las animas de los Santos Padres, que estaban esperando su santo advenimiento (" The fourth [article], to believe that He descended into hell and brought out the souls of the holy fathers, who were abiding there in hope of His blessed coming "). First, on the left, is the numeral 3, which really belongs to the preceding section, and under it the hieroglyph " arti- cle ". Then follows God with the cross in His right hand and before Plim a short path, the two footprints of which lead into the wide- open jaws of a fiery monster, which represent the interior of the earth, or hell, quite after the manner of ancient Mexican symbolism. Within are to be seen the souls, represented by a heart, otherwise the dead, represented by heads with closed eyes. Section 3. El qunito [articulo], creer que resuscito al tercer dia de entre los muertos (" The fifth [article], to believe that He rose again from the dead on the third day''). On the left is, first, the numeral 4, which really belongs in the previous section. Then comes the hieroglyph " arti- cle ". On the right are the dead with fleshless ribs and closed eyes, and before them is God with the spear, the instrument of the passion, in His hand. In the center, a figure bent at right angles and twice doubled, which is probably meant to express the act of arising. Sec- tion 4. El sesto [articulo], creer que subio a los cielos, y esta sentado a la diestra de Dios Padre Todopoderoso ('' The sixth [article], to believe that He ascended into lieaven, where He sitteth at the right hand of God, the Omnipotent Father "). The picture presents first, on the left, the numeral 5, which really belongs in the previous section. Then follows the face of God, and joined to this is a ladder leading up to the starry heavens. A hand from heaven points to a circle filled with network, which is apparently meant, like the similar figure in the fifth section (from the left) in the first row, to express the SELER] MEXICAJSr PICTUKE WRITINGS FRAGMENTS XV, XVI 225 Omnipotent God. Section 5. El septimo [articiilo] , creer que vendra a jiizgar a los vivos y a los muertos, etc. (" The seventh [article], to believe that He shall come to judge the quick and the dead"). On the left is, first, the numeral 6, which really belongs in the previ- ous section. Then follows God with the sword, the symbol of justice, in His hand. Then followed, evidently, the dead in one square, and the living in another; but the edge is destroyed and very little more of the picture is now to be seen. The last words of explanation follow in the next row. The fourth roAV begins at the right. Section 1. Conviene a saber, a los buenos, para darles gloria, porque guardaron sus Santos Manda- mientos (" The good should know, to give them glory, because they kept His holy commandments "). First, on the right, is the numeral 7 and the hieroglyph " article ", which reallj^ belong in the previous section. Then comes a house containing a man, behind Avhom is a sign like an ear of maize, which is used as below in the third com- mandment (row 5, section 6), as an expression for " receiving honor ". The whole probably signifies a good man. Then follows a picture which I can not exactW explain, and this is followed by the bearded face of a priest who seems to proffer the same sign for " honoring ". Sections 2 to 4. Y a los malos pena eterna, porque no los guardaron. Amen ("And to the wicked eternal punishment, because they kept them not. Amen"). Here I am not quite sure whether the fi^rst of these sections does not belong to the foregoing. On the right we see first a hand with a circle, which in section 5 seemed to indicate the beginning of a new chapter. Indeed, the whole fragment begins above, with a hand. Then follows the hieroglyph " article ". Then comes a circle with a cross and a semicircular figure over it, which I can not explain. In the next section flames seem to be indicated, and farther on are the heads of the damned. In the next section we have a man prostrate on the ground, probably one of the damned, or the devil looking on. Then follow the black iron bolt and the inverted heart, which signifies souls in hell, as we have already seen in the representation of the jaws of the earth in the second section of the third row. With section 5 begins the new chapter, the ten command- ments. The catechism begins with the words: Los mandamientos de la ley de Dios son diez (" The commandments of God's law are ten "). The picture shows us, first, on the right, a hand and a circle, which denotes the beginning of a chapter. Then follows the iron bolt, which possibly expresses the idea " commandment ". Then the numeral 10. The fifth row begins at the left: Section 1. Los tres primeros pertenecen al honor de Dios (" The first three appertain to the honor of God "). The picture shows the numeral 3 and the head of God 7238— No. 28—05 15 226 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 (with the massive, perforated halo). Section 2 (not separated from the preceding one by a line). Y los otros siete al provecho del proximo ("And the other seven to the advantage of the neighbor ). The'^ picture shows the numeral 7 and a human head, combined with three black balls or circles. I can not explain the latter. Can they mean coins to express provecho? Section 3. El primero, amaras a Dios sobre v -^las las cosas (" The first, thou shalt love God above all things") The picture shows the numeral 1; then follows God, holding a heart in His hand. Section 4. El segundo, no juraras el nombre de Dios en vano (" The second, thou shalt not take the name of God in vain ") . The picture shows the numeral 2, with the picture of God, and on the right of the neck a hand pointing to two black marks The symbolism is not clear to me. " Section 5. El tercero, santificaras las fiestas (" The third, thou shalt keep holy the feasts ") . The picture shows the numeral 3 ; then what seems to be an arrow well wrapped, which is probably meant to express " to keep, or hallow "; then a house with the priest inside the church. Section 6. El cuarto, honraras a tu padre y madre (" The fourth, thou shalt honor thy father and mother ") . The picture shows the numeral 4, followed by a man, the father, holding in his hand the symbol resembling an ear of maize, which we met with above as a symbol for " honor shown . In the middle stands the child, and on the right the mother, recogniza- ble by the manner of wearing the hair with the knot low on the neck, the two hornlike braids standing up over the forehead, and the fem- inine garment (uipiUi) something like a shirt, with the piece of insertion ornamented with tassels below the opening for the neck. Section 7. El quinto, no mataras ("The fifth, thou shalt not mur- der ") . The picture shows on the left the numeral 5, then a man with a sword in his hand, and facing him a bearded man who stretches out his hand as if to ward off injury. The sixth row begins at the right: Section 1. El sesto, no fornicaras (" The sixth, thou shalt not commit adultery "). To the right is the numeral 6, of which onlv a few faint traces remain; then follows the picture of a woman like the mother in the fourth commandment (row 5, section 6) . Section 2. El septimo, no hurtaras (" The seventh, thou Shalt not steal "). The picture represents the numeral 7 and a man fingering the lock of a door or a chest. Section 3. El octavo, no leventaras falso testimonio, ni mentiras (" The eighth, thou shalt not bear false witness or lie "). Here we have the numeral 8 and a man delivering a letter covered with black marks. Section 4. El noveno, no desearas la muger de tu progimo (" The ninth, thou shalt ' not covet thy neighbor's wife "). The picture shows the numeral 9 and a man stretching out his hand toward a woman opposite to him. Section 5. El decimo, no codiciaras bienes agenos (" The tenth, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods"). This picture shows the K/or BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY MEXICAN PAINTING-I: BULLETIN 28 PLATE XXI OLDT FRAGMENT XVI SELEK] MEXICAN" PICTURE WEITHSTGS FRAGMENTS XV, XVI 227 numeral 10 and a man stretching out his- hand to the objects opposite to him, the lock of a door or chest and a woman. Section 6. Estos diez mandamientos se encierran en dos (" These ten commandments may be comprised in two "). The picture shows the numeral 10, and joined to it by a line the numeral 2; then follows the hieroglyph " article ". The seventh and last row begins at the left : Section 1. En servir y amar z Dios sobre todas las cosas (" To serve and love God above all other things ") . On the left may have been the picture of God. The picture of the heart is still visible here, as in the first commandment (row 5, section 3), expressing the idea of love. Section 2. Y a tu progimo como a ti mismo ("And thy neighbor as thyself"). The picture shows the numeral 2 and then two men, to express neighborly love. We have been able to prove, or to make it seem probable, that most of the manuscripts in our collection once belonged to the great collec- tion of the Cavaliere Boturini, which he was forced to leave behind him in Mexico when he was released from prison. Does this also hold good in regard to this manuscript of religious import, the last in our collection ? Boturini enumerates in section 25 of the catalogue of his Museo Indiano the following manuscripts of religious character : 1. A manuscript of 11 pages on European paper, whose authorship he ascribes to Padre Sahagun. This now belongs to the Aubin-Goupil collection. Two pages of it are published on plate 78 of the Goupil- Boban atlas. 2. A manuscript on agave paper, which he describes as follows: Otro pedazo de mapa con figuras y cifras en papel Indiano. Demues- tra parte de dichos misterios; i. e.. de nuestra Santa Fe ("Another fragment of a map, with illustrations and numbers, on Indian paper, shows part of the said mysteries, that is, of our holy faith ") . 3. A manuscript of 4 pages on European paper with interlinear explanations in Otomi, ademas de las figuras y cifras, unos pocos venglones en lengua Otomi (" besides figures and pictures, a few lines in the Otomi language ") . This manuscript now exists in the Aubin- Goupil collection. Two pages are reproduced in plate 76 of the Goupil-Boban atlas. 4. Un librito en papel Europeo de 48 fojas chiquitas. Explica con toscas figuras, y cifras la dicha Doctrina (" a small book on Euro- pean paper, of 48 tiny pages. Explains the said doctrine in rude pictures and figures"). This manuscript is also in the Aubin- Goupil collection. Two pages are reproduced in plate 77 of the Goupil-Boban atlas. The figures are there provided with explana- tions in Nahuatl. Of the four manuscripts of a religious character owned by Botu- rini, the fourth, which Boturini mentions under number 2, has not 228 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHls-OLOGY [bull. 28 thus far been found, but the description of this manuscript^agrees perfectly with our manuscript, fragment XVI (plate xxi) . For our manuscript is also written on agave paper, and in the representations the numerals alongside the pictures are very conspicuous. I therefore deem it not only possible, but highly probable, that our fragment XVI is the manuscript described by Boturini, number 2, section 2o. Our manuscript, inferior as it is to the paintings of the old pagan time, is nevertheless superior to the manuscripts of a rehgious char- acter in the Aubin-Goupil collection by reason of a certain vigorous style I am under the impression that the Aubin-Goupil picture catechisms were executed by European priests, but that the old aboriginal Indian training is evident in the drawmg of our fragment XVI (plate xxi). CONCLUSION The 16 (properly 14) picture manuscripts in the Alexander von Humboldt collection, however limited the contents of the separate fragments (excepting the first one) present a good synopsis ot the various styles and of the various purposes for which it became necessary to employ hieroglyphs in old pagan and early Christian times They are not only of archeologic interest and of interest m the history of civilization, but some of them, as we have seen, are also of positive historic value; for, as I have shown, it seems possible to establish a firm chronologic basis only by acting on the indications offered by fragment I of our collection. Some fragments, namely, I III and IV (plate ii to vi, viii, and ix), belong to the old pagan period. Others certainly originated in early Christian timesj VI (plate XI) is to be attributed to a period prior to A. D. 154o; Li plate VII), before A. D. 1565; XIII (plate xviii) bears the date 1569- VII (plate xii), the date 1571, and the other fragments also can not be much later than these. As for the place where they origi- nated, I can unfortunately say nothing positive m regard to 1 (plates II to VI) ; III (plate viii) and IV (plate ix) came from Huamantla, in the state of Tlaxcallan ; II (plate vii) came from the immediate neighborhood of the Mexican capital ; while VI (plate ;^i) ^nd V ill (plate xiv) are from the kingdom of Tezcuco; VII XII, XIII, and XVIII, from Mizquiyauallan, in the land of the Otomi; and XIV (plate XIX) possibly from the kingdom of the Chalcas. Several of the manuscripts seem to express plainly the differences which existed among the Mexican-speaking races in spite of all their similarity in civilization, mode of living, and ways of thinking, and they are otherwise very instructive, as we have seen. Our great "countryman, whose field of labor lay m quite another domain, rescued these fragments from among a number of documents, which at the time were the prey of chance in Mexico. Since then SBLER] MEXICAN PICTURE WRITINGS 229 they have lain among other manuscript treasures in the Royal Library, little noticed, or, more correctly speaking, seldom used. It is partly owing to facts that have only very recently become known that I have been able to make these fragments divulge some portion of their contents. Last year we celebrated the four hundredth anniversary of the day on which Columbus, the discoverer of America, first set foot in the New World, and within a few years we can celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the day on which the scientific discoverer of the New World, Alexander von Humboldt, began his travels on that continent. May this volume, which is the first attempt at treat- ing of the only one of his collections hitherto untreated, be not wholly unworthy of the great name which it bears on the title page. THE BAT GOD OF THE MAYA RACE EDUARD SELER 231 THE BAT GOD OF THE MAYA RACE" By Eduard Seler The beautiful drawing sent by Mr Dieseldorff to the Anthropolog- ical Society shows us a deity whose worship is indeed occasionally mentioned by historians and whose name is contained in the names of various Maya races, but. of whom, on the whole, as of the mythologic forms of South American and Central American races generally, little enough is known. This deity is the bat god. The bat in various Maya dialects is called Zotz. From this is derived the name Zotzil and Ah-zotzil, the "bat people", which name, on the one hand, belongs to a tribe who from ancient times to the present day have been settled in the vicinity of what is now San Cristobal de Chiapas— Mexicanized as Tzinacanteca, the people of Tzinacantlan, the " bat city "—and, on the other hand, it belongs to a tribe which is probably to be regarded as a portion of the great nation of the Cakchikels, the chief nation of southern Guatemala. Finally, there is still a Tzinacantan in the extreme southeast of Guatemala, within the region of the Sinca language. Unfortunately, we are insufficiently informed concerning the lan- guage and traditions of the Zotzil of Chiapas, but we have some information in regard to the tribes of southern and western Guate- mala. Here in early Christian times the natives themselves wrote down their traditions, and these traditions, the Popol Vuh ^ and the annals of Xahila <= are precious documents. The only drawback is the difficulty of using them, because, on the one hand, we lack ade- quate lexicographic aids, but more especially because we have no exact definitions of the mythologic animals and the rest of the objects and expressions which have reference to the ancient folklore of these races. " E. Seler in Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fiir Anthropologie, Ethnologie iind Urgeschichte, p. 577 and following, published in Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, 1894, pt. 6. " I'opol Vuh. Le livre sacre et les mythes de I'antiquite americaine, etc., par I'abbg Brasseur de Bourbourg. Paris, 1861. <-The Annals of the Cakchiliels. Brinton's Library of Aboriginal American Litera- ture, n. 6. Philadelphia, 1885. 233 234 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 28 An interesting passage in the Popol Vuh identifies the Kiches with the Toltecs, who are designated in the Popol Vuh as Yaqui,*^ and identifies Tohil, the god of the Kiche race, with Yolcuat-Quitzal- cuat— that is, Youalli ehecatl,'' Quetzalcoatl— the god of the Toltecs. While the three tribes of the Kiches had the same god, and the god of the Rabinals, though he was called differently, namely, Hun- toh, was also the same, the Cakchikels differed from the Kiches both in their language and in the name of the god, whom they had brought with them from Tollan. The Cakchikel god was called Zotziha Chimalcan. After the name of this god, both the Chma- mits, that is, the two royal families of the Cakchikels, were called Ah-po-zotzil and Ah-po-xa (hil).« We find the same name for this god once more in a second passage, and here, too, there is a more detailed statement concerning him. We read: "There was a tribe who drew fire from fire sticks. The Cakchikel god is called Zotzi- laha Chamalcan and the bat (zotz) is his iiiiage.'^ He was therefore the god who controlled fire and who was conceived of m the like- ness of a bat. I can not at present explain the name Chimalcan, or Chamalcan. Zotziha, or Zotzilaha, does not mean "bat", but " bat's house ". I think this should suggest a mountain cavern, the interior of the earth; therefore a god of caverns, of the dark realms of earth. This is confirmed by a passage immediately preceding the one just quoted, where the figure appearing before the tribes in the dress of a bat is styled " this Xibalba ". As a double name, Zotzi- laha Chimalman, is given to the deity, and as likewise two families correspond to this deity and are said to reproduce his name, we must certainly suppose that\he god had a twofold form, and that in con- trast to the sinister form of the bat there was another, more pleas- ing one. 1 1 1 ?5 In other passages of the Popol Vuh the name Zotziha, "bat s house , is given, not as that of a god, but as one of the regions which must be traversed on the way to the deepest depths of the interior of the earth, the kingdom of darkness and death. Here dwells the Cama-Zotz, " the death bat ", the great beast who slays all who come in his way, and who also bit off the head of the hero Hunahpu when he descended to the lower world. Such images of death play a great part in the mythology of Mexican and Central xVmerican races. But, I repeat, they are always conceived of and usually drawn with their counter- part. « No doubt the Mexican Yaque, "they go", that is, "the departing", "those who go away ", a verbal form which is used with tolerable regularity in the texts in connection ^* " Lit'emliy "night [andl wind", a designation or epithet applied to the deity himself. But it is also especially given as the name of the god of the Nahuas, and represented in picture writing, it would seem, by the double image of the death god and the wind god leaning back to back. c Popol Vuh, pp. 246, 248. ., t, k ,.„ <« Popol Vuh, p. 224. The passage is not correctly quoted by Brasseur de Bourboarg. SELBE] THE MAYA BAT GOD 235 Such is the scant}^ information to be gleaned from literary records regarding the singular figure of the bat god; but it is enough to show that in this case we have to do only with a form of the deity of mountain caverns, of cave worship, concerning which definite information has been transmitted to us from the regions of the Isthmus and from the tribes living north and south of it. This deity however, apparently belonged only to the Maya races and to the Zapo- tec-Mixtec tribes, who were nearly allied to them in civilization, and possibly also in language, while to the Mexicans this cult was appar- ently foreign. Now, when I pass to the pictorial representations of this deity, I am at once in a position, strange as it may seem, to refer to such drawings in Mexican picture writing; and this is of special impor- tance, because there we are on more familiar ground. It is true, I am referring to manuscripts which doubtless originated in regions lying somewhat more to the south. The pictures to which I allude are taken from the Borgian, Vatican, and Fejervary codices. In each of these picture manuscripts there are a number of pages which invariably have four representations so combined that they form a whole, which, at the outset, leads us to conjecture that they were meant to correspond to the four cardinal points; that is, four periods of time coordinated with the cardinal points. In one of these representations (Borgian coclex, pages 66 to 63), we find a per- fect conglomerate of pictures on the four pages. In the others (Codex Vaticanus B, pages 65, 66; Bologna codex, pages 12, 13; Fejervary codex, pages 12, 11; Codex Vaticanus B, pages 72 to 75, and Fejervary codex, pages 4, 3) the separate representations seem to be copied to a certain extent from the above-mentioned pages of the Borgian codex. Pages 66 to 63 of the Borgian codex have in the center a tree which is growing from the body of a person and on which a bird is sitting. Above this there is a deity offering sacrifice. On the left is a ball- player, a pair in copulation, and a throne, upon which lies the head ornament of a deity, always that of the deity of the succeeding page. To the right, at the top, we have the felling or killing of an animal or of a mythologic figure ; below are Tzitzimime, figures plunging clown from heaven, and a god producing fire by friction. Dates of years and days are also given, the sum total of which is 52 years and 260 days, that is, an entire cycle and a tonalamatl, divided into four equal parts. The principal deity, the one offering sacrifice, on the first page ig the sun god. This page may, therefore, correspond to the east. The god of the second page is the god of the earth, or of stone. He must correspond to the north. The chief deity on the third page 236 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BtiLL. 28 Pig. 49. Mexican figures of the bat god. seler] THE MAYA BAT GOD 237 is the maize god. He corresponds to the west. The one on the last page is the death god, who corresponds to the south. Among the figures on the first page at the right of the chief deity, in some degree expressive of the fatal qualities of the latter, and corres]3onding to the east, is the bat god beside the sun god. I repro- duce the pictures of the god in a to c, figure 49, where c is taken from the encyclopedic representation in the Borgian codex, page 66, while a and 5 belong to separate series which have been copied out of it. The fact that we are dealing with the bat god is here expressed by the wing membrane stretched between the legs and arms, the claws on the extremities, the sharp teeth, and particularly by the membranous nose leaf, which only in a is converted into a stone knife. The dark painting of the wing membrane and the death's-head upon it in a (instead of the crossbones of the Dieseldorff picture) especially remind us of the picture on the Dieseldorff vase. We are reminded of the functions of Cama-zotz, the death bat, by the head which the ic(0SSf h , c Fig. 50. Maya hieroglyphs of the bat god. beast has torn off and holds in his hand in a and b, while in c the beast devours the torn-out heart and the blood. It is worth noticino- to that m a and c the bat is drawn with the round cap and feather headdress of the wind god, while in h, in addition to the torn-off head, he grasps and stands upon a fire snake. I now turn to the documents of the Maya races. The Mayas, in the strict sense, the inhabitants of Yucatan, designated one of their 18 uinals, that is, periods of 20 days, by the name of the bat-zotz (or zoo, according to Yucatec transcription) . From the Eelaciones of Bishop Landa and the Dresden manuscript I reproduce in h, figure 50, the picture of the bat as the designation of this period of time, which fell in the latter half of our September. That this designation was also known to the other Maya tribes we learn from the date (c, figure 50), compounded of the date of a day (8 Ahau) and a uinal date (the 8th of Zotz), which I copy from one of the Copan stelge as given in Maudslay's great worlv." In the same way the uinal Zotz is given, beyond a doubt, on the altar slabs of Palenque ; for instance, on the « Biologia Centrali-Americana. Archseology. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 288 alter dab of the Temple of the Cross, number 1 (according to Desire Charnay's designation), where A-16 and B^16, belonging together, give the combined date 1 Ahan, 13 Zotz. , , f tv,„ K»f and But I also think that I recognise the hieroglyphs of the bat god among a series of 20 deities represented in hieroglyphs on P^Sf- « to 60 of the Dresden manuscript, accompanymg a period of 2X52 years divided into five large sections, each of which is agam divrded fnto sections of 90, 250, 8, and 236 days. From this series of 20 deities 5 are copied on page 24; they are those which, at regular intervals, ™ the last pLe in each of the five divisions. In this way those seem to have bTen made prominent which are especially significant a Fig. 51. Maya hieroglypbs of the bat ,i;od. for each of the five divisions. Among them occurs the hieroglyph, which-with a note of interrogation, it is true-I claim as the hiero- .rlvphof the bat god (see a, figure 50). ..,.,,. , if I think that I also recognize the bat god m the initial hieroglyph of the ..roiip which I reproduce in «, figure 51. The character km, sun is beiore the mouth of the beast. With reference to a hieroglyph which I shall discuss later I am tempted to interpret it as a swallow- ine up of light, that is, an obscuring of the sun. . . Finally, ft has occurred to me that possibly the imtial hieroglyph of the two groups which I give in h, and which, on account of the p c ture accompanying it. I formeriy exphuned as the ^H* ° a bird of prey, may also refer to the bat. For we have here, as in the selbk] THE MAYA BAT GOD 239 hieroglyph of the uinal Zotz, the character akbal, " night ", over the eye, as an eyebrow. Even the bat ears and the wrinkled corner of the mouth seem to be present in the hieroglyph. Instead of the teeth, the hieroglyph of a stone knife is given here. This may indicate the creature's sharp teeth, while it may possibly also have a symbolic meaning. The stone knife symbolizes the power of the sun's beams to inflict injury. In Mexican representations the monster of the night swallows a stone knife. The bat is frequently met with on the Copan reliefs. An entire fig- ure of the deity, which I give in «, figure 52, can be recognized on altar T (Maudslay's nomenclature) a huge reptilian figure, with a head /Hia. T Pig. 52. Maya hieroglyphs of the bat god. resembling an alligator's and with hands, between whose outstretched fore and hind legs various deities or mythologic figures are rep- resented. The bat here begins the series of personages represented on the east side, while on the west side, opposite to it, a bird with speckled feathers and parrot like beak is the first of the series — possibly the cakix, the Arara, worshipped as a deity by the Ah-zotzil clan, " the bat people ", who were allied to the Cakchikels." The bat occurs with greatest frequency in a hieroglyph some forms of which I have given in a, figure 53. Besides the head of the bat, which is sometimes very characteristically reproduced, with its mem- branous nose leaf and hairy ear, the double element ben-ik is also present in this hieroglyph, which perhaps^for it also occurs with " Xahila's Cakchikel-Annalen, place cited, sec. 10. 240 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 Others in the hieroglyph of the sun god— is an expression of that which the Mayas designated by u pop u cam, and the Mexicans by i-petl-i-icpal, "his mat", "his (royal) seat", that is, for dominion. Lastly, there is yet another element present in the hieroglyph, which, taking other cases of its occurrence into consideration, I can only explain as a stream of blood flowing from the bat's mouth, derived from an element which I have shown to possess the phonetic value of kan " yellow ",« and to be used as a substitute for km, " sun ".^ In other words, I regard this element of the hieroglyph as nothing else than an expression of that characteristic of the bat god which is set /llior \i 5".w J3 I Cojf Dreic/. Fig. 53. Maya hieroglyphs of the bat god. forth in the name Cama-zotz and in the pictures of the Mexican manuscripts, especially c, figure 49, that is, the destruction of life, the devouring of light. We are familiar with this element m other hiero- crlyphs, particularly in that of a god who is the fifth in the series of twenty deities in the Dresden manuscript, and who undoubtedly is a god of the earth (6, figure 53) . It has long since been remarked that the head of this deity reappears in the conventional sign tor he cardinal point of the north. But, while in the hieroglyph of the crod the head of the god is represented, according to my conception, as devouring light or life, in the hieroglyph of the cardinal point the « Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, V. 23, pp. 108-9. " Science, .January 6. 1893. SELEE] THE MAYA BAT GOD 241 head of the god is combined with an open jaw, which is occasional!}" replaced by a stone knife, h. Hence the correspondence to which I allude above is also apparent here. In conclusion, I give in &, figure 52, a very remarkable form of this hieroglyph Avhich occurs on Stela D of Copan (Maudslay's nomen- clature) . This stela is peculiar inasmuch as the hieroglyphic elements, wdiich elsewhere are reproduced in conventional characters, are here carried out in full figure. This particular stela is, therefore, of the first importance as an aid to the discovery of the true meaning of tliese elements. In h, figure 52, the form of the bat, the nose leaf, and the wing membrane are distinctly recognizable. The element which I interj^ret as the devouring of light is indicated by a series of drops and a piece that looks like a ring cut out of a shell. This element, which answers to kan, or kin, also has the same form in the hiero- glyphs reproduced in «, figure 53. The Ben-Ik groujo is wanting in 5, figure 53, probabl}^ because it expresses onl}'' a secondary meaning. On the heads and the body in a, figure 52, as m several of the bat heads brought together in «, figure 53, the elements of the day sign Cauac are given, which in the last of the hieroglyphs in «, figure 53, is seen in full below the bat's ear. The character Cauac corresponds to the Mexican Quiauitl, " rain ", and to Ayotl, " the tortoise ", of the Guatemalan calendar. It combines within itself, as I have shown elsewhere,'^ the idea of opaque covering and of stone. We have in the vase excavated b}" Mr l^ieseldorfi* a very character- istic figure of the bat god. In this connection, I would like to mention th it the god described by Dieseldortf as having been found as a deco- ration on potter5% the god in the snail shell,^ does not answer to the old god, the sixteenth in the Dresden manuscript, but rather to the thi'd one of the gods represented on plates 4 to 10 of the Dresden manuscript. If I were still somewhat uncertain as to whether the bat god can be recognized among the five deities given in the hieroglyphs on page 24 of the Dresden manuscript, the god in the snail shell is unquestionably represented. As I am forced to conclude from the other places where it occurs that the latter god corresponds to the south, so the bat god, if he is really represented by hieroglyph «, figure 50, must answer to the cardinal point of the east. This would form a fresh link and furnish another proof, either that even in slight details there existed a fundamental agreement between the mythic represen- tations of the Central American and Mexican peoples, or that with the calendar and everything connected with it an exchange or dis- semination of such mythic elements took place throughout the whole of the ancient cultural region. " Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, v. 23, p. 132. » Zeitschrift fiir Etlinologie, v. 25, Verhandlungen, 1893, pp. 379 and 548. 7238— No. 28—05 16 WALL PAINTINGS OF MITLA A MEXICAN PICTURE WRITING IN FRESCO BY EDUARD SELER. 243 CONTENTS Page Description of Mitla 347 The ancient Zapotec countrj'- 258 Unity of Mexican and Central American civilization 266 Zapotec priesthood and ceremonials _- 275 Deities and religious conceptions of the Zapotecs 284 Explanation of the wall paintings 306 245 WALL PAINTINGS OF MITLA By Edijard Seler DESCRIPTION OF MITLA In the broad valley of Tlacolula, which, rising in a succession of terraces, inclosed by mountain ranges, and intersected by flat-topped ridges and isolated peaks, forms the eastern part of the wide and beautiful Valle de Oaxaca, lies the place which is called Yoopaa,^ or Lioo-baa, by the Zapotecs, and Mictlan by the Mexicans. It is situ- ated near the highest eastern end of the valley, at the foot of the mountain chain which separates it from the valley of Villa Alta and the mountainous regions of the Mixes. The -two names of this place have the same meaning, " burial place ", or " place of the dead ". It was the burial city of the Zapotec kings and priests. It was a custom among the Zapotecs and the kindred tribes, Mixtecs, Cuicatecs, and their neighbors, the Mixes, to bury their dead chiefs and nobles in caves. There was probably a double reason for this custom. Throughout the world caves have been looked upon as entrances to the interior of the earth, to the underworld, to the kingdom of the- dead. Among the Zapotecs and Mixtecs, however, there existed also the belief, which is met with among several other aboriginal tribes of America, that the ancestors of their race had risen from the inner depths of the earth to the light of the sun. Thus it was, in a certain way, the realm of the forefathers, their ancient home, in which they buried their dead when they laid them to rest in the sacred caves. -^ Wandmalereien von Mitla, eine mexikanischen Bilderschrift in fresko, nach eigenen an Ort und Stelle aufgenommenen Zeiohnungen, herausgegeben und erliiutert von Dr Bduard Seler. Berlin, 1895. The dedication may be translated as follows : To His Excellency the Duke of Loubat, the generous promoter of the infant science of the new continent, these results of earlier journeys and studies are gratefully dedicated by the author. Steglitz, July, 1895. t> Burgoa translates it Lugar de Descanso, " resting place ". Indeed the meaning "rest- ing ", " taking breath ", is contained in the root paa. For paa, and the allied form pee, means " breeze ", " wind ", " breath ", and the extended meaning " happiness ", " blessed- ness ", " peace ", " wealth ", can doubtless be traced back to this root. Paa also contains, by implication, the meaning " burial place " ; paa or queto-paa, sepultura, " tomb " ; paa- quie, sepultura de piedra, " stone tomb " ; paa-tao, sepultura labrada a poste, a " sepulcher made of posts " ; and it is perhaps most natural to accept this especial meaning here. 247 248 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 In the country of the Mixtecs the cave of Chalcatongo, situated on a high mountain, served as a burial place for their kings and great men, and Father Burgoa relates Avith indignation how, even in later Christian times, a cacique, esteemed by the priests for his godly life, accepted the last sacraments of the Christian Church and yet left behind him the behest that his earthly remains should be buried in that cave.*^ The extensive caves in the limestone moun- tains (whence came its names of Yoopaa and Mictlan) imparted to this place its sacred character and caused the Zapotecs to choose it for the burial place of their kings and priests. There were also smaller caves in the place, called Zeetoba, "second burial place ", or Queui- quije-zaa, " the palace on the rock " ; in Mexican, TeticjDac. It served as a burial place of the second (subordinate) rank. The peculiar notion connected with caves in specially favored situations, namely, that they indicated the places where the ancestors of the race had come forth from the earth, was, without doubt, the reason why Yoopaa, or Mictlan, was not only a burial place, but also the most important sanctuary of the countrj^ and the resi- dence of the high priest. He was called Uija-tao, " great prophet ", and was treated by the Zapotec kings, as Father Burgoa relates, with such submissive veneration and regarded as being so closely connected with the gods, being the direct distributor of their gracious gifts, as well as of their punishments, that the kings turned to him in all matters and in every need, and carried out his commands Avith the strictest obedience, even at the cost of their blood and their lives. '^ It was in keeping with the twofold significance of the place that here in Yoopaa, or Mictlan, the most important and magnificent edifices were erected, and that here every form of art was employed which the ancient inhabitants of this country could command. Mic- tlan was doubtless not the only place in the Zapotec country where magnificent buildings were to be foimd. A beautifully sculptured tomb has been discovered in Xoxo, not far from Oaxaca.'" Moreover on the mountain citadel of Tlacolula and in Teotitlan del Valle we have found fragments of wall facings of stone mosaic A'ery similar to the famous mosaics of Mitla which represent .geometric designs. There are undoubtedly similar buildings to be found in other parts of this country, which as yet has been little explored. The buildings of Mitla, however, have always been distinguished for their size, number, and magnificence, and we find in the very earliest reports enthusiastic and admiring descriptions of them. »P. Burgoa, Segiinda Parte de la Hisloria de la Provincia de Predicadores de Guaxaca, Vlexico, 1674, chap. 29. '' Burgoa, work cited, chap. 53. '' See the description in Compte rendu du Congrfes international des Americanistes, 7""^ session, Berlin, 1888, p. 126 et seq. There I have also given a small sketch of the tomb. SELBEi DESCEIPTION OF MITLA 249 Father Torquemada writes : * When some monks of my order, the Franciscan, passed, preaching and shriv- ing, through the province of Zapoteca, whose capital city is Tehuantepec,* they came to a village which was called Mictlan. that is, " underworld ( hell ) ". Besides mentioning the large number of people in the village they told of buildings which were prouder and more magnificent than any which they Iiad hitherto seen in New Spain. Among them was a temple of the evil spirit and living rooms for his demoniacal servants, and among other fine things there was a hall with ornamented panels, which were constructed of stone in a variety of arabesques and other very remarkable designs. There were doorways there, each one of which was built of but three stones, two upright at the sides and one across them, in such a manner that, although these doorways were very high and broad, the stones sufficed for their entire construction. They were so tliicli and broad that we were assured there were few lilce them. There was another hall in these buildings, or rectangular temples, which was erected entirely on round stone pillars, very high and very thick, so thick that two grown men could scarcely encircle them with their arms, nor could one of them reach the finger tips of the other. These pillars were all in one piece and, it was said, the whole shaft of a pillar measured 5 ells from top to bottom, and they were very much like those of the church of Santa Maria iNTaggiore in Kome, very skillfully made and polished. Father Burgoa gives a more exact description.*' He says: The palace of the living and of the dead was built for the use of this one (the high priest of the Zapotecs). * * * They built this magnificent house or pantheon in the shape of a rectangle, with portions rising above the earth and portions built down into the earth, the latter in the hole or cavity which was found below the surface of the earth, and ingeniously made the chambers of equal size by the manner of joining them, leaving a spacious court in the middle ; and in order to secure four equal chambers they accomplished what barbarian heathen (as they were) could only achieve by the powers and skill of an architect. It is not known in what stone pit they quarried the pillars, which are so thick that two men can scarcely encircle them with their arms. These are, to be sure, mere shafts without capital or pedestal, but they are wonderfully regular and smooth, and they are aboiit 5 ells high and in one piece. These served to support the roof, which consists of stone slabs instead of beams. The slabs are about 2 ells long, 1 ell broad, and half an ell thick, extending from pillar to pillar. The pillars stand in a row, one behind the other, in order to receive the weight. The stone slabs are so regular and so exactly fitted that, without any mortar or cement at the joints, they resemble mortised beams. The four rooms, which are . very spacious, are arranged in exactly the same way and covered with the same kind, of roofing. But in the construction of the walls the greatest architects of the earth have been sur- passed, as I have not found this kind of architecture described either among " Monarquia Indiana, v. 3, chap. 29. " Without douht this refers to Father Martin de Valencia and his eight companions, who went to Tehuantepec to embark there for China, and who stayed at the former place seven months. Since they could obtain no ships, they went back to Mexico. See Moto- linia, Historia de los Indios de la Nueva Espaua, tratado 3, chap. 5 ; Mendieta, Historia Ecclesiastica Indiana, v. 4, chap. 10. In both places a description is given of the archi- tecture of Mitla, which corresponds in essential points with the description of Torquemada quoted above ; except that Mendieta calls the church in Rome Santa Maria la Redonda, and in Motolina this comparison is wholly wanting. ' Work cited, chap. 53. That which he states, he says, he knows from old papers which have come into his hands and from traditions current among aged Indians. 250 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 the Egyptians or among the Greeks ; for they begin at the base with a narrow outline and, as the structure rises in height, spread out in wide copings at the top, so that the upper part exceeds the base in breadth and loolis as if it would fall over. The inner side of the walls consists of a mortar or stucco of such hardness that no one knows with what kind of liquid it could have been mixed. The outside is of such extraordinary workmanship that ou a masonry wall about an ell in height there are placed stone slabs with a projecting edge, which form the support for an endless number of small white stones, the small- est of which are a sixth of an ell long, half as broad, and a quarter as thick, and which are as smooth and regular as if they had all come from one mold. They had so many of these stones that, setting them in, one beside the other, they formed with them a large number of different beautiful geometric designs, each an ell broad and running the whole length of the wall, each varying in pattern up to the crowning piece, which was the finest of all. And what has always seemed inexplicable to the greatest architects is the adjustment of these little stones without a single handful of mortar, and the fact that without tools, with nothing but hard stones and sand, they could achieve such solid work that,' though the whole structure is very old and no one knows who made it, it l^as been preserved until the present day. I carefully examined these monuments some thirty years ago in the chambers above ground, which are constructed of the same size and in the same way as those below ground and, though single pieces were in ruins because some stones had become loosened, there vras still much to admire. The doorways were very large, the sides of each being of single stones of the same thickness as the wall, and the lintel was made out of another stone which held the two lower ones together at the top. There were tour chambers above ground and four below. The latter M'ere arranged according to their purpose in such a way that one front chamber served as chapel and sanctuary for the idols, which were placed on a great stone which served as an altar. And for the more important feasts which they celebrated with sacrifices, or at the burial of a king or great lord, the high priest instructed the lesser priests or the subordinate temple officials who served him to prepare the chapel and his vestments and a large quantity of the incense used by them. And then he descended with a great retinue, while none of the common people saw him or dared to look in his face, convinced that if they did so they would fall dead to the earth as a punishment for their boldness. And when he entered the chapel they put on him a long white cot- ton garment made like an alb, and over that a garment shaped like a dalmatic, which was embroidered with pictures of wild beasts and birds ; and they put a cap on his head, and on his feet a kind of shoe woven of many colored feathers. And when he had put on these garments he walked with solemn mien and measured step to the altar, bowed low before the idols, renewed the incense, and then in quite unintelligible nuirnuu-s (muy entre dientes) he began to con- verse with these images, these depositories of infernal spirits, and continued in this sort of prayer with hideous grimaces and writhings, uttering inarticu- late sounds, which filled all present with fear and terror, till he ^ame out of that diabolical trance aud told those standing around the lies and fabrications which the spirit had imparted to him or which he had invented himself. When human beings were sacrificed the ceremonies were multiplied, and the assist- ants of the high priest stretched the victim out upon a large stone, baring his breast, which they tore open with a great stone knife, while the body writhed in fearful convulsions and they laid the heart bare, ripping it out, and with it the soul, which the devil took, while they carried the heart to the high priest that he n'light offer It to the idols by holding it to their mouths, among other cere- monies ; and the body was thrown into the burial place of their '^ blessed ", as BURFAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 28 PLATE XXII Palacf I CHUf?CM Palace m HoRrHETRN f^RM or ptiyj^p^ VlLl.^&E■ ^Q QCD TrMPLET s/fii] fYRA^^ID PLAN OF MITLA RUINS. OAXACA SELER] DESCRIPTION OF MITLA 251 they called them. And if after the sacrifice he felt inclined to detain those who begged any favor he sent them word by the subordinate priests not to leave their houses till their gods were appeased, and he commanded them to do pen- ance meanwhile, to fast and to speak with no woman, so that, until this father of sin had interceded for the absolution of the penitents and had declared the gods appeased they did not dare to cross their thresholds. The second (underground) chamber was the burial place of these high priests, the third that of the kings of Theozapotlan, whom they brought thither richly di-essed in their best attire, feathers, jewels, golden necklaces, and precious stones, placing a shield in the left band and a javelin in the right, just as they used them in war. And at their burial rites great mourning prevailed; the instruments which were played made mournful sounds; and with loud wailing and continuous sobbing they chanted the life and exploits of their lord until they laid him on the structure which they had prepared for this purpose. The last (underground) chamber had a second door at the rear, which led to a dark and grewsome room. This was closed with a stone slab, which occupied the whole entrance. Through this door they threw the bodies of the victims and of the great lords and chieftains who had fallen in battle, and they brought them from the spot where they fell, even when it was very far off, to this burial place ; and so great was the barbarous infatuation of these Indians that, in the belief of the happy life which awaited them, many who were oppressed by dis- eases or hardships begged this infamous priest to accept them as living sacri- fices, and allow them to enter through that portal and roam about in the dark interior of the mountain, to seek the great feasting places of their forefathers. And when anyone obtained this favor the servants of the high priest led him thither with special ceremonies, and after they had allowed him to enter through the small door they rolled the stone before it again and took leave of him, and the unhappy man, wandering in that abyss of darkness, died of hunger and thirst, beginning already in life the pain of his damnation ; and on account of this horrible abyss they called this village Liyobaa. When later there fell upon these people the light of the Gospel, its servants took much trouble to instruct them and to find out whether this error, common to all these nations, still prevailed, and they learned from the stories which had been handed down that all were convinced that this damp cavern extended more than 30 leagues underground, and that its roof was supported by pillars. And there were people, zealous prelates anxious for knowledge, who. in order to convince these ignorant people of their error, went into this cave accompanied by a large number of people bearing lighted torches and fire- brands, and descended several large steps. And they soon came upon many great buttresses which formed a kind of street. They had prudently brought a quantity of rope with them to use as guiding lines, that they might not lose themselves in this confusing labyrinth. And the putrefaction and the bad odor and the dampness of the earth were very great and there was also a cold wind which blew out their torches. And after they had gone a short distance, fearing to be overpowered by the stench or to step on poisonous reptiles, of which some had been seen, they resolved to go out again and to completely wall up this back door of hell. The four buildings above ground were the only ones which still remained open, and they had a court and chambers like those underground ; and the ruins of these have lasted even to the present day. One of the rooms above ground was the palace of the high priest, where he sat and slept, for the apartment offered room and opportunity for everything. The throne was like a high cushion with a high back to lean against, all of tiger skin, stuffed entirely with delicate feathers or with fine grass which was used 252 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN" ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 for this purpose. The other seats were smaller, even when the king came to visit him. The authority of this devilish priest was so great that there was no one who dared to cross the court, and to avoid this the other thi-ee chambers had doors in the rear, through which even the kings entered. For this purpose they had alleys and passageways on the outside above and below, by which people could enter and go out when they came to see the high priest. These priests never married, nor did they hold intercourse with women. Only, at certain feasts, which they celebrated with great banqueting and much drunkenness, the kings brought to them the unmarried daughters of the chief- tains, and if one of these became pregnant she was taken to a retired spot until her coniinement, so that if a son should be born he could be brought up as the successor of the priest in his office, for this succession always fell to the son or nearest relative and was never elective. The second chamber above ground was that of the priests and the assistants of the high priests. The third was that of the king when he came. The fourth was that of the other chieftains and captains, and though the space was small for so great a number and for so many different families, yet they accommodated themselves to each other out of respect for the place and avoided dissensions and factions. Furthermore, there was no other administration of justice in this place than that of the high priest, to whose unlimited power all bowed. All the rooms were clean and well furnished with mats. It was not the cus- tom to sleep on bedsteads, however great a lord might be. They used very taste- fully braided mats, which were spread on the floor, and soft skins of animals and delicate fabrics for coverings. Their food consisted usually of animals killed in the hunt; deer, rabbits, armadillos, etc., and also birds, which they killed with snares or arrows. The bread, made of their maize, was white and well kneaded. Their drinks were always cold, made of ground chocolate, which was mixed with water and pounded maize. Other drinks were made of pulpy and of crushed fruits, which were then mixed with the intoxicating drink pre- pared from the agave, for since the common people were forbidden the use of intoxicating drinks, there was always an abundance of these on hand. This entire account of Mitla [the father adds in conclusion! was added to his history that he might be faithful to his promise, and although these things were, of course, full of superstition and impious error, still they were the most important and intelligent manifestations of this nation which had fallen under his observation. I have translated and quoted this passage at length because it con- tains the account of an eyewitness who saw the monuments when the,y were still in a tolerably intact condition, furnished still with the roof, which is now entirely gone; because this passage is the only one I know of, dating from ancient times, which gives an explanation con- cerning the purpose and significance of the different buildings; and because the book from which the quotation is taken is extremely rare. In spite of much inquiry, I have heard of no library in Germany or Austria which contains the work. The position of the buildings as they stand to-day is seen on the plan given in plate xxii. This is drawn, according to a plan made by the well-known architect, PI Miihlenpfordt, in the year 1831, with the addition of some details which were added from the results of per- sonal observations and aftei- a recent drawing bv Mr J. Leon. It is BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 28 PLATE XXIII NOB.TH VVE5T GROUND PLAN OF PALACE I, MITLA SELBE] DESCEIPTION OF MITLA 253 seen that there are in all three groups of the principal buildings, which extend in a slight curve from the height down to the river. I have numbered the first I. For practical reasons I have numbered the second II and III. The third is designated IV. Inside the arc formed by these groups of buildings, but not near the center, lies a terraced pyramid, an ancient temple without doubt, which serves now as a cemetery and has a chapel on its upper platform. A court formed by broad, rampartlike elevations lies behind it. On the other side of the river there is a similar, smaller pyramid with several courts formed by rampartlike elevations. Each of the three chief groups of buildings, I, II-III, and IV, consists of a main building and an adjoining building (see the ground plan of palace I, plate xxiii). The main structure has a courtyard lying according to the four points of the compass, inclosed on three sides by buildings. Of these, the one situated on the north side of the court is the largest and most beautifully finished, and is con- nected by means of a narrow angular passage with a smaller adjoin- ing court, which is surrounded on all four sides by narrow, corridor- like chambers, and is completely closed from the outside. The position of the adjoining building varies somewhat. While in I it lies directly in front of the main building, those of III and IV lie a little to one side. These adjoining buildings also surround three sides of a court whose four sides face the four points of the compass. While, however, in the main buildings, the south side of the court remains open, in the adjoining buildings that is the case only in IV, I and III being open toward the west. The church and the priest's house are built into palace I. Palace II is the best preserved and the most beautiful. It contains in the principal room, situated on the north side of the court, the row of six large monolithic pillars, which have always been considered the most remarkable proof of the technical skill of the ancient Zapotecs. As jDalace IV lies nearest the village it has been most despoiled, in order to furnish stones and other building materials for the huts of the present village. Only a few remains of masonry scattered about the garden are now left of this palace. If an attempt is made to identify the still remaining buildings after Burgoa's description, a certain difficulty arises at the very outset. Burgoa speaks of " four chambers " (quadras) or " halls " (salas), and says that remains of them had been found partlj^ above ground (altos) and partly underground (bajos), and that the former were like the latter in size and the manner of their decoration. He furthermore says that one of the chambers found under- ground, the front one, had been a temple, sacrarium, or place for keeping the idols; another had served as burial place for the high priest; the third as the tomb of the kings and nobles of the realm; 254 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bolt.. 28 and the fourth had been connected with the great cave, whither they were accustomed to bring the bodies of the victims of sacrifice and of the chiefs who had fallen in battle. The chambers found above ground, he said, had served as dwellings, one for the high priest, the second for the rest of the priesthood, the third for the king, and the fourth for the families of the nobles who came to Mitla in the retinue of the king. Here, first of all, it is clear that " quadras " or "salas " could not have been used to designate the entire groups of buildings forming the palaces, for there are only three, not four, of these. Furthermore, we can not take literallj^ the statement that the underground cham- bers were exactly like those above ground in the manner of decora- tion and in size. The only building in which a crypt has been preserved, or rather excavated, is the larger eastern building of III. Here, however, the crypt does not have the form of the chamber above ground. The latter is an oblong rectangle in shape. The crypt is built in the shape of a cross, exactly like the crypt which was discovered in the village of Xaaga, three-fourths of a league from Mitla, and can still be seen. I think that Burgoa's statements refer only to the diif erent parts of one group of palace buildings ; and there seems to be the greatest probability that Burgoa had in mind group II-III. In this one the hall with pillars lying on the north side of the main court of II might have formed, with its adjoining court, the dwelling of the high priest, the Uija-tao, and under it must have been the crypt that was " in front ", where the idols stood and where the high priest received his inspirations. The building situ- ated on the west side of the main court might have contained, above, the living rooms for the priesthood and, below, the burial place for the high priest. The building situated opposite, on the east side, might have been the dwelling and burial place of the king. We may probably consider the whole of palace III as the building where the majority of the nobles were quartered and where, at the rear of the crypt of the main building, a door led into the cave already described. Then this entrance would have been directly opposite the pyramid, on whose upper platform the sacrifices were doubtless performed. If this is the case, we must consider the three palace groups as undoubtedly constructed on a uniform plan, the individual buildings being designed for exactly similar purposes. We must, then, neces- sarily conclude further that there was in Mitla not one high priest only, but that besides him, perhaps subordinated to him, there must have been at least two other chief priests. This conclusion, however, is not unnatural or forced. On the contrary, this idea is very readily suggested by a comparison with the corresponding conditions in the capital, Mexico. Besides, Burgoa speaks plainly in another place of several high priests, I^ija-tao, whoui the king of SELER] DESCRIPTION OF MITLA 255 Tehuan tepee, Cocijo-i^ij, had summoned to him from Mictlan.« We also know that the " Zapotecos Serranos ", who lived on the other side of the mountains, in the forest valleys of Villa Alta, had their special priests.^ The appearance which the outer and inner fagades of these palaces present, with their projections and courses of coping and the wonder- ful ornamentation produced by geometric designs executed in raised stonework, is shown by the photographs which are reproduced on plates XXV to xxx. The pictures were taken in 1890 by order of the commission of the state of Oaxaca for the world's exposition in Paris. The number of designs in the panels of the wall is limited. Those which my wife and I observed in Mitla are reproduced in plates xxxi and XXXII from original drawings by my wife. A few additional designs are reproduced there which we saw in the crypt of Xaaga and in the neighborhood of the utterly ruined temple of Xaquie, or Teo- titlan del Valle. As to the technic of these designs, one might think, according to Burgoa's description quoted above, that they were formed of small stones which had been set in a mass of stucco. That is by no means the case. The blocks, cut out of a light-colored tufaceous stone, laid one upon the other, form the outer and inner surface of the thick walls, which consist chiefly of mortar. They were sculptured on the outer side, perhaps even in their present posi- tion, in such a manner that a single stone of this kind shows on its exterior face a sunken and a projecting surface, the lines of demarca- tion running in steps, zigzag lines, or curves, according to the nature of the design of which they are a part. With this method of con- struction it is plain that no single portion can crumble and become detached, and therefore the patterns are still, in the main, as clear and unchanged as they were centuries ago. The height of the pro- jection above the sunken plane, which averages about 3 cm., and the extraordinarily sharp and perpendicular outline between the raised parts and the background cause the patterns to stand out with remarkable clearness and distinctness. In the background we find everywhere traces of red coloring, while the raised parts seem to have been left white, aifn inference also to be drawn from Burgoa's descrip- tion, where he speaks of " small white stones ". I need hardly jDoint out that this contrast of color must have enhanced the effect of the pattern still more. Now, while the exterior aspect of these palaces and the ornamenta- " Burgoa, work cited, chap. 72 : Llevando de el gran adoratorio de Mictia los sacerdotes mayores como pontifices, k quienes Ilaman Huija-too, en su lengua, que quiere dezir " grande atalaya y el que lo ve todo " y otros sacerdotes menores que Ilaman copa vitoo " guarda de los Dioses " ("Bringing from the great temple of Mictia the high priests as pontifices, whom they call in their language Huija-too, which means ' great guard and he who sees all ', and other lesser priests whom they call copa vitoo, ' guardians of the gods ' "). " Burgoa, work cited, chap. 56. 256 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 tion in raised geometric designs have been frequently depicted and described in former times, few of the authors who have hitherto written about Mitla have paid special attention to the frescoes which were over the middle door of each side of the adjacent courts, and portions of which are still to be seen. A manuscript atlas by the German architect E. Miihlenpfordt, which is preserved in the Institute Publico at Oaxaca and has been reproduced in Peiiafiel's ^ great illustrated publication, is the only work in which, together with exact ground plans and elevations of the palaces, specimens are to be found of the mural paintings from each of the two courts where these paintings exist. It was Mr Pehafiel who called my attention to these paintings, and I devoted eleven days during my stay in Mitla with my wife, in June, 1888, to copying them, as far as they were still visible, so as to rescue, in sketches at least, what was still to be saved. The originals themselves will scarcely with- stand much longer the effects of the weather and the consequences of neglect. Just a few months before my arrival in Mitla a large and essential part of the paintings was knocked clown incident to the important building of a pigsty in the court of the first palace, which has served for a long time and still serves as the stable of the priest's dwelling. The rest of the paintings are everywhere crumbling. The paintings are found, as has been mentioned, in the closed courtyards adjoining the palaces, which are accessible only by means of a narrow, angular passageway leading from the main building. Each side of these courts (compare the elevation on plate xxiv) has a doorway in the center and, over it, a narrow, rectangular, recessed panel. Then follows a narrow, sunken band which extends the whole length of the wall. Over this again there are three broader and shorter recesses cut into the wall, the middle one of which projects beyond the two on the sides. The doors in the center lead to narrow gallaries which surround the court on the four sides. On the south wall of the court, at one side of the princijjal doorway, is the opening of the angular passageway which joins the principal chamber of the corresponding palace with this closed adjoining court. The north wall of the adjacent court of palace I has three main entrances instead of one, and above these stretches evenly the narrow recessed panel considerably lengthened. The three upper shorter and broader recesses on all four sides of the court are filled with the characteristic geometric designs executed in raised stone- work. The lower narrow, recessed panels directly over the doorway have a coating of fine stucco, and it is this which is covered with paintings, in which the white figures contrast with the painted red backtrround. "Pefiaflt;, VIonumentos del Arte Mexicano Antiguo, Berlin, 1890, atlas II, lamina 212—227. •rf u- < rO ns < ^ a < o. ^5 St < UJ I o I- < CC-i °£ I I- z o CO LLl Q < < sblhe] DESCEIPTION OF MITLA 257 In the second palace, the largest and best preserved, there is now absolutely nothing to be seen of these paintings. Nevertheless, be- yond a doubt there were some here also, for the stucco coating, on which the paintings were executed in the other palaces, can be recog- nized here also in the narrow recessed panels over the doors. In the court adjoining the fourth palace, which is situated nearest to the riA^er, the two side walls and the lower part of the third are still pre- served. On the east side there may still be recognized in the narrow recessed panels the upper edge of the painting with the beautiful bor- der, reproduced (fragment 1) on the first plate. The four fragments of painting which are reproduced under numbers 2 to 5 on this plate belong to the north side of this court. All the rest of the painting which is preserved belongs to the court adjoining the palace, which has the most elevated position, namely palace I. This palace has been turned into a priest's dwelling since the country was won over to Christianity, and in the midst of its buildings rises the church of San Pablo de Mitla. The adjoining court is used, according to a long- established custom, as a stable. The animals wander freely about the court, and against one of the sides a manger of masonry has been built under a protecting board roof. Both structures are very desir- able for the welfare of the animals, but they have been fatal to the paintings, for the posts which support the penthouse have been driven into the wall. A part of the painting has also been entirely walled in for the construction of the manger. Finally, as I have already mentioned, a pigsty has very recently been built against the north side of the court. That could likewise not be done without serious injury to the painting. On the other hand, we must be just and recognize that perhaps the very reason why the paintings have been still so largely preserved in this portion of these historic remains is because this court, as a part of the parsonage, has been withdrawn from general observation and use; that is, from general exploitation and demolition. Before I turn to the description and explanation of these pictures, it seems to me to be appropriate to put together from existing sources what is known concerning the nature and character of the religious conceptions of the Zapotecs. 7238— No. 28—05 17 THE ANCIENT ZAPOTEC COUNTEY Only very scant information has come down to us concerning the ancient Zapotec country. The Mexicans were evidently very little in touch with its inhabitants. Not even the name of the Zapotecs is mentioned in any one of the lists of nations which were compiled by the historians of ancient Mexico. There were always other tribes between them and the Mexicans, and these bounded the ethnic horizon, at least from the current Mexican point of view ; nor did the other- wise well-informed Mexican who gave Father Sahagun an account " of all the tribes which came into this country to settle here " men- tion the Zapotecs. He gives a detailed account of the tribes adjacent to the Mexicans, and gives very interesting information concerning some of the northern nations, but of the southern he mentions ex- pressly only the Couixca, Tlapaneca, and Yopi. All the rest appear to be classed under the head of nations " living at the rising of the sun", whom he designates as Olmeca Uixtotin Mixteca, and also as Olmeca Uixtotin Nonoualca, or simply as Anahuaca, " maritime people ". The great trading expeditions first brought the Mexicans in touch with the Zapotec tribes, and these expeditions were directed first and foremost to the Atlantic tierra caliente. Tuxtepec, on the Rio Papaloapan, was the first large trading post. The next points to be reached were Tabasco and Xicalango. The latter was the great cen- ter where the merchants assembled from all parts of the Central American world and from which led the commercial highways to Chiapas, Soconusco, and Guatemala, up the Usumacinta, and across the country to the Golfo Dulce and to Honduras, finally northward by way of Champoton and Campeche to the more thickly populated portions of the peninsula of Yucatan. The Mexican merchants seem already to have found the road to Xicalango in early times and to have made use of it. Perhaps they even pressed on farther from that point at an early period. The various swarms of Mexican popula- tion which we find diffused far toward the south, almost to the Isth- mus, appear to have taken this route. It was not until a compara- tively late date, however — and for this there exists positive proof— that the Mexicans succeeded in pushing forward to the Pacific tierra caliente, the fertile plains of Tehuantepec, the region of Zapotec expansion, and then only after the partial subjugation of the Zapotec tribes by the united strength of the states of the Mexican table-land. At an early period, when Mexican commerce was directed mainly to ihe Atlantic tierra caliente, a permanent Mexican settlement was 258 seler] THE ANCIENT ZAPOTEC GOUNTKY 259 already made in the Zapotec region. Tradition relates that in the wild forests of Mictlanqiiauhtla some inhabitants of the city of Uaxyacac murderously attacked and plundered a Mexican caravan which was returning home from Tabasco with costly goods, the news of which did not reach the Mexicans until years later. The king who was then reigning, Motecuhzoma the elder, surnamed Ilhuicamina, equipped an expedition to avenge the deed, and the crime was atoned by the extermination of the entire tribe. A number of Mexi- can families and about 600 families from neighboring cities situ- ated in the valle}^ of Mexico started out to settle the vacant lands of the exterminated tribe, under the leadership of four Mexican chief- tains whom the king had chosen for this expedition. They proceeded but slowly, and at every halting place a few remained behind. When Uaxyacac Avas finally reached, the lands were divided among the colo- nists, to the great satisfaction of the tribes living in the vicinity, ac- cording to a remarkable statement in the chronicle. The people of Quauh- tochpan, Tuxtepec, and Teotitlan, who " were on the coasts of Uaxya- cac ", that is, bordered on Uaxyacac, were especially pleased.'* Assault and assassination of Mexi- can merchants are almost always men- tioned as the casus belli in the native records. It seems very probable that in this case these really were the actual cause of war. It is at any rate obvious from the above story that the permanent settlement of Mexicans in Uaxyacac was a conse- quence of the commercial intercourse which the Mexicans maintained with Tabasco, and that it was made in order to insure the safety of this intercourse. On the road to Tabasco lay also the three cities which are named in the report above quoted as those which w^ere especially pleased at this new settlement. Up to the time of the Spaniards, the Mexicans were thus settled in the immediate neighborhood of the Zapotec roj^al city, in the original and hereditary seat of the Zapotec nation. This colony was always looked upon by the Mexican kings as an important place. It was un- der the special control of two high Mexican officials bearing the titles Tlacatectli and Tlacochtectli (see figure 54, from the Mendoza codex, page 16), and doubtless had the character of a military colony. In the new order of affairs arising out of the Spanish conquest, the inhab- itants of this Mexican village were allotted to the newly founded Fig. 54. Symbols from the Mendoza codex. " Tezozomoc, Cronica Mesicana, chap. 39. 260 BUKEAU OF AMERTCAAT ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Spanish city Segiira de la Frontera, or Antequera, as it was later called. So it chanced that the old native name of this Mexican vil- lage, which means '' at the hill of algarobas ''\°- was transferred, with a somewhat changed pronunciation, as Oaxaca or Oajaca, to the Span- ish city, and now not only this city is called by that name, but the Avhole state whose territory is governed from this city. The existence of a Mexican colony in the midst ot Zapotec territory naturally implied a certain restraint, the recognition, in fact, of the superior power of the Mexicans. Therefore it does not seem remark- able that in the tribute list of the Mexican kings various neighboring Zapotec cities were named, besides Uaxyacac, which had to pay tribute to the capital, Mexico. The tribute consisted chiefly of fine textiles, besides which a certain quantity of cereals, 20 gold disks, and 20 small sacks of cochineal had to be furnished.'' This fact, however, must by no means be interpreted to mean that the Mexicans exercised authority over the entire Zapotec country. It can not even be said that the cities which are named in the list were subject directly to Mexican rule. For there are among them those which we know cer- tainly to have been under the sovereignty of the Zapotec kings, as Etla, which was called by the Zapotecs Loo-uanna, " place of pro- visions ", the city of Teticpac, already mentioned above, and the Zap- otec frontier station Quauhxilotitlan, now San Pablo Huitzo.'^ This relation is probably best explained by assuming that the Zapotec cities named on page 46 of the Mendoza codex agreed to the payment of " The hieroglyph of the city given ahove in fig. 54 shows the conventional drawing of a mountain (tepetl), which is frequently simply an expression of the fact that the com- posite sign represents a hieroglyphic picture of a place name. On the mountain is seen an algaroba tree (uaxin), recognized by the great fruit pods (edible) with wavy edges, growing out of the nose (yacatl) of a human face. The "nose" signifies also in an extended meaning, " point ", " projection ", " front ". The Tlacatectli is designated in fig. 54 by the royal headband of the Mexicans in turquoise mosaic ; the Tlacochtectli, by a similar headband with the shaft of an arrow in it. The name Uaxyacac is plainly Mexican. The city is called by the Zapotecs, Mixtecs, Cuicatecs, Chinantecs, and Mixes, by other names, namely Luhu-laa, Nuhu-ndua, Naha- nduva, Ni-cuhui, Uac-uim, but all of these have about the same meaning, namely, " at the point oC algarobas " or " at the place of algarobas ". Naturally, it can no longer be settled whether these names are translations of the Mexican name or whether the latter, on the other hand, was a translation of an original Zapotec name. '' Mendoza codex, pi. xlvi. «■ The names of this place have undergone several changes in meaning. The Mexican name Quauhxilotitlan means " among the quauhxilotes ", or " among trees whose (edible) fruit has the form of a young ear of maize "'. This name appears already at an early period to have been changed into Guaxolotitlan by defective and faulty pronunciation. Burgoa uses it in this form. According to that, Gracida explains the name as " place of the guajo- lotes ", that is, of the turkeys, in his otherwise very useful little book, Catiilogo Etimolo- gico de los Nombres, etc., de Oaxaca. The place was called by the Zapotecs Uiya-zoo, " espier of the enemy ", because it served as an outpost on the frontier and commanded the great Canada, the principal road communicating with the Mexican highlands. This old Zapotec name can be plainly recognized by the manner in which I myself heard it pro- nounced on the spot, namely, Uizo. The official spelling of the name, Huitzo, refers it back incorrectly to a Mexican root, uitz-tli, " thorn ". seler] THE ANCIENT ZAPOTEC COUNTEY 261 certain contributions to the Mexicans in order to remain unmolested by them. The settlement of the Mexicans in Uaxyacac is said to have occurred under the rule of the elder Motecuhzoma; that is, in the period between about 1440 and 1470 A. D. That would be about a hundred years after the period in which, as Father Burgoa says, the Zapotecs spread toward the south and began to conquer the fruitful coast strips of Jalapa and Tehuantepec." The account which Father Burgoa gives of this conquest, derived from the narratives of the Zapotecs, is far from clear and its details are scarcely credible. The conquest is said to have been made wath the assistance of Mixtec allies. The Zapo- tecs, it is said, met Mexican hosts there side by side with the Huave, a tribe which had emigrated from the south and which at that time inhabited the entire coast strip of that region, the fertile and produc- tive territory of Tehuantepec being habitually used by the Mexicans as a resting place and rendezvous for the expeditions sent out to con- quer Guatemala. The Zapotec king is said to have then held the Mexican forces in check in a mountain fastness by the river of Tehuantepec — only the Quiengola can be meant from the descrip- tion — and to have done them so nnich harm that the Mexican king (Burgoa still speaks only of Motecuhzoma) was obliged to consent to a cessation of hostilities and an arrangement,'' This account, as has been said, is not at all authentic. It confuses earlier events with later ones and recognizes, naturally, only the glorious deeds of the Zapotecs. The settlement of the Pacific coast strip must indeed have occurred a long time before the Mexicans entered this territory; for, as the most reliable sources unite in stating, it was not until the time of Auitzotl, that is, at the very end of the fifteenth century, that the Mexicans extended their, expeditions into this Pacific coast district, the Anauac Ayotlan, the '• coast land of Ayotlan ", as the Mexicans called it. The advance post of the Mexicans in Uaxyacac probably afforded the rallying point for these Mexican enterprises. The motive for these expedi- tions was also without doubt commercial advancement. The mer- chants boasted of having alone set on foot and carried through these expeditions.*^ The operations began, it seems, with attacks upon the cities of the Zapotec country proper, the Valle de Oaxaca. According to the « Burgoa, work cited, chap. 71 : Y de suerte se apooeraron les Zapotecos de mSs de 300, anos a esta parte en su gentilidad, que llenaron todos los sitios acomodados de pobiaciones ("So that more than 300" years ago the Zapotecs conquered this country in their paganism, and filled all the convenient sites with towns"). Since Father Burgoa wrote about the middle of the seventeenth century, we may consider the middle of the fourteenth century as the date of this conquest. ■> Burgoa, work cited, chap. 72. "^ See Sahagun, v. 9, chap. 2. 262 BUREAU OF AMERICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 interpreter of the Coclex Telleriano-Remensis, the Mexicans sub- jugated " the city of Mictla in the province of Huaxaca " in the year 2 Tochtli, or A. D. 1494, and " the city of Teotzapotlan, which was the capital of the province of Huaxaca '', in the year 3 Acatl, or A. D. 1495. This information is interesting because mention is made here of the conquest or destruction of the Zapotec city of priests and tombs, Yoopaa, or Mictlan, by the Mexicans in pre- Spanish times. The picture writing itself * does not entirely agree with this interpretation. In it only the conquest of Uaxyacac and Teotzapotlan — which may refer, of course, to the entire province, that is, to the whole valley — is expressed by the hieroglyphs of these two names and a prisoner of war adorned for the sacrificio gladia- torio (figure 55), Fig. 55. Symbols from the Codex Telleriano-Remensis. In the coast land the expeditions doubtless extended through sev- eral years, for the subjugation of the cities of the coast land is not reported until the year -5 Calli, or A. D. 1497, and in this report Chimalpahin, Codex Vatican us A, and Historia Mexicana of the Aubin-Goupil collection agree. Chimalpahin '' mentions Xochitlan, Amaxtlan, and Tehuantepec as the cities which were conquered in this year by the Mexicans. Codex Vaticanus A " and Historia " Part 4, pi. 22. The name TJaxyacac is expressed here simply by the picture of the algaroba tree ; the name Teotzapotlan, by the picture of the sapodilla tree. "Aiiales de Domingo Francisco de San Anton Munon Chimalpahin QuauhtleLuianitzin. Ed. R6mi Simeon, I'aris, 1889, pp. 10 and 1G7. •^ Codex Vaticanus A, page 127. Amaxtlan is expressed by the combination of a breech- cloth (maxtlatl) and the sign for water (atl), which are to be seen on the conventional painting of the mountain. Xochitlan is expressed by a flower (Xochitl) and an undeter- mined element, which is perhaps intended to represent a row of teeth (tlantli). The battle is represented in the former city, the Victory in the latter. sblub] HE ANCIENT ZAPOTEC COUNTRY 263 Mexicana of the Aubin collection " mention only Xochitlan and Amaxtlan (figures 56 and 57). According to the accounts of the Mexican merchants, which are preserved for us in the work of Father Sahagun,^ this expedition to Tehuantepec was an independent enter- prise of the great merchants of Mexico, Tlatelolco, and the other allied cities. They were besieged four years, the story goes, in Fig. 56. Battle scene from Mexican painting, Aubin-Goupil collection. Quauhtenanco (" forest stronghold ", " blockhouse? ") by the united contingents of the cities of Anahuaca — Tehuantepec, Izuatlan, Xocht- lan, Amaxtlan, Quatzontlan, Atlan, Omitlan, and Mapachtepec. « Histoire de la Nation Mexicaine depuis le depart d'Aztlan. Manuscripts Figuratifs des Anciens Mexicains. Copie du codex de 1576. Collection de M. E. Eugfene Goupil (ancienne collection, Aubin). Nos. 35, 36 du Catalogue. Paris, 1893, p. 76. " Sahagun, v. 9, chap. 2. 264 BUREAU OF AMERICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 The struggle is said to have ended at last in a decided victory for the merchants and the taking of numerous captives by them. In like manner the chronicle of Tezozomoc ° relates the complete conquest and subjugation of this territory. Xochitlan, Amaxtlan, Izuatlan, Miauatlan, Tehuantepec, and Xolotlan are named by Tezo- zomoc as the cities against which this Avarfare was directed. There is probably no doubt that these enterprises were so far suc- cessful that the Zapotecs were forced from this time forward to allow the Mexican merchants to pass through to the regions on the Pacific coast and to grant them freedom of trade in their own terri- tory. It must indeed have been a successful war for the Mexicans, according to all the records, for it filled their slave markets and fur- nished the altars of the gods with sacrifices. These expeditions, how- ever, did not result in a conquest and the lasting subjugation of the Zapotec country. The Zaj^otec kings remained as independent after- ward as thej?^ had been before Fig. 57. Mexican symbols of years and pueblos. and as well prepared to meet the invading Mexican hosts b}" force of arms. Indeed, the Mexican kings, owing to clearly understood commercial interests, evidently felt the need of entering into a treaty with the Zapotecs. This is proved by the bestowal of a Mexican princess in marriage upon the Zapotec king, Coci jo- Father Burgoa,^ who drew his and by the interpreter of the eza, a fact which is told alike by information from Zai3otec sources. Codex Telleriano-Remensis.^' This alliance did not, of course, put a stop to intrigues on the part of the Mexicans. Indeed, this Mexican princess, who was called " cotton flake " (Zapotec Pelaxilla : prob- ably, Mexican Ichcatlaxoch), gained especial fame and honor among the Zapotecs because she did not comply with the demands made upon her by her father, but betrayed the plans of the Mexicans to her hus- band, the Zapotec king. The son of Cocijo-eza and of this Mexican princess was Coci jo-pi j, the last king of Tehuantepec. When Cortes landed on the coast of Mexico and overthrew the supremacy of the Mexicans by his skillful management and mili- tary power he was joyfully hailed by the Zapotecs, as well as by the Totonacs and the Tlascaltecs, as their deliverer from the power of a Cronica Mexicana, chap. 75, 76. " Burgoa, work cited, chap. 72. " Part 4, pi. 23, in connection with the year Tochtli, or A. D. 1502. SELEE] THE ANCIENT ZAPOTEC COUNTRY 265 the Mexicans. The Tlascaltecs first measured their strength with Cortes before tliey allied themselves with him, but from that time on they cleared the way for him and fought his battles as devoted and faithful allies. The Zapotecs submitted unconditionally from the be- ginning to the Spanish conqueror, turned to him when the Mixtec prince of Tototepec threatened an attack, and received Cortes with great splendor Avhen he came down as far as Tehuantepec in later years. The Zapotecs, nevertheless, very soon became aware of the poor exchange they had made. It was in the territory of the Zapo- tecs that Cortes selected the best lands, the Valle de Oaxaca and the .fruitful, well-watered vegas of Jalapa, in order to form from them his earldom, his family estate. However, " Cortes granted a moder- ate allowance in money (le hizo donacion de alguna ayuda de costa)" to the king of Tehuantepec " with which to support the small family which still remained to him "; * and while the king, who was baptized with the name Don Juan Cortes, built monasteries for the monks with great liberality and furnished them with lands, gardens, fish ponds, etc., the monks seized and imprisoned him because he fell away from the true faith and performed diabolical ceremonies. After long and wearisome processes he was sentenced by the highest court in Mexico to lose his dignities and all his remaining possessions. He died, while returning from Mexico, in Nexapa, just as he had once more set foot on the soil of his former kingdom. a Burgoa, work cited, chap. 72. UNITY OF MEXICAN AND CENTRAL AMERICAN CIVILI- ZATION The Zapotecs and their kindred were a nation unrelated to the Mexicans. If they can be classed with any of the great language groups belonging to the region of the ancient Mexican-Central Amer- ican civilization, it can only be the Maya group. Indeed, a number of roots and many structural peculiarities of the language seem to indicate such a connection. The whole region of ancient Mexican- Central American civilization is, however, a conspicuous example of what Adolph Bastian calls a " geographical j)rovince ". For, inde- pendent of a linguistic difference, we find the special elements of Mexican civilization developed in an exactly similar way among all the peoples of this territory. This is true of the general conduct of life, the technical and military customs, the organization of state and of society, but more especially of religion and learning. The unity of this entire region of ancient civilization is most clearly expressed by the calendar, which these people considered the basis and the alpha and omega of all high and occult knowledge. This calendar is a special product of Central American culture. Its essential peculiarities are the adoption of the fundamental number 20 as the leading unit, and the combination of this leading unit with the number 13. These are features which appear in no other calen- dric system hitherto known.'^ Within the region of Central Ameri- can civilization not only are these two essential peculiarities to be met with in the calendars of all the civilized nations, but also a close correspondence in the names of tlie individual days of a lead- ing unit. This I have demonstrated in regard to the Maya territory in my work entitled " Uber den Charakter der aztekischen und der Maya-Handschriften '^ and regarding the Zapotec territory in a work on Mexican chronology which appeared in 1891.'' The Zapotec calendar is distinguished from those used by the other nations by cer- tain peculiarities which one is tempted to consider evidences of special antiquity, but which are, perhaps, only the result of a particular development and an especial use for augural purposes. " Cyras Thomas attempted to show relation of the Central American calendar to that used in Hawaii. This attempt, however, must he pronounced an utter failure. The ancient inhahitants of Hawaii had a kind of actual month of .SO days ; and the only agreement with the Mexican calendar could be the fact that 12X30, like 18X20, gives the number 360, thus leaving a surplus of 5 days in the year. " Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, v. 20, 1888, p. 1 and following. " Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, v. 23, 1891, p. 89 and following. 266 SELER] UNITY OF CIVILIZATION 267 Like all other things and every event of the world, the calendar was governed by relations to space hj the powers ruling in the four points of the compass. This was true of the simple calendar, the so-called tonalamatl, of 13X20, or 260, days, and of the greater periods of time, the 4X13, or 52, solar years, which, as I have demonstrated in another place,'* Avere developed necessarily and logically from that simple calendar. These greater periods of time, that is to say, the single components of the same, the successive, years each bearing the name of one of four signs, stood in a specialW close relation to the points of the compass. The reference of the years to the cardinal points, therefore, was quite common to both the Mexicans and the Mayas. The Zapotecs referred also the simple tonalamatl to the four points of the compass, and therefore divided it into four sections of 65 days each. According to the conception of the Zapotecs, each of these periods was governed by the sign which gave the name to its first day, that is, by the signs which were called in Zapotec quia Chilla, quia Lana, quia Goloo, and quia Guiloo, and in Mexican ce Cipactli (" 1 alligator "), ce Miquiztli (" 1 death "), ce Ozomatli (" 1 monkey"), ce Cozcaquauhtli C' 1 king vulture"). The Zapotecs named these four powerful signs and the days Cocijo, or Pitao. " They offered to them their sacrifices and the blood which they drew from different parts of their bodies, the ears, the tip of the tongue, the thighs, and other members. The order which they observed in doing so was this : As long as the 65 days of the one sign lasted, they sacrificed to this sign, and at the expiration of these, to the next which came in turn, and so on nntil the first sign recurred ; and they prayed to this sign for everything which they needed for the sus- tenance of life ".^ Pitao, or bitoo, means " the great one ", '' the god ". Cocijo, on the other hand, corresponds to the Mexican Tlaloc, the god of rain, storms, and mountains. It is translated in the dictionary by " rain god" (dios de las lluvias) and "lightning" (rayo).^ The rain god dwells in the four points of the compass, and varies according to these four points. Therefore the Mayas do not speak of the one rain god, Chac, but always of the four Chacs. The story runs also among the Mexicans that the rain god lived in four chambers, and that there was a great court in the middle where stood four great casks of water. The water in one of these was said to be very good, and the rain came from it at the right time, when the grain and the corn were growing. In the next the water was said to be bad, and the rain which came « Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, v. 231, 1891, pp. 89-91. * Juan de Cordova, Arte en Lengua Zapoteca, Mexico, 1578, p. 202. " See also Totia peni quij cocijo, " sacrificar hombre por la pluvia 6 niiio (to sacriflce a man for rain, or a child)"; taee cocijo, " caer rayo del cielo (to flash lightning from heaven) ". The name cocijo probably means the same as cozaana, that is, " the procrea- tor ". See cociyo, huechaa, huichaana, cozaana, pichijgo, linage generalmente. 268 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 from it produced fiingous growths in the corn, which turned black. It came from the third Avhen it rained and froze; from the fourth, when it rained and no corn came up or when it came up and dried. This rain god, in order to produce rain, Avas said to have created many helpers in the form of dwarfs, who lived in the four chambers and carried sticks in their hands and jars into which they drew water from the great casks, and if the god commanded them to water sOme strip of land they took their jars and sticks and poured out water as Wt"^ ' . t. Vu:. 58. The live rain gods, from the Borgian codex. they had been commanded; if there was a flash of lightning it was from something they had in the water or from the cracking of the jar." This reference of the four sections of the calendar to the rain god, who varied according to the four points of the compass, which is shown by the designation cocijo or pitao for the initial Zapotec signs of these four sections, is of special interest, inasmuch as it furnishes the explanation for some very remarkable pages of the picture manu- « Historia de los Mexicanos per sus Pinturas, chap. 2 ; Garcia y Icazbalcela, Nueva Coleccion de Documentos para la Historia de Mexico, v. 3, Mexico, 1891, p. 230. sblek] UNITY OF CIVILIZATION 269 scripts. In the Borgian codex, which is one of the best and most beautifully executed manuscripts of Mexican antiquity that we pos- sess, there is found, on page 12, the complicated representation which I have reproduced here in figure 58. Placed in the order of a quincunx, we see five different pictures of the rain god, each holding in one hand a handled jug of the face- jug type (the face being that of the rain god) and in the other hand a snake which is bent in the form of a hatchet. The four figures at the corners are ascribed by the marginal numerals and signs to the initial days of the four divisions of the tonalamatl; ce Cipactli (" 1 alligator "), ce Miquiztli ("1 death"), ce Ozomatli ("1 monkey"), ce Cozcaquauhtli ("1 king vulture "), and also to the initial years of the four divisions of the cycle of 52 years: ce Acatl (" 1 reed "), ce Tecpatl (" 1 flint "), ce Calli (" 1 house "), ce Tochtli (" rabbit "). There are no day or year signs given with the fifth figure, the one in the center. The first figure, the lower one on the right, represents the east. To it belongs the first division of the tonalamatl, designated by its initial day, "1 alligator", also the first division of the great cycle, desig- nated by its initial year, " 1 reed ". This figure is painted a dark color and wears as a helmet mask the sign of the tonalamatl division to which it belongs, a cipactli (alligator) head. A cloudy sky, promis- ing rain, is spread above the god, and under him lies extended the cipactli, as the Mexicans call it, the pichijUa in Zapotec, the alligator, the symbol of the fruitful earth, from all parts of whose body the ears and tassel of the maize plant are seen sprouting. The water which streams to the earth from the jug and from the hatchet-shaped lightning serpent of the gods brings down with it more maize ears and tassels. The rain god of the east is represented in every respect as a good and fruitful god. The second figure, the upper one on the right, represents the north. The second division of the tonalamatl and the second division of the cycle, represented respectively by the first day, "1 death", and the first year, " 1 flint ", belong to it. This figure is painted yellow and wears as a helmet mask the sign of the second tonalamatl division, a death's-head. A clear, sunny sky, sending down rays of light, stretches above the god. There are three vessels below him, appar- ently filled with water. This water, however, is painted the brown color of stone instead of the blue of water, and in it are seen the bony nose and the eye of a death's-head. It is an obvious attempt to represent the water as dead, dried up. Winged insect shapes, wearing death's-heads, eat the ears of maize which stand in these dry water basins. In the water, however, which streams down from the jug which the god holds, as well as in that which comes from his hatchet-shaped lightning serpent, there descends a hatchet, the sym- 270 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 bol of the god who strikes with lightning. This rain god of the north, therefore, designates drought, death, and famine. The third figure, the upper one on the left, represents the west. The third division of the tonalamatl and the third division of the cycle belong to it, represented respectively by the initial day, " 1 monkey ", and the initial year, " 1 house ", belong to this one. The figure of the god is painted blue, and he wears as a helmet mask the sign of the third tonalamatl division, not a monkey's head, it is true, but the head of an animal which recalls somewhat Xolotl, and which is represented in the Borgian codex, page 16, near the day sign Ozo- matli, " monkey ", as the god of song and gaming. Above the god stretches a broad sky full of clouds and rain, and under him stand the maize plants, completely flooded with water. The fourth figure, the lower one on the left, represents the south. The fourth division of the tonalamatl and the fourth division of the cycle belong to it, one represented by its first day, " 1 king vulture ", the other by its first year, " 1 rabbit ". The god is painted red and wears as a helmet mask the sign of the fourth tonalamatl division, a vulture's head. Above him is represented a clear, sunny sky, sending down rays of light. Under him, in the midst of a yellow, pulverized mass, are ears of maize in pairs, that is, abortions, and a kind of rabbit, with the face of a death's-head, feeds on them. In the water which streams from the jug in the god's hand there is seen, as in the figure of the north, a hatchet, but with the addition of a tongue of flame shooting out from the handle. The fifth figure represents the center, or the direction from above downward. No day signs accompany it, for it belongs to no divi- sion of the calendar. The god is striped in white and red, which are the colors of the gods of the night heaven and the twilight, and he wears on his head the usual ornament of the rain god. The starry sky and the sign of da}^ and night are represented above him. Below him sit the earth goddesses. The sign of war — shield, bundle of javelins, spear thrower, and banner — is seen coming out of the water which streams down from the jug. In that which runs down from the hatchet-shaped lightning serpent are pictured a skeleton and a jawbone. A variant of this interesting page occurs on page 28 of Codex Vaticanus B. It is not necessary to emphasize the fact that the way in which the four rain gods are here differentiated according to the ]Doints of the compass corresponds fairly well to the characterization which is given in the passage above quoted (page 18) from the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas. Onl}^ in the latter place the order is plainly not east, north, west, south, but east, west, north, south. The Zapotecs, as Juan de Cordova states,' divided the 65 days of each tonalamatl division into five sections of 13 days each, which sblee] UNITY OP CIVILIZATION 271 corresponds to the systeni that is followed by the Mexicans and Mayas. Cocij, or tobi cocij, is said to have been the name of such a division of 13 days, " as we say, a month, a division of time ".'» Cocij means " the distributor ". Its primitive meaning is in all probability the same as cocij o, and it, therefore, in all likelihood refers also to the god of rain and of the points of the compass. The word has a general meaning of '• time 'V and means specially " a period of 20 days " : and, indeed, in its narrowest sense " 20 days in the past '", Fig. 59. The twenty day signs, from the Borgian codes. " 20 days ago ", while " 20 days in the future ", " in 20 days ", was designated by huecij, or cacij. The separate days of the cocij, according to Juan de Cordova, had each its special name, which was designated by the picture of an animal, as an eagle, a monkey, snake, lizard, deer, hare, or the like. Twenty such animal pictures are said to have been employed and their signs to have been assigned to and painted upon the different parts or members of a deer.^ This observation is especially inter- " Juan de CSrdova, Arte, p. 202. "As cocij cog-aa : tiempo encogido en quo no se puede trahajar (" fearful time in which one could not work") ; cocij collapa, cocij layna, cocij: tiempo de mieses, frutas, 6 de siego, 6 de algo ("time of corn, fruit, or of harvesting, of wealth") ; Coo yoocho, piye yoocho, cocij yoocho: tiempo enfermo, 6 de pestilencia : ("time of sickness, or of pesti- lence "). ■^ Juan de C6rdova, Arte, p. 203. 272 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHN-QLOGY [bull. 28 esting because it also explains a picture on page 62 of the Borgian codex which I have reproduced in figure 59, and the first page ri Codex Vaticanus B likewise corresponds to this representation. In figure 59 the deer is clearly to be recognized by the antlers (painted the customary blue), which are drawn on either side of the head over the ear, and by the deer's hoofs, while the figure of Codex Vaticanus B, although it agrees in every respect with figure 59, would without this comparison with the latter scarcely be recognized as a deer in its anthropomorphic and demonic form. The distribution of the twenty day signs on the members of the deer is exactly the same in the two representations. Only, in the Borgian codex (figure 59) the order of the signs begins below on the right, but in the representation of Codex Vaticanus B it begins beloAv on the left, so that these two figures are related as positive and negative. The first two day signs, alligator and wind god, that is, probably, earth and heaven, are placed on the two feet of the animal. The third, house, obviously belongs to the anus. The fourth, lizard, is ascribed to the penis; the fifth, snake, to the flexible tail. The day signs from the sixth to the tenth, death, deer, rabbit, water, dop-, are placed on a broad band which lies across the belly of the deci. The eleventh, monkey, is on the breast. The twelfth and thirteenth, reed and twisted grass, are supported by the hands, or fore feet. The seven last, jaguar, eagle, vulture, rolling ball, flint, rain, and flower, are distributed over the face. A distribution of the day signs essentially like this, but differing in some details, is portrayed in the Borgian codex, page 22, over the body of the god Tezcatlipoca ; another, in the Laud coclex, page 2, over that of the rain god, Tlaloc. A final outgrowth, evidently, of these representations, is on page 75 of Codex Vaticanus A, where the day signs are distributed over the different parts of the human body, but in an entirely different order. Each of the twenty animals of the Zapotec calendar " had thirteen different names, and although all these thirteen names stood for the same thing, they were distinguished one from the other by adding letters or taking them away and by changing their numerals "'. With these words Father Juan de Cordova describes that Avhich is doubt- less the most remarkable characteristic of the Zapotec calendar, namely, that the twenty signs of the calendar were not merely, as among the other nations of Central America, combined with the numerals 1 to V6 in the way peculiar to this calendar, but that the combination of the signs A^ith the numerals became incrusted, as it were, upon the form of the words serving as the day names, so that in every case there can be separated from the name of the word a prefix, which is about the same for all signs joined with the same numeral. Variations and exceptions certainly occur, and it is not SELEE] UNITY OF CIVILIZATION 273 easy to tell whether they are not oversights or mistaken impressions of the worthy monk who preserved this calendar for us or perhaps are simply to be attributed to the careless reprint Avhich is the only extant edition of the Grammar of Father Juan de Cordova. Com- bining the words with the numerals, the following result is obtained : Chaga, or tobi (1), gives the prefix quia, quie. Cato, or topa (2), gives the prefix pe, pi, pela. Cayo, or chona (3), gives the prefix peo, peola. Taa, or tapa(4), gives the prefix cala. Caayo, or gaayo (5), gives the prefix pe, pela. Xopa (6) gives the prefix qua, qviala. Caache (7) gives the prefix pilla. Xona (8) gives the prefix ne, ni, nela. Caa, or gaa (9), gives the prefix pe, pi, pela. Chij (10) gives the prefix pilla. Chijbi tobi (11) gives the prefix ne, ni, nela (these at least are the most frequent prefixes; but exceptions are more numerous here). Chijibi topa (12) gives the prefix pina, piiio, pinij. Chijno (13) gives the prefix peci, pici, quici. Of these different prefixes, however, only a few seem to contain a special meaning. I am inclined to connect the prefix quia, quie, which accompanies the sign joined with the numeral 1, with the word quia, quie, which means '" stone " and " rain ", taking into consideration that which has been said above concerning the part which the rain god plays in the calendar. The last prefix, which accompanies the signs united with the numeral 13, suggests pijci, " omen ". Piiio, pinij, has, per- haps, some connection with chino. '' full '\ '• happiness ", " blessing ". The other prefixes seem to be variants merely of the well-known pre- fixes pe, pi, CO, ua, by which persons in action and living beings are denoted. The syllable la is demonstrative. If we separate these prefixes from the names of the 260 days of the Zapotec calendar, which Father Juan de Cordova has handed down to us, we have for the twenty day signs of the Zapotec calendar the following names : Chijlla, alligator. Loo, Goloo, monkey. Quij, or Laa (wind), fire. Pija, Chija, that which is twisted. Quela, Ela, Laala, night. Quij, Laa, reed. Gueche, Guichi, Ache, Achi, Ichi, Gueche, Eche, Ache, jaguar. iguana. Naa, Quinaa, mother (earth goddess, Gee, Cij, sign of ill omen (snake). eagle). Lana, veiled, dark (death). Loo, Quilloo, narcotic root. China, deer. Xoo, earthquake. Lapa, divided, cut in pieces (rabbit). Opa, Gopa, cold, stone. Niza, Queza, water. Ape, Gape, cloud covering. Tela, dog. Lao, Loo, eye, face. I have discussed these names in my work on Mexican Chronology," already cited above, and have demonstrated their fundamental agree- " Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, v. 23, 1891, pp. 115-133. 7238— No. 28—05 18 274 BUREAU OF AMERICA:^ ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 2.S ment with both the Mexican and the Maya nomenclatures of the twenty day signs. From this analysis I obtained the important fact that the double meanings which frequently occur in the Zapotec names of the day signs explain the apparently fundamental differ- ence between the Mexican and the Maya names of the same sign. From this fact it is fairly safe to conclude that the Zapotecs or their kindred were the medium through which the knowledge of this calen- dar passed from the Mexicans to the Mayas, or vice versa, unless we ought to accept the theory that the Zapotecs or their kindred were those among whom this calendar was invented and by whom the knowledge of it was originally communicated to both the Mexicans and the Mayas. ZAPOTEC PKIESTHOOD AND CEPvEMONIALS There is in all parts of the world a certain fundamental uniformity in religious ideas, still more in religious practices, in spite of a wide difference in the details. Professor Stoll has lately ingeniously set forth the cause of this uniformity in his book entitled " Suggestion und Hypnotismus in der Volkerpsychologie ".'^ This uniformity is naturally more striking within the boundaries of one and the same larger or smaller area. Therefore it is not strange that we find the religious life among the Zapotecs, as far as our scanty means permit of elucidating the matter, proceeding on very much the same lines as that of the Mexicans or that of the Mayas, concerning whom we are much better informed on this point, especially in regard to the Mexicans. Among the Zapotecs the organization of the priesthood seems to have had a somewhat peculiar development and was certainly more compact than among the other nations. They distinguished between high and subordinate priests and pupils, or children who were edu- cated for the priesthood. The high priests were called Uija-tao, "great seer". Their chief function was evidently to consult the gods in important matters concerning the whole nation or individuals and to transmit the answers to the believers. The way in which these priests obtained their inspiration is plainly described in the passage quoted above from the work of Father Burgoa. It is here clearly a question of autosuggestion. They had the power and the habit of putting them- selves into an ecstatic state, and actually believed what they saw and heard in their visions and hallucinations. In Mexico the high priests were called Quetzalcoatl, in memory of the priest god of ToUan, who was said to have been the first who taught religious practices, especially the sacrifice of one's own blood, and they distinguished between a Quetzalcoatl Totec tlamacazqui and a Quetzalcoatl Tlaloc tlamacazpui, corresponding to the two chief deities whose worship was performed in the chief temple of the capital.^ A similar idea seems to have existed in regard to the high priests of the Zapotecs. « Leipzig, 1894. *" Saliagun, v. 3, appendix, chap. 9. 375 276 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 These were not elected to their office, as was the case with the Mexi- cans, but the}^ transmitted it, as Father Burgoa relates, to their sons or nearest relatives. From the description, however, which Father Burgoa gives of the way in which this transmission was made, it clearly appears that these high priests were considered as the living images of the priest god of the Toltecs, as the incarnation of Quetzal- coatl. While the priests were, as a general thing, bound to be chaste, and chastity was, as we shall see, assured by depriving boys destined for the priesthood of their virility, at certain festivals, at which, the high priest was obliged to become intoxicated, maidens were brought to him, and if one of them became pregnant and gave birth to a boy he was destined to be the successor of the high priest. This agrees with the story related of Quetzalcoatl, the priest god of the Toltecs," how he was enticed by Avicked sorcerers, Tezcatlipoca and the god of the Amantecas, Coyotl inaual, to drink pulque; forgot his chastity in the intoxication, and indulged in intercourse with Quetzalpetlatl ; and for this sin was forced to leave not only the city, but also the country, and go eastward to the seacoast, where he caused a funeral pyre to be erected for himself, and out of the fire his heart ascended to the heavens as the planet Venus. The ordinary priests of the Zapotecs Avere called copa pitao (copa bitoo) , " guardians of the gods ", or ueza-eche, " sacrificers '". Perhaps these two names indicate two special classes of priests, corresponding to the Mexican designations tlamacazqui and tlenamacac. The office of these subordinate priests is given in the description of Father Burgoa quoted above. They had, on the one hand, to keep the sanctuary, the idols, and everything which pertained to their wor- ship in an orderly condition and in readiness and to assist the high priest in "his duties. On the other hand, they were the ones who performed the actual sacrifices, especially the human sacrifices, after which they brouglit the heart and the blood to the high priest that he might offer it to the gods for food. In this respect the method appears to have been a different one with the Zapotecs from that used by the Mexicans, for what is reported of the Mexicans in regard to this seems to indicate merely that it was the chief, the high priest, who performed the actual sacrifice, though he was indeed relieved by others Avhen the bloody work' began to Aveary him, but yet Avas the first to put his hand to this butchery. If, hoAvever, the Zapotecs deviated in this from the Mexican, there appears to haA^e been a remarliable agreement Avith the JNIaya custom ; for Landa ^ reports of the Mayas of Yucatan that two different offices Avere designated «' Aiiales de Quauhtitlan Publlcacion de los Auales del Miiseo Nacional de Mexico, 1885, pp. 19-21. "Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan, edited by de la Rada y Delgado, p. 85. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 0, "1 r' r;:^, - ,-cI,^_.-.L^-^^, ' . ^'fil .^nJjrl'^ BULLETIN 28 PLATE XXXI ^'^•^^^^i^--< ^5^ 3"^^^* rr "]\ > n 1 I , ,-3;-r-r~ V t .v\ 1 c=-"irp^f ':-.'-^irp,] ^-_:^ 1 f 'a\^5"\\ "'^\% "^ 'A '^ '^/ '^\ it' 'i-- >•:-• I J-- •"'iT..' 1 1.''- -'"f-T^j fstr~ :p-f rO 7- -" . — - -/ '' J - ." ,^.'S^/^3 >' V'' ^ ,." fj ^ "r------'y^- ■" ^ ' - ^ f '' '' ^ 'r'~-lr<_r'^~'-J~-^-" ' ~j~ ,- ' - i 1 '.- '" ""- '' RELIEF DESIGNS FROM THE WALLS AT MITLA SELER] ZAPOTEC PRIESTHOOD AND CEREMONIALS 277 b}^ the word nacom, one the very honorable office of war chief, who was chosen always for three years, the other the by no means honor- able lifelong office of the man who cut open the breasts of the victims of sacrifice. Just as there was in addition the lowest order with the Mexicans, the priest pupils, tlamacazton, " little priests ", who had to help the adult priests and learn the temple service, the priests' duties, and all priestly knowledge and traditions, so also did this class exist with the Zapotecs. Among the Zapotecs these priest pupils were called pixana, translated in Burgoa's work by " dedicados a los dioses ". These were chosen, as Father Burgoa reports of the Zapo- tecos Serranos and Cajonos,« from the younger sons of caciques and people of rank, and were castrated when they were boys. It can not be ascertained from existing sources of information whether this cus- tom was also practiced by the Zapotecs of the Valle de Oaxaca and in Tehuantepec. Burgoa '^ also gives the name pixana to the boys aiding in the work of the temple in Tehuantepec. As regards religious practices, these consisted with the Zapotecs, as with the Mexicans and Muya peoples, chiefly in the burning of incense and in the offering of sacrificial gifts, small animals and birds, but especially in the offering of blood, which they drew from their own bodies. The usual places for this bloodletting were the tongue and the ear, and reports commonly state that they pierced their tongues and ears for the purpose. Burgoa, however, particu- larizes the place for the Zapotecs, namely, the veins under the tongue and behind the ear.^ He reports another peculiarity which is not known of other tribes, namely, that they did this piercing of the flesh with a sharp bone or a stone knife, or with the pointed nail of the forefinger, which they allowed to grow long for this pur- pose.'* The blood that trickled out was caught on blades of grass or bright feathers, and was thus offered to the idols as a sacrifice. Among the Zapotecs, too, the most significant and important offer- ing was human sacrifice, which, as Father Burgoa expressly states,'' was performed with special solemnity and elaborate ceremonies. Modern scholars of note in the state of Oaxaca are now inclined to dem^ that the Zapotecs performed human sacrifices, apparently from a sentiment of patriotism. This is the case with the historian of Oaxaca, Jose Antonio Gay, and the author of the useful Catalogo Etiraoiogico de Oaxaca, Manuel Martinez Gracida, to whom we owe also a description of Mitla. It is certain that neither the Zapotecs " Work cited, chap. 58. " Work cited, chap. 72. •! Work cited, chaps. 58, 64, 70. " Work cited, chap. 70. " See above. 278 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 nor the Mayas sacrificed human beings in such multitudes as the Mexicans ; « "^ still, human sacrifices were offered, but less frequently, and, as it seems, only on stated occasions. We learn from the Zapotec dictionary of Father Juan de Cordova that there were two or three special occasions when human sacrifices were per- formed. Prisoners of war were sacrificed, and in this case the flesh of the victims was even eaten,^ as in Mexico ; human beings were also sacrificed to the deity of the harvests, that is, probably the earth goddess ; '^ finally, children were sacrificed to the rain god.*^ In this fast point there appears again a marked agreement with the ideas and the worship of the Mexicans, for in Mexico, too, children were sacrificed in the first five or six months of the year to the god of rain, tempest, and mountains, Tlaloc, as Sahagun relates in detail. The expression which was here used by the Mexicans as a technical term, nino-ixtlaua, or nextlaualiztli, "paying one's debts", corresponds exactly to the word used by the Zapotecs for this sacrifice of chil- dren, and, in fact, only in connection with it, ti-quixe-a cocijo, " I pay my debt to the rain god ". A specially noticeable and peculiar ceremony practiced among the Zapotecs is indicated by some words of the dictionary as well as by a detailed description from Father Burgoa. The dictionary of Juan de Cordova contains, under the heading yerva (" grass, herb "), the following notice: "Tola, a grasslike plant (una yerva de los erva- zales) out of which in ancient times they made a straw rope -(una soguilla o tomiza), which they brought to confession and laid down on the ground before the pijana and confessed what sins they wished to confess. Hence it comes that tola is still used with the meaning of ' sin ', and that they also say lao-tola, ' place of sin or of confession ', although the word also means ' a dark place ' ". The expression pijana, that is, pixana, which Juan de Cordova uses here, seems to refer to a ceremony observed specially among the Zapotecos Serranos. For this word pixana, " dedicated to the god ", was not used by them merely for the priest pupils, but generally for the priests of the idols. Father Burgoa describes very fully this ceremony of the Zapotecos Serranos, which was still practiced in "No eran tan carniceros como los Mexicanos ("They were not so fond of carnage as the Mexicans"), says Father Burgoa, work cited, chap. 58. Gay concludes that Father Burgoa means in this passage that they performed no human sacrifices at all. ".Tuan de C6rdova distinguishes: peni yy, peni quij, peni y6 " hombre que sacrificavan tornado en guerra, 6 captivo presentado il un Seuor para sacrificarle (a man taken m war that they sacrificed, or a captive presented to the lord to sacrifice) ", and xoyaa, xoyaaquij, "si era guisado o cocido o asado para comerlo (if it was baked, stewed, or broiled for eating) ". •^ Toti-nije-a, ti-cooa, quij nije, " sacrificar per las mleses hombre (to sacrifice for har- vest a man)". , . . . ,. <'T6tia peni-quij-cocijo, tiqufse a cocijo, "sacrificar hombre por la pulvia, o nino (to sacrifice a man for rain, or a child)". selbr] ZAPOTEC PRIESTHOOD AND CEREMONIALS 279 his time, 1652, in a village in the neighborhood of San Francisco de Cajonos Father Burgoa had come into this region on an inspection tour, and there he mef with a stately old cacique, who was magnifi- cently dressed in Spanish fashion, all in silk, and was evidently treated by the Indians with great respect. He came to pay his respects to the padre and to give an account of the progress of reli- gious instruction in his village, and the padre perceived that he was a well-informed man, with complete command of the Spanish lan- guage, but, from some indications which long experience had taught him, his suspicions were aroused in regard to the man's soundness of faith. He imparted his suspicions to the vicar of the place, but re- ceived such satisfactory information from him that he thought he had deceived himself this time. It was, however, this same old man who, a few days later, was seen by a Spaniard roaming through the moun- tain forest after game, in a place hidden behind rocks and bushes, per- forming heathenish idolatrous ceremonies in the midst of a devout assembly. The Spaniard hastened away terrified, roused the monks while it was still night, and in the early morning, before an intima- tion of the matter had reached the Indian servants of the monastery, the vicar and the prelate, guided by the Spaniard, started on their way. After weary wandering in hunters' paths they reached the place at noon and found on the stone which served for an altar all the sacrificial gifts still fresh, " feathers of many colors, sprinkled with blood which the Indians had drawn from the veins under their tongues and behind their ears, incense spoons, and remains of copal, and in the middle a horrible stone figure, Avhich was the god to whom they had offered this sacrifice in expiation of their sins (sacrificio de expiacion de sus culpas) while they made their confessions to the blasphemous priest and cast off their sins in the following manner. They had woven a sort of dish out of a tough herb which was specially gathered for this purpose (uno como fuente, 6 plato muy grande), and, throwing this upon the ground before the priest, had said to him that they came to beg mercy of their god and pardon for the sins which they had committed in that year, and that they had brought them all carefully enumerated. They then drew out of a cloth pairs of slender threads made of dry maize husks (toto-mostle), that they had tied two by two in the middle with a knot, by which they represented their sins. They laid these threads on the dishes of braided grass and over them pierced their veins and let the blood trickle upon them, and the priest took these offerings to the idol and in a long speech he begged the god to forgive these, his sons, their sins which were brought to him and to permit them to be joyful and hold feasts to him as their god and lord. Then the priest came back to those who had confessed, delivered a long discourse on the cere- 280 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 monies they had still to jjerform, and told them that the ffod had pardoned them and that they might be glad again and sin anew ". This elaborate ceremonial, the details of which were established beyond a doubt in the course of the inquisitorial examination to which all the participants were subjected, was not suggested to the Indians b}^ Christian confession and absolution, but corresponds to the confession which was made in Mexico to the jjriests of the earth goddess, who was called, for this reason, Tlaelquani, " filth-eater ", and Tlazolteotl, " god of ordure ". Only in Mexico the necessity of this confession was confined to sins in veneribus, that is, to offenses against the sacredness of marriage, while with the Zapotecs, as appears from the entire description, this ceremony must have had a more general intention, applying to the expiation of all sins. The words which the padre reported in conclusion, namely, that the heathen jDriest told his penitents that they were now absolved from their sins and could sin anew, are probably to be taken quite seriously; for in Mexico also the idea prevailed that by this confession, which was made to the priests of the earth goddess, and the penance fol- lowing upon it the sinner was entirely freed from his sins, to such an extent, indeed, that he could no longer be reached by any secular punishment, which in this case was very severe, stoning to death being the pimishment for adultery. It cost the monks trouble enough to persuade the Indians that the confession Avhich they demanded and received was followed by no such exemptions from the law. There is another ]3oint of interest connected with the Zapotec cere- monies described above, namely, the use made of the grass rope on these occasions, for it serves to throw further light on certain passages in the picture writings. Here, as in the cases discussed in connection with the calendar, the Borgian codex and Codex Vaticanus B corre- spond most closely to the description. Among the few fundamental characters which, as I have demon- strated,'* recur in a typical manner in the difterent picture manu- scripts of the grou]) forming the Borgian codex, a representation of the tonalamatl occupies a prominent place. It is here represented as divided into tAventy sections of 1?> days each, to each of which is ascribed a certain deity who was the ruling power in it, and who was sufficiently indicated to the understanding of the Indians by the initial sign of the section. The order in which the deities follow one another here seems to have been, in a measure, a canonical one; for in other passages in these picture writings we find these deities ascribed to the twenty day signs in the same order, except that in the " Der Codex Borgia und die verwandten axtekischeu Bilderscliriften, Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie, t. 19, 1887, p. (105) .and following. BELER] ZAPOTEC PRIESTHOOD AND CEREMONIALS 281 latter case a new deity is inserted between the tenth and the eleventh, and therefore the twentieth deity of the first (original?) series is omitted at the end. The seventeenth and eighteenth deities of the first series, or the eighteenth and nineteenth of the second, are the ones which seem to have special reference to the festival of expiation of the Zapotecs which has jnst been described. The expiation of sin is expressed in the clearest and most realistic way, especially by the picture of the first of these two deities. He is dejoicted in the form of a turkey cock, designated by the interpreter as Chalchiuhtotolin, "emerald fowl ", and explained as the image of the god called by the Mexicans Tezcatlipoca, " smoking mirror ". By a natural and quite comprehensible transference of ideas sin was designated by the people of ancient Mexico as dirt, excrement, offal, and was portrayed in the picture writings, in a way to be recog- nized more or less clearly, in the form of human fa?ces. Tlaelquani, " she who eats ordure ", was called by the Mexicans the " earth god- dess ", because she was the eradicator of sins, to whose priests the people went to confess their sins in order to be freed from them by this confession. In all the passages under consideration there is always depicted opposite Chalchiuhtotolin a man in the act of self- castigation, of drawing his own blood, or, in his stead, the imple- ments and symbols of castigation. In the calendars of Codices Telleriano-Remensis and A^^aticanus A, next to the representation of a penitent, sin is expressed by the conventional drawing of ordure (a, figure 60).'' On page 51 of the Borgian codex, to which page 32 of Codex Vaticanus B corresponds, an eagle's claw is represented beside the sjanbols of castigation, offering the ordure to Chalchiuhtotolin to eat (5, figure 60).'' By this means the " emerald fowl ", the image of Tezcatlipoca, is likewise designated as Tlaelquani, the eradicator of sins.'' Finally, in the Borgian codex, page 29, to which pages 1 and 77, Codex Vaticanus B, correspond, opposite Chalchiuhtotolin, there is («, figure 61) the penitent (who bores out his eye with a sharp- ened bone) in the middle of a ring, which appears from its coloring to be of braided grass, since it consists of alternating green and white sections, the white ones dotted with red, indicating the sprinkling Avith blood. This ring evidently represents the tola of the Zapotecs, the rope of grass, whose use is explained above. The same rope of grass is also represented in page 30 of the " In the third section of the calendar, in the place where in some picture writings the earth goddess is represented opposite the god Tepeyollotl, in others, instead of the former, there is the picture of a man eating his own excrement (hieroglyph for Tlael- quani) and the symbol of the moon (see figure 65). '' I had not arrived at a full comprehension of all these circumstances when I wrote my work on Tonalamatl der Auhinschen Sammlung. "^ This signification of Tezcatlipoca is also supported by other passages in the picture writings, specially by the following codices : Borgian, p. 27 ; Vaticanus B, pp. 6, 79, or Borgian, p. 46; and Vaticanus B, p. 37. 282 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOUOGY [BULL. 28 Borgian codex, corresponding to pages 8 and 76 of Codex Vaticanus B, with the deity of the nineteenth day sign, h and c. Here is apparently not a^ question of directly doing penance, but of pious exercises in general, especially of fasting. I have copied these pictures, first, because the figure of Codex Vaticanus B, page 3, c, shows clearly a rope of grass by the ends of the braid which are cut Fig. 60. Drawing blood from the ears, and implements of castigation, from Mexican codices. off below and terminate above in small flower heads, after the manner of the malinalli, and secondly, because this rope of grass recurs in Mexican picture writings, to wit, as a symbol for " fasting " in the hieroglyphs of the kings Nezahualcoyotl, '^ the fasting prairie wolf ", and Nezahualpilli, " the fasting prince ", of Tetzcoco, as they are depicted in the Codex Telleriano-lJemensis, d and e. seler] ZAPOTEC PRIESTHOOD AND CEREMONIALS 283 Although it is therefore plain that the symbol of the grass rope was not unknown to the Mexicans, still it is frequent only in the picture writings of the Borgian codex group, and in this group is represented only particularly in connection with expiation of sin. Its occurrence, like that of the representation of the four rain gods (figure 58) and the deer figures bearing the day signs (figure 59), seem therefore to point to the conclusion that the picture writings of the Borgian codex group are either actually Zapotec or belong to a territory whose people resembled the latter in their religious and calendrie notions. This is a fact which we have every reason to keep well in mind. h d e Fig. 61. Self-punishment and symbol?! of two kings from Mexican codices. The special signification attached to the twisted grass rope, tola, among the Zapotecs also explains the singularly baneful part which the " grass " malinalli, " the twist ", plays as a day sign. For there is probably no doubt that this Mexican malinalli and the Zapotec tola are the same thing, although tola was not used in the Zapotec calendar for malinalli, but pija, chija, corresponding to the literal sense of malinalli. This fact seems in its turn to indicate that in the land of the Zapotecs we are not very far from the spot where the day signs originated and where the whole remarkable system of the Central American calendar was elaborated. DEITIES AND EELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS OF THE ZAPOTECS The Zapotec dictionary, b}'- Father Juan de Cordova, already fre- quently mentioned, forms a chief source of information concerning- the immediate religious conceptions of the Zapotecs, the forms of the gods which were worshiped by them and to which they turned in every need and for the- satisfaction of all their desires. Among the different names and designations, which, generally speaking, are rather designations of activities than true names, the most prominent of all are those pertaining to a creative deity. In their meaning and application these designations were very likely similar to the Mexican Totecuyo, Tloque Nauaque, Ilhuicaua, Tlaticpaque, Youalli ehecatl, and the like, that is,. they were, like these, used to a certain extent as a general appellation of the deity, and probably also in addressing the different deities, or as attributes to name them by. Their con- struction and their etymology, however, furnish a clue to the lines along which speculative thought moved among the Zapotecs in refer- ence to the origin of all things. 1 give here the names and the Span- ish expression of which they are supposed to be a translation, accord- ing to the dictionary of Father Juan de Cordova. They are as fol- low : Coqui-Xee, Coqui-Cilla, Xee-Tao, Pixee-Tao, Cilla-Tao, Nix§e-Tao, Ni-Cilla-Tao, Pije-TJlo, Pij-Xoo, Pije-Xoo, " God witliont end and without beginning, so they called him with- out knowing whom" (Dios infinito y sin principio, llamavanle, sin saber a quien). Coqui-Cilla, Xee-Tao, Piyee-Xao, Chllla-Tao, "The uncreated lord, who has no beginning and no end" (el Sefior increado, el que no tiene principio y fin). Piye-Tao, Piye-Xoo, Coqui-Xee, Coqui-Cilla, Coqui-Nij, " God, of whom they said that he was the creator of all things and was himself uncreated " (Dios que decian que era creador del todo y el increado). As to the elements which are contained in these appellations, coqui simply means " lord ", " leader ", '' cacique '', " king " ; tao and xoo are adjectives; tao (too, or roo) means "great". With the prefix for animate beings, the word forms the customary expression for " god " (Pitao, Bitoo, that is, " the great one "). Xoo is a synonym of the 384 SELEE] DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 285 former, and means " strong ", " powerful ". Ni and pi are prefixes ; the second is the prefix just mentioned for animate beings, while the first has a more general meaning and is equivalent to " he who is ". There then remain as essential elements in the above appellations only the following: Xee, cilia (xilla, chilla), pij (pije, piyee), nij. Of these different expressions, the first two, xee and cilia, are syno- nyms. They are regularly used together as a compound, with the meaning of " beginning ", " origin ". The fundamental meaning of both is doubtless " growing light ", " morning " ; cilia is the technical expression for "morning"; te-cilla, "in the morning"; zoo-cilia, piye-zoo-cilla, or toa-tillani-copijcha, " the quarter of the heavens be- longing to the morning ", " the east ", or " where the sun rises ", Xilla and chilla are phonetic variants of cilia. We must probably accept " bright " as the exact meaning of xee. Alone or accompanied by the root ati xee is often used with the meaning " pure ". A direct reference to the morning lies in the words quixee and quixij , properly " the coming morning ", which are used for " to-morrow ", that is, " the next day ". "The lord of the beginning" (Coqui-Xee, Coqui-Cilla), or "the great beginning" (Xee-Tao, Pixee-Tao, Cilia Tao), is thus properly " the lord of growing bright, of the morning ". Translated into Mex- ican it would read Tlauizcalpan Tecutli. The Mexicans used this Avord for the morning star. An entirely different meaning lies in the third word. Pij, or chij, for p and ch are here and frequently in Zapotec interchangeable,'* means " to be turned ", " to turn oneself ". From that is developed, on the one hand, the meaning pij, pije, chije, piyee, pee, " that which whirls ", " the wind " ; on the other hand, the meaning quoted above of pije, piye "(rotation, rotation of time), calendar " and chij, chee, yee, " course of time ", " time ", " clay ". The latter meaning does not concern us here. But from the meaning, " wind ", the further ones of " breath ", " respiration " * and " inner vital principle ", " soul ", "spirit"" have been developed, and we must refer to this for the names of the creative deity quoted above. Pije-Tao and Pij-Xoo are " the great wind ", " the strong wind " and " the great, the strong, powerful (living) spirit ". Finally, the fourth w^ord, nij, is the same as nij a, which means " foot ", " lower end ", " beginning ". Coqiii-Nij is therefore only another, a prosaic, expression for the meaning which lies in the name Coqui-Xee, Coqui-Cilla. However, the association of ideas which arises from the use for the « This interchangeableness evidently occurs in tlie case before us because the root is properly ii or ee, which is combined with a prefix (originally nominal) for the forma- tion of an enlarged stem. " Cobaa, pee, pije, chije, " anliellto " (Juan de Cordova, Vocabulario). <^ Pij, chije, " viento, anima, y espiritu " (Juan de Cordova, Vocabulario). 286 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 creative deity of names of different origin, preserved by the Vocabu- lary, has also another interesting and important side. I have trans- lated above the Coqiii-Xee, Coqui-Cilla, of the Zapotecs by the Mex- ican name Tlauizcalpan Tecutli. If we should seek to translate Pije-Tao, Pije-Xoo, into Mexican, then a strictly synonymous, though by no means literal, rendering would be the name Quetzalcoatl. Here we find a connecting link, which throws light upon the logic of the relation between objects and ideas that have hitherto existed rather incongruously side by side. The Mexican legend tells of the wind god Quetzalcoatl that after his death or after his dis- appearance in the sea of the east he changed himself into Tlauiz- calpan Tecutli, the lord of the dawn, that is, the morning star, the planet Venus. The Zapotec names explain this change to us ; for it is the creative deity who is at once the soul, the spirit, the living prin- ciple of all things and the lord of the dawn, of the coming day, who is conceived of as merged in the star of the dawn, the luminous planet, which was called Pelle-Nij by the Zapotecs and Citlalpol, ''the great star ", by the Mexicans. It appears, moreover, from the fres- coes which are reproduced in this work, as we shall see below, that Quetzalcoatl occupied in fact the central place in the Zapotec Olympus, at least as he was understood and presumably expounded by the priests. "^ Tlauizcalpan Tecutli, the lord of the dawn and of the evening twi- light, who is also designated by the interpreter as the first light which illuminated the earth in the period before the flood, that is, before the creation of the sun, is represented in the calendar opposite the fire god in the ninth section, which begins with the day " 1 snake". As the representations of this god are important also for future dis- cussion, I have given them together in figures 62 and 63, taken from Codices Borgia, page 46, Vaticanus B, page 40, and Telleriano- Remensis II, page 14, and the Tonalamatl of the Aubin collection. Coqui-Xee, Coqui-Cilla, the " lord of dawn ", and Pije-Tao, Pije- Xoo, the "mighty, strong wind", however, designate, as it were, merely the principle, the essence of the creative deity or of deity in general, without reference to the act of creating the world and human beings. In respect to this event itself the mythologies of the Central Americans, as well as those of most of the peoples of the earth, have placed at the beginning of things a male and female deity. These were called by the Mexicans Tonacatecutli and Tona- caciuatl, " lord " and " mistress of our flesh '' or " of subsistence ", or Ometecutli Omeciuatl, " lords of duality ". In the calendars they occupy the first place and are represented as the deities dominating the beginning, the first division, whose initial sign is " 1 crocodile ". They are figured always clothed in light, varied, and rich colors. The male deity is more or less definitely identified with the sky, the sblek] DEITIES AND KELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 287 sun, or the fire god, who was at the same time the god of the chase and of war ; the female deity, with the earth or the water, tlie element Fig. 63. Deity of the morning star, from a Mexican codex. which imparts friiitfulness to the earth. Thus in the Tonalamatl of the Aubin collection, on the first page, the fire god and the water god- 'iiiiniiiniinni nniiini iitJ i /iin iiiinminA a b Fig. 63. Figures of the deity of the morning star, from Mexican codices. dess are placed opposite one another as rulers of the first section of the calendar. 288 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 We find a similar notion among the Zapotecs. Under the heading criador, " creator ", the dictionary of Father Juan de Cordova gives the following two different deities : Cozaana, Pitoo-Cozaana, "Creator, the maker of all beasts" (Criador, 6 hacedor de todas los ani- males). Huichaana, " Creator, the maker of men and of flshes " (Criador asi de los hombres y peces). Zaana means " to give birth ", " to beget " ; and Xaana, chaana, are probably mere phonetic variants of the same stem. Cozaana, how- ever, is the nomen agentis, formed directly from this stem, and there- fore means " one who gives birth " or " procreator ". Huichaana, Huechaana imply a causative formed from this stem. Cozaana and Huichaana and Huechaana are both used alike for " descent ", " race" (linaje generalmente) . Hence word analysis does not suffice to determine what deities are meant by the above names, and we shall have to look for other applications of these expressions, and these other applications will make it possible to determine the deities without possibility of error. Cozaana is used concerning the sun. The proper Zapotec name for the sun is copijcha. It has also a briefer name, pitoo, as in Mexican it has the name Teotl, that is, " god ". But as the " great procreator of all things" (el Sol con forme al engendrar las cosas que las engendra) , the dictionary calls it Cozaana-tao quizaha-lao. It seems, therefore, as if we ought to accept this as the original meaning of Pitoo- Cozaana; the sun as the male portion of the creative deity; and if this Pitoo-Cozaana was designated sj^ecially as creator of beasts, also as " god of the chase " and as " god of beasts, to whom the hunter and the fisher sacrificed in order to be helped ", it seems as if we must re- call also the Mexican point of view, according to which the sun god is also looked upon as the god of the chase and of war. This concej)- tion, however, is in a measure contradicted by the fact that in two places in the dictionary Cozaana is spoken of, according to the proper meaning of the word, as " procreatrix " (engendradora, procrea- dora) of beasts and of fishes. Since, now, the beasts of the woods and fields, as we shall see below, are brought into especial connection with the earth, it is still possible that Cozaana also has this meaning and is to be considered as designating either the female portion of the dual creator or, as the male portion, a god of the earth and lord of beasts. Huechaana, Huichana, is translated also in the dictionary by " water ", " element of water ", and Huichaana, Pitao-Huichaana, Co- chana, Huichaana, by " god, or goddess, of little children, or of birth, to whom those giving birth sacrificed " (dios o diosa de los nifios, 6 de la generacion, a quien las paridas sacrificavan). Hence it is clear SELER] DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 289 that this is the female part of the creative deity who, as I noted above, is represented opposite the male creative deity, the fire god, in the Tonalamatl of the Aubin collection in the form of the water goddess, Chalchiuhtlicue ; and this, its special meaning, explains the singular combination by which, as stated above, Huichaana is called the cre- ator, or rather the creatrix, of men and of fishes. In this connection I must mention a legend, which is not told of the Zapotecs themselves but of that fragment of the Mixtec nation which lived in the immediate neighborhood of the royal city of the Zapotecs., in the jjlace called Coyolapan by the Mexicans, the present Cuilapa. This legend, contained in chapter 4, book 5, of Origen de los Indios, by Fray Gregorio Garcia, which otherwise contributes very little to the ancient history of Central America, gives the following account of the origin of things : In the year and in the day of obscurity and darlvness, wlien there were as yet no days nor years, the world was a chaos sunlv in darkness, while the earth was covered with water, on whieli slime and scum floated. One day the deer god (el dios Ciervo), who bore the surname "puma snake" (Culebra de Leon), and the beautiful deer goddess (diosa Ciervo) or jaguar snake (Culebra de Tigre) appeared. They had human form, and with their great knowledge [that is, probably with their magic! they raised a great cliff over the water and built on it fine palaces for their dwelling. On the summit of this cliff they laid a copper ax with the edge upward, and on this edge the heavens rested. These build- ings stood in Upper Mixteca, close to the place Apoala," and the cliff was called " place where the heavens stood ". The gods lived many centuries in peace, enjoying bliss, until it happened that they had two little boys, beautiful of form and skilled and experienced in all arts. For the days of their birth they were named "Wind 9 Snake" (Viento de neuve Culebras) and "Wind 9 Cave" (Viento de neuve Cavernas). ISIuch was lavished on their education, and they possessed the knowledge of how to change themselves into an eagle or a snake, to make themselves invisible, and even to pass through (solid) bodies. While these gods were enjoying the profoundest peace (passed their days in profoundest peace) they decided to make an offering and a sacrifice to their ancestors. They took for this purpose pottery incense vessels, placed firebrands in them, and burned a quantity of finely ground poison plant (tobacco). That was the first offering (to the gods). Then they made a garden with plants and flowers, trees and fruit-bearing plants, and sweet-scented herbs. Adjoin- ing this they made a grass-grown level place (,un prado) and equipped it with everything necessary for sacrifice. The pious brothers lived contentedly on that piece of ground, tilled it, burned poison plant (tobacco), and with prayers, vows, and promises they supplicated their ancestors to let the light appear, to let the water collect in certain places, and the earth be freed from its covering (water), for they had no more than that little garden for their subsistence. In order to strengthen their prayer they pierced their ears and their tongues with pointed knives of flint and sprinkled the blood on the trees and plants with a brush of willow twigs. "Apoala (Mexican A-pouallan, "accumulation of water") is the Mixtec Yuta-Tnotio, or Yuta-Tnuhu, " the river of generation "', where the ancestors of the Mixtec rulers are said to have come forth from trees which stood by a deep cafiada. 7238— No. 28—05 19 290 BUREAU OF AMEEICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 2S The deer gods had more sons and daughters; but there came a flood in which many of these perished. After the catastrophe was over the god who is called the " creator of all things " formed the heavens and the earth and restored the human race. Thus we have here the primal pair of gods and the actual creator god who procured for men light and the other conditions of human existence by means of his endeavors and self -castigation. . The former, since they were designated as " deer god " and " deer god- dess ", were probably also considered as the father and the mother of animals, like the Pitoo-Cozaana of the Zapotecs. The latter, the real practical creative god, has, as among the Zapotecs, an unmis- takable connection with Quetzalcoatl, since the two names given here are combined with the determinative word " wind " ; but this practical creative god is here conceived of as twin brothers. The names " 9 snake " and " 9 cave " appear to have been intended to mean the light and the dark brother. The second name is inter- esting because the word " cave " evidently forms the connecting idea between the Mexican Calli, " house ", and the Maya and Zapotec Akbal and Ela, " night ", the names of the third day sign, which apparently differ so very much from one another. Moreover, a dual nature is also indicated in Quetzalcoatl, since the name, as we know, can be translated " decorative feather snake " as well as " the precious twin ". Xolotl appears in the calendar pictures as the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl. He is the sinister god of monstrosities, who wears the eca-ilacatz-cozquitl, the spirally-twisted wind ornament (cut from a snail shell), and the ear pendants made from the shell of the whelk, and also the head ornament of Quetzalcoatl. The primal pair of gods,- as I have already mentioned, occupy the first place in the calendars of the picture writings, as rulers of the first section. In conformity with the peculiar position which Quetzal- coatl occupies in relation to the primal pair of gods and as the creator of the world and man, he follows the primal gods, coming second, as the ruler of the second division of the calendar. In the third place, as ruler of the section beginning with the day " 1 deer ", there then follows a god in the form of a jaguar, Avho sits above a mountain cave, before him the sign of war (shield, bundle of javelins, and spiked club), food (a vessel with maize and a pulque jar), and a costly neck ornament, and opposite him, in some manu- scripts (Codices Telleriano-Kemensis and Vaticanus A), Q.uetzalco- atl, and in others (Codices Borgia, page 52, and Vaticanus B, page 46), the earth goddess Tlazolteotl or Tlaelquani, who apparently bring a bound captive to him for sacrifice (see figure 64, which is copied from the Borgian codex, page 52). There, where in the series of gods of the day signs this god Avould be expected to be with his female com- sblbe] DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 291 panion, at the third day sign Calli, " house " (or Zapotec Ela, Mr.ya Akbal, " night"), is the earth goddess alone expressed by the hiero- glyph of her name Tlaelquani, " dirt eater ", namely, by the picture of a man eating his own excrement, with the symbol of the moon (fig- ure 65). Fig. 64. Tepeyollotl ar.d Tlacolteotl, Mexican deities, from the Borgian codex. This god of the third calendar section is named Tepeolotlec by the interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Eemensis. This is evidently only a distortion of Tepeyollotl, "heart of the mountain (of the place, village, country)", who was named as the eighth of the series of the nine lords, the so-called " acompahados de la noche ", and who (Bor- FiG. 65. Tlaelquani, Mexican goddess, from the Borgian codex. gian codex, page 25) is represented in the form of figure 66. The interpreter makes the following remark concerning Tepeolotlec: This name refers to the condition of the earth after the flood. The sacrifices of these 13 days were not good, and the translation of their name is " dirt sacri- fices ". They caused palsy and bad humors . . . This Tepeolotlec was lord of these 13 days ; in them were celebrated the teast to the jaguar (haziau la fiesta en data a tigre) and the four last preceding days were days of fast- ing . . . Tepeolotlec means the " lord of beasts ". The four feast days were in honer of the Suchiquezal, who was the man that remained behind on the earth upon which we now live. This Tepeolotlec is the same as the echo of 292 BUREAU OF AMEEICAIST ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Fig. TepeyoUotl, Mexican deity, fi-om the Borgian codex. the voice, wheu it reeclioes in a valley from one mountain to another. . . . This name " jaguar " is given to the earth, because the jaguar is the boldest animal, and the echo which the voice awaiiens in the mountains is a survival of the flood, it is said. The above description makes it plain that this figure must be con- sidered a deity of the earth, of the hollow interior of the earth and the mountain wilderness, who has nothing to do with the light, pure upper regions. We seek in vain for mention of this deity and for statements concerning his worship in the works of the historians who lived near the capital of Mex- ico in the midst of Mexican - speaking people, and who therefore drew their infor mation chiefly or exclusively fro m Mexican traditions. Neither Sahagun, Duran, Mo- tolinia, nor Mendieta men- tion this ■ god. On the other hand, we have reliable information that in the territory with which we are here concerned, and indeed among both the kindred nations of the Mixtecs and Zapbtecs, he was known and even received special veneration. As Yoopaa, or Mictlan, was the holy city of the Zapotecs, so Nuu- ndecu, or Achiotlan ("the place of the Bixa Orellana"), was the holy city of the Mixtecs, where the high priest had his abode and where there was a far-famed oracle, Avhich indeed King Motecuhzoma is said to have consulted when he was disturbed by the news of the landing of Cortes. The chief sanctuary was situated on the highest peak of a mountain. Here, as Father Burgoa relates, " there was among other altars one of an idol " which they called the ' heart of the place or of the. country (Corazon del Pueblo)', and which re- ceived great honor. The material aa as of marvelous value, for it was an emerald of the size of a thick pepper jDod (capsicum), upon which a small bird was engraved with the greatest skill, and, with the same skill, a small serpent coiled ready to strike. The stone was so trans- parent that it shone from its interior with the brightness of a can- dle flame. It was a very old jewel, and there is no tradition extant concerning the origin of its veneration and worship ". The first missionary of Achiotlan, Fray Benito, afterward visited this place " Work cited, cliap. 28. SELER] DEITIES AND EELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 293 of worship and succeeded in persuading- the Indians to surrender the idol to him. He had the stone ground uj), although a Spaniard offered 3,000 ducats for it, stirred the powder in water, and poured it upon the earth and trod upon it, in order at the same time to destro}^ the heathen abomination entirely, and to demonstrate in the sight of all the impotence of the idol. It is worthy of notice that there existed in the immediate neighborhood of this place of worship, in the middle of the i:)lain of Yancuitlan, a second sanctuary, which also had a high priest, who, however, was subordinate to the one at Achiotlan. This sanctuary consisted of a great cave, in the rear of which the idol was set up." To a certain extent it seems to have been considered equivalent to the aforesaid sanctuary situated on the summit of the mountain, for it is said that those who came hither from a distance, those who were hindered by their inability to walk so far, and the women, who could not climb the rugged moun- tains of Achiotlan, made their offerings here. It is true that, as far as the Zapotec territory is concerned, this god is not expressly named in connection with the chief sanctuary of the country at Mitla ; but in the neighborhood of Tehuantepec, on the great salt-water lagoon, which was called in Burgoa's time " Laguna de San Dionisio ", and which was inhabited hj the small tribe of the Iluaves, there was, as Burgoa relates,'' a small wooded island shaped like a temple pyramid and abounding in game. Upon this island was " a deep and extensive cave, where the Zapotecs had one of their most important and most revered idols, and they called it ' soul and heart of the kingdom (Alma y Corazon del Reyno)' because these barba- rians Avere persuaded that this fabulous deity was Atlas, upon whom the land rested and who bore it on his shoulders, and when he moved his shoulders the earth was shaken Avith unwonted tremblings; and from his favor came the victories which they won and the fruitful years which yielded thern the means of living ''. There was an oracle connected also with this temple, and the last king of Tehuantepec, Cocijo-Pij, is said to have received liere from the god the information that the rule of the Mexicans was at an end and that it was not pos- sible to withstand the Spaniards. When the baptized king was later seized and imprisoned on account of his falling back into idolatry the vicar of Tehuantepec, Fray Bernardo de Santa Maria, sought out the island, forced his Avay into the cave, and found there a large quadrangular chamber, carefully swept, with altarlike structures around on the sides, and on them many incense vessels, rich and costly offerings of valuable materials, gorgeous feathers, and disks and neck- laces of gold, most of them sprinkled with freshly drawn blood. There is no record of finding an idol here. Unlike the padre Fray " Burgoa, work cited, chap. 32. " Work cited, chaps. 72 and 75. '294 BUREAU OF AMERICAlsr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Benito, the vicar of Tehuantepec seized all these ornaments, an inven- tory was taken, and by order of the viceroy the proceeds of the sale of these objects were employed for the benefit of the church. It is certain that the expressions mentioned here, " Corazon del Pueblo " and " Corazon del Reyno " are only translations of the name Tepeyollotl, for tepetl means in Mexican not merely "mountain", but also '' place " ; tepe-pan, " in the place ", " in the country " ; cecen tepepan is translated in Molina's dictionary by " in every town " (en cada pueblo 6 ciudad). The Mixtec translation of the name Tepe- 3^ollotl would probably have been Jni-nuu; and the Zapotec, Lachi- Gueche. However, no deities of any such names are mentioned. According to the passage last quoted it may nevertheless be assumed with certainty that this god, Corazon del Reyno, was a deity of the earth and that earthquakes were ascribed to him. It is therefore probable that he is identical with the god who is mentioned in the dictionary of Father Juan de Cordova as Pitao-Xoo, " god of earth- quakes " (dios de los temblores cle tierra). Moreover, the Imowledge and the worship of this god was not con- fined to the Mixtec or Zapotec races, but existed, perhaps more exten- sively, among the Maya tribes bordering on the south, the Zotzils and the Tzentals, for there is no doubt that the often-mentioned god Votan of the Tzentals is identical with Tepeyollotl, hence with the Zapotec Pitao-Xoo. This appears from the etymology of the name, which, it seems, means in Tzental, simply, " heart ", " breast ".« This is furthermore expressly mentioned by Bishop Nunez de la Vega, who states at the conclusion of the paragraph referred to that this god Avas called in some provinces Corazon de los Pueblos ; and, finally, this is proved by the fact that this Votan is also the ruler of the third day sign. The third day sign, that is, the sign which the Mexicans call Calli, " house '", and the other Maya races generally call Akba], '' night ", by the Tzentals is simply called Votan, after the god him- self. I quote here the statement Avhich Bishop Nuhez de la Vega makes concerning this deity, because it serves to complete the picture in some particulars. The bishop Avrites :^ Votan is the third heathen in the calendar [that is, the deity who is ascribed to the third division of the calendar], and In the little history written in the Indian language all the provinces and cities in which he tarried were mentioned ; and to this day there is always a clan in the city of Teopisa that they call the Votans. It is also said that he is the lord of the hollow wooden instrument which they call tepanaguaste [that is, the Mexican teponaztli] ; that he saw the great wall, namely, the tower of Babel, which was built from earth to heaven at the bidding "Brinton has proved this in bis book Hero Myths, p. 217. In a copy of bilingLml directions for administering the sacrament, of the year 1707, which is in Brinton's possession, the following passage occurs: Ta zpizil aiiotan, "con todo In corazon (with all thy heart)"; xatigh xny anotan, " hirrendote en los pechos (wounding thee in the bosom)"; zghoyoc alagh ghoyoc, " di conmigo (spealc with me)". '' Nuiiez de la Vega, Constituciones Diocesauas I'reambulo, no. 34. sec. 30. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY ^ BULLETIN 28 PLATE XXXII \ — > _,J b-" '^:J2^^ \ 'rJ -frf, "^>U ,!— '~ ^ ,_J- -J I _H" — I " ' I -'■ — ! — ^ i iLlz^^t !^^2) ^^V'v^i) 7 ;-^X ^, ^r-z^ ^'\-^ >r r^, ^''-, r" '.--^ ff--^ r-'-'^ 7 /^ . ^^i^ -^•^"j^ --^ -("-^1 ,1 J^ C ^^.^i ^-_ii .^ Y./2-- :>, -J I ^ -^''."-^ 1, -nji i 1 d_r^ c^ ((nj; :„u^, -'7 x^^ ^? \\ ^jj;r -,1, J.I w 1 j-ttjX; ,-(/;>A' L- RELIEF DESIGNS FROM THE WALLS AT MITLA seler] DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 295 of hi^ grandfather. Noali ; and that he was the first man whom God sent to divide and apportion this country of India, and that there, where he saw the o-reat wall, he gave to every nation its special language. It is related that he tarried in Huehueta [which is a city in Soconusoo] and that there he placed a tapir "and a great treasure in a slippery [damp, dark, subterranean] house, which he built by the breath of his nostri , and he appointed a woman as chieftain, with tapianes [tnat is, Mexican tiapiani, "keepers"] to guard her. This ti-easure consisted of jars, which were closed with covers of the same clay, and of a room in which the picture of the ancient heathens who are in the cal- endar were engraved in stone, together with chalchiuites [which are small, heavy green stones] and other superstitious images; and the chieftamess her- self and the tapianes. her guardians, surrendered all these things, which were publicly burned in the market place of Huehueta when we inspected the afore- said province in 1091. All the Indians greatly revere this Votan, and lu a certain province they call him " heart of the cities " (Corazon de los pueblos). Thus writes Nunez de la Vega. I add in conclusion that the bat o-od also, who was the national god of the Cakchikels, whose form is t^UU b ■ c d Fig. 67. Mexican symbols and figures of deities, from tlie Mendoza codex and tlie Saliasnn manuscript. frequently met with on antiquities in Guatemala and Yucatan, and whose picture, as I have proved," is to be found in the Borgian, Vati- canus B, and Fejervary codices, may have had some remote connection with this Pitao-Xoo, Tepeyollotl, or Yotan. The sun, as I mentioned above, was called by the Zapotecs Copijcha or, more briefly, Pitoo, " the god ". So also the Mexicans in familiar speech frequently said Teotl, "god", when they meant the sun; Teotl ac, " the god has gone in (gone into the house)", is equivalent to the " sun has gone down " ; and wherever in Mexican city hiero- glyphs the svllable teo was to be represented it is always expressed by the picture of the sun (a, figure 67) . The cities also whose names contained the syllable teo were generally ancient seats of sun worship- «Zeltschrift fiir Ethnologie, v. 26, 1894, pp. (577)-(585). 296 BUREAU OF AMERICAN" ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 like the famous Teotihuacan, abandoned in prehistoric times, where in the midst of desolated fields and tlie flat mounds which indicate the sites of ancient dwellings still rise the two high pyramids of the sun and the moon. There is no actual record of sun worship among the ancient Zapo- tecs ; but there was, and is, in the ancient tribal countr}^ of the Zapo- tecs, in the Valle de Oaxaca, a place which is called in Mexican Teotitlan, " near the sun god " ; in Zapotec, Xa-Quie, " at the foot of the stone ". This village, as Father Burgoa relates," was one of the most important and oldest cities of the Zapotecs, and there, on a rocky crag, directly opj)osite the houses of the village, was a very ancient sanctuary, where an idol uttered oracles in a terrific, rumbling voice, which sounded as if it came from the depths of the earth ; and this idol was said " to have come from heaven, in the form of a bird, in a luminous constellation" (fingienclo haver venido del cielo, en figura de ave, en una lumiosa constelacion). It admits of no doubt that this luminous bird is to be regarded merely as a particular conception of the sun god. So also descended about noon in Izamal, as Father Lizana relates,^ the idol called Kinich Kakmo, which means, " sun Avith a face whose rays were of fire ", to consume the sacrifice on the altar, " as the red guacamayo (macaw) flies down with his bright feathers ". We often meet witli similar conceptions on the American continent. The Zapotecs called the sun's rays simply " foot, sting, or plumage of the sun '' (xinnij, xicoocho, xilouela copijcha).'^^ This Zapotec Teotitlan generally had the addition del valle (" of the valley"), to distinguish it from the Teotitlan which is situated on the road from Oaxaca, on the boundaries of the Mazateca, and which on that account generally receives the addition of del camino ("of the road") (see the hieroglyjDh in a). Herrera makes some statements concerning the latter place,*^ from which it would seem that there the god Xipe, " the flayed one ", received special wor- ship. In fact, a number of characteristic Xipe representations from Teotitlan del camino have found tli^ir way into the collec- tions, together with representations of the rain god. The Eoyal Museum of Ethnology in Berlin possesses a beautiful large pottery image of Xipe, which Professor Felix obtained in Teotithm del cam- ino. But, during my stay in that place, I found most frequently complete figures and fragments of a deity distinguished by a white ° Work cited, chap. 53. 6 Historia de Yucatan, Devoclonario de Nuestra Sefiora de Izmal, Valludolid, 1633, la. part 7, chap. 4. "■ Compare lohiie, " plumas, las ordenes dellas que tieueu lospapagallos en si (feathers, the kinds thereof that parrots have on them)"; Lohue-yfiche, "las amarillas (the yel- low) " : Lohu6-yaa, " las azules (the hliie) " ; Lohue-naxinaa, L. huijta, " las coloradas (the red)" (.Juan de Cordova, Vocahiilario). "Decada III, book 3, chap. IS, p. 102. DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS COKCEPTIONS 297 design resembling a butterfly about the mouth, whose face, painted in many colors, looks out of the open jaws of a bird with a tall and erect crest. We succeeded in bringing home a complete spec- imen of this sort, which is now in the Royal Museum of Eth- nology in Berlin, and a copy of this (front and side views) is given on plate xlii, reproduced by photographic process. The worship of this deity, who, in character is evidently identical with the idol of the Zapotec Teotitlan del valle, seems to have been remarkably wide- spread. Countless stone images of this deity, of whose bird's-head mask only the towering crest remained, have been found in the moun- tains of the slope toward the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, in those strips of. territory which succumbed to the so-called Chichimec inva- sion, the expansion of the highland Nahua tribes. In the capital, Mexico, this deity was known under the name of Macuil-xochitl, " 5 flower ", and was regarded as the deity of luck in gaming.'^ He has a dark brother, to whoni the name Ixtlilton, " the little black- face ", was given in Mexico, and to him they turned for help when a ]j Fig. 68. Gods Maciiil-xoeliitl and Ixtlilton, from Mexican codices. their children were ill. I have reproduced (in c and d, figure 67) the representations of these two deities as they are given in the Sahagun manuscript of the Biblioteca del Palacio. These pictures also show that there is left of the bird's-head mask only the erect feather crest, with a wing as an ornament or device to be worn on the back. A characteristic group, which evidently represents these same two deities, is found in the Fejervary codex, page 21, the fourth in a set of six pairs of gods («, figure 68). These two deities have a somewhat different form in the parallel passage of Codex Vaticanus B, page 58, which is reproduced in h, figure 68. That the deity of the Zapotec Teotitlan del valle was considered by the Mexicans the same as their Macuil-xochitl appears to follow " I have given more careful proof of this in my worlc Das Tonalamatl der Au- bmscheu Sammlung (Compte rendu 7eme Session du Congr&s international des Americanistes, Berlin, 1888), p. 723 and following, and in my Altmexikanische Studien (Veroffentlichungen aus dem Koniglichea Museum fiir Volkerkunde zu Berlin, Band I Heft 4} pp. 162-164. 298 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 from the fact that in the unmediate neighborhood of this place there was another place called Quije-quilli, " garland of flowers ", by the Zapotecs, but by the Mexicans, Macuilxochic. "in Macuil-xochitl's village " (see the glyph, 6, figaire 67). Nothing remains to-day of the magnificent buildings of the Zapotec Teotitlan del valle, but portions of the ancient buildings, stone mosaics with geometric designs of the fashion of those of Mitla and fragments of reliefs are here and there found embedded in the Fig. 69. Zapotec relief fragments from Teotitlan. walls of houses and churches in Teotitlan, as well as in those of the neighboring Macuilxochic. Other pieces have already been placed in the Museo de Oaxaca. A\aiat relief fragments I have met with I have reproduced in figures 69 and 70, which are, of course, only sketches and make no pretensions to special accuracy. The frag- ments in 6 and c, figure 70, are now in the museum at Oaxaca; 6, figure 69, was still to be seen in IN'Iacuilxochic when I was there, while a, figure 69, and a, figure 70, are embedded in the wall of the church of Teotitlan del valle. It is quite evident that the reliefs exhibit, Sbler] DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 299 besides the jaguar, the special local deity, a man whose face is held by the jaws of a bird; that is, the god who came down from 5 c Fig. 70. Zapotec relief fragments from Teotitlan. heaven in the form of a bird. A sharply defined feather crest on the top of the head is seen here, as in the pottery idols of the Maciiil- 300 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 xochitl of Teotitlan del camino, and this again points to the identity of the deities worshiped in both cities. As to the other conceptions of the sun held by the Zapotecs, Juan del Cordova mentions in his grammar « the remarkable impression which the eclipse of the sun made on the ancient Zapotecs. They feared nothing less than the end of the world, war of all against all, and murder on all sides; and since they had a notion that dwarfs were created at the bidding of the sun, when an event like the one above mentioned occurred they seized upon all dwarfed persons wherever found and sacrificed them, in this way paying their debt to the sun, as it were, by restoring that which belonged to it. There is not much to be extracted from literature concerning the other deities Avorshipped by the • Zapotecs. Besides the sun, the moon, certainly also some of the stars, received a certain sort of worship. Of "the moon the Zapotecs believed, as did the Mexicans and other peoples, that the women stood in special relation to it. If there was an eclipse of the moon, they thought it indicated the death of the waves of the caciques and chieftains.^' I have already spoken of the morning star and its relation to the wind god and the creative deities. Moreover, the Pleiades seem to have been especially regarded, and the Zapotecs called them Pizaana-Cache, the " seven boys '\ The rain god, who, as I have already stated above, was called Cocijo by the Zapotecs, evidently had a special significance. With- out doubt he was entirely similar in form and conception to the Mex- ican Tlaloc. Large stone images and small figures with the char- acteristic features of Tlaloc have been frequently found also in the Zapotec country ; and, as I have stated above, children in particular were sacrificed' to the rain god among both the Mexicans and the Zapotecs. A god whom the dictionary calls Pitao-Cozobi, " god of the har- vests''' (dios de las mieses), appears to have stood in a certain rela- tion to the rain god. Human sacrifices were also made to him, and the people sacrificed to him were called peni-nije, peni-quij-nije, or peni-cocijo. A special cereuiony relating to the increase of the fruits of the field was recorded from the village of Quiecolani. Father Burgoa relates^ that at the time of harvesting in this village, Avhich Avas famed throughout tlie province for the quantity, size, and superiority of its maize, tlie ear which was the largest, fullest, and most conspicu- ous for its beauty and the perfection of its kernels was selected, and this was honored with demonstrations of all kinds; "for th ev said "Arte del idionin /npoteco. p. 215. ".luan de Cordova. Arte. p. 215. '■ Work cited, chap. 67. / SELBR] DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 301 that in it the god was present who had furnished them with every- thing besides, and, as the abode of the god, they, with much burning of incense, addressed Avorship and prayers to it while they placed it upright on an altar and honored it with songs and merry dances. They dressed it in clothes, which were made according to its measure, and hung upon it small green stones which were their jewels, and after they had offered it sacrifice it was rolled iii a white cotton cloth and thus preserved. When the season for plow- ing the land and planting the seed returned they notified and summoned the priests, and the foremost men of the village assem- bled in the house where the gaily decked ear of maize was kept, and after repeating the heathenish ceremonies in its honor they begged its permission to carry it out to watch over the fields; and then a priest took it, rolled it in a clean deerskin which he had brought with him for this purpose, and they all went together to a place in the midst of their planted fields, where they had made for it of stones an ovenlike hole in the ground, and in this they placed it, Avith much burning of incense, and earnestly besought it to take under its gracious protection the seeds of these poor men who hoped for their means of subsistence at its hands, and they covered the place [with earth] so that they could see it from afar Avithout anyone daring to approach. If the year Avas a fruitful one, they took it out with great solemnity at the harvesting of the crops, thanked it for the liberality Avith Avhich it had given them food, and the ear of maize, Avhich had become entirely moldy from the dampness, was divided among those present as a relic and a sacred object ". Pinopiaa, the goddess of the fruitful A^ega of Xalapa, above Tehuantepec, seems to have been a deity of the earth. The sanctu- ary of this goddess, Avhom later tradition declared to be a daughter of the Zapotec king Cocijo-eza Avho had been changed into stone after her death, Avas found on the summit of a small mountain, Avhere, in the middle of a small plaza, Avere four stone slabs, so placed as to form a roof, and under them the idol of the goddess, a cone-shaped Avhite stone. When the matter became knoAvn and the monks hunted down the priests and devotees of this goddess it Avas found that the belief Avas spread among the Christian Indians of Xalapa that St. Katharine of Sienna, Avho had her church in one of the quarters of Xalapa, Avas identical Avith the goddess Pinopiaa and that the special Avorship AAdiich Avas devoted to that saint Avas really meant for the daughter of King Cocijo-eza who Avas turned into stone after death. '^ A number of other deities are mentioned in the dictionary of Father Juan cle Cordova, with their functions, but Avithout further ■^ Burgoa, work cited, chap. 71. 302 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 particulars as to their position or importance in the system of wor- ship. Thus was Coqui-Lao, the "lord of poultry"; Pitao-Peeze, Pitao-Quille, or Pitao-Yaxe, the god of merchants and the lord of wealth: Pitao-Zij, Pitao-Yaa, or Pitao-Tee, the god of poverty and misfortune; Pixee, or Pecala (properly " sleep ", " dream "), the god of desire (luxuria, el asmodeo, o demonio que incita, como dicen, el dios de amor, "lust, Asmodeus, or the demon who entices, as they say, the god of love ") ; Pitao-Xicala, or Pecala, the god of dreams; Pitao- Piji, Peezi, or Pijze, the god of omens; and Pitao-Pezelao, the god of the underworld. Finally, Ave have an abundant and unsophisticated source of infor- mation, which ought to give us the key to the mythical conceptions of the Zapotecs, in the antiquities of the country, the images of stone and especially those of pottery, the large and small figures, the figure vessels, the pottery whistles and small pottery heads, found in great numbers in the country, which Avas once thickly populated and abounds in graves. In an earlier work " I have discussed in detail one of the principal types of these antiquities, the remarkable great figure vases, distinguished by gigantic head ornaments and a pecu- liarly conventionalized face, in which the most conspicuous features are puffings over the eyebroAvs and under the eyes and a serpent's jaw set into the human countenance. As to the form of the vessels, I refer to plate xxxvi, Avhere three vessels from Mitla, now in the Museo Nacional de Mexico, are reproduced. The A^essel standing on the right side of the page shows the human face Avith the inserted serpent's jaw. I have represented other forms in my treatise referred to above. They Avere probably all burial vessels. I have selected two figures of the picture Avritings to explain the deity represented on these vessels. On pages 5, 30, and 33 of the Vienna codex a deity is represented Avho is painted in a dark color and, like Ixtlilton (see c, figure 67), weaTS a crest decorated with stone kniA^es, and about this are.Avound a couple of serpents, Avhile a serpent crawls out of his mouth. The deity is designated in each of the three passages by the day, " 4 snake ", and in one of them (page 30) he is accompanied by a dragon, Avhich bears a sun disk on its back. Oppo- site him, as the companion figure, is the Avind god Quetzalcoatl, Avho is designated by the day " 9 Avind " and accompanied by a kind of serpent Avith a dog's or a jaguar's head («, figure 71). Identical Avith this figure of the deity "4 snake" is another (5, figure 71), Avhich forms in the Borgian codex, page 14, one of the four deities Avho are evidently distributed according to the four points of the compass: Tlaloc, this god Avith the serpent in his mouth, Mix- «Die sogenannten sakralen Gefilsse der Zapoteken ( Veroffeutllchungen aus dem Konig- lichen Museum fiir A'olkerkunde, Bund I, Heft 4, pp. 182-188). BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 3ULLETIN 28 PLATE XXXV i-y-M ^.^--^^CT- POTTERY FRAGMENTS FROM ZAACHILLA AND CUILAPA selee] DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 303 ciiatl, and Xipe, who, it seems, are referred respectively to the east, north, south, and west quarters of the heavens. This god with the serpent in his mouth, 5, appeared to me to have features like those exhibited by the representation in the same codex, of TepeyoUotl, the god of caves, of the interior of the earth (figure 66). He is doubtless a deity of the earth and related to the god Tepey- ■^c^. Fig. 71. Mexican deities, from tlie Vienna codex. ollotl. Hence the exceedingly frequent representations of this par- ticular god on the burial vessels seem only natural. I believe we must also consider the various vessels and figures exhibiting a jaguar in the act of springing as connected w4th Tepey- oUotl, w^ho is represented in the calendars in the form of a jaguar (see the vessel on the left side of plate xxxvi). 304 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Other figures and vessels evidently represent a female personage or a female deity. Thus the two beautiful figure vessels which are reproduced in\he middle of plate xxxiii, and on plate xxxiv, which, together with the two others, with the serpent face, reproduced on plate xxxm, and two plain, low, three-footed vessels, were found in a field in the neighborhood of the royal city of the Zapotecs, Zachila, or Teotzapotlan. We had the good fortune to be on the spot on the very dav when this discovery was made, and were able to add these pieces to our collection, aiter some bargaining. They have passed with our whole collection into the possession of the Eoyal Museum of Ethnology at Berlin. I have grouped together in plate xxxv some types of small pottery antiquities. We collected the originals partly in the neighborhood of Zachila and Cuilapa, partly in Mitla, and partly in Zoquitlan, above Totolapan. Some of the heads are the tops of bulbous clay whistles, which have two short feet in front, the mouthpiece of the whistle forming a third foot behind. (3thers are fragments of flat figures, evidentlv modeled in pottery molds. We know that the pot- tery whistles were frequently used, together with great whelk shells which served as trumpets and other musical instruments, at religious ceremonies, especially at the penitential exercises in honor of the ram o-od and other deities. They were very often, we may even say very c'^enerallv, copies of the figure of a god. Those which come from the Yalle de Mexico verv often have the form of the god of gaming, song, and dancing, but sometimes those of Xipe and others. Prob- ably the small pottery figures were in the main small house idols, small images for votive offerings, and the like. There are two principal types to be recognized among these Zapotec pottery heads and small pottery figures. First, male faces with deeply furrowed features, some with beards and some with projecting eye teeth, very often with a distinct halo. I believe these must be identified with the old god, the male part of the primal pair of gods. The other principal type is evidently that of a youthful female deity. There is o-enerallv to be recognized over the brow the transversely o-rooved pllate and the two eyes of a reptile (alligator), out of whose open jaws looks the face of the goddess. These heads therefore doubtless represented the earth goddess who grants fertility and prosperity. Jaguar heads, or faces which wear a jaguar as a helmet mask, are seldom met with among these smaller pottery antiquities, and the face with the inserted serpent jaws, which is so frequent m the larger figure vessels, the mortuary vessels, seldom or never occur amono- them. We obtained, chiefly in Zoquitlan, torsos dressed in wadded armor, holding a shield in om' hand and a chib or a lance m. the other; but similar ones are also found oc<-asionally among the antiquities discovered in other places. J— » ' f if". SBLEE] DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 305 One reflection in particular is forced on us while considering these antiquities peculiar to the Zapotec countiy. The types are very uniform and very characteristic, and in them can be recognized, strictly speaking, only the old creative god (fire god?), the earth goddess, TepeyoUotl, and perhaps a Avar god. Among the genuine Zapotec antiquities there is no trace to be found of the crowded Olympus of the picture writings and its very characteristic figures, particularly the forms of Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, Xipe, and the rest, which we shall meet with again in the frieze of Mitla, while among the antiquities of the Valle de Mexico and that portion of the highlands bordering upon it the characteristic form of Quetz- alcoatl, at least, is often found. Hence the conclusion seems inevi- table that the cosmogonic representations referring to Quetzalcoatl, explained more fully above, as well as the Olympus with its many personages which meets us in the picture writings and which we shall find again in the frieze of Mitla, were not properly national, did not have their roots in the Zapotec country, but represented a superim- posed culture, which owes its origin to the influence of Nahua tribes dating back to prehistoric times. 7238— No. 28—05 20 EXPLANATION OF THE WALL PAINTINGS The fragments of painting reproduced in plates xxxvii to xxxix are so arranged that each piece furnished with its special number rep- resents a connected strip, and the transition from one number to another always means a gap in the painting caused by the destruc- tion of the intervening part. It is apparent that only the upper parts of the frieze have been preserved. This is very much to be regretted, because the figures or groups on these friezes, as in the Vienna manuscript, were accompanied by dates, designations of years and days, which were certainly, as in. the Vienna codex, doubly im- portant, serving, on the one hand, as a connecting bond between the series of scenes represented by bringing theui into a definite chro- nologic point of view, and, on the other, furnishing the names or des- ignations of the personages represented. To be sure, an attempt has not yet been made to interpret and decipher all these dates in any of the manuscripts of this class. Any such interpretation, however, is made forever impossible for the paintings of Mitla, because the lower half of the frieze in which the dates stood or down into which they extended is entirely destroyed. The bands grouped on plate xxxvii belong together in respect to their character, inasmuch as they all have for their upper and lateral border the " house of the sun ", that is, a band which is formed by the regular repetition of the elements of the sun glyph, namely, eyes and rays. In fragment 1 these rays are stone knives, between which an eye surrounded by rays and eyes looks down, and in the other fragments human faces look doAvn surrounded by rays consisting of figures resembling eyes. The fragments G to 11 belong to the east side of the court adjoining Palace I. The others, however, all belong to Palace IV, fragment 1 to the east side and fragments 2 to 5 to the north side. It appears from this that the entire Palace IV must have been dedicated to the sun god. This supposition is confirmed by the fact that in the middle of the north side of this palace (fragment 5), in a conspicuously prominent place, there is a sun glyph, in the middle of which there was doubtless a representation of the sun god, but which has been cut away, intentionally, as it seems. The north side was the principal side in all the palaces. It hiy along the prhicipal axis, since the prin- cipal courts of all the palaces open to\^ard the south, and the mam building, with its adjoining court, lies on the north side of the chief 306 EXPLANATION OF WALL PAINTINGS 807 selbr] court. Hence the sun glyph in the middle of this side in Palace IV must certainly be looked upon as the sign of the palace There is in fragment 1, besides pedunculate oculiform elements and the stone knives, which here represent the rays of the sun glyph, a design, already mentioned, which consists of an eye with an eyebrow rolled up at the ends, on which rest elongated (protruding) eyes, between which latter are inserted three pointed elements resembling ray« In the Mexican figurative symbolism eyes are very generally employed to express radiating light. Lustrous stones (emerald, tur- qouise and muscovite) are expressed heiroglyphically by a disk that Fig. 72. Symbols and figure of deities, from Mexican codices. is marked differently according to the nature of the stone, and on its circumference are drawn four eyes placed in the form of a cross (see the hieroglyph chalchiuitl, '" emerald ", in the pyramidal stmctiire of the temple, a, figure 75). The stars shining down from the night sky are designated by eyes which are attached to the surface and to the rim of a stripe or half circle painted in a dark, nebulous color (see the representation of day and night in the middle design of figure 58 and the drawing of night with the symbol of the moon, a labbit in a watery field, in figure 65 and «, figure 72). It seems, therefore, certain that the composite designs in fragment 1 are intended to represent radiating light. One is even tempted 308 BUKEAU OP AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 to ascribe to them a special meaning. If the eyes mean stars, this eye snrounded by other radiating eyes might be intended to indicate an especially brilliant star ; perhaps Citlalpol, the " great star ", that is, the planet Venus. But the conjecture is contradicted by the fact that where the planet Venus is plainly expressed in the picture writings as an astronomic body it is designated by the date. " 1 reed " ; as, for example, in the group m a, figure 72, the symbol of the morning star and the moon," which, in the Borgiari codex, page 44, is drawn beside the great picture of the sun god, and in «, figure ()3, from the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, beside the deity of the morn- ing star. The gleaming eye of fragment 1 is generally represented in a blue field, a clear sky, as in 5, figure 72, and a, figure 73, from the Vi- enna codex, pages 47 and 48, and in similar pictures in the same codex, page 52, where the creative gods are seen enthroned in the clear blue sky. In the Borgian codex, pages 62 to 66, are found a number of complicated representations which refer to the deities of the four I)oints of the compass and of the center, the fifth point of the compass, or the interior of the earth. Here the house of the sun, in the east, is designated by c, figure 74, in which the yellow-straw roof is seen to be provided with a cornice of flowers, while the house of the earth or of stone, in the north, is crowned with a row of stone knives, and the house of the owl, in the south, is formed entirely of human bones. Now, there are houses exactly like this house of the sun in the east on certain pages of the Borgian codex, a and 6, figure 75, and in one of these is represented Quetzalcoatl, painted red, as the sun god, it would seem; in the other, his brother Xolotl, with the image of the sun on his back. Here, however, the roof, instead of being painted with the yellow color of straw, as in c, figure 74, has the clear sky painted upon it, stripes of many colors in which are drawn stone knives, eyes, and the eye surrounded by radiating eyes of fragment 1 of our plate, while (6, figure 75) the border is supported from below by female figures with death's-heads and jaguar claws, which are in all probability the Tzitzimime Ilhuicatzitzquique or Petlacotzit- zquique, " the winged forms of the air who support the sky " (angeles de aire sostenedores del cielo) or " holders of the reed mat " (tene- dores del tapete de cana), mentioned by Tezozomoc.^ In these pic- tures the palace of the sun is placed opposite another house, out of which tongues of flame curl high in the air and in which dwell dark forms of night. The roof is pointed like the cave temple, which, in " The moon is represented here, as above in figure 65, by the picture of a rabbit in a vessel of water, the walls of which are formed of bones ; that is, the bones of the dead. The ancient Mexicans recognized the form of a rabbit in our " man in the moon ", as did the ancient Hindoos. The story runs that originally the moon shone with a light equal to that of the sun ; that on this account the gods threw a rabbit into its face and thus diminished its brilliancy to its present glow. " Cronica Mexicana, chap, 38. seler] EXPLANATION OF WALL PAINTINGS 309 the Borgian codex (figure G6) is represented opposite Tepej^ollotl. It is probably intended to represent the house of the earth or stone. In the Vienna codex, page 38, in exactly the same way, a mountain ^^mm^ss l c Fig. 73. Descent of Qnetzalcoatl and house symbols, from the Vienna codex. (painted green, as usual), with the radiating eye on its surface, is placed opposite another mountain, painted brown and black, the color of stone, out of which rise tongues of fire (6, figure 74). In 310 BUEEAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 the Vienna codex is found also a representation where the radiating eye is enthroned in a house of its own (figure 76). This palace of the radiating eye is represented on a mountain, on whose surface a h <■ Pig. 74. Venus symbol and figures of mountains and house, from Maya and Mexican codices. is indicated a blossoming tree, and opposite is seen, clothed in eagle array, the deity " 9 rolling ball ". We have already seen this same deity in the remarkable representation in figure 73, where, ^Tn^y-^fPSnf "jirrp^^r^ ?r7? a h Fig. 75. Temple and sun symbol, from the Borgian codex. clothed in eagle array, he and a god with an alligator mask, together with the descending Quetzalcoatl, are bringing down from the heavens the houses of the day and the night. Night is here repre- fcented (see &, figure 73) by a head with closed eyes. This representa- selrk] EXPLANATION OF WALL PAINTINGS 311 tion is one which can unquestionably be compared with the represen- tations of day and night among the so-called celestial shields of the Maya manuscripts, and it proves that 1 was entirely in the right when I pronounced this sign of the night in the Maya manuscripts, which is at the same time the hieroglyph for the numeral 20, to be a head with empty, bleeding eye sockets." The entire picture in figure 73 appears to be a remarkable parallel to a, figure 74, from the Dresden manu- script, which was interpreted by Forstemann as the descent of Venus. Fig. 76. Mexican deity, from the Vienna codex. I even feel inclined to recognize the original form of the Maya sign, which Forstemann regards as the hieroglyph of the planet Venus, in the object set with five eyes which is carried on the staff of the descending Quetzalcoatl. If that is the case there is so much the less reason for accepting the theory that the planet Venus was intended to be represented by the eye surrounded by radiating eyes in fragment 1. A summing up of the points demonstrated above proves beyond a doubt, I think, that the eye surrounded by radiating eyes is not a " star eye ", as I myself formerly designated it, but an eye of light, a " sun eye ", kin-ich, as the Mayas called it. Therefore, we may consider this eye of light of fragment 1 without hesitation as homologous to the faces surrounded by radiating eyes in the other fragments of plate xxxvii. For the notions " eye " and " face " are "See Zeitschrift fiir Etiinologie, v. 19 (1887), pp. (237)-(246). - 312 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 merged one in the other in the languages of Mexico and Central America.'^ There is, besides, a representation in which a deity of this " eye of light " or " eye of rays '' is presented to us directly. It is on that one of the fa- mous relief slabs of Santa Lucia Cozu- malhuapa which is now in the Royal Museum of Ethnology at Berlin, and I reproduce it here in figure 77 (after C. Habel, but with some corrections). Here is seen the deity hovering above, and before him, below, the dancer dressed in the attributes of the deity. The head of the deity is set, as it were, like an eye under a large eyebrow which is curled up at the ends, and on which rest three zigzag rays. The dancer wears in his hair ornament the eye set in an eyebroAV Avith three upright points, and a similar eye is above him on the end of a separate staff. The otlier attributes, such as the jaguar's skin which hangs down from the back of the dancer, the point of the spear, which is seen behind, and the jaguar's head, which he wears as a hand mask and as a decoration on his belt, show that we have before us the deity of a burn- ing star, of the sun itself. No part of the representations which were below the border of clear sky is preserved on the east side of Palace IV (fragment 1, plate xxxvii). On the north side can be seen the head of Xipe '' near the western end (fragment 2, plate xxxvii). The god is recognized by the narrow eye, the forked nose ornament, and the broad red stripe, of the width of the eye, that passes down the whole length of the face, which seems to connect this deity, much wor- shiped in the Atlantic Sierra Madre and the coast lands Iving before Fig. 77. Sculptured slab, Santa Lucia Cozumalliuapa, Guate- mala. " Compare Mexican : ixtli, " la haz o la cara (the front or the face)" ; ix-telolotll, " ojo (eye)"; Zapotec : lao, loo, piahui-lao-ni, "haz por el rostro o cara del hombre (front to the beak or face of a man)" ; lao, piz^a-lao, " ojo con que vemos, 6 ojos (eye with which we see, or eyes)"; Maya: ich, " oara, ojos, vista, seml)lante. haz. auverso (face, eyes, aspect, appearance, front, obverse)". ^ See, concerning this god, Tonalamatl der Aubinschen Sammlung, work cited, pp. G.'57-675, and Veroffentlichungen aus dem Koniglichen Museum fiir Volkerkunde, v. 1, pt. 4, pp. 145, 140 (illustration, fig. 13, p. 151). BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 28 PLATE XXXVII "■"^mmmm WALL PAINTINGS AT MITLA OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY ■MmmiMiJ^:^m. M ^1'^^ ^^ 7} WALL BULLETIN 28 H^.1 6 ^r^ AT MITLA [^jyp'o^T-f) SELER] EXPLANATTON OP WALL PAINTINGS 313 I't^ with a well-known deity of the Maya manuscripts, a deity of war, fire, and death, who appears in the retinue of the death god. Xipe in our fragment does not appear directly as the " stone-knife god " (Tz tapal totec, that is, Itz-tlapalli, or Tlapal-itztli, Totec), as, for exam- ple, in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis ; but he wears a crown of stone Imives, from which hangs a feather plume. Beside him, on the right, are visible the heads and bodies of two serpents, having a row of points along their backs. In fragment 3 there can be recognized two persons sitting with their arms crossed over their breasts, evidently two penitents, for be- tween them project two sharpened thigh bones, implements of self- castigation, which served to pierce the tongue, ears, or limbs in order to draw blood for sacrifice to the deity. The remnants still preserved in fragment 4 will no longer permit of interpretation. In fragment 5, however, we still have on each side of the sun glyph a continuous representation. On the right and left, from the sun glyph, which is flanked by steplike structures, a cord is seen to proceed, which is set with eyes (stars) and the eyes of light or rays discussed in detail above. Figures falling from the sky border, wearing peculiar wigs, which rise to a crest and are curled like waves, grasp at these cords, to which cling, from below recum- bent female forms with jaguar claws. These latter may perhaps be considered as homologous with the " ilhuica-tzitzquique " of &, figure 75. The incident seems intelligible. The sun is being drawn out of its cave. A legend descriptive of such an incident has, how- ever, not yet been discovered. It is difficult to interpret other remains of figures which can still be distinguished in fragment 5. On the left side of the fragment the head of a bird seems partially visible. Farther toward the middle, just on the left of the sun glyph, is the head of a jaguar. It seems as if this jaguar were intended to bear on its back the entire structure containing the image of the sun, for on the right of the sun glyph and equally distant from it there seems to hang down the tail of the jaguar. A scorpion, with one claw and upward-curling tail, is plainly visible at the right end of the fragment. Fragments 6 to 11 on plate xxxvii, belonging to the east side of the court adjoining Palace I, are more carefully drawn and more deli- cately executed than the paintings of Palace IV. The bird forms with clearly marked crests are very interesting objects here. These appear on the left (northern) end of the picture (fragment 6) as com- plete birds; then half turned into men (fragment 10) ; finally, on the right (southern) end (fragment 11), the full human face looks out of the bird face, which is reduced to a helmet mask. These bird forms and bird men are evidently identical with the idol of Teotitlan del valle, whose form I was able to show in the reliefs reproduced above 314 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 in figures 69 and 70. The fact that these figures occur in the rep- resentations of the east side of this court, in the house of the sun, is a proof of the correctness of my conjecture that this idol of Teotitlan is the sun bird, which conjecture I have already mentioned above and which was directly suggested by the name Teotitlan itself. Besides the sun bird two figures of the wind god, Quetzalcoatl, strike us as significant on the east side of the court of Palace I, frag- ments 7 and 9 of plate xxxvii. They are recognizable from the ocelo- copilli, the round, conical cap of jaguar skin, and from the wingiike feather ornament on the nape of the neck, concerning which I shall speak farther on. In regard to the other remains of figures, various heads of serpents are still recognizable; at the right end of frag- ment 7 is a deity in a watery field, from the surface of which rise two divergent branches, bordered by what seem to be curling wreaths of smoke ending in bunches of flowers or feathers; and in fragment 8 is evidently another deity, a counterpart to the first one. The whole of plate xxxviii and fragments 1 to 5 of plate xxxix are taken from the north, the principal, side of the side court of Palace I. The border here, as on the south side, is formed of simple disks. The underlying idea of this design is doubtless that of the stone disks (representing turquoise, emerald, or other precious stones) , which w-e find expressed in the headbands, especially in that of the sun god, in the picture writings and stone figures. The representations on this north side of the court are uncommonly rich and manifold, and it is only to be regretted that so large a por- tion of the paintings are already destroyed, and also that we do not know the particular form of the legends which are expressed in these paintings. Undoubtedly the god Quetzalcoatl is the central figure of these legends. His picture can be recognized in the painted fragments on this side of the court no fewer than nine times (in fragments 3, 4a, 4b, and 5 of plate xxxvii and in fragments 1, 3, and 4 of plate xxxix). I have spoken at length concerning the nature of this god and his attributes in my article on the Tonalamatl of the Aubin collection," and in my translation of the chapter on the costumes of the gods of the Aztec Sahagun text." The god is represented in the painted fragments of Mitla, in every instance, with the ocelo-copilli on his head, the round conical cap of jaguar skin, in which are fixed the implements of castigation — on one side, the sharpened thigh bone, from whose condyle blood flows or a flower is pendent, and on the other side, the sharp, prickly point « Compte rendu VII. Session Congrfes International des Americanistes, Berlin, 1888, pp. 545—559. b Veroffientlictiungen .-lus dem Koniglichen Museum fiir Vollierkunde, v. 1, pt. 4, pp. 126-129. seler] EXPLANATION OF WALL PAINTINGS 315 of an agave leaf. The round ends of the head knots, which are char- acteristic of Quetzalcoatl, for everything about the wind god is round or twisted in spirals, are to be found here and there. The " thorny, curved " ear decoration tzicoliuhqui nacochtli, plainly meant to look as if cut out of a snail shell, seen in the pictures of this god in the Borgian codex, Codex Vaticanus B, etc., is entirely lack- ing in our paintings, being replaced by a simple ear disk. The breast ornament of Quetzalcoatl, no less characteristic, and is evidently cut out of a Avhelk shell, which is called in the Aztec Sahagun text ecailacatz-cozcatl, " the spirally twisted wind ornament ", is also lacking, but probably only because from the neck down the figures are altogether destroyed. On the other hand, in fragment 4b, plate XXXVII, it is outlined on the shield of the god. The fanlike or wing- c ^ (J Fig. 78. Symbols and figures of Quetzalcoatl, from Mexican codices. like feather ornament, standing out stiffly from the nape of the neck, which in the Aztec Sahagun text is once called cuezaluitoncatl, " fanlike ornament of red guacamayo feathers ", and another time quetzal-coxol-tlamamalli, '' dorsal ornament of quetzal and partridge feathers ", is in our paintings always drawn like the pictures in the Borgian codex. Codex Vaticanus B, the Vienna codex, and the Mixtec Colombino codex (Dorenberg codex) ; that is, it consists of elongated, radiating feathers (in the picture writings painted entirely red or red with blue points), which are probably intended to represent the tail feathers of the red guacamayo (" macaw "), and objects between these which are either actual representations of ej^es (see a, figure 78, from the Mixtec Colombino, or Dorenberg, codex) or surfaces orna- mented with eyes more or less clearly expressed (see 5, from the 316 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Vienna codex, page 30 ; e, from the Borgian codex, and d, from Codex Telleriano-Remensis, page 2). These intervenmg parts of the feather ornaments for the nape of the neck, especially in fragment 7 of plate XXXVII, are very much like the oculiform designs which sur- round radially the faces of light in the sky border. Therefore this figure, as well as a, from the Colombino codex (Dor- enberg codex) , recalls very strikingly the eyes of light, or radial eyes, which I have already described in detail, and for this reason I believe that this feather ornament for the back of the neck, cuezal-uitoncatl is also intended to be a representation of the sun as well as that eye of light, or radial eye. Quetzalcoatl or a kindred form is portrayed in Codex Telleriano-Remensis II, page 25, rising from the jaws of the night monster, with the sun on his back, and in the picture from the Borgian codex reproduced in 6, figure 75, is represented his brother Xolotl, with the sun disk on his back. The red guacamayo feathers have indeed already pointed to this connection; for the red guacamayo is the xilouela copijcha, as the Zapotecs called it, the cuezal-tonameyotl of the Mexican Sahagun text, that is, " the picture or the reflection of the sun". The picture of the sun god was deco- rated with the feather ornament, cuezal-tonameyotl, on the day Naui Ollin, " 4 rolling ball ", which was dedicated to the sun.« It is an important circumstance for the perfect understanding of these forms and, not less, for the knowledge of the province which was the home of this god or in which the people dwelt among whom this form of the wind god was worshipped that in the description of costumes in the Aztec Sahagun text Macuil Xochitl and Ixtlilton, the light and the dark brother, are likewise provided with an uitoncatl, otherwise called cuezal-uitoncatl. We recognized this light and dark brother in the idol of the Zapotec Xa quie, or Teotitlan del valle, as well as in that of Teotitlan del camino, situated near the boundary between the Nahua tribes and the Mazateca. In the capital, Mexico, the city of Uitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl had no festival, scarcely a place of worship, nor in the other cities of the Valle de Mexico, with the single exception of Mizquic ; but he had a sanctuary in Cho- lula, and from that point along the entire road over which the Tol- tecs, the wandering Nahua tribes, are said to have passed we find more or less evident traces of his worship until we reach Cozcatlan, inhabited by Mexican-speaking Pipils, in the present republic of San Salvador.^ It was the Toltecs, or the Nahua race, " who were familiar with Mexican, although the}'^ did not speak it as perfectly as they use the language to-day ", whose lord and god was Quetzalcoatl. "• Since they were quick of wit and apt in trade thev succeeded in a " Sahagun, v. 4, chap. 2. '' Palacio. Uelacion de (iuatemahi. Coleccion de Documentos ineditos del Archivo General de las Indias, v. 6 (1886), p. 26 and following. SELER] EXPLANATION OF WALL PAINTINGS 3l7 phort time in acquiring riches, and men said their god Quetzalcoatl gave them these, and so it was said among them of one who became rich rapidly that he was a son of Quetzalcoatl ".'' The same author- ity ^ makes a similar statement concerning the Olmecs, Uixtotins, and Mixtecs — (under which name, as I stated above, are included different tribes of the tierra caliente, and probably also the Zapotecs), to wit, that likewise among these " there were many who spoke the Mexican language " (iniquein miequintin in navatlatoa). Doubtless the form of this god passed to the Zapotecs from the conquering and trad- ing Nahua tribes, and perhaps the key to this frieze of Mitla, so abounding in figures, might have been found among the Nahua tribes, neighbors of the Zapotecs, in Teotitlan or in Teouacan (Tehuacan), full of idols and priests and productive of picture writings. The western part of the frieze on the north side in Palace I is pretty thoroughly destroyed. In consequence, fragment 1 on plate XXXVIII shows in general only disconnected remains. Two inter- twined serpents, characterized by a row of jDoints on the back, are quite distinct and recall those of fragment 2 on plate xxxvii. Fur- thermore there is a bird with a pointed beak, which appears again below on fragment 4b, plate xxxviii. The numerals 1 and 2 are coordinated in the Borgian codex, page 44, with two bird forms which apparently correspond to this one of the pointed beak. Finally, there is preserved at the right end of fragment 1 a deity who wears a bar in the nose that diminishes in steps, like those by which the deities of the earth, Chantico and Xochiquetzal, are characterized in the Borgian codex. The elaborate painting of the face recalls also the Xochiquetzal of the Borgian codex, page 53. In fragment 3 of plate xxxviii are to be first noticed two pictures of the sun god. They can be recognized by the headband, which is set with disks representing precious stones and has a bird's head in front, and by two lines which border the outer corners of the eyes. The sun god in the Borgian codex, page 49, is represented opposite the moon god, as ruler of the sixth week, " 1 death ", in exactly the same way (see below, figure 82). The forward one of the two figures in fragment 3 appears to hold a cup in his hand, the other a disk or ball. Opposite the latter a god is portrayed who also wears the step- shaped, tapering nose bar of the earth goddess. To this god the day date seems to belong, which consists of the head of the rain god (quiauitl, " rain ") with a numeral which can no longer be identified. Behind the second figure of the sun god is given the year date "7 (?) flint ". After this follows a representation difficult to interpret, in which can be recognized a mountain, with a finely drawn head of a turkey, and with a house ( ? ) on its summit. Fragment 4a begins with a serpent, which has the head of Quetzal- " Saliagun, v. 10, chap. 29, sec. I. * Ibid., sec. 10, 318 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 coatl and lies along the roof of a house. Then follows unmistakably the figure of Xolotl," the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl, characterized by the physiognomy of an animal (dog?). He is adorned with Quetzalcoatl's conical cap of jaguar skin and his necklace of sr.ail shells. The torn ears of a dog appear here almost m the shape ot feather tufts. • i u i • After Xolotl the drawing of a mountain, or town, with the hiero- o-lyph " emerald " on its surface, and on its top a house, follows, and out of the roof of the house grows a blossoming tree. Then follow two human forms facing downward, which bear two mountains (towns) on their backs by means of the mecapal, a carrying strap passing over the forehead. The first is characterized by waving lines on its surface, in the middle of which are two mirrors. On its sum- mit it bears the house with the blossoming trees. The other mountain has on its surface the hieroglyph " mirror " repeated three times, one above the other, and on its summit it has the head of a turkey. In fragment 5 on plate xxxviii, besides a couple of serpents' heads, there ar^ visible an eagle and a jaguar, at least the splendidly exe- cuted claws of one. . ■ . u In fragment 1, plate xxxix, the picture of the death god is to be seen, whose face is painted like that of Tezcatlipoca, and who wears the stone knife as an ear peg and throws a lance with one hand. In fragment 4, plate xxxix, the year '• 1 reed ", the name of the morning star, is given beside the picture of Quetzalcoatl. It seems therefore that here on the right (eastern) end of the frieze of the north side the transformation of Quetzalcoatl into the morning star was indicated. , -^ u i The -remains of the frieze on the west side of the court ot i^aiace I are reproduced in fragments 6 to 9 on plate xxxix. I was obliged to free the last of these from the masonry that had been built over them before I could copy them. The night, or the starry sky, is here represented as a surrounding border by means of eyes in a dotted (that is, dark) field. ^ . iv On this side of the court are represented, not different deities, but different disguises of the same deity. The application of dark paint to the face around the eyes, like a domino, is the one essential characteristic in which this god coincides with the deity of the morn- ing star, who, according to the interpreter's rendering, ' is lord ot the dawn but also lord of the twilight when night is about to faff (quiere dezir sehor de mahana quando amanece, y lo mismo es senor de aouella claridad quando quiere anochecer). (See figures 62 and 63 ) ' The same characteristic is, however, also an attribute of Cam- axtli, who was the god of Tlaxcallan and was called^-odjofttiechase "T^^^^^^^^^n-ms this god, Das l^^^matl der Aubinsclien Sammlung, p. 682 and following. BUREALi OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 28 PLATE XXXVIII XJJXivEgxjj: FT x^T g ¥.r Eoaaa:LLX ^Lj^T-xx-ia.x xxxr^^ ^^^^ XEIZTTTrXTDEI^EBna^ XEI33C03EEIlEHECtH WALL PAINTINGS AT MITLA INYBRTBd. AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY ■f¥i% £ll WALL PAIN BULLETIN 28 PL \h HI EXPLANATION OF WALL PAINTINGS 319 seler] (a, figure 79, from Duran, volume 2, plate 6, a), and of Paynal and At'laua as they are represented in the Aztec Sahagun manuscript of the Biblioteca del Palacio at Madrid (6 and c, figure 79) . It was also characteristic of Mixcoatl, who, like Camaxtli, was god of the chase, and in honor of whom the Mexicans celebrated the feast of Quecholli. A picture in the Sahagun manuscript of the Biblioteca del Palacio represents this feast, with the god and hunters wearing the costume of the god, who perform a dance or march in procession before him (a, figiire 80). Finally, this characteristic is exhibited in exactly the same'^way in the Borgian codex, by the god who is being sacrificed on the ball ground on which the red and the black Tezcatlipoca are at play (^.^figure 80). It is also one of the attributes of the Miinix- coua, the sorcerers, called Xiuhnel and Mimitzin, who, with their sister Quilaztli, were found by the migratory Aztecs in the north dilavcx Fig. 79. Mexican deities, after Duran and Sahagun. (" the land of the Mimixcoua ", Mimixcoua in tlalpan) below the mesquites and hanging on the melon thistle cacti, and who became their first tribute (yehuantin yacachto tequitizque) , that is, they Avere the first whom they offered as sacrifices to their god {a, figure 81).« The characteristic is doubtless also indicated on the faces of the captives adorned for the sacrificio gladiatorio, by whom the con- quest and subjugation of a city or country is regularly typified in the Codex Telleriano-Eemensis (see above, figures 55 and 56). It is obvious that this black painting about the eye is connected in "Boturini codex, p. 9. The foremost prostrate figure, that is, the one lying farthest on the right, whom the Aztec designated by the hieroglyph Aztlan is sacrificing, is (quilaztli, that is, the earth goddess, recognizable by the black color about the mouth. Next follow her brothers, the Mimixcoua, the first designated hieroglyphically by the pic- ture of a fish, mimitzin, the other by the hieroglyph "turquoise (mosaic) " and small individual pieces of turquoise, xiuhnel. The three are dressed as Chichimecs in skins. 320 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 most of ihese cases with the white or red and white striped paint- ing of the body. It is fairly stereotyped as to form and extension ; but a variation exists, inasmuch as in one of the manuscripts (Borgian codex) there is only a plain patch of black paint, while in the others (Codex Telleriano-Remensis, Tonalamatl of the Aubin collection, Sahagun manuscript) this black surface has a border of little circles. In the Aztec Sahagun manuscript, this painting of the face is desig- F!G. 80. Procession and sacrifice, from the Saliagun manuscript" and the Borgian codes. nated as the " face-cage marking " and the " face-star marking which is called darkness (tlayoualli) ". The expression "cage marking'' refers, it would seem, to the stripes on the face. It is therefore evi- dent that the technical designation " star marking, darkness " refers to the design resembling a black domino. This nomenclature not only explains the nature of the thing itself, but is also a proof that all the intricate and manifold symbols which we find as attributes of the personages of the Mexican Olympus were no thoughtless repetitions sklbr] EXPLANATION OF WALL PAINTINGS 321 of adopted forms, but signs purposely employed to enable the be- holder to recognize the nature of the personage represented without the possibility of error. In the case before us there has simply been drawn on the face of the deity the hieroglyph " night ", as we have learned to know it in figure 65 and «, figure 72; and it follows from this signification and the designation given that the more complete and correct symbol was that which shoAvs us the black surface bor- dered b}^ small circles. These small circles are doubtless the eyes by which the Mexicans indicated the stars in the expanse of the dark nocturnal sky. The deities on whose faces this hieroglyph was written have in- deed a large number of traits in common, in spite of the fact that their entities are apparently very divergent. The interpreter has alreadj^ laid stress upon the statement that the morning star is also the lord of the evening twilight, and thus belongs to the region of a h Fig. 81. Sacrifices and tribute-bearer, from. Mexican codices. the. west. This is, moreover, an astronomic fact. The Indians of the isthmus, according to Brasseur de Bourbourg,« up to this day call the morning star the "transient sun" (le soleil passant). The gods who were at home in the north, the region of darkness, were, from the Indian point of view, moreover, merged in these deities of the twi- light, that is, the time when the sun was not yet or no longer shining ; and, since in the north lived the roaming hunter tribes, the Chichi- mecs, the god of the north was naturally the god of the chase. The merging of the deity of the morning star in the hunting god of the north is actually carried out in the Tlauizcalpan Tecutli of the Ton- alam.atl of the Aubin collection, since the netted pouch (chitatli), the javelin, and the attendant animal of the god Camaxtli are placed in front of him (see &, figure Y3). The north is, however, also the king-- dom of the dead. Therefore, those who are destined for sacrifice, for » Voyage sur Flsthme de Tehuantepec, 7238— No. 28—05 21 Paris, 1861, p. 81, 322 BUREAU OF AMERICAISr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 death, are naturally clothed in the livery of this god. Finally, the morning star, according to the interpreter, was also the first light Avhich illuminated the world, before the sun was created. Hence this god is the primal deity, the creator of the world and of men, the Iztac Mixcoatl, who, as Motolinia rej^orts, lived in the north, in Chicom- oztoc, and from whom and his wife, Ilancueye, descended the differ- ent nations of the Avorld, that is, of Mexico. The deities of the evening twilight, who are represented on the west side of the court of Palace I (fragments G to 9 of plate xxxix), have, almost all of them, a beard of the kind that is given to Quetzalcoatl, to the creative god Tonacatecutli, and occasionallj^ also to the moon god, and several of the figures Avear a tusklike curved peg in the under lip. The Mexicans called this tez-gaca-necuilli, and in the historical picture writings the warriors of Uexotzinco and Tlaxcallan are gen- erally drawn with it (see ?>, figure 81). The style of dressing the hair and the adornment vary somewhat in other particulars, but one has the impression that these were mere calligraphic variants or different forms of the same deity. Each held a spear throAver in one hand and spears in the other. The gods are probably thus character- ized as gods of war and of the chase. As for the rest of the figures, we have, first, in fragment 6. on the left side, a deer facing downwards (recognizable by the hoofs) and clothed in a petticoat bordered with stone knives. Then comes an eagle, then a second form facing downwards Avhich has the feet and claws of the jaguar; in fragment 7, a deer with two heads; in frag- ment 8, a figure difficult of interpretation, in which the petticoat bor- dered with stone knives occurs again; finally, in fragment 10, are intertwined blossoming branches set with thorns or points. The south side of the court of Palace I, from which I have been able to copy fragment 10 of plate xxxix, is the most uniform. The border, like that on the north side, consists of simple disks. The per- sonages represented below the border are all different forms or calli- graphic variants of the sun god.. The characteristic features here are again the headband set Avith disks representing precious stones and bearing on the front a conventionalized bird's head and the lines around the outer corners of the eyes. The headband in all the fig- ures Avithout exception is almost exactly the same. The lines around the outer corners of the eyes of the third figure in fragment 10 are the only ones drawn in the characteristic manner to be seen in the picture of the sun god of the Borgian codex (figure 82) and also in fragment 8 of plate xxxviii. The fourth personage has a broad rectangular latticeAvork stripe. The others seem to have only a line of demar- cation betAveen the parts surrounding the eyes and the upper por- BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOOY m il^Iilid^If a.LL PAINTINGS AT MITLA INVEETED. ^^TEaa EEEU ^IflJ^XiaEEE WALL PAINTINGS AT MITLA INVERTED. seler] EXPLANATION OF WALL PAINTINGS 323 tion of the forehead. In the last figure on the right, which differs from the other forms of this side of the court in having a round eye of death, the face is divided length- wise by a broad stripe, which re- calls the drawing of Xipe, into a light front half and a dark rear half. The latter is covered with concentric circles very much resem- bling the divisions in the face paint- ing which are generally seen in the pictures of Quetzalcoatl. There is in this case also evident varia- tion of form or of conception of the same deity. The way in which, on one single strip of wall painting, the same deity is represented with slight alterations, sometimes in dif- ferent forms, and sometimes only in calligraphic variants, closely follow- i]ig one upon the other, recalls the calligraphic variants, or hiero- glj^phic elements repeated w^ith slight alterations, which one so often ]neets with in the ornamentation and hieroglyphic writings of the Mava races. Fig. 82. The sun god, from the Borgian codex. CONCLUSION Defective and incomplete as they now are, these paintings of Mitla, taken as a whole, present an important document. They are, up to the present day, the only known picture writings of mythologic con- tent, whose origin has been indisputably established, that date from ancient heathen times. Since these paintings show in the style of the figures and the subjects of the representations an unmistakable relationship to the Borgian codex, it follows that this large, beau- tifully and brilliantly executed, manuscript can not have origi- nated far from the place where the designers of the frescoes of Mitla received their inspiration, their knowledge, and their skill in art. This place can not well have been the Zapotec country itself, for, while the deity, or the deities, who occupy the most prominent place in these picture writings, doubtless played an impor- tant part in the priest lore and the philosophy of the Zapotecs, it seems that, with the exception of the idol of Teotitlan, they were by no means true national forms. On the other hand, these picture writings contain a large number of elements which point to ideas and customs recorded precisely of the Zapotecs, but which are com- pletely, or almost completely, lacking in the centers of political power belonging to the Nahua tribes of later times, as well as among the Mayas. It seems, therefore, that we ought not to seek the place which produced and spread this culture very far from the Zapotec country I believe that these picture writings are tangible evidences pointing to the idea we ought to form of the Toltecs, whose name has been so often mentioned and so much abused, for they were neither mere mythical forms dwelling in a fantastic region beyond the clouds nor the inhabitants of a single small city, least of all an exotic civil- ized race that spread over the whole American continent, coming from the primal Asiatic home of man, lying somewhere near the biblical paradise. As Father Sahagun's authority emphatically de^ Clares, the Toltecs, or their descendants, spoke Nahuatl; yet they were not the Nahua tribes of the highlands, those who later obtained predominant political power, but the Nahua tribes who lived m the coast region as neighbors of the Mixtec-Zapotec and the Maya tribes, and who, in and by means of this contact, in active peaceful inter- course with the other tribes, developed the calendar and the philoso- phy connected with and emanating from it, which embraced their own deities and those of other tribes, a calendar and philosophy which afterward became, to a certain extent, the common property of all the civilized peoples of ancient Mexico. 334 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MAYA CALENDAR IN HISTORIC CHRONOLOGY EDUARD SELER 336 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MAYA CALENDAR IN HISTORIC CHRONOLOGY" By Eduard Seler In the traditions of the Mexican and Central American races there is mention of a civilized nation, said to have been in the country before all others, which was the originator of all arts and sciences. This was the Toltec nation. Among other things, the invention of the calendar is ascribed to this nation, and we are told that they carried their books with them on their migrations and that they were led by their wise men and soothsayers, the Amoxhuaque, " who under- stood the books ", that is, the picture writings. This is to some extent a confirmation of the statement that they were the inventors of all arts and sciences. For the calendar is indeed the alpha and omega of the Central American sacerdotal wisdom, and the great mass of Mexican and Maya manuscripts is nothing more than an elaboration of this calendric system in respect of its numerical theory, its chro- nology, and its system of divination..^ The nature of this calendar, consisting in the fact that it originated from the fundamental number 20 in combination with the number 13, is a well-known matter. A simple calculation shows us that the peculiar period of 52 years in use among the Mexican races proceeds directly from the application of this fundamental system to a solar year of 365 days. There is still a diversity of opinion as to how fai- the Mexicans themselves were able to harmonize this system with actual time, the solar year and the revolution, of the various heavenly bodies. ~ Among the Maya races the system seems to have been brought to perfection on the numeric-theoretic side in particular. This is shown by the long rows of figiu"es rising to high amounts which Forstemann first brought to notice and deciphered. One thing seems to follow distinctly from these series of figures, namely, that not only the movement of the sun but also the movements of the large planets were noted, and that these people were capable of connecting the » Globus, V. 68, n. 3. '•See Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie (1891), v. 23, p. 91. 327 328 BUREAU OF AMERICAlsT ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 period of revolution of these bodies with the solar year of 365 days and with the period of 20X13 days, the true basis of the system. The apparent period of revolution of Venus may be set down with tolerable accuracy as 584 days. Five such revolutions give us the figures 2,920, or 8 solar years of 365 days. This precise number is plainly the basis of the computations on certain pages of the Dresden manuscript. But 65 such periods give us the number 37,960, that is, double the period of 52 years, which, as I said, is the direct result of the application of the designation of days in accord- ance with the system of the 20 characters and the 13 digits to the solar year of 365 days. In like manner, as Forstemann has also proved, the apparent revolution of Mercury around the sun, which is completed in 115 days, seems to be brought into connection with the period of 20X13 days; for 104 of these revolutions produce the number 11,960, which is as well forty-six times the period of 20X13 days. And this number clearly forms the basis of other pages in the Dresden manuscript.'* Now, while this elaboration of the system is shown with tolerable clearness by the extensive computations continued throughout entire series of pages, we are still in doubt in regard to the cardinal ques- tion, whether the Mayas and Mexicans were capable of harmoniz- ing this system, in which none but entire days are reckoned, with the actual duration of the year, which includes a fraction of a day; in other words, whether they were acquainted with intercalation, and how they managed it. It is evident that the solar year of 365 days necessarily caused a displacement of the beginning of the year, which- must needs become very apparent within a comparatively short space of time. That this circumstance was not taken into account b}^ the Mexicans, at least, within short periods of time, is proved by the displacement of the beginning of the year, which, as I have shown, actually occurred in the space from the conquest of the city of Mexico to the time when Father Sahagun wrote his history.^ The Mayas were more systematic than' the Mexicans in regard to chronologic dates, since they had in the first place longer periods, somewhat over 256 years, within which they could mark off 13 divisions with more precision. And furthermore, it seems to follow from both manu- scripts and stone monuments that the Mayas possessed a normal date to which all present, past, and future events were referred, the days, being simply reckoned from or up to this. This normal date, which Forstemann has also taught us to recognize, is 4 Ahau 8 Cumku, that is, the day designated by the figure 4 and the character Ahau, Avhich Avas the eighth day of the month Cumku. Wherever in the manuscripts the dates of day and month are accurately indicated, the « Forstemann, Die Zeilperioden der Mayas, Globus, v. (V^, n. 2. "Die Bilderhnndsc'hriflen Alex, von IT>imboldt, in der Konis^e Bililiolliek zu Berlin. SELER] MAYA CALENDAR IN HISTORIC CHRONOLOGY 329 figures attached invariably refer to this normal date as the starting or ending point. The stelte of Copan and Quirigua and the altar slabs of Palenque all have at the top a large glyph followed by a date, an ahau, the initial date or the name of a period of 20X360 days. And these large numerals invariably appear to give the difference between this date and the above-mentioned normal date. When such a distinct fixing of time occurs and when such weight is attached to it that the monuments erected at various periods, without exception, give this determination of the time first, we might well expect that these people were also capable of so ordering the calendar as to reduce the displacements resulting from the insufficient estimate of the length of the- year ; but hitherto, as I said, we have not succeeded in clearing this matter up.. The so-called books of Chilam Balam are to be regarded as off- shoots of the Maya manuscripts, most of them originating toward the end of the sixteenth and in the first half of the seventeenth centuries. They recite in the characters invented and taught by the monks all the old traditions still lingering in the memory of individuals. It is to be regretted that these valuable sources, which exist in various transcripts in Yucatan, were not published earlier. Copies of them were made by our indefatigable compatriot, Dr Her- mann Behrendt, whose death was a great loss to science, and these copies were bought after his death by Doctor Brinton. I furnished various proofs in the last session but one of the Americanist Congress at Huelva that these books treat in general of matters similar to those given in at least a portion of the hieroglyphic Maya manuscripts, and that a considerable part of the old traditions is still to be found in their pages. • These books also contain the small amount of historic information regarding antiquity that is preserved by tradition. They have been brought together and published by Brinton in the first volume of his Library of Aboriginal American Literature, under the title, " Maya Chronicles ". They are, in fact, brief chronicles, a recountal of the divisions of time, the periods called katun, which had elapsed since the immigration into the country and of the few memorable events which tradition has preserved. " This is the series of the katuns ", " this is the enumeration of the katuns ", " this is the account of the katims ", are the stereotyped forms with Avhich the text of these chronicles begins. The periods which are numbered, the katuns, are of considerable length. Their actual extent is still a matter of controversy. Wliile the older Spanish authors, as Bishop Landa and Cogolludo, without exception ascribe to them 20 years, and this length of time also forms the basis of the computations which occur in the text of the books of Chilam Balam, the length of the katun is said to be 24 years in the 330 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 marginal notes to that text, which, however, were evidently the work of some later hand. And the same thing has been affirmed recently by the Yucatec archeologist, Pio Perez, with great positiveness. I pointed out vears ago " that from the way in which the katuns were named and reckoned, that is, designated by the character for the day Ahau and a numeral which seems to be decreased in each successive katun by the value of 2— as 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1 ; 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 Ahau— the conclu- sion is to be drawn that the length of the katun was neither 20 nor 24 solar years, but 20X360 days, a period of time actually used by the Mayas in reckoning, as clearly follows from the numeric characters in the Dresden manuscript with which Forstemann first acquainted us. It is merely a lack of exactness on the part of the old writers when they speak of 20 years instead of 20X360 days. The more recent theory that the length of the katun was 24 years clearly arose from the fact that the first days of the period of 24 years received the same designation as those of the periods of 7,200 clays. On the basis of a passage in the book of Chilam Balam of Mani, which gives the beginning of the katun, 5 Ahau, as the 17th day of the month Zac in the year 13 Kan, or A. D. 1593, I have reckoned the first days of the katuns as follows: ^ Name of katun 8 Ahau 6 Ahati 4 Ahau 2 Ahau 13 Ahau 11 Ahau 9 Ahau 7 Ahau 5 Ahau Name of year 11 Ix 5lx 11 Muluc 5 Muluc 12 Muluc 6 Miiluc 12 Kan 6 Kan 13 Kan First day of katun 7 Chen 7 Zotz 12 Kayab 12Ceh 12 Yaxkin 12 Uo 17 Moan 17 Yax 17 Zac Date in the Chris- tian era January 29, 1436 October 15, 1455 Jiily 3, 1475 March 19, 1495 December 5, 1514 August 22, 1534 May 9, 1554 January 24, 1574 October 16, 1593 Anyone who has ever taken the trouble to collect the dates in old Mexican history from the various sources must speedily have dis- covered that the chronology is very much awry, that it is almost hope- less to look for an exact chronology. The date of the fall of Mexico is definitely fixed according to both the Indian and the Christian chronology, and this one fixed date makes it possible to harmonize, with approximate certainty at least, the two calendric systems:'' but in regard to all that precedes this date, even to events tolerably near the time of the Spanish conquest, the statements differ widely. The chronology of the books" of Chilam Balam is as bad or worse. In the first place", the list of traditional events is exceedingly meager; then, but few dates can be relied on with any degree of confidence. In rnost cases the arrangement of the entire statement shows that "Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie (1891), v. i.>:i, p. 11-. "In an ossav read before the Berlin Anthropologic Society in .lime, IS.).). c See ErPiuterungen zu den Bilderliaudschriften Alexander von lUnnl.oldts. Berlin, 18J.5. SELBR] MAYA CALENDAR IN HISTORIC CHRONOLOGY 331 the dates were not actual dates, but were chosen according to a fixed scheme. Three events are recorded with some degree of accuracy, to wit, the final establishment of the Spaniards and the foundation of Merida, the death of a certain Ahpula, and the first appearance of the Spanish in the peninsula. The final establishment of the Spanish was the result of the victory which tliey Avon on St. Barnabas's day, June 11 (old style), of the year 1541 over the powerful league of the hostile Yucatec chief- tains in the city of Ichcanzihoo, afterward Merida.'^ The victory was followed, January 6, 1542, by the foundation of the Spanish city of Merida, which from that time forward was the capital of the prov- ince." The statements of native chroniclers, and in accord with them also the first Spanish chronicle. Bishop Landa's, ascribe this event to the period known as 11 Ahau; and A\hen in one of these state- ments, the second list in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, the year 1519 is set down, in apparent contradiction to this, as falling in the period 11 Ahau, this seems to be due simply to a confusion of two events, the appearance of the soldiers of Hernando Cortes's fleet upon the penin- sula in the year 1519 and the later final establishment of the Span- ish in 1541. A'\^iile the accounts as to the period generally agree throughout, statements as to the division of the period in which the event named befell differ very widely. If we are to believe Bishop Landa, the year 1541, the year in which the Spanish definitely estab- lished themselves in Merida, was the first one of the period 11 Ahau.^ A chronicler generally trustworthy, as it seems, Nakuk Pech, the cacique of the village of Chac-Xulub-Chen, the present Chic- xulub, who wrote about 1565, states that it was the fifth division of the period.'^- The second list of the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, mentioned above, ascribes the event to the seventh division of the period 11 Ahau.'^ Finally, the Chilam Balam of Mani asserts that the establishment of the Spanish at Merida occurred before the expi- ration of, that is to say during, the katun 11 Ahau.« Of these various statements, that of the Chilam Balam of Chumayel seems to agree tolerably well with my computation, for, according to this, the sev- enth division of 11 Ahau would have ended on July 18, 1541, and the decisive engagement at Merida, as I stated above, took place on June 11 of that year. Nakuk Peek's statement differs by two years; he must have ascribed the beginning of the katun 11 Ahau to the year 1536 of the Christi-an era. Bishop Landa's statement is not likely " CogoUudo, V. 3, chap. 7. " Relacione& de las cosas de Yucatan, edid. de la Rada y Delgado, p. 103. " Brinton, Maya Chronicles, p. 193. '' Same place, p. 168, ^ Same place, p. 98. 332 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ehll. 28 to be founded on any more exact information. Nakuk Pech gives the name of the year 1542, in which the Spanish founded the city of Merida, as 13 Kan. This accords with the other agreements occurring in the books of Chilam Balam— with one exception, of which I shall speak directly— and also with the above computation. The second one of the dates which are recorded with comparative accuracy is that of the death of a certain Ahpula, or Ahpulha, who is called Napot Xiu in the second list of the Chilam Balam of Chuma- yel The latter is the true name of the man, who was, therefore, on his father's side, of the tribe of Xiu, the reigning dynasty of Mam, and on his mother's side of the Pot tribe. The other word, appar- ently, merely signifies ' the quality, the trade, the occupation of the person in question. Ah-pul, " the thrower ", or ah-pul-ya, ah-pul- yaah " thrower of evil ", " thrower of diseases ", was the technical name for a certain class of magicians of whom it was believed that they busied themselves in casting sickness upon their fellow-men. The death of a dreaded conjurer was therefore announced. From the name we must suppose that it was an event which especially affected the territory of the principality of Mani. Ah Napot Xiu, by the way, also occurs as the name of a mythic or historic personage for whom • one of the 13 katuns is named. The death of this Ahpula is given in three of the lists— the Chilam Balam of Mani, that of Tzimin, and the first list of the Chilam Balam of Chumayel— in perfect agreement and with remarkable accuracy. According to these authorities Ahpula died six years before the expiration of katun 13 Ahau, in the year 4 Kan, on the 18th of the month Zip, and on the day 9 Imix. The second list of the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, differing from these, sets down Ahpu- la's death in the first division of 11 Ahau. Besides, the Chilam Balam of Mani and that of Tzimin give the year as answering to the year 1536 of the Christian chronology; but in the first list of the Chilam Balam of Chumayel the figure 158 is given, which is open to various interpretations.* , --i Definite as these statements seem to be, we nevertheless meet with insoluble contradictions when we undertake a closer comparison of the dates handed clown to us. A serious discrepancy is encountered at the outset in the divergent assertion of the second hst ot the Chilam Balam of Chumavel. On the other hand, " six years before the close of 13 Ahau " can not have been the year 1536. It was either (as according to my reckoning) the year 1528 or (if we con- sider the statement of Xakuk Pech that the establishment of the Spaniards in Merida was the fifth division of 11 Ahau to be correct) the year 1530. And if, as Perez did,'' we read " in the sixth year " Brintou, Maya Chronicles, pp. 98, 142, 150. "Slci'lKMis, nicidents of Travel in Yucatan, v. 1, p. 4-1:'.. SELER] MAYA CALENDAK IN" HISTORIC CHRONOLOGY 333 the course of the katuii 13 Ahaii ", instead of " six years before the close of 13 Ahau ", we then have the year 1520 or 1522. But setting aside these accordances with Christian chronology, whicli may all be merely marginal notes, added later by ignorant persons, we have a still more serious contradiction in the dates given according to the Indian chronology itself : 9 Imix was indeed the 18th day of the month Zip in a year whose first month began with a day 4 Kan; but such a year was only the year 1493, and after that the year 1545, according to the unanimous statements contained in the books of Chi- 1am Balam and other sources of information in regard to the Chris- tian years that correspond to the Indian years. The year 1493 can not possibly have belonged to the katun 13 Ahau, unless we are to regard as false all the other accounts, which agree in stating that the Spanish permanently settled at Merida in 11 Ahau, that Chris- tianity was introduced in 9 Ahau, that Bishop Landa died in 7 Ahau, and that 5 Ahau began in the year 1593. The solution of this contradiction will become possible, if ever, onl}^ Avhen a critical recension of the text has been made by a compar- ison of the various copies of the books of Chilam Balam, and the original parts have been separated from later additions and marginal notes. The third event recorded witli comparative accuracy is the first ap- pearance of the Spanish on the Yucatan peninsula. Here a discrep- ancy of statement would seem comprehensible. For, in the first place, we may doubt what is meant by the first appearance of the Spaniards, whether it be the year when the Mayas for the first time beheld a Spaniard, or that of the appearance of the first armed troops on the coast of Yucatan, or the year when the Spaniards first pene- trated into the interior of the countrj^ and strove to conquer it. The statements in the native records all seem to refer to the first of these three events, which occurred in the year 1511, when the caravels of Valdivia, on the return voyage from the isthmus of Darien to His- paniola, foundered on the shoals near Jamaica, and the survivors of the crew were driven in a wretched boat upon the coast near the island of Cozumel, among them the deacon Geronimo de Aguilar, who was afterward liberated by Cortes. This event is set down by both the book of Chilam Balam of Mani and that of Tzimin against katun 2 Ahau, that is, the period preceding katun 13 Ahau, when Ahpula Napotxiu is said to have died. " Mayapan was destroyed in 8 Ahau. Then followed the katuns 6 Ahau, 4 Ahau, and 2 Ahau. In the progress of the years of this katun the Spanish appeared for the first time ; they came for the first time to this land, to the province of Yucatan, sixty years after the destruction of the citadel ". So we read in the Chilam Balam of Mani. 334 BUBEAU OF AMEKICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 In the Chilam Balam of Tzimin various lists are written together. Katun 8 Ahau and the destruction of Mayapan are given twice. In the first list at 2 Ahau Ave read: " In stone ' 13 ' (the division) the strangers (the Spaniards) appeared: they came for the first time tx) the land of the province of Yucatan" ninety-three years (after the destruction of Mayapan)". In the second list, at 2 Ahau, we have merely: "Then was the great eruptive sickness" (nohkakil). So, too, in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel we have at 2 Ahau only " the eruptive sickness, the great eruptive sickness (kakil noh kakil) ". If we examine the list we find that the thirteenth division of 2 Ahau falls, according to my reckoning, in the year 1507, or, if we pre- fer the estimates oi Nakuk Pech, in the year 1509. This does not agree with facts, for Valdivia's shipwreck, as I stated above, took place in 1511 ; and Nakuk Pech also states in two places in his chron- icle that the Spanish first came to Yucatan in the year 1511. At all events, the year 1511 fell in the katun 2 Ahau, for the latter did not end until the year 1514 or, according to Nakuk Pech's statements, the year 1516. The statement of the native chroniclers, within these ap- proximately established dates, is therefore correct. The great erup- tive sickness which occurred, according to the chroniclers, at this very time is described by Bishop Landa as an epidemic which caused great pustules of such a nature that " the body became putrid and stinking and the limbs fell off piecemeal within four or five days ".'' It is not improbable that the first appearance of the Spanish was fol- lowed by an epidemic of smallpox, that scourge of the Indian race, for the word kak, "fire", is used later and at the present day gen- erally for " eruptive sickness ", especially smallpox.*^ The chroniclers ascribe to 4 Ahau, the period preceding katun 2 Ahau, a pair of national calamities: a general mortality (maya-cimil), which Landa describes as a " contagious, pernicious fever which lasted 24 hours, after which the body swelled and burst and was full of worms"; furthermore, a great slaughter. Landa speaks of 150,000 men who fell in the battles. Native sources call it oc-na-kuch-il, '^ where the Zopilotes come into the houses " ; that is, where the dead lie about everywhere unburied. Landa also tells us of a great whirlwind prior to these events which razed the country and overthrew all high buildings, but this is not mentioned by native authors. The great event in the pre-Spanish history of Yucatan is the ^^e wording is almost tlie same as in the Chilam Balam of Mani, except that tz'ul, " strangers ". is used instead of " espanioles ", and ilcob is used erroneously for ulcoh, " they came " ; hut possihly the former was the original word, in which case it ought to he translated '' they were (firsts seen (in the land of Yucatan)". " I'estilencia dc unos granos grandes que les pcdria el cuerpo con gran hedor- de manera que les caian los miemhros (i pedazos dentro de 4 6 5 dias. '^ " Viruelas, granos i erupcion pustulera del cuerpo" (Perez). SELER] MAYA CALENDAB IlSr HISTORIC CHROlSrOLOGY 335 destruction of Mayapan. Mayapan was a city in the interior of Yucatan, in the territory of the later principality of Mani, of which considerable ruins still existed at the time when Bishop Landa wrote. Landa mentions especially large hieroglyphic stones of the nature of those usually prepared and set up at the beginning of a katun. The name is Mexican. The word j)an, to be sure, is given also in the Maya dictionary, with the meaning, " flag ", " standard ", but, although this word, too, is probably derived from the Mexi- can pam-itl pan-tli, the etymology of the name Mayapan is in all probability very different. Mayapan means " among the Mayas ", '• in the territory of the Mayas ", as Otompan means •' among the Otomi ", " in the land of the Otomi ". It is a purely Mexican name construction, quite unlike that in use among the Mayas, where the constituent part showing the local or other relation is prefixed, not suffixed (for example, Pan-choy, "in the lake"; Ti-kax, "in the Avood " ; Ti-bolon, " in the nine " ; Ti-ho, " in the five ", etc.) . The name Mayapan, therefore, recalls the period of the pre-Spanish history of Yucatan, when fragments of the great Mexican nation played a part in that territory. It is to be inferred froin various facts that these relations were very active and that the influence of the Mexicans was felt for a long time. The most famous city in old Yucatan and the most famous ancient seat of its rulers was Chichen Itza. Attention has long been drawn to the fact that the sculptures in the ruins of this town are of a wholly different character from those of the great ruined cities of the west, Copan and Palenque, and also from sculptures known to us, for instance, from the region of Merida. The attitude of the figures is stiffer, the heads are not deformed, and much about the dress and adornment reminds us of the types in the Mexican picture writings. The principal figures in particular all wear on the forehead the head- band Avith the triangular plate of turquoise mosaic, the xiuh-uitzolli of the Mexican kings. Charnay, for one, therefore believed that he found in Chichen Itza manifest evidence of the correctness of the ancient statements in regard to the migration of the Toltecs into Yucatan and Guatemala. Mayapan in comparison Avas a principality that sprang up in a modern period, one that first became prominent after the doAvnfall of the kingdom of Chichen Itza and in consequence of that downfall. The cause of this downfall is ascribed in all the accounts to the treach- ery (kebanthan) of a certain Hunac-ceel, and " the seA^en men of Maya- pan " — Ah zinteyut chan, Tzuntecum, Taxcal, Pantemit, Xuchueuet, Ytzcuat, and Kakaltecat — are named as the direct authors of the destruction of Chichen Itza. Of these seven names the last six are purely Mexican, and the first name is a combination of a Mexican 336 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 and a Maya word, with a Maya prefix, which means " the ". Landa's story that the rule over Mayapan was founded by a family which was supported by the Mexicans living in the great trade centers Tabasco and Xicalanco is therefore fully confirmed by native authorities. Landa further declares that this family, who ruled in Mayapan, the Cocom, practiced such constantly growing oppressions that the various village chieftains at last rose against them under the leader- ship of the chieftain family of Tutul Xiu, very powerful among the ahuitz (" people of the sierra ") in the sierra district, that is, in the district of Mani, and slew all members of the Cocom tribe within their reach and destroyed the "citadel Mayapan". The destruc- tion of Mayapan is accordingly the great event in the pre-Spamsh history of Yucatan, as it represents the national reaction against a government supported by strangers; but its result was that there was thenceforth no central power in the land. Various chieftain families possessed greater or smaller portions of the land and waged war one against another by every means of treachery and open violence. According to Landa's statement, at the time when he wrote his Relaciones, that is, in the year 1556, about 120 years had passed since the fall of Mayapan. Most of the native sources place the event in the katun 8 Ahau, and this agrees exactly with both Landa's statement and my reckoning, for according to my reckoning katun 8 Ahau began on January 19 of the year 1436. Important as this event was, even the native chroniclers are not agreed in regard to it. For although, as I said, the majority of them accept katun 8 Ahau as the correct date, yet there is a list, the second of the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, which places the destruction of Mayapan in katun 1 Ahau, which would be in the period between the years 1377 and 1397; and in another list, that of the Chilam Balam of Mam, katun 8 Ahau and katun 11 Ahau seem to be given side by side. Katun 1 Ahau seems to be given as the date of the event because this list accepts katun 1 Ahau as the beginning of a great cycle of 13 katuns; and the selection of 11 Ahau seems to rest^ upon similar considerations, for the circumstance that the great and destructive event of the permanent establishment of the Spanish m the countrv occurred in katun 11 Ahau afforded many of the native authors a motive for beginning the greater cycle of katuns with katun 11 Ahau. . . . No serious attempt was made to fix with chronologic precision the events previous to the destruction of Mayapan which are men- tioned—the fall of the principality of Chichen Itza. the sojourn ot the Itza people in Champoton, the immigration into Yucatan, and SBLER] MAYA CALENDAE IN HISTORIC CHEONOLOGY 337 the first founding of Chichen Itza. Here the principal events are all set each a full period of 13 katims before the succeeding one ; that is, all either in 8 Ahau or all in 1 Ahau, the computation including in all four full periods of 256 yea rs-^ 146 days. A peculiar feature is found in a third list contained in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, which is printed in Brinton's Maya Chronicles, pages 178 and 170, and which for various reasons claims our especial interest. Katun 4 Ahau is mentioned here before the historic events occurring in 8 Ahau, on the one hand, as the period in which the mythic kingdom of Chichen Itza came to an end, and therefore as the period in which the human race took its origin; that is, when the great and small descent (great and small immigration) occurred and men met together in Chichen Itza from the four cardinal points. This is the only passa*^e known to me in the books of Chilam Balam which seems to contain any refer- ence to the normal and initial date of the Dresden manuscript — 4 Ahau, 8 Cumku. Although the books of Chilam Balam do not yield very much for chronology, they are all the more fruitful in intelligence regard- ing that side of the Maya calendar which was incontestably the most assiduously cultivated and which undoubtedly occupies a large space in the Maya manuscripts, composing the chief, perhaps the only, contents thereof ; that is, the augural side, the consideration of the divinatory power which belongs to the signs and numerals of days and the other greater and lesser divisions of time. But I must reserve the explanation of these matters for a future communication. 7238— No. 28—05 22 TEMPLE PYRAMID OF TEPOXTLAN EDUARD SELER 339 TEMPLE PYRAMID OF TEPOXTLAN By Edtjard Seler The causeway leading from the City of Mexico, which runs south- ward, formerly through the waters of the salt lake itself, now through meadow land, to Churubusco, the ancient Uitzilopochco, where the road branches off to Chalco, and to the margin of the great lava stream, which extends from a little volcano below the lofty Cerro de Ajusco to the plain lying 2,300 meters above the sea. A traveler leaving the city by this road sees before him a high mountain range, which connects the towering Ajusco with the snow-capped cone of Popocatepetl and in this direction forms the termination of the undrained basin of Mexico. This mountain range is crossed from Xochimilco by a long, gradually ascending path, which finally leads into extensive pine forests covering the whole breadth of the ridge. Another road, from Chalco, runs in the valley of Amecameca, immediately at the western base of Popocatepetl, to a less elevated path. In both places the mountain slopes on the south quite pre- cipitously to the valleys below, the streams of which flow into the Kio de las Balsas. These are the valleys of Cuernavaca, situated about 1,600 meters above the sea, and of Yautepec, lying about 500 meters lower. They have been celebrated from ancient times for their mild climate. Here the Mexican kings had their pleasure gar- dens, in which they cultivated plants of the tierra caliente that did not thrive in Mexico itself. Cortes did not fail to include this dis- trict within the limits of his marquesado, and the viceroys, and also the unfortunate Maximilian, loved to sojourn in this favored vale. Midway between Yautepec and Cuernavaca, directly at the foot of the loft}^ mountain range towering on the north, on a riblike spur at the upper end of a range of hills and ridges which divides the valleys of Yautepec and Cuernavaca, in the center of a small plain "■ Die Tempel pyramide von Tepoztlan, Globus, v. 73, n. 8. 341 342 BUEEAU OF AMEKICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 forming the extreme northwestern extremity of the valley of Cuern- avaca, lies the small town of Tepoxtlan. Although but 3 miles" distant from each of the cities previously named, this place, because it is situated quite away from the great highroads radiating, from the capital and at the foot of the mountain, has remained until very recently little known or investigated. The ancient inhabitants, who undoubtedly were of the same race as the Tlalhuics of Cuernavaca, have in the main shared the history of the latter. Cuernavaca, the ancient Quauhnauac, was the first territory which fell into the hands of the Mexicans when they began to spread beyond the limits of the valley. In the reign of the third Mexican king, Itzcouatl, who reigned in the second quarter of the fifteenth century, the siege and subjugation of Cuernavaca is reported, and under Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, the king succeeding Itzcouatl, Tepoxtlan is named in the Mendoza codex, together with Quauhnauac, Uaxtepec, and Yau- a ted f Fig. 83. Symbols of pueblos, from Mexican codices. tepee, among the conquered cities (see hieroglyphs a to cZ, figure 83). The Historia Mexicana of the year 1576 (Aubin-Goupil codex) reports in connection with the accession to the throne in the year 1487 of King Ahuitzotl, which was celebrated with great sacrifices of captives, that new" kings had been installed in Quauhnauac, Tepox- tlan, Uaxtepec, and Xiloxochitepec (see hieroglyphs e and /). In the tribute list (Mendoza codex, page 26, no. 13) Tepoxtlan, the "place of the ax ", is again put with the same towns in the Uaxtepec group (see i). Cortes came into contact with Tepoxtlan in the year 1521 on his march from Yautepec to Cuernavaca, when, because the inhabitants did not voluntarily surrender, he burned the town. Bernal Diaz extols the fine w^omen (muy buenas mugeres) and the booty which the soldiers obtained here. After the establishment of Spanish rule Tepoxtlan, with Cuernavaca, was included in the prin- cipality, which, with the title Marques del Valle de Oaxaca, was awarded Cortes as recompense for his distinguished services.'' A manuscrij)t Relacion of the year 1582, Avhich is preserved with others of like character in the Archivo General de las Indias in Se- " 14 English miles. Ed. ''See the picture manuscript of tlie liiblioteca Nazionale in Florence, folio 37. sbler] TEMPLE PYKAMID OF TEPOXTLAN" 343 villa, refers to the place as Villa de Tepoxtlan, and mentions six estancias subordinate to it. In the same Relacion it is also stated that the Mexican language was spoken by the inhabitants, both by those who still lived i]i the place and those who, having become disgusted with the country, had emigrated to the neighborhood of Vera Cruz. Through incorporation into the marquesado the town was doubtless saved from oppression and vexation by lesser encomenderos. In their isolated mountain home the people have been able to preserve their language and their old customs. The place has now a popula- tion numbering from 5,000 to 6,000 souls of fairly pure Indian descent, who speak pure, uncorrupted Mexican, are proud of their descent, and cling tenaciously to the ancient traditional customs. It is deserving of mention as an interesting fact that since last year a newspaper has been published here with the title El Grano de Arena, which, besides the Spanish text, always contains several columns of matter in the Mexican language. As we passed through the town of Ciiernavaca in December, 1887, on the return from our expedition to Xochicalco we were told that there was a pyramid in Tepoxtlan as interesting as that of Xochi- calco. We wished to visit it, but the governor of the state of Morelos told us at that time— whether correctly I leave undecided— that he could not permit it, for '' these Indians are terrible ". As we had still so much else to see we did not insist upon it. Beyond this general report nothing has been known until very recently of the pyramid of Tepoxtlan ; but two years ago, when the extraordinary session of the Americanist Congress was about to be held in Mexico and an effort was being made throughout the whole country to furnish something fresh in the nature of relics and finds for the scholars attending this meeting, the thought arose even in Tepoxtlan of freeing the pyramid of that locality from the rubbish hiding it from view and of opening up its interior chambers and outer walls. A young engineer, Fran- cisco Rodriguez, a native of Tepoxtlan, followed out this idea with enthusiasm and strove to carry it into execution. He was able to induce the people of his district to furnish volunteer labor, and thus in the months of August and September, 1895, the pyramid was un- covered, a result of which the Tepoxtecs themselves are now quite proud. A description of the pyramid, including a plan of the struc- ture, was submitted by Mr Rodriguez to the congress assembled in October of the year 1895. It has now been published in the pro- ceedings of the congress. Later, accompanied by Mr Rodriguez, Mr Marshall H. Saville visited the pyramid and took several photo- graphs of it. In August, 1896, Mr Saville read a report on this pyramid before the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, convened in Buffalo, which was published in volume 8 of the bulletins of the American Museum of Natural History, and again 344 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 later in the journal Monumental Records. From this and from Mr Rodriguez's report I gathered the information which appears below : The pyramid is situated about 2,000 feet above the town, on a cliff detached from the ridge of the mountain range, which north of the town rises rugged and precipitous above the level plain. The pyramid itself is not visible from the plain, but its approximate location is marked by huge crags which on the left project above the mountain ridge. From the foot of the precipice the road ascends through a small canyon. Several long flights of steps are encoun- tered, some of them cut into the rock, others built of masonry. Carved inscriptions are to be seen here and there on the perpen- dicular walls of the ravine. About halfway to the top the road emerges from the canyon and winds aloft on the very face of the cliff. For nearly 100 steps, according to Saville's statement, the ascent is almost perpendicular. Steps are hew^n into the rock or supported by masonry. When Rodriguez began his excavations here he was obliged to use ladders in two places, because the way was obstructed by fallen rock fragments. When the top of the cliff is finally reached it is seen to consist of two separate plateaux which are connected by a narrow neck. On the western one of these two plateaux is the temple pyramid ; the eastern one is almost completely covered with foundation walls of buildings of different kinds and sizes, which probably were the dwellings of priests, and other build- ings adjoining. Behind rises a rocky cliff covered wdth pine woods, which can only be reached from this spot, and here Mr Rodriguez found running water. Viewed from the east side, the pyramid is seen to rise in three terraces over a rough substructure that forms a horizontal base on the uneven, rocky ground (see figure 84, from a photograph). A flight of steps on this side leads up to the top of the first terrace, which, rising to a height of 9.5 meters above the rock foundation, forms the broad base of the building proper, formed by the two other terraces. A second stairway on the south side near the entrance of the temple leads to the top of the lower terrace (see the plan, plate xl). On the west side, which is the front of the temple, this first terrace forms a small platform {e on the plan, plate xl), and in the center of this there is a low rectangular bench, <:/„ with serrated corners, up which flights of steps probably led on all four sides. The location of this little structure corresponds to the spot where, in the great temple of Mexico, stood the two round stones, the quauhxicalli and the temalacatl, and it was probably used for simi- lar sacrificial purposes. I also found a very similar structure in Quiengola in the middle line of the platform of the east pyramid, whose front likewise faced the west. From this platform a stairway leads to the top of the second terrace and to the entrance of the temple V o 1 () 1 1 i 1 o i-"^'- "JC"^"" -f—Se: -# seler] TEMPLE PYRAMID OF TEPOXTI,AN 345 itself, which the third terrace forms. This temple is formed of walls 1.9 meters thick, constructed of blocks of red and black tezontle (porous volcanic I'ock) with copious mortar of lime and sand, and reaching to a height of 2.5 meters. The roof has fallen in. From the ruins Mr Rodriguez was still able to determine that it had been a flat arch, with a maximum rise of 0.5 meter, a span of 5 meters, and a thickness of 0.7 meter, formed of pieces of tezontle and a great quantity of mortar, the use of which in thick layers made the construction possible. On the site of the front wall are to be seen the remains of two rectangidar masonry columns, which left a wide central doorway with a narrow one on each side. The inte- FiG. 84. Temple pyramid of Tepoxtlan, valley of Cuernavaca. rior space is divided by a wall, 0.9 meter thick, pierced by a door- way, into two rooms, of which the front one runs back 8.73 and the inner one 5.2 meters, with a width of 6 meters. In the middle of the front room Rodriguez found a rectangular depression « (& in the plan, plate xl), and in it remains of charcoal and a couple of well- preserved pieces of copal. This was probably, therefore, the hearth where the sacred fire burned and whence, perhaps, glowing coals were obtained with which to burn incense to the god. In the axis of the inner chamber against the rear wall stood the idol. The doorwav connecting the two rooms has a width of 1.9 ° " Una oquedad ". form ". Saville erroneously wi-ites in this place " a raised rectangular plat- 346 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 meters. It is flanked by two pillars, which are covered with stucco and richly ornamented. At the bottom there is a sort of fluting; above this a grecque in relief, like those in the palaces at Mitla, and at the top a picture of the sun, only the lower part of which is still preserved. All are painted in color, and the colors are still tolerably fresh. In the place where the idol stood, in the rear room, Rodri- guez found remains of a substructure {a on the plan, plate xl) among which were two sculptured fragments, one of them, according to his account, containing a bas-relief, of what character is not stated, painted in a deep red color; the other, the relief picture of a Mexi- can royal crown (xiuh-uitzoUi). Both pieces are now preserved in Fig. 85. View of the interior of Tepoxtlan, after Saville. the cabildo of Tepoxtlan, in a room transformed into a museum. The most interesting feature of the inner apartment are the benches, ornamented on the front with carved stones. These run round a part of the front room and along the rear and both lateral walls of the back room [c on the plan, plate xl). They display at the upper part a narrow, somewhat projecting frieze, on which, it seems, the twenty characters for the days are represented. Beneath this (see figure 85), on each lateral wall, there are placed four large slabs, with symbols in relief, apparently relating to the four cardinal points." On the south side we see what seem to be the four prehis- toric ages; on the north side the gods corresponding to the four seler] TEMPLE PYEAMID OF TEPOXTLAIST 347 cardinal points are represented by their symbols. I must forego attempting to explain these more exactly until casts or good photo- graphs are submitted for study. The reliefs on the rear wall are, perhaps, of a still more interesting nature, but unfortunately here a portion of the bench is destroyed. It is to be hoped that Mr Saville, who has now started again for Tepoxtlan and Xochicalco, will bring liome satisfactory casts and make known these representations. Finally, in addition to the above, two stone tablets, which were found built into the south wall of the lower terrace of the pyramid, are of special importance. One ( and 'la the days are alike (in each case III 2). The six initial days IX 1 have different positions in the year in 2(2, 2&, and 3«, and are, therefore, in different years ; but in 3^, 4«, and 4Z> they are exactly alike and are all in the year 4 IX. Hence the differ- ence in the numbers belonging to these three does not depend upon the beginning, but upon the end of the series. It is perhaps not accidental that the year at the beginning is 4 IX, which we have above seen occurring among the large numbers of the second rank. The date IX 1 ; 12, 17th month, found here three times by mere comj)utation, is undoubtedl}^ an extremely important one. Looking through the manuscript, we find it plainly written down on page 61 below on the left, and then above in the middle, and again on page 62 above in the middle. Should not this help to throw light on the hieroglyphs of which it always constitutes the end and aim? If the upper right-hand corner of page 61 were not entirely destroyed, and the left-hand one of page 62 nearly so, we should undoubtedly even now see more clearly here. I would especially urge upon the attention of the investigator the importance of finding out the significance of the symbol of the sixth month, Xul, eight times repeated with slight variations among the eight calendar dates at the bottom of these two pages. But I can not take leave of this section without remarking that it likewise occurs, like an abstract, in the upper third of pages 31 to 32. We find there also a series beginning with the day XIII 20. There also appears the difference 91 ; there also, the encircled numbers IT, 121, and 51,419; and finally, also, the large numbers 1,272,544, 1,268,540, and 1,538,342. As if here, too, something corresponding in a certain degree to the serpent numbers ought to be found, there are in this place the numbers 2,804,100=10,785X260=147 katuns+14,040, that remarkable number so often standing in the background; yet here, too, we have only a great riddle. Pages 69 to 73 method of treatment In the following I shall arrange my observations in the same order as I have done in the preceding section. In this way it will be easily seen by comparison wherein the two sections resemble each other and wlierein tbey differ. 7238— No. 2B— 05- 27 418 BUREAU OF AMERICAK ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 THE SERIES OF NU:MBERS The first noticeable difference between the two sections is the fact that the former began with only one series and the present one is constrncted upon two series. On page 73 we find at the right the three numbers 14,040, T02, and 54 written ver}^ large, one aboA^e the other. The first is twenty times the second, the second thirteen times the third; thus the whole repre- sents a kind of tonalamatl, each day of which is 54 days long. This may be looked upon as the superscription of the first series. At the beginning and the end of this series is the day IX 11, and as the fundamental difference 54. The series begins at the top of page 71 on the right, and extends toward the right as far as the middle of the upper third of page 73. The attendant days are not stated here, but only the numbers of the week days, which are usually red, but this time are blade encircled with red, and which conse- quently have here an unusual significance. Since 54 is equal to 4X13_[_2, these numbers must always increase by 2. As I said before, we must suppose a IX with the zero ; then with 54 we shall read XI, with 108 XIII, with 162 II, and so on up to VII with 648. Hereupon follows that 702 on page 73, at the right, and below we read the IX belonging to it. This 702 forms the second fundamental difference of the series, although it is not divisible by 260. It is to be found on the second third of page 71 as the fifth number counted from the left, but it is incorrectly written, for two dots are wanting over the middle numeral, which must be 17 and not 15. The series, accompanied quite regularly by day signs and numbers, noAV in- creases by terms of 702, proceeding toward the left to page 70; thus, 1,404, 2,106, 2,808, and so on. This line ends on the left with 4,914 ; then 5,616 follows in the next line above on page 71, followed by 6,318 and 7,020. In this manner a number is reached which is divisible by 54, 20, and 13, therefore also by 260. Double this num- ber is the notable 14,040, which should stand here, but is omitted be- cause, as we see, it is already on page 73. This 14,040 now forms the third difference of the series (after the 54 and 702), the numbers in which must always be accompanied by the day IX 11. Thus we read in continuation 28,080, 42,120, 56,160, 70,200. At this point the series is continued in the uppermost line, which is unfortunately very much injured and the numbers of which we can only surmise. If the difference 14,040 remained unchanged, the last number would be 168,480=12X14,040. Compare the description of this and of the following series in the admirable work of Cyrus Thomas, Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices, Washington, 1888, page 331. At the beginning and the end of the second series is the day IV 9, and the fundamental difference is 65; that is, a quarter of 260. This FOKSTE.MANN] CORRECTIONS, OR ENCIRCLED NUMERALS 419 series begins in the second third of page 73, on the right, with 65=IV 14, increases toward the left by terms of 65 to 910= IV 19, then con- tinues at the bottom of page 73^ on the right, with 975=IV 4, and again continues to increase toward the left by terms of only 65 until, on page 71, 1,820= IV 9 is reached, which is divisible by 260 (as were various previous numbers) . This 1,820 constitutes the second differ- ence for the next two numbers, 3,640 and 5,460. The 7,280 which vv^e should then expect is wanting, but just this is the third difference for what follows. The line ends on page 70 with 43,680=6X7,280, but continues a line higher on page 71 with 50,960=7X^^,280, and now continues to increase toward the left to 9, 10, 13, 15 times 7,280, where- upon the 8 times 7,280 (58,240), omitted on page 71, is here inserted, for I read here 8, 1, 14, 0, instead of 8, 1, 10, 0. To these highest numbers of the series is added a number consist- ing of the numerals 1, 0, 12, 3, which are quite inexplicable at pres- ent, for there is nothing to be done with 7,443. Yet, I would call attention to the fact that it stands exactly in the place where in th^. preceding section we found the at first equally inexplicable 136,864. As in the preceding section, we shall revert to this number later. Thus we have two series in this section, but each relates only to one day. The previous section gave us but one series, which, however, had reference to two days. What was there 91, III 2 and XIII 20, is here 54, IX 11, and 65, IV 9. THE CORRECTIONS, OR ENCIRCLED NUMERALS "Wliile the former section presented five such numbers, the present one contains no fewer than eight. Of these, however, only the four lower ones actually have the rings, while the four higher ones are without them. They are as follow : 1. On page 70, on the left, 606=2X260+86; above this is IX 11; 86 is the distance from IX 11 to the normal date IV 17. 2. To the right of this number is 1,646=6X260+86; above it again is IX 11 ; this refers to the same interval. 3. Below the first number is only 86; over this again is IX 11, referring again to the same distance. 4. Below the second number is 208; over this is IV 9. The 208 denotes actually the distance from IV 9 to IV 17. 5. On the same page in the fourth column, in black figures, is 111,554=429X260+14; above, in the third column, is X 17, but over the X is an VIII, like a correction. I read them VIII 17. The above-mentioned 14, however, denotes the distance from VIII 17 to IX 11, the initial day of the first series. 6. Written between in red is 101,812 (for I read 14 instead of 16) = 391X260+152. This 152 is the distance from VIII 17 to IV 9, the starting point of the second series. 420 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY . [bull. 2» 7. At a considerable distance from this, at the top of page 73, we find the number 83,474=(321X260) +14- and below it IX 11. Thus it is again intended to indicate the distance from VIII 17 to IX 11. 8. At the right of this is 34,732= (133X260) +152. Underneath is IX 9, doubtless to be read IV 9, indicating the distance from VIII 17 to IV 9. Since the multiples of 260 are always indifferent in certain re- spects, we are really concerned Avitli only four of these corrected numbers — 86, 208, 14, and 152 ; that is, with the four intervals IX 11 to IV 17, IV 9 to IV 17, VIII 17 to IX 11, and VIII 17 to IV 9. The starting points of the two series, IX 11 and IV 9, are brought into rela- tion only with the normal date IV 17 and with the still enigmatic VIII 17. I would also remark, with regard to the position of this VIII 17, that it is distant 100 days from a succeeding, consequently 160 days from a preceding, IV 17, that it therefore divides the tonalamatl into two parts, having the ratio of 5 to 8. THE LARGE NUMBERS As in the preceding section, there are exactly six of these, all on page 70. I will consider them here in the same manner as in that section. 1. IV 17. 1,201,200=4,620X260, wliicli is 165,360 less than 12 aliau katuns. 2. IV 17. 1,202,240=4,624X260=208X5,780. 208 is the distance from IV 9 to IV 17; 164,320=208X790, being less than 12 ahau katnns. 3. IV 17. 1,394,120=:5,362X260, which is 27,560 more than 12 ahau katuns. It may not be accidental that the first and third numbers are both divis- ible by 14, which is the distance from VIII 17 to IX 11. 4. IV 17. 1,437,020=5,527X260, or 70,460 more than 12 ahau katuns. 5. IV 11. 1,520,654=5,848x260+174. 174 is the distance from IV 17 to IX 11. This number is 154,094 more than 12 ahau katuns. 6. IV 9. 1,567,332=6,028x260+52. 52 is the distance from IV 17 to IV 9. This number is 200,772 more than 12 ahau katuns. These numbers may still bear relations to each other which I have not yet discovered. We now know that from these numbers the corrections, or encircled numbers, are to be subtracted from all six numbers, indeed, eight — that is, two each of the latter from two of the former. Thence result the following eight equations, to which I attach the corre- sponding days : 1. 1,201,200 (IV 17)- 86=1,201,114 (IX 11) 2. 1,202,240 (IV IT)- 208=1,202,032 (IV 9) 3. 1,394,120 (IV 17)- 606=1,393,514 (IX 11) 4. 1,437,020 (IV 17) ~ 1,646=1,435,374 (IX 11) 5. 1,520,654 (IX 11) -111,554=1,409,100 (VIII 17) 6. 1,520,654 (IX 11)- 83,474=1,437,180 (VIII 17) 7. 1,567.332 (IV 9) -101,812=1,465,520 (VIII 17) 8. 1,567,332 (IV 9)- 34,732=1,534,600 (VIII 17) forstemann] THE NUMERALS IN THE SERPENTS 421 I should like to call attention here to a singular circumstance in connection with the last four subtrahends, which extends to the last four remainders, and is evidently so intended. This is 111,554 — ■ 101,812=:9,742, an apparently quite unimportant number, which, far- ther on, we shall see recurring in a very remarkable position. Fur- ther, 83,474—34,732=48,742, is again an apparently unimportant number ; but it is surprising to observe that 48,742 — 9,742 is exactly 39,000 = 150 tonalamatl. Furthermore, 111,554 — 83,474 = 28,080, that is, twice that remarkable 14,040; and 101,812 — 34,732 = 67,080 r=258 tonalamatl. If these circumstances have no other immediate result, they at least prove the correctness of the numbers. I should also like to state here how I have calculated the days mentioned in the last eight equations according to their position, but I shall willingly accept corrections if I have erred : IV 17; 13, 17th month 11 Muhxc IV 17; 18, 14th month 1 Kan IV 17; 8, 9th month 7 Ix IV 17; 23, 18th month 7 Cauac IX 11; 7, 3d month 3 Multic IX 11; 7, 3d month 3 Muluc IV 9; 5, 1st month 1 Muhic IV 9; 5, 1st month 1 Multic IX 11; 7, 13th month 11 Muluc IV 9; 10, 4th month 1 Kan IX 11; 13, 15th month 5 Kan IX 11; 17, 9th month 3 Catiac VIII 17; 3, 10th month 9 Cauac VIII 17; 18, 8th month 8 Kan VIII 17; 8, 2d month 8 Ix VIII 17; 13, 16th month 9 Muluc All the numbers and dates are, of course, computed from the nor- mal date, IV 17, 8, 18th month. In the previous section I was able at this point to indicate some calendar dates occurring in the manuscript which were related to the remainders, but it is not possible to do so in this section. It is true, some calendar dates seem to occur on page 70, in the middle of the third and fourth columns, but it is uncertain whether they agree with these remainders. At the most 13, 16th month, strikes one as agreeing with the dates I have given above. THE NUMERALS IN THE SERPENT In the previous section there were four serpents, but in the present only one. We will consider the two numbers in this serpent with respect to their size, their difference, point of departure, termination, and relation to the other portions of this section. The Maya numerals and the resulting numbers are as follows : Black 4 Red 4 5 6 19 1 13 13 18 8 10 13,381,728 12,391,470 Both numbers are quite reliable. We need only mention that the 1 in the red number is hardly visible. 422 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 At the first glance we see that they have almost the same magni- tude as the eight numbers in the four preceding serpents. The black number is somewhat less than any of the eight numbers, the red some- what larger than the smallest among them. The difference between them is 9, 742:= 37X260+ 122; and 122 is exactly the difference between the day IV 9 and the day IX 11, which in itself proves the connection of these numbers with the series pre- viously c'onsidered. But we found before exactly the same difference between the two encircled numbers, 111,554 and 101,812, to which, therefore, the numbers in the serpent must likewise be closely related. Above, at the conclusion of my discussion of the series, I mentioned the figures 1, 0, 12, and 3 at the end of the series on page 70, which would amount to 7,443, and could not, therefore, be explained. But they are close to the numbers 111,554 and 101,812 just mentioned. The inference seems natural, therefore, that they may be the differ- ence between these latter numbers, which is our 9,742. In that case we should be obliged to substitute 1, 7, 1, 2, in the place of the above- named figures, and that would be too great an alteration. Who can make a better suggestion? The 0, standing below the number, is almost entirely obliterated, and surely was only an error on the part of the writer, and is therefore not to be regarded. I The starting point of the numbers in the serpent, moreover, is of special interest. We see the same date, IX 1 ; 12, I7th month, as in the serpents of the previous section, and here we stand on safe ground. Now, if we compute the black number from this point, after 652 katuns, 18 years and 198 days, we arrive at the date IV 9; 5, 9th month (10 Muluc), and on page 69, under the serpent, we actually find it. In the same way, for the red numbers we have 652 katuns, 45 years and 85 days=XI 11; 12, 3d month (11 Kan), which again finds triumphant confirmation in the manuscript. If the numbers in the serpent were to be computed from the pre- ceding regular date, IV 17 ; 8, 18th month, and not from IX 1 ; 12, 17th month, it would then be necessary to add 2,904 days to each. Then we should obtain for the true day IV 9 the number 12,384,632 and for the true day IX 11 the number 12,394,374. I think I have shoAvn in this loajoer the inner connection between these two sections. The interpretation of the rest of the hieroglyphs must be achieved before a perfect comprehension can be reached ; but this, I think, can not be far distant with regard to these two sec- tions. My present communication, I think, has supplemented and brought to a certain degree of completeness my investigations regard- ing the mathematical aspects of the Dresden codex. Mathematics has rightl}^ been called jDetrified music. We hear the music in this case from so great a distance that, though we perceive the full har- monic chords, Ave do not recognize the connecting and animating melody. TORTOISE AND SNAIL IN MAYA LITERATURE - It is a well-known fact that at the time when the days and nights are of equal lenoth the sun rises directly in the east and sets in the west. While the length of the days increases these phenomena occur farther to the north and as it decreases farther to the south. At the periods of the longest and of the shortest day an apparent standstill (solstice) takes place in this movement, after which it is reversed. The Mayas of Yucatan, Chiapas, and Guatemala, who had attamed high culture of a certain kind, seem, if all signs do not deceive us, to have denoted this standstill in their hieroglyphs and the accompany- ing pictures by the two creatures who are slowest in their movements, the tortoise and the snail. To men who observe from a purely natural point of view, the two are nearly akin to one another, both by their slowness and by being encased in a shell. The summer solstice, the time of the sun's greatest heat, was assigned to the tortoise, as the larger animal, and the winter solstice to the snail. We will first consider the tortoise and the summer solstice. As the Maya year begins on the 16th of July and contains 18 months of 20 days each, besides 5 intercalary days, the summer solstice occurs in the seventeenth month, known as Kayab. If we look at the hiero- glyph of this month we find, as Doctor Schellhas was the first to recognize, onlv the head of a tortoise with the sign of the sun (kin) in ptace of an eye (see «, 5, c, figure 103, from Biologia Centrali- Americana-Archa^ology, part 8, pages 18 and 72, and part 10, plate 77, page 17). In this way it frequently appears in the Dresden manuscript, so that no reference is necessary. In this manuscript the center of page 40 is especially noteworthy. There we find by the hieroglyph a picture representing a human form with a tortoise's head. In each hand this personage holds a torch, one pointing upAvard and the other downward, a fit symbol for the waxing and then waning days. Above the picture are two astronomic signs, one of which doubtless represents the sun. Before the hieroglyph is the numeral 4. It may be merely accidental that the fourth day of the week of thirteen days is also noted below (see d). In the Dresden codex, page 39a, the lightning beast also carries two torches, one point- ing up and the other down (see e) . The tortoise is especially frequent in that part of the Madrid Troano codex, long since separated from it, which is now commonly called Codex Cortesianus. It does not « Schild Krote und Schnecke in dei- Mayaliteratur, Dresden, June 21, 1892. 423 424 BUREAU OF AMERICAISr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 occur in the technical and economic divisions of the manuscript, but only in the astronomic and calendric part, on pages 1 to 19 and 31 to 42, and only toward the end of these two divisions. The passages are the following: Page 13a, wdiere the hieroglyphs belonging to it are effaced. Page ITa, Avhere, with the picture of the tortoise, its hieroglyph appears at least four times (see /). %m^^////<^f:f^^/y-//^^'^^//^^^^ - HJ/ o. •« • ■•••:0-' ' 1 II e f d Fig. 103. Glyphs of the month Kayab and turtle figures, from Maya codices and inscriptions. Page 17b, among a series of day signs. To the right of it a frog is represented ; to the left, astronomic signs and the sun ; between them, a crouching (praying?) human figure with outstretched hands. Page 19b, where we find it surrounded by three deities — a black one, a second with the mouth painted black, and a white one. All three hold parts of a rope or of a serpent (the course of the j^ear?), whose upper part rises above the tortoise. The hieroglyph of the latter is close to it, both above and below. Nor must we omit to mention that the sign yax (strength) occurs on the back of the tortoise. roKSTEMANN] TORTOISE AND SNAIL IN MAYA LITERATURE 425 Page 36b, where, beside the tortoise, is a person with closed eyes (dead). The hieroglyph for the tortoise is lacking here. Page 37a, on the upper portion of Avhich there are three astronomic signs: below, the sun repeated, from which rain streams down or, a mi Fig. 104. Glyphs and figures from the Maya codices. perhaps more likely, rays shoot down upon the earth, here repre- sented by the threefold sign cauac; at the very bottom, the tor- toise itself. Here, too, the hieroglyph is missing (see a, figure 104). Page 38b, where, lastly, we see a bird in what looks like an heraldic 426 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 drawing, which bears the representation of the tortoise back as a breastplate. Here, too, the hieroglyph is missing. Although I have said that the hieroglyph is missing in the last three instances, yet I must state that in all tliree passages, as well as in many others, among the hieroglyphs occurs the one which de- notes the official year of 360 days, and to this is appended a sort of latticework, which may have been evolved from the drawing of the tortoise's back. In the Troano codex itself I find the tortoise represented but twice (pages 25*c and 32*c). The appropriate hieroglyphs occur in these passages, but in others in a form easily to be confoiuided with a simi- larly shaped bird's head (pages 2b, 31c, 32b, 19*c). So, too, in Codex Cortesianus, page 33a, a deity carries under his arm an animal which may be equally well taken for a bird or a tortoise. The hiero- glyph is above it. The passage in the Troano codex, page 25*c, is particularly important. Here, an animal (jaguar?) sits on the tor- toise, and to the right and left are two human figures, whose heads are surrounded by rays. In the hieroglyphs above we see the four car- dinal points, and below the sign of the tortoise repeated. Two days in the tortoise month, Kayab, are of special importance. The first is the twelfth day (see &, figure 104, from the Dresden codex, page 62), corresponding to our 13th of June, which was perhaps re- garded by the Maya as the beginning of the solstice. It is the actual point of departure of the enormous periods which are represented in the coils of the serpent on pages 61, 62, and 69 of the Dresden manu- script, which at once becomes apparent when we examine the various passages in which occur the hieroglyphs belonging to it. The second is the eighteenth day, set down l^elow on the left of page 24 of the Dresden manuscript (c, figure 104) , coinciding with the day I Ahau in the year 3 Kan. Eegarding it Ave find written there that it precedes the regular normal date, the usual beginning of the Maya system of com- puting time (IV Ahau; 8, 18th month), by 2,200 days. It is a very remarkable fact that in the well-known inscription on the Cross of Palenque, at the end of the first two and at the beginning of the third and fourth columns, these identical tw^o days are given, having the same position in the year and the same interval of time (8 tonalamatl and 6 months) between them. Therefore, either the state of civilization was about the same throughout the whole Maya area or the Dresden manuscript must have been produced not far from Palenque. In favor of this theory is the circumstance that the drawings in this manuscript un- doubtedly resemble the reliefs of Palenque, but differ strikingly from those of the more northern regions. This eighteenth day of the month Kayab corresponds to our 19th of June. It seems, therefore. FOESTEMANN] TORTOISE AND SNAIL IN MAYA LITERATURE 427 to have been regarded by the Mayas as the true middle of the sol- stice, as the longest day. It will be a slight digression if, at this point, I glance at the eighteenth month Cumku, immediately succeeding Kayab, which is certainly the hottest one of the year. To Stephens's book, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan (London, 1843), is appended a treatise on the Maya calendar by Perez, a man living in Yucatan, and there we find the statement that cumku means thunderclap. The hieroglyph of the month agrees with this, for in it we see two flashes of lightning (or hot sunbeams?) darting down from the same point upon the maize field (kan). In the above-mentioned passage of the Dresden codex, page 40, the lightning beast as it rushes down from heaven follows directly after the person with the tortoise's head and the two torches (see d). In this month the eighth day, the normal date already mentioned, is the most important of all. Are we to infer from this that the Maya chronology dates from the day of the sun's greatest heat, the day in which the sun has the greatest power? (See e.) Not only in the manuscripts does the tortoise occur, but also on the stone monuments of the Mayas. At least, I read of its discovery in Copan in Stephens's Incidents of Travel in Central America, volume 1 (New York, 1842), page 155: "The altar is buried with the top barely visible, Avhich, by excavating, we made out to represent the back of a tortoise ". The tortoise seldom occurs in Aztec monuments, but, my attention having been drawn to it by Mrs Nuttall, I can prove that it occurs at least in the Vienna manuscript in Kingsborough, volume 2, ap- parently in a calendric context. I will also mention an Aztec stone calendar excavated in 1790, which is represented under the erroneous title of " El Zodiaco ", in Nebel's Voyage dans la partie la plus interessante du Mexique (Paris, 1836, folio). Here we find two tortoise heads, one on either side of the central picture, representing the sun. We may also note that in the Old World the crab (among the con- stellations and correspondingly in the Tropic of Cancer) is used in- stead of the tortoise, it being also a slow-paced creature encased in a shell and the symbol of retrogression at the same time. I have ventured, in the second place, although not so confidently as in the case of the tortoise, to connect the snail with the winter solstice. This occurs in the month Mol, the eighth of the Maya year. In this month the death, relatively speaking, and also the nev/ birth of the sun, takes place. We must therefore endeavor to seek the relations of the snail to birth, to death, to the sun, and, if possible, to the month Mol. It is already known to science, and widely acknowledged, that the 428 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 snail is the symbol of birth among Central American people, and a very appropriate one. Doctor Seler accepts this view in the Compte rendu of the Seventh Congress of Americanists (Berlin, 1890), pages 580 and following, where he also proves from Aztec manuscripts the manifold relations of the whelk, the sea snail, to the deities of death, besides whom the sun god also usually appears. Doctor Seler has already discussed these relations in his essay " Der Charakter der Aztekischen unci Maya handschriften ". 4 G d Fig. 105. Glyphs of animals and month Mol, from Maya codices. If we now turn to the Dresden Maya manuscript we find the connec- tion of the snail with the deities of death here plainly indicated. It appears here on the head of the true death god at least five times (pages 9c, 12b, 13b, 14a, and 23c) . It also occurs elsewhere. The god D (following Doctor Scliellhas's designations, which I hope will be generally adopted) has the sn«il on his head, page 5c. This god, with the face of an old man, occurs here between two pictures of the death god. On page 9a we see him, again with the snail, between a vulture and a woman with bandaged eyes («, figure 105). fOestemaxn] tortoise AND SNAIL IN MAYA LITERATURE 429 The sea snail appears very curiously on page 3Tb. Here it lies in the water and appears to be in the act of giving birth to a tiny per- son (female?). I can not discover a genuine hieroglyph of the snail in all these passages. Doctor Schellhas expresses the opinion, which is worthy of consideration, that the very frequent hieroglyph in which the day sign Oc is combined with the numeral 3 is connected with the snail, and that the suffix attached to this sign strongly suggests the snail and the foot on which it creeps (5, figure 105, from the Dresden codex, page 43c) . Still another passage, perhaps of special importance, remains to be discussed. I refer to pages lOc to lie of the Dresden manuscript. Here we find twenty-four hieroglyphs in two rows, six groups of four each, but each group begins here with the sign of the above-mentioned month Mol, which is the case nowhere else. But to these six Mols belong six pictures of gods, namely, A, D, F, E, G, and B. The series begins with the death god A ; then comes D with the face of an old man (according to Doctor Schellhas the god of birth and of the moon) ; then F, who, as Doctor Schellhas shows, is in a way a second death god. Next comes the grain god, E, bearing on his head the snail, together Avith the ears of maize; then the sun god; lastly the deity who is the most important one in this manuscript. The snail, therefore, occurs here among the gods of birth, of death, and of the sun in a section in which the month Mol seems to be of chief importance. The question now arises whether the sign for the month Mol is in any way connected with birth or death or Avith the sun or the snail. The sign consists of Iavo parallel lines of dots, forming an ellipse. In the lower part of this ellipse is a small circle, whose center is indi- cated, and to the upper part of which two little hooks or loops are attached. In almost the same way in Avhich it occurs m the manu- scripts the sign Mol occurs in the inscriptions, which in every other respect differ so Avidely from the manuscripts. Unfortunately, there is no convincing theory to explain this figure, although there are three possible ones. In the first place, the ellipse might stand for the snail shell, and that which is drawn within it may be a cursive indication of a snail ; in the second place, we might regard it as an egg and its yolk as an emblem of birth, and, thirdly, it would be possible to regard it as the imprisoned, and hence powerless, sun. A^Tio shall decide be- tween these possibilities ? The second is supported by the fact that Mr Dieseldorff writes me from Coban, in Guatemala, that in the language of that part of the country (the Kekchi) Mol means egg. I can not find the snail in Codex Troano-Cortesianus, but this may be due to the hasty and rude drawing of that manuscript. I am prepared to deny positively that it does occur. 430 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Of course, the two solstices have not the great significance in Yuca- ' tan which, with their extreme alternations of light and temperature, they possess in the higher latitudes; yet by the alternations of dry and wet. seasons, by the varying length of the days, which differ by two hours, and by the higher or lower position of the sun, as well as by the deviation in the point of the sun's rising and setting, they are sufficiently noticeable not to be passed over in silence in the ancient literature of a race so mathematically endowed as the Maya. We know from the Maya manuscripts that four animals — deer, bird, lizard, and fish — were frequently placed in combination with the four cardinal points. To these must now be added, if my hypothe- sis be correct, the tortoise as the representative of the northwest and northeast and the snail as the representative of the southwest and southeast. In Codex Cortesianus, pages 31a and 32a, the four ani- mals appear, and immediately after them (page 33a) the tortoise. On the so-called title page that has been much discussed, which con- nects the Troano codex with Codex Cortesianus, to the days from Imix to Kan, from Manik to Oc, and, lastly, Ben are assigned the four cardinal points, while Chicchan and Cimi, as well as Chuen and Eb, each have two unfamiliar signs, not the same both times, but different ones, making four signs in all. Can these be the intermediate points? Cimi, like death, would, as we have seen, be very appropriate to the snail, while the sign for Chicchan in Codex Troano-Cortesianus (not usually in the Dresden) has that latticework which, above, I have already connected with the tortoise. On the other hand, the relation of Chicchan to the serpent's skin can not be denied. Moreover, I am aware that the direction up and down is supposed to be indicated by those two signs introduced between the cardinal points, a theory which accords in so far with my hypothesis as these hieroglyphs denoto the highest and the lowest position of the sun. PAGE 24 OF THE DRESDEN MAYA MANUSCRIPT'^ Introduction The Dresden Maya manuscript has thus far been published three times, first hj Lord Kingsborough in his Mexican Antiquities (vol- ume 3) and twice, with different introductions, by me (Leipzig, 1880. and Dresden, 1892). It consists, as I explained in my first, edition, of two wholly dis- tinct parts. The first, consisting of 48 pages, contains on one side pages 1 to 24 and on the other pages 25 to 45 and three blank pages ; the second, consisting of 30 pages, contains on one side pages 46 to 60, on the other pages 61 to 74 and one blank page. Pae-e 24, the one to be here discussed, with which the front of the first part ends, is perhaps the most important in the entire manu- script, for one entire side of the second part (46 to 60) is merely a further exposition of the contents of page 24. The only difference is that page 24 is confined to astronomic obser- vations, while pages 46 to 60 bring the astronomic and the myth- ologic more into connection. The astronomic problem on page 24 is to connect certain given periods of time by common multiples. These periods of time are as follow : 1. The sacred tonalamatl of 260 days, consisting of 20 weeks of 13 days each. 2. The old official solar year of 360 days, or eighteen periods of 20 days each. 3. The true solar year of 365 days. 4. The apparent revolution of Mercury of 115 days. 5. The apparent revolution of Venus of 584 days. 6. Possibly, the apparent revolution of Mars of 780 days. 7. The revolution of the moon of between 29 and 30 days, which in the calendar, however, was computed at but 28 days. Thirteen of these month periods of 28 days made up a year of 364 days. 8. Possibly, the very ancient period, which was also Aztec, of the 9 days or nights (sehores de la noche). Before we consider more closely in what manner and how far this "Zur Entzifferung der Mayabandschrifteii, IV, Dresden, June 11, 1S94. 431 432 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 page solves the problem mentioned above I will give a sort of copy of it: 1 17 29 151,840 113,880 75,920 37,960 2 18 30 I Ahau I Ahau I Ahau I Ahau 3 19 31 4 20 32 1 85,: JO 68,900 33,280 9,100 5 21 33 I AhaTi I Ahau I Ahau I Ahau 6 22 34 7 23 35 8 24 36 35,040 32,120 29,200 26,280 9 25 37 VI Ahau XI Ahau III Ahau VIII Ahai 10 26 38 11 27 39 12 28 40 13 23,360 20,440 17,520 14,600 14 XIII Ahau VAhau X Ahaii II Ahau 15 16 (2200) 1,366,560 1,364,360 11,680 8,760 5,840 IV Ahati I Allan I Ahan VII Ahau XII Ahau IV Aha 8Ciimku ISKayab 18 Zip 2,920 IX Ahau In connection with this I would make the following observations: 1. While the copy shows large vacant spaces, the original, like all the sheets of the manuscript, is wholly wdthout vacant spaces, since the Maya numerals occupy far more room than the European. 2. The numerals 1 to 40 in the three left-hand columns represent forty different hieroglyphs. All the rest of the space is taken up with numbers, twenty-three day signs (always the same, Ahau) and three month signs (on the left below, Cumku, Kayab, Zip). 3. This page, like most of the pages of the manuscript, is imperfect at the top, only detached portions of the hieroglyphs 1 to 3, 17, and 29, as well as of the four topmost numbers (which I have restored by conjecture), being left. Were it not for this ever-recurring loss of important passages our knowledge of Maya would be far more ad- vanced than it is. 4. I have ventured to correct two clerical errors in my transcrip- tion. In the first place, the date of the month 18 Zip, where the writer has set down 18 Uo, that is, the second instead of the third period, the characters for the two being very similar; secondly, the IX in IX Ahau in the lower right-hand corner, where the manuscript reads VIII, because a dot coincides with the red border below. I shall first consider the numbers and the month and day signs ap- pertaining to them, and I shall then try as far as possible to explain the forty hieroglyphs on the left. The author of the manuscript doubtless wrote these hieroglyphs in order to make the numbers more intelligible, while we, on the contrary, are compelled to penetrate the foestemann] THE NUMBERS 433 dark region of the hieroglyphs from the assured standpoint of the numbers. The Numbers To facilitate the comprehension of what follows, I give here the following table : 115 260 3G0 365 584 780 2,920 8 5 11,960 104 46 14,040 54 39 18 18,980 73 52 37,960 146 104 65 The figures on the left denote five especially important periods of time; the upper row gives six of the periods mentioned in the fore- going section ; the rest indicate the quotients resulting from the divi- sion of the former by the latter. I will also call attention to the proportion : 11,960 : 37,960 : : 115 : : 23 : 73. We begin by considering the four columns on the right and pro- ceed from below upward and in each line from right to left. We first encounter a progression of twelve terms, the first term being 2,920, the difference being also 2,920, and the last term there- fore being 35,040=12X2,920. Now, 2,920 denotes eight times the solar year (8X365) or five times the Venus year (5X584). These twelve figures are all accompanied by the days pertaining to them, between which there is naturally the same difference as between the numbers. But the period of 2,920 days is equal to 11 tonalamatl (11X260) and 60 days. Now, 60=4X13+8; the numbers preceding the day signs, indicating the position in the week of 13 days, must, therefore, be constantly set forward by eight. Furthermore, 60=^3X20; therefore, the same day will always appear in the series of 20 days after an interval of 2,920 days. And for this day, the most important one is chosen, the one most frequently used, the final point, and, as we may say, the apex of a series begin- ning with the day Imix, the day Ahau, which seems to be sacred to tiie sun god, the Kin-ich-ahau (" lord of the day's eye ") , just as the same day in Kekchi and Cakchikel is named after the god Hunahpu. The actual zero point from which all the series in the Maya manu- scripts proceed is invariably suppressed or only becomes apparent at the very end of the series. The first thing that is recorded in these series is always the number which results after the expiration of the first period. To find the zero point here we must count back- ward from IX Ahau 60 days, which brings us to I Ahau, a day which is very important in relation to what follows. Here I must utter a warning against the error of supposing I Ahau to be the day with ^238— No. 28—05 28 434 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 which Maya chronology begins. It seems rather to be merely an arbi- trary term of equation, which must always undergo correction if it is to be referred to exact chronology. As Maya chronology begins with the day IV Ahau, the correction in our case should consist of --[-140 or — 120. We shall, in fact, meet with these figures later. But it is the purpose of these series to be continued until their terms and the differences of those terms agree with the tonalamatl of 260 days. This object it not attained in the first twelve terms. The series must, therefore, be continued, and this is done not in the next line (the second from the top), but in the topmost line, which we will therefore consider before the second. This topmost row, as I have already observed, is in part destroyed. The numbers still legible are as follow : 1 14 6 16 7? I am glad to be able to state here for the first time that I have succeeded in completing this line in the simplest way. It must have appeared as follows, and I have added to it day dates : 1 1 15 10 5 1 16 10 5 14 6 16 8 I Ahau I Ahau I Ahau I Written according to our method, the figures are 151,840, 113,880, 75,920, and 37,960; that is, one, two, three, and four times 37,960. But the latter number is also equal to 13X2,920; it therefore follows directly after 12X2,920, the last term in the series of twelve terms. Since the four numbers are all divisible by 260, I Ahau belongs to them all ; that is, the day which I assumed to be the zero point of the whole series. And it is quite in accord with the rest of the series occurring in the manuscript that the difference in the first twelve terms is 2,920, but in the continuation, as soon as the number divisible by 260 is attained, it is 13X2,920. Besides 37,960, of which tonalamatl of 260 days, the solar year of 365 days, and the Venus year of 584 days are factors, the second num- ber from the left, 113,880, which has been frequently discussed and is usually designated ahau katun, is especially noteworthy among these four numbers. It is also divisible by 780, the triple tonalamatl or the Mars year. Of the four columns on the right, only the second line, thus far omitted, remains to be described. It contains the four numbers 185,120, 68,900, 33,280, and 9,100 ; to each of them the day I Ahau is Mded, since thej are all divisible by 360. Only the smallest of these fCestbmann] the numbers 435 numbers, 9,100, really has anything remarkable about it, as it is divisible not only by the tonalamatl, but also by the year of 13 months, which has 364 days. These figures were for a long time a puzzle to me, since thej^ do not form a series and have no legitimate relation to their neighbors. They produce somewhat the effect of a mere aid to computation, such as one jots down on a separate sheet in the course of some great mathematic task. A light suddenly dawned upon me when I combined the first and third and second and fourth numbers by addition or subtraction. T thus obtained four results : 1. 185,120+33,280=218,400, which is just 600 13-month years of 364 days, 280 Mars years of 780 days, 840 tonalamatls, and 7,800 months of 28 daj^s. 2. 185,120—33,280=151,840; that is, the largest number in the topmost line, as well as 416 solar years of 365 days, 52 periods of 2,920 days, and 260 Venus years of 584 days, or the product of the days of the tonalamatl and of the Venus year. 3. 68,900+9,100=78,000; that is, 100 Mars years or 300 tonala- matls. 4. 68,900—9,100=59,800; that is, 520 Mercury years of 115 days or 230 tonalamatls or five times the notable period of 11,960 days already mentioned. This can not be chance. The facts speak too plainly. But who can penetrate the intellectual workshop of the Indian author and trace his course of thought and mode of work? The four columns at the right of the page having been thus dis- posed of, let us turn to the three on the left, and first to that part of them which is below the forty hieroglyphs. I will here rejoeat this passage from the transcript of page 24 given above : (3200) 1,366,560 1,364,360 IV Ahau I Ahati I Ahau 8 Cumku 18 Kayab 18 Zip We will first dispose of the number 2,200. It is simply the differ- ence between the two large numbers and, as is usual with differences, is provided with a red circle surrounding its lower figure (0). Three calendric dates and two numbers now remain. The number belonging to the date on the right is missing, probably only for want of space, as often happens in this manuscript. I will supply it in jDarenthesis and write each date, adding the year of each, below the number belonging to it. We then have as follow : 1.366,560 1,364,360 (1,352,400) . IV Ahau I Ahau I Ahau 8 Cumku 18 Kayab 18 Zip Year IX Ix « III Kan X Kan ° According to the system of the Dresden codex now accepted these will be the years VlII Ben, IT Akbal, and IX Akbal. C. T. 436 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 From the date on the right to the middle one there is an interval of 32 years and 280 days:=32X365+280; that is, the remarkable number 11,960, already mentioned, in which the tonalamatl and the revolution of Mercury meet. From the middle date to that on the left there is an interval of 6X365+10=2,200 days, which is given in the manuscript. Of these dates, which of course recur every 18,980 days, or 52 years, that on the right, corresponding to our September 11, hardly awakens any particular interest. The corresponding number is 5,201X260+140. This 140, however, as already indicated, is quite necessary, since these three numbers all proceed from the normal date IV Ahau, and between IV Ahau and I Ahau there are 140 days. Moreover, I would remark that 1,352,400 is 28X48,300 and also 115X11'''60, and is therefore divisible by 28, the month of the 364- day year, and by the revolution of Mercury. The middle date is more important. The day 18 Kayab is our 18th of June. In my essay " Schildkrote und Schnecke in der Mayalit- eratur " I tried to prove that it is likely that the sign for the period Kayab is a tortoise's head, that the tortoise was the symbol for the summer solstice, and that June 18 was probably regarded as the long- est day. The number corresponding to this date is 115X11,864, and this is divisible by the revolution of Mercury. It has still another property, which I hardly venture to mention. It is 29.66 X 46,000 ; that is, 46,000 revolutions of the moon, each estimated at 29.66 days. On pages 51 to 58 of the manuscript the revolution of the moon seems to have been even more exactly specified, namely, at "29.526 days, as I have pointed oat in Globus, volume 63, number 2. It may be objected that 46,000 is a surprisingly round number only to us and not to the Maya. But to this I reply that if we divide it by 115, the revolution of Mercury, we have 400, and 400 (20X20) in a vigesi- mal system is certainly a round number, Avhich for that reason was sometimes denoted by a simple word, in the Maya (according to Stoll) by bak, in the Cakchikel (according to Seler) by huna. Our number 46,000 is therefore a huna of periods in which the times of revolution of the two celestial bodies that run their courses the quickest harmonize. It should also be noted here that the middle one of the three great series on pages 46 to 50, amounting to 37,960 days each, also begins with the date I Ahau, 18 Kayab. In the date on the left, with the number belonging to it, we see at last the true starting point of Maya chronology, not only for our manuscript, but for Maya literature in general. Thus I consider that the Cross of Palenque by the signs on A and B, 16, indicates pre- cisely the date I Ahau, 18 Kayab; by those on I), 1, and C, 2, pre- cisely the difference 2,200, 8 tonalamatls+6X20; and by D, 3, and fSrstbmann] THE NUMBERS .437 C, 4. preciselj^ the date IV Man, 8 Cumkii. This last date, answer- ing to onr 28th of June, may be regarded as the day of the greatest heat, or the day on which the sun ends its solstice. The correspond- ing number, 1,366,560, combines many properties. It is divisible by the period of the seilores de la noche, or lords of the cycle, 9 times 151,840 being therefore nine times the number which we find at the apex of the great series; by the tonalamatl, 260 X-^ ,256; by old official years, 360X3,796; by solar years, 365X3,744; by Venus years, 584X2,340; by Mai's years, 780X1,752; by solar Venus periods, 2,920X468; by the solar-year tonalamatl, 18,980X72; by twice the latter, the period so important in the series, 37,960X36; and by the periods before mentioned that are usually designated as ahau katuns, 113,880X12. It should also be mentioned that the first number is removed from this third one by 14,160 days (equal to 11,960+2,200). Hence the difference between them is 14,040, mentioned above as a remarkable number, increased by the interval between I Ahau and IV Ahau, that is, 120, also mentioned above. This number is the real objective point of our page. It lies, like almost all the large numbers in the manuscript (except those in the serpents) , betAveen one and one and a half millions. Did it represent to the writer of the manuscript the present, the past (history), or the future (prophecy) ? Perhaps it may serve to elucidate the mat- ter further if I remark that the monuments of Copan, described by Maudslay, the dates of which most probably refer to the present, all contain a number of greater magnitude and therefore point to a more recent period than the page under consideration. I here give a number of such dates : Altar S 1,375,200 Stela I 1,383,760 Stela J 1,393,200 Altar K 1,402,768 Stela A 1,403,800 Stela B 1,404.000 Stela M 1,413,000 Stela N 1,414,800 From this it follows that this degree of civilization, if it survived in Copan until the arrival of the Spaniards, probably produced no monument of such a character before the year 1400. If page 24 of the Dresden manuscript indicates the present by this important num- ber, it was written 132 years before the latest monument of Copan, mentioned above, and 24 years before the oldest. But I think it is more probable that the date farthest to the right (I Ahau, 18 Zip, year 10 Kan) denotes the present, the other two alluding to re- markable days in the future. In that case, this page is 39 years older. The number indicating the present might then have been omitted as a matter of course and of little significance, while a reference to as- tronomic events of the future was of more importance. Of course, it is taken for granted that the initial point of the computation is the same for the monuments of Copan as in the Dresden manuscript. 438 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 The Glyphs Here we enter a mysterious realm, where conjectures occupy a greater space than actual facts. One fact, however, is certain, and that is that these characters are to be read in the same order in which I have designated them by numbers. I shall therefore discuss them in that order." 1 to 4. The first three signs are almost wholly destroyed, and this interferes in the highest degree with our comprehension of the whole. It would scarcely be possible to restore them unless a parallel text should be discovered. But this seems to be certain, that the Venus period is the chief subject treated of here as well as in the funda- mental series already discussed. Sign 4, which I formerly regarded as the one belonging to the west, is clearly that of the east. We might, therefore, suppose that these four signs signify the four points of the compass in the same order in which they are set clown five times in the middle of the left side of pages 46 to 50, which pertain to this subject, but the remains of sign 3 do not coincide with this theory. 5 to 9. Here we have the sign for Venus five times in succession, thus indicating the five Venus years, which underlie the series occur- ring on this page. Signs 6 and 8 seem to me now, as they did eight years ago, merely variants of 5, 7, and 9, but I confess that in the former I tried for a time to find the sign for Mercury. Both charac- ters also occur side by side on pages 46 to 50, where there is no men- tion of Mercury, nine or ten times on each page. 10. This is a familiar form of the sign for Moan. I have recently tried to prove in Globus that Moan also stands for the Pleiades, with whose disappearance and reappearance the beginning of the year seems to be connected. Does sign 10, according to that, denote the solar year, with which our page combines the Venus year ? Moreover, on page 50, where the 2,920-day period ends, we see the Venus and the Moan signs side by side on the right at the top. 11, 12. If the preceding signs refer to the Venus and solar years, we should expect to find the tonalamatl here as the third member of the combination. The two signs occurring here are a repetition of the same one, being the sign for the thirteenth period of 20 days (Mac), the close of which comes at the expiration of 260 days of the year. Does the repetition of the character reallj^ signify the recurring tonalamatl ? 13= f. This is the sign kin, " sun ", " day ", with the usual affix, which might almost be taken for a sign of the plural. Above it is what is known as the rattlesnake sign, which seems to denote a union, a grouping together, by the help of which I thought, in my article " Owing- to some confusion and uncertainty in tlie identifications fig. 106, wliicli was intended to show the glyphs refpi'L'cd to, is omitted. fOes'Cbmann] THE GLYPHS 439 " Zur Maya-Chronologie " in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, that I had found a sign for the period of 18,980 (52X365) days. Are we then to regard this sign as twice that period; that is, 37,960 days, which we see is the objective point of the series on our page? 14 to 18. As the preceding characters led us to the Venus-sun period and to pages 46 to 50, connected with it, so with these five glyphs we come to the Mercury-moon period and pages 51 to 58, devoted to it, and, therefore, also to the large number in the third column of our page. Let us compare with our signs the ten glyphs found on the lower half of page 58, above the picture, which I. will designate a b c d e f g h i k (By the way, I would like to consider a as the glyph of Mercury, e and f as signs for the solar and lunar year of 364 days; c and d might possibly signify 13X28. I will now try to explain characters K g, h, i, k.) We here reach the following results : 14=c, which is, as I have shown, the sign for 20 years of 360 days; that is, for 7,200 days. 15 =g, a hand holding a square which is divided by a cross into four parts. I am inclined to conjecture that this is the period of 20 days. Before the sign 15 is the numeral 1, which occurs on page 58 before g, but with a small cross below it, which perhaps merely indicates that the 1 does not belong here, but with g, where there was no room for it. I therefore read the whole l-j-20=21. 16=h, the sign of the fourteenth 20-day period (Kankin), above it is the familiar Ben-Ik sign, which I take to be the lunar month of 29, or, more precisely, 29.5 days (reckoned at only 28 in the calendar). Before it is a prefix which is more distinct on page 58, consisting of two lines and two small circles, which I am inclined to consider the character for duplication, 2X29.5 = 59. Yet I con- fess that I am still doubtful about this, especially as to the meaning of the character kankin. Was it chosen because 14 is the half of 28 ? 17==b. Although 17 is almost destroyed, I think there is no doubt about this equation, judging from the fragments which remain. Hence we have here 13X360=4,680 days, a third of the remarkable period of 14,040 days. We have therefore, 14= 7, 200 days 15= 21 days 16:= 59 days 17= 4, 680 days 11,960 days 440 SUBEAtJ OF AMERICAiSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 that is, precisely the Mercury-moon j)eriod; the last number on page 58 was only 11,958, and therefore referred merely to the first of the three days set down near it. 18^k, in both instances forming the termination of the group, and actually denoting termination or end, in which sense we often find this sign, for instance, eight times in succession at the termina- tion of the great periods on pages 61 and 62. It is also the sign for the sixth period of 20 days, Xul, and it has long been known that xul means the end. Another word, xul, or shul, means the tiute, and the character may easily have originally signified the head of a flute-player. Perhaps it will lead to a better comprehension if we compare the very similar group on page 53 at the top. 19, 20. Here are two characters which indicate that a detailed treatment of the jDarts into which each Venus year is divided is now to follow ; that is, the 236, 90, 250, and 8 days, as I have already proved in 1886, in my Erlauterungen. For the first of these signs is Venus itself; the second, a hand holding an obsidian knife (as indicative of cutting, of dividing). On pages 46 to 50, where this dividing is represented, we see on the left in the middle an entire line filled with these hands, four on each of the five pages. 21 to 25. These five characters all refer to only one of the four parts of the Venus year, to the period of 236 days (of the morning star), no such amount of space being reserved for the other three. But these 236 days are under the domination of the east, this cardinal point always accompanying them (in the center of pages 46 to 50, above; in the lower third, below). The signs of the periods, as well as those of the cardinal point from the middle third of these five pages, continually move forward one point above, denoting the- begin- ning and below the end of the 236 days. The sign (Chuen or Akbal?) constantly repeated in the lower third must likewise have some connection with this circumstance. If we now turn back to our page 24, we find the signs 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25, on pages 47, 48, 49, and 50, and on page 46 in the fourth line of the middle third, while on pages 48, 49, 50, 46, and 47, the}^ are in the first line of the lower third. It would be venturesome to try to explain the characters in detail. They are deities without doubt. As seems to me most probable, 21=N, 22=F, 23=H, 24=B, 25=A, to follow the designations of Schellhas in the Berlin Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic; but that is merely a very modest conjecture. Before 21, which corresponds to the eleventh 20-day period, Zac, we see a 4, and this may indicate that this Venus year should begin the 8-day inferior conjunction with the day 4 Zac after. Pages 49 and 50 have a 1 before 23, which seems to be obliterated on page 24. In the singu- larly composite character on page 48, first glyph on the right side of fOestemann] THE GLYPHS 441 the center line of the middle, I am inclined to surmise a combination of the glyphs of those five gods. 26 to 28. The sign 26 signifies the day Caban, by which sign also the ground and generally the direction downward is often indicated. As in this passage we often see Caban closely combined with glyph 27, as on pages 32b to 35b, on page 48 in the middle of the right half, also on page 73 in each of the three divisions, also on pages 38b, 39b, 40a, 55a, 56a, 66a, 7la, 7lb, sometimes probably denoting agriculture. Can 27 be the sign Muhic belonging to the north ? That would agree very well with the direction downward. Then follows 28, the famil- iar sign Chuen, which we have already seen repeated so many times on pages 46 to 50. It has a prefix, the upper part of which is an ahau, the lower part of a god's face, probably that of the god D, who is usually combined with Ahau ; but D, as Schellhas has .already assumed, seems to be a god of the night. Therefore, although there is still great uncertainty regarding this point, I feel strongly inclined d f g Fig. 107. Glyphs from the Maya codices. to believe there is a reference here to the long period of 90 days in which Venus is invisible during the time of superior conjunction, that is, it vanishes in night; hence it is dominated by the north. With regard to the composite sign 28 I would suggest a parallel with A and B, 8, on the Cross of Palenque («, figure 107). 29 to 31. These characters occur close to the end of the great series. They seem to me to denote nothing else than the result of that series ; to be sure, 29 is wholly, and 30 almost wholly, obliterated ; but I am sure from what remains of 30 that the normal date IV Ahau 8 Cumku stood here, as it does in the left-hand lower corner of our page. In 31, as in 18, we see the sign for Xul, " end ", here denoting the end of the great period, which marks the close of the entire compu- tation. 32,33 (Z>, figure 107). The black deity, L, according to Schellhas, and with it the glyph of Venus, with the sign above it which we have already recognized as the sign for division. Thus we also find these 442 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 two characters together on page 46 on the right in the middle, where the four Venus periods are probably set down in close succession; and that 32 and 33 (&) are really meant to denote the periods of 250 days belonging to the west is confirmed by the fact that the black divinity on page 50, on the left, actually appears among the deities who govern the separate parts of the Venus year— in the middle of the page at the beginning and at the bottom at the end of a period of 250 days. For prefix the black deity has here the sign Imix with three rows of dots proceeding from it. Since with the Mayas Imix very commonly stands at the beginning of the 20-day period, as the corresponding Cipactli always does with the Aztecs, the whole glyph might be read : Here begins the 250-day Venus period. 34, 35 (c) . Exactly in the same place in which are the signs 32 (5) and 33 on page 46 we find the signs 34 and 35 (» on page 47. 35 is Venus again, and 34 has the numeral 10 (on page 47 it may possibly be 11) before it, and 34, too, seems to signify a deity, possibly R (Moan), although in that case we should expect to find a 13 before it. On page 47, on the left. Moan represents a period of 8 days belonging to the south, the inferior conjunction of Venus. If my conjectures are well founded, we have in 21 to 25 the eastern, in 26 to 28 the northern, in 32 and 33 (Z>, figure 107) the western, and in 34 and 35 (c) the southern part of the revolution of Venus (236, 90, 250, and 8 days, respectively), the last three being more briefly treated than the first owing to lack of space. But I return once more to sign 34, Moan. The striking number 10 before it suggests the possibility that something else, probably a date, was to be designated. Now, the principal part of the sign is like that of the third 20-day period. Zip. It may, therefore, mean 10 Zip. We now remember that the signs for the eastern^part begin with the date 4 Zac. But from 4 Zac to 10 Zip of the next year we have precisely the interval of 236-f 90+250=576 days, that is, a Venus year lacking only the 8 days of invisibility during inferior conjunction; according to our calendar, the interval between February 4 and September 3 of the succeeding year, the time from the appearance of the morning star to the disappearance of the even- ing star. May the future determine the year in question here. On pages 46 to 50, as I shall directly observe, other years are treated of. 36 to 40 {d, e, /, g, and A, figure 107) . These, the last five signs, occur in exactly this order on pages 46 to 50, one on each page at the beginning of the third line in the middle group of the right half, directly under the signs which we have just mentioned; but with this difference, that on page 24 they always have the same prefix, which they lack on pages 46 to 50, while there the same glyph invariably follows them. On page 46 the sign 36 {d, (igure 107) has no further foestemann] the glyphs 443 addition ; the signs 37 to 40 {e, f, g, and h) , on pages 47 to 50, on the contrary, have various appendixes, which can not be discussed here. 36 to 40 {d, e, /, g, and h) no doubt likewise denote divinities — 36 (d) possibly K; 38 (/) probably E. A whole Venus year of 584 days must belong to them, as signs e, /, figure 103, and a, h, c, figure 104, indicated at the beginning of these glyphs. If, finally, we consider these glyphs as a whole, omitting 1 to 4 on account of their obliteration and 29 to 31 (a, figure 107), which only repeats the normal date, w^e find that the Indian Avriter desires to say this : I am here treating especially the periods consisting of five successive Venus years, bringing them into harmony with the solar year and the tonalamatl. I am at the same time considering a second important period, that in which the two heavenly bodies of the second class, the moon and Mercury, come together in their orbits, a period made up of four unequal parts. Just in the same way is each individual Venus year divided into four unequal parts, which appertain to the east, north, west, and south and are ruled by certain deities, which I can mention only in part, owing to lack of space. Lastly, I would add that each of the five Venus years of a period is dominated as a whole by a deity, and the signs of these I give here. Thus far, for the present, am I able to explain page 24. Many riddles still remain unsolved, but if one compares what I was able to say in 1886 in my Erliiuterungen, pages 47 and 48, in regard to this page, he must agree that the advance in knowledge in these eight years has not been small. It is only nine years since the sign for zero was discovered, without which no number above 19 could be read. PAGES 71 TO 73 AND 51 TO 58, DRESDEN CODEX « Pages 71 to 73 of the Dresden Maya manuscript in the middle and lower third have each three horizontal rows of hieroglyphs so placed that three always align vertically. These hieroglyphs have no con- nection AAdth the numbers below them, which are continued toward the left and belong to a series w4th the difference 65, of which I have already spoken in the second paper of this series. The hieroglyphs and numbers can have no connection with each other because the num- bers are to be read from right to left, the w^ritten characters from left to right. This is proved by the fact that in at least eight instances we find above the hieroglyphs a character in which we recognize a hand pointing to the right, similar to a hand Avhich occurs twenty times in succession on pages 46 to 50 of the manuscript. But, misled by the direction of the rows of numbers, the writer began the hieroglyphs on page 71 at the right instead of at the left, but corrected his mistake after the first four characters. Accord- ingly, I read the groups of three hieroglyphs each in the following -prder : Page 71 Page 73 Page 73 2 1 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 19 20 21 23 33 4 3 13 13 14 15 16 17 18 34 35 36 37 38 -•' There are, therefore, 28 groups, or 84 separate hieroglyphs, fortu- nately in an excellent state of preservation, excepting slight injuries to groups 19 and 24. It will greatly aid the comprehension of what follows if the reader will write these figures on the edge of the sepa- rate pages in his copy of the manuscript as well as on that of the pas- sage to be discussed later. The number 28, I am very sure, indicates the purport of this passage. We have unquestionably to deal here with the year of 364 days, of which I treated in my article on " Die Zeitperioden der Mayas " in Globus, volume 63, and which consists of 13 revolutions of the moon of 28 days each, or of 28 weeks of 13 "days each; each of the 28 groups, therefore, doubtless signifies a period of 13 days. But the year of 364 days is divided into four periods of 7X13- -91 days each. The series in our manuscript, pages 31 to 32 and 63 to 64, are based upon such periods, and in close proximity to our passage, on pages 65 to 69, we find four similar periods, each divided into « Zur EntzifEerung dev Mayahandschriften, V, Dresden, July 1, 18fl5. 445 446 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 various unequal parts, as I have proved in the treatise " Zur Maya- Chronologie " in the Zeitschrift flir Ethnologie, vokime 23, page 144. It now appears that in the passage before us the 364 days are also divided into four parts of 91 days each; for groups 4, 11, 18, and 25 have each the same hieroglyphs, and the interval between 4 and 11, between 11 and 18, between 18 and 25, and between 25 and 4 is always equal to 7X13— that is, 91, except that we find a 4 prefixed in group 45 (I will designate the three hieroglyphs of each group from top to bottom as a, 5, c) . This number I will try to explain later. We come to the important question whether we are to recognize the beginning of that year in this passage. It should be observed here that Spanish authors give us widely differing dates for the begin- ning of the Central American year, part of them relating to very late times, and hence of little value in examining ancient native literature. The date of these statements and the region to which they refer should be critically examined. It must be borne in mind, however, that different beginnings of the year may have been in use at the same time and in the same region, just as with us the civil year begins with the 1st of January, the ecclesiastic year with the first Sunday in Advent, the school year usually at Easter, and the fiscal year at various other times. According to the statement of Diego de Landa, which dates from a period long preceding the end of the sixteenth century, July 16 was accepted as the beginning of the Maya year. No doubt their civil year began then. I have tried, on the other hand, to show in Globus, number 15, vol- ume 65 (1894), that according to the accounts given by Peter Martyr, dating from the beginning of the sixteenth century and referring, it is true, only to Mexico, the Maya, like the Chiapanecs in Chiapas, had a year preceded by one Avhich closed in May during the con- junction of the sun with the Pleiades, one which began with the conjunction of the siin and Orion's belt. I do not believe that these peoples regarded the whole of what we call Orion as a constel- lation, but only the three bright stars in the belt, the most striking feature of the celestial equator. The name mehen ek (" the sons ") points to this, and this, too, may be the solution of the three dots under the hieroglyph for " year ". Thus we have here an astronomic year. Mrs Zelia Nuttall, whose labors in the Aztec field have been so suc- cessful, presented a " Note on the Ancient Mexican Calendar System " to the Congress of Americanists at Stockholm in 1894 in which she ingeniously points out a year which began with the spring equinox and included in its middle the sacred tonalamatl; that is^ 260 days preceded by 52 days and followed by the same number. As the real FOESTEMANN] PAGES 71-73 AND 51-58, DRESDEN CODEX 447 nucleus of the year in question is this ritual period, we may fitly call it the ritual year. It is this ritual year which I recognize in the present passage of the Dresden codex as belonging to the Maya region. It should there- fore begin about the 10th of March, acocrding to the Julian calendar, which was about the time of the spring equinox. Proceeding from this point of time I will now try to tabulate the chronology of this passage. In the first column I shall place the numbers which designate the groups of hieroglyphs in question : in the second I shall specify to which day dates of that year the sepa- rate groups refer ; in the third, on which day of our year they fall ; lastly, in the fourth, the 20-day period with which each particular one mainly coincides : 1 ltol3 lOto 23 March Ceh 2 14 to 26 23 March to 4 April Mac 3... 27to39 5to 17 April ^ 4..._ 40to52 - 18 to 30 April jKankm 5... . .--- 53 to 65 ltol3May Moan 6 66 to 78 14 to 26 May Pax 7 79to91 27 May to 8 June ^ 8 92 to 104 9to21June ^Kayab 9 105toll7 22 June to 4 July ^ 10 118tol30 5tol7July |Cumku 11 131 to 143 18to30July Pop 12 144 to 156--- 31 July to 12 Aug -^ 13 157 to 169 13 to 25 Aug. -. /^^ 14 . 170 to 182 26 Aug. to 7 Sept Zip 15 183 to 195 8 to 20 Sept ^ 16 196 to 208 21 Sept. to 3 Oct f^^*^ 17 209 to 221 4 to 16 Oct Tzec 18 222 to 234 17 to 29 Oct 19 235 to 247 30 Oct. to 11 Nov /"^^^ 20 248 to 260 12 to 24 Nov. Yaxkin 21 261 to 273 25 Nov. to 7 Dec ( 22 274 to 286 8 to 20 Dec /^°^ 23 . 287 to 299 21 Dec. to 2 Jan -i 24 300to312 3tol5Jan jChen 25 313to325 16 to 28 Jan Yax 26 326 to 338 29 Jan. to 10 Feb i 27 339 to 351 11 to 23 Feb j'^^^ 28 352to364 .-._ 24 Feb. to 8 March Ceh AVliile calling attention in what follows to certain points which justify this arrangement, I regret that a large number of glyphs must be omitted because an explanation of them is impossible. This is doubly to be regretted in the case of characters that frequently occur in Maya manuscripts, which, if definitely known, would throw much light upon many passages. Among these is the universally known, much discussed, but never 448 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 clearly understood, Kan-Imix sign («, figure 108), 7c, 10c, 27c, m our passage; secondly, the Kin-Akbal sign (h), here lb, 3a, 55, 216, 28«., to which we would like to attribute the meaning of an initial day, if that meaning were applicable in every case. Further, the glyph (c) occurring in 9c, 13&, 14c, 19c, 26c, which, although it seems to be con- nected with the conception of a death bird (owl) , is still very far from being clearly and suitably explained in every instance. The same may be said^of the Caban'sign, which is doubtless often used to indi- cate the idea of earth, here 2«, 3c, 24o, 28c, and of the other sign, found in Ic, 3c, 21c, 22&, 24c, so often combined with it, as I have already stated in my article regarding page 24 of the manuscript. A final and authoritative solution is the more to be desired because all these signs recur without the least regularity. In certain of these glyphs (as in the sign 25c, occurring only once dsD dS k I 'II-' Fig. 108. Glyphs from the Dresden codex. here, but continually found elsewhere), and doubtless also in others, there may be an allusion to some special feast, some particulfu- cere- mony, some sort of sacrificial offering, or even to the rank of some individual ; but of all this nothing certain is known at present. It is delightful, by way of contrast, to see this pervasive darkness occasionally illuminated by a full or even by a dawning ray of light. Group 1 is a case in point. For the glyph la {d, figure 108) can be explained at the outset. It consists of four parts : On the upper left side, the sign kin, " sun ", " day " ; on the upper right side, the sign for the year; on the lower right side, the knife, or symbol of division or of section ; on the lower left side, what is particularly decisive, the month Ceh. I therefore read la: The day of the new year in the month Ceh. Sign Ih is the Kin-Akbal sign {h) , which is either the fOrstemann] pages 71-*73 AND 51-58, DRESDEN CODEX 449 initial day or the day Akbal. The latter would signify a Kan year, for which I hardly see a reason. Further, the four similar groups, 4, 11, 18, and 25 (e) , are of special importance. The cross in the upper glyph may here be a compass, although it may have another meaning elsewhere. I regard the mid- dle glyph as a Bacab, or a deity of the wind and the cardinal points, and the lower glyph as ik, " w^nd ". We have long known that each group of 91 days is under the rule of a special Bacab. The most important events of the year are clearly the sowing of the maize and the maize harvest, as well as the beginning and the end of the rainy season. Now, we find the first two in the maize deity, E (according to Schellhas), who appears in 6c and 13c, which are 91 days apart and denote the end of May and the beginning of August, which perhaps applies to a higher region, since in the plains but 60 days were reckoned between seed time and harvest. The other signs of the two groups, familiar as they are, I must leave unexplained, I am inclined to recognize the beginning and end of the rainy sea- son in signs 8c and 16c (/) , where what I consider three rays of drops fall from a square signifjnng the heavens (as usual), like the rain falling from the clouds represented on page 36 below (second pic- ture). The serpent, Sh (g), as the symbol of water, may also be an allusion to this, as it is often combined with Akbal (which often stands for "beginning"). The duration would be 104 days, from June to September. But I ought to remark that the sign in w^hich I seek a suggestion of the rainy season is very like another, common to both the Dresden and Troano codices, which is very closely connected with the idea of the w^eek of 13 days (h). Some other views I desire to put forth as mere conjectures. If the sign Chuen, 7a, is really a serpent's jaw it might refer to the beginning of the astronomic year in Ma}^, as the serpent very often denotes time. In 9b (i) there is a crouching human figure beside the sign which, as I have mentioned above, is regarded as that of the death bird. In another place (Zur Entzilferung der Mayahandschrif- ten, IV) I have regarded a human figure standing on its head (k) on page 58 as a sign for the planet Mercury, and I would add here that I am inclined to consider the crouching captive on page 60 as Mercury subdued by Venus. In 9&, which belongs to the period from the one hundred and fifth to the one hundred and seventeenth days of the year, a 115 days' revolution of Mercury is completed. I consider page 53, at the top, as a parallel to this passage, where the Venus sign occurs quite unexpectedly in the period in which, if the numbers and glyphs have reference to each other, the five hundred and second to the six hundred and seventy -fourth days elapse, in which, therefore, a Venus revolution of 584 days is completed. A crouching figure, as 7238— No. 28—05 29 450 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 in 96, also occurs on page 65a in the second series of 91 days, after n+13^24 daj^s of this series have expired; that is, directly after the 115 days of the apparent revolntion of Mercnry. In 101), and only in this passage, appears the glyph of the chief god of our manuscript, B. This coincides with the time of the sun's greatest power and of the civil new year, July 16. In group 12 a and c represent the year and h the head with the Akbal eye. Is this the beginning of the cIahI year? This should really form group 11, but there was no room for it, as the signs for the period of 91 days had of necessity^o stand there. Signs 14a and 15c are almost alike and remind us of la. Are they meant to express the middle of the ritual year, the time of the autum- nal equinox, September 10? In 15a two hooks diverge from a sun sign. Are these the two halves of the year and is the numeral 3 preceding them the third quarter of the year? In 206 we have the sign for the death god. A, which probably does not occur by chance where the month Xul comes to a close, which signifies the end. In 23(2 we have the glyph of a black bird; two hooks pointing up and down proceed from it ; below is the sign for the year. Is this the time of the shortest day, when darkness prevails? This is all that I can say at present with regard to this calendar; some points are decided, others are still doubtful. I find nothing in Codices Troano-Cortesianus and Peresianus vvhich corresponds to this passage. On the other hand, several Central American calendars have been handed down to us from Spanish times. For instance, that of Pio Perez from northern Yucatan, which may be found in Stephens's Travels in Yucatan, in the Kegistro Yucateco, and in Brasseur's edition of Diego de Landa. In Brinton's Native Calendar of Central America and Mexico (1893), page 48, there are also two Chiapanec calendars from Chiapas. These calen- dars append a few ritual, astronomic, meteorologic, and economic notes to every period of 20 days. We might believe that these and other similar calendars that probably exist were translated directly from such ancient calendars as the one which is presented to us in the passage just noAv under discussion, onh'' with the old pagan weeks of 13 days reduced to periods of 20 days. The passage from the Dresden codex discussed here, Avhen once it can be fully translated, will very much resemble these more modern calendars. We have here been concerned with a year of 364 days, the middle of which consists of the sacred period of 260 days, while at the beginning and at the end there are 52 days more, 104 together. Is it not wonderful, then, that in close proximity, on page 70, on the left, above and below, Ave find the two large numbers 1,394,120 and FOESTEMANN] PAGES 71-73 AND 51-58, DRESDEN CODEX 451 1,201,200, both of which are exactly divisible by 364, 260, and 104, and therefore also by their common multiple, 3,640. The Dresden manuscript has another remarkable parallel to this passage, which I shall now proceed to discuss. On pages 51 to 58 there is an extremely complex series of numbers, which I have already discussed elsewhere and may possibly treat later in still greater detail. It is interrupted by ten pictures, to each of which belong eight or ten glyphs, placed above them. This series begins on page 53, at the top. and proceeds first in thirty terms to the top of page 58 ; it then con- tinues on page 51, at the bottom, and goes on in thirty-nine more terms to page 58. Now, as on pages 71 to 73 the twenty-eight terms are accompanied each by three signs, placed above them, so here we have two signs above each of the sixty-nine terms. There, as here, the numbers certainly have no connection Avith the glyphs, especially as the series of numbers forms a clear and perfect whole, and I now wish to show the probable interconnection of the glyphs, which is wholly different from that of the numbers, as far as that can be done, a great many on the upper part of the leaf being destroyed. First, I will show the positions of the sixtj^-nine groups of glyphs in the manuscript, for the sake of greater clearness : 31 32 I'age 51 33 34 35 36 37 38 Page 52 39 40 1 2 Page 53 3 4 5 6 7 8 Page 54 9 10 11 12 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 14 15 I'age 55 16 17 18 19 20 Page 56 21 22 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 23 24 Page 57 25 26 27 28 Page 58 29 30 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 In glancing over this entire series of glyphs we observe that group 59 is missing. In place of it we find a snaillike sign, to which I ascribe the meaning of zero, as on page 64 a very similar sign certainly has this significance. This negation seems to me to mean that something in the previous passage was written by mistake in a wrong place. I would suggest that groups 54 to 59 should be arranged thus: 55, 54, 57, 56, 59, so that, not 59, but 58 is the one actually missing, and I hope to make this appear in some degree probable in what follows. Here, as in the j^assage previously treated, I shall designate the upper glyph of each group as and 69ffl the same head at least occurs; that is, after a space of twenty-eight groups, or a year, as in 37 and 65. Perhaps the most important thing thus far stated is the probable discovery of the sign for a Bacab repeated eight times. It is further confirmed by a ninth instance, on page 72, at the top, in the second group from the right, but the glyphs set down there belong to a series of numbers below them, the difference of whose separate terms is 54. In the third member of this series, page 72, at the left above, that is, above the number 162, the lowest glyph is associated with the character for the month Ceh in exactly the same way as group 1 in the passage first discussed, but the Bacab sign, which I have just mentioned, is associated with the eighth term; that is, with the number 432. Two hundred and seventy days have there- fore passed since the Ceh group, and in this time, exactly after 273 days, the rule of a new Bacab begins. It is remarkable that the numeral 4 accompanies this newly dis- covered Bacab sign, just as it does in group 4 of page 71, in the passage first discussed. To my mind this numeral 4 can only be an expletive affirmation that one of the four Bacabs is actually dealt with. Perhaps it may yet lead to further discoveries if I observe that in both of the passages discussed in detail, pages 51 to 58 and 71 to 73 (I can count at least fourteen instances, in spite of the partial PAGES 31 A TO 32a, DRESDEN CODEX <» As it seems that the mathematic sohition of the Dresden codex, which I undertook with imperfect success eleven years ago, has been wholly left to me, I will here more closely consider the especially im- portant passage that almost covers the upp(^r third of pages 31 and 32. This passage must have seemed to the writer of the manuscript to have particular importance; otherwise he would not have repeated three large numbers and three differences which occur there, on pages 62 and 63, where they are mixed with many other things. This repe- tition affords us the welcome opportunity of correcting two clerical errors in the third large number and in the third difference which occur on page 31. I will make these corrections at once, in order not to interrupt the exposition later. The writer set down the third large number with the numbers 10, 13, 3, 13, 2; but it should read 10, 13, 13, 3, 2; or, interpreted in European numerals, 1,538,342. The third difference, standing directly under this number, he wrote with 7, 2, then a black 14, and next a red 5. This was due to lack of space; it should be 7, 2, 14, 19=51,419. Without these two corrections the surprising results which I am about to communicate would be impossible. Investigation should begin at the right, which is the rule in all pas- sages relating to arithmetic series. On page 32, on the right, we see the glyphs of all the 20 days, in the following order : 4 13 2 11 8 17 6 15 12 1 10 19 16 5 14 3 20 9 18 7 Above each of the four columns there is a XIII in red, which means that each of the 20 days is to be considered as a thirteenth week day. The 20 days, however, form a regular series only when, beginning at the top on the right with the eleventh day, we pass to the fourth day, and then proceed in the same way in the following rows, ending with the twentieth day on the left below. Now, it appears that there are 91 days between day XIII 11 and day XIII 2, and the same is <» Dresden, March 26, 1897. 455 456 BUREAU OF AMERICA]^ ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 true of all the succeeding members of the series. The real zero point, which is always concealed in this manuscript, is XIII 20, the same as the last day of the series. This day is, however, the new year's day which recurs every 52 years, followed by I 1 as the second day, which gives the name to the whole year, for, according to the Maya view, the new year's day is not the first, but the zero day. It is not counted. Day XIII 20 is, therefore, highly significant in this passage. The difference 91 is equally significant. It is a Bacab period, a quarter of the ritual year of 364 days. This entire list of 20 days, therefore, includes a period of 20X^1^1,820, or 7 tonalamatls. The rest of the upper third of page 32 and the column on the right of page 31 are filled by a series which begins with 91, and 91 or a multiple of this number always aj^pears as the difference. This shows an attempt to obtain numbers divisible by the tonalamatl, 260, This attemj:)t is uniformly adhered to in all these series. At the same time a number divisible by 104 is sought, 104 being the remainder of a ritual year of 364 days when a tonalamatl, 260. is subtracted from it. This division of the year into 260-[-104 recalls the hypothesis of Mrs Zelia Nuttall, which assumes that the Aztec year was separated into 52-1-260 -{-52.'* It is unnecessary to repeat the entire twenty terms of the series in the manuscript, some of which are destroyed, since it concerns merely an auxiliary calculation. It is sufficient to give the principle. Here the two numbers 728 and 3,640 on page 32, on the left, need a passing allusion. They are of special importance, since with the former the combination of 91 and 104 is obtained and with the latter, besides this, the agreement with 260. It is as follows : 728=8X91 (therefore also 2x364) = 7Xl04. .3,640=:40X91 (therefore also 10x364) =35x104=14x260. Our chief concern now is to represent what has thus far been stated as the germ of what is to follow. The writer has added two superfluous signs at the end of the five columns of page 31 which belong here, in order to avoid an empty space. In the fourth and fifth columns he twice sets down the day XIII 20, the importance of which is already sufRcientlj^ conspicuous. In the first three columns he sets down the day IV 17 three times, and, besides, on the first and second he has twice set down the sign of the eighteenth month, Cumku. But we know that only the beginning of Maya chronology, upon which all numbers are based, is here meant, for it fell on the eighth day of the eighteenth month and was a day IV 17 in the year 9 Ix. Before we consider the three large numbers with which the three first columns begin I nuist make a more general observation. The " Note on the Ancient Mexican Calendar System, Stocljholm, 1894. FOKSTEMANN] PAGES 31a-32a, DRESDEN" CODEX 457 manuscript recognizes a multitude of nnmbers which increase from 1,200,000 to about 1,600,000. A part of these are actually expressed in the manuscript, and another part, as we shall see presently, are to be found by calculation. Now, all these numbers fall into two distinct divisions. The lesser range from 1,201,200 to 1,278,420. They therefore extend over 297 tonalamatls, or 211 years. The larger, on the other hand, begin at 1,366,560 and end with 1,567,332, thus extending over a period of 773 tonalamatls, or 550 j^ears. There is a blank space between, which can not be due to accident, for it com- j)rises 339 tonalamatls, or 242 years. Fifteen lesser numbers precede this gap and twentj^-four greater numbers follow. It may be sur- mised that this gap is the present, that the lesser numbers are the past, and the larger numbers the future for purposes of prophecy. The stelse at Cojoan, which I have mentioned (Zur Entzifferung der Maya- handschriften, IV), extend from the date 1,375,200 to 1,414,800; that is, through 152 tonalamatls, or 109 years. They signify the present, and must, therefore, provided the zero point of chronologic computa- tion is the same, be more recent than the Dresden codex, in which the future begins about where the present begins in Copan. Above each of the three large numbers there was a date composed of a number and a glyph, but with the exception of insignificant rem- nants these dates are destroyed. Therefore, I can only regard it as a bare j)ossibility that they denote the sixteenth day in the first month, the eleventh in the seventh, and the first in the fourteenth, which positions belong to the three days XIII 20 to be calculated afterwards. The three large numbers are as follow : 1. 1,272,544. This is a day IV 1, the seventeenth day of the sev- enth month in a year 12 Muluc. The number is divisible by 91 and 104 : 13,984X91=12,236X104. Of the three factors sought, 260 is the only one not found here. 2. 1,268,540. This is day IV 17, the actual starting point of chronology, and this time it is the eighth day of the eighth month in the year 1 Ix. The number is divisible by 260, which is always the case with day IV 17; that is, it is 4,879X260. But it is also divisible by 17; that is, it is 74,620X17. This, too, is not accidental, for the interval between XIII 20 and IV 17 is 17, and we often find that two day numbers placed in close proximity with each other are divisible by their difference. 3. 1,538,342. This is a day IV 19, the fifteenth day of the eleventh month in the year 12 Muluc. Thus the year has the same designation as that of the first number, but it is 14 katuns "(14X18,980) in advance of the former, and the day in it is 78 days in advance, for 78 days is the interval between IV 1 and IV 19; but the interval 458 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 is the same from IV 19 to IV 17, so that there is the same interval between the three days in the three numbers. The third number . is neither divisible by 91, 104, nor 260, and yet this is the very number from which the number sought is to be obtained. However, like the other two, it is at least divisible by 13, the number of week days. Among the three large numbers the manuscript shows the now familiar sign XIII 20. This means that those three numbers are all to be reduced to the day XIII 20 by means of subtraction. Now, the distance from XIII 20 to IV 1 is 121; from XIII 20 to IV IT, IT; from XIII 20 to IV 19, 199. The first two of these numbers are directly subtracted, but the third, as is often done, is first increased by a multiple of 260, which produces no alteration in the position of the days. Here 19TX260+199=51,419 is subtracted. These three numbers, 121, IT, and 51,419, the last being in accordance with the correction which I gave above, are actually provided in the manu- script wnth the red ring, w^hich indicates the subtrahend, and there- fore stands for the minus sign ^M\th the Maya. By this subtraction the three following numbers are obtained : 1. 1,272,423; that is, day XIII 20, sixteenth day in the first month, year 12 Muluc. 2. 1,268,523; that is, day XIII 20, eleventh day in the seventh month, year 1 Ix. 3. 1,486,923 ; that is, day XIII 20, first day in the fourteenth month, year 1 Kan. This day, therefore, divides the year, as was previously pointed out, into a tontlamatl of 260 days and a period of 104 days. These numbers are not in the manuscript, but as usual in such cases they must be calculated by the reader. 'V^^iy were not 260 days less deducted to obtain in this way the beginning of a katun, the first day of the first month in the year 1 Kan ? I believe this was omitted in order to avoid the unlucky new year's day. I am confirmed in this opinion by the fact that the same date, 1, fourteenth month, com- puted to be sure from IX 1 and in a different katun, also results from the black numbers of the fourth serpent, on page 62. The three numbers found by computation now stand in a much clearer relation to one another than those set down in the manuscript. 1. The difference between the first and the second number is 3,900=15X260. That this difference is intentional is confirmed by the number 39,000 resulting from the two numbers in the serpent on page 69, which are nearly ten times as large as those mentioned here. There the two numbers are 12,381,T28 and 12,391,4T0, from which must be subtracted the differences on page T3, 34,T32 and 83,4T4, and the resulting re- mainders are 12,346,996 and 12,30T,996, whose difference is exactly 39,000. FORSTBMANN] PAGES 31a-32a, DRESDEN CODEX ' 459 2. The difference between the third and first numbers is 214,500; that is, exactly fifty-five times 3,900, plainly proving that nothing has been left to accident here. 3. The difference betAveen the second and third numbers must therefore be 218,400, or fifty-six times 3,900. It should be noted here that 56=7X8 and 7 : 8 : : 91 : 104. Now, in this 218,400 are united all the properties sought in the fundamental series. It is 2,400X91 (therefore also equals 600X364) = 2,100X104=840X260." To be sure, 3,640 already contains these fac- tors, but the fulfillment of prophecy was not sought in such close proximity, else the prophet might easily have been held accountable. In addition, 218,400 has the desirable property of being composed of 600 ritual years of 364 days. The number 218,400 appears to me now as the real objective point of the computation, or rather as its starting point, for the original computer must have begun at that point in order by calculating back- ward to reach the three apparently unimportant numbers which the manuscript records, and then evolve from them such a remarkable result. In the last column but one of page 31 our passage presents a num- ber, 2,804,100, which occupies a wholly isolated position in the manu- script, as it is nearly twice as large as any of the other large numbers, except those found in the serj^ents. This number ought to allude to the year 9 Muluc, and to the thirteenth day of the eighth month, yet that seems to have no importance. At all events it denotes the day IV 17. On considering its remarkable properties we find : 1. It is equal to 10,785X260. 2. It is equal to 17,975x156. The last is the difference between the days IV 1 and IV 17. From this follows: 3. It is equal to 35,950x78. 78 is the difference between IV 19 and IV 17, and between IV 1 and IV 19. 4. It is equal to 719X3,900. We have above already recognized 3,900 as a very important number. But 2,804,100, on account of its magnitude, awakens the suspicion that it may be composed of two of the ordinary large numbers. These might be — 5. It is equal to 1,308,580+ 1,495,-520; that would signify 14,380X (91-i-104). 6. It is equal to 1,380,600+1,423,500; that would signify 3,900X (354+ 365.) This shows, as was evident from number 4, the important 3,900, but it divides the 719 mentioned there into the lunar year, 354-=6X 29-1-6X30, and the civil year. I confess I have met this nowhere « 18.^,120 + 33,280=218,400. 460 ' BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 else with the Mayas, except in the Dresden manuscript, pages 51 to 58, where we find the often repeated 177^=354^2. We might inckide here the two important numbers 14,040 and 18,980, of the first of which 260 and 360 are factors, as 260 and 365 are of the second. Then we see : 7. It is equal to 147X18,980+14,040. 8. It is equal to 200 X 14,040— 3,900. But it would be unsafe to attempt to penetrate deeper into the sense and purpose of these numbers until new light is shed from without. I have still to speak of the upper right-hand corner of page 31a, the greater part of which is unfortunately destroyed. The fifth and last column is entirely destroyed. It may have contained one more num- ber of the series, whose loss is not to be deplored, but above it were, perhaps, one or two glyphs whose loss is sadly felt. There are five or six glyphs in the fourth column preceding. Of these only the lower four are to be seen, the first two only indistinctly. I have already said something about them in 1891 in the Berlin Zeit- schrift fiir Ethnologic, volume 23, pages 141 to 155. Of these four signs I must leave unnoticed the second from the top, where we see a red 6 peculiarly introduced. The first sign is an Imix with prefix and probably also a sign over it. I adhere to the opinion that this denotes the katun period, 18,980 days, or perhaps a multiple of it. I have attempted to explain the third sign as 24X3G5 days, or the triplicate of the sacred period of eight years, that is, the so-called ahau of 8,760 days, and I still consider it in a measure a probable solution, especially in view of the passage on page 73 at the top. Finally, the lowest sign is undoubtedly the one for 7,200 (20X360) days, that I have found provided with a prefix in manuscripts and inscriptio'ns, which probably indicates a multiple of this period. It is most remarkable, however, that these three signs are found very near each other in three other passages of the manuscript. On page 61 the sign for 8,760 occurs in the eleventh, the sign for 18,980 in the twelfth, place in the second column, and the sign for 7,200 in the fourteenth place of the first column. On page 70 the sign for 18,980 occurs in the fourth, the sign for 8,760 somewhat lower in the third, column, and two places below this the sign for 7,200. Finally. the three signs all occur in close succession on page 73 at the top, in the same order as on page 31. It is therefore my opinion that a prophecy is the real purpose of this passage, as of all similar ones. For, of course, no one believes that these are mere exercises in arithmetic or directions for them. F5ESTEMANN] PAGES 31a-32a, DRESDEN CODEX 461 But now the question naturally arises, What is actually prophesied here? We find nothing said about it, and there would hardly be room for it in the manuscripts. We might conjecture that an omen was connected with certain numbers and with individual days, as we actuall}^ find such omens mentioned in the calendar of Perez given by Stephens. But it is also possible that the cunning priests avoided committing their prophecies definitelj^ to writing and that they left them to the chances of verbal transmission and tradition. Finally, the graphic system of the Maya, which never even achieved the expression of a plirase, or even of a verb, is too imperfect to serve as a medium for the transmission of prophecies; at any rate, it could only have done so very inadequately. THE SERIES OF NUMBERS, DRESDEN CODEX. PAGES 51 TO 58 « The most difficult and ingenious number series of the Dresden codex, which occupies the upper half of pages 58 to 58 and the lower half of pages 51 to 58, has already been discussed by me several times, the first time and most minutely in 1886 in my Erlauterungen, pages 33 to 34 and 68 to 70. But since then my comprehension of these numbers has been so enlarged that a new treatment of this important subject seems imperative. This passage, however, is organically connected with the immedi- ately preceding pages 46 to 50, page 24 having briefly treated of the contents of the two sections (see Zur Entzifferung der Mayahand- schriften, IV). The purport of pages 46 to 50 is the bringing into harmony of the apparent Venus year of 584 days, the solar year of 365 days, and the tonalamatl of 260 days, and this is accomplished by means of three series, each of Avhich extends over 37,960 days, for that length of time is equivalent to 65 Venus, 104 solar, or 146 tona- lamatl years. The corresponding problem on pages 51 to 58 is, first of all, to find an agreement between the apparent Mercury year of 115 days and the tonalamatl of 260 days, and this agreement is afforded by the period of 11,960 days=l64X115=46X260. Curiously enough, this period includes as manj^ Mercury years as the preceding period con- tained solar years. The upper part of pages 51 and 52 treats of these 11,960 days, with regard to which I need not go into further detail here, since the greater part of this passage is occupied by a series whose difference is exactly 11,960. It is most interesting to note that the Maya also sought to bring the revolution of the moon into connection with this period, and to observe the manner in which they did it. For the revolution of the moon, which we assume to be 29.53 days, in any case demands a fractional computation, of which the Maya either knew nothing, or which they carefully avoided, just as did the ancient Egyptians, who were familiar only with fractions having 1 for their numerator, and at the utmost with the fraction § (see Hultsch, Die Elemente der agyptischen Teilungsrechnung, 1895, page 16). But the Mayas knew the revolution of the moon too accurately not "Zur Bntssifferung der Mayahandschriften, VII, Dresden, Jan. 16, 1898. 463 464 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 to have seen that the period of 11,960 days could not be made to coincide with a multiple of lunar revolutions. With 405 lunar revo- lutions they obtained only 11,958 days, and this number is actually the highest of the series on the second half of page 58. In order to make the series of 11,958 days applicable to one of 11,960 days, they employed a most ingenious device. As the starting point for each term of the series they took not a single day, but three consecutive days: For the first term, XI 4, XII 5, XIII 6; for the last, IX 2, X 3, XI 4. So the first day of the first term was actually 11,958 days distant from the first day of the last term, but the first day of the first term was distant 11,960 days from the third day of the last term. At all events, the whole period of 11,958 days was first divided into three equal periods of 3,986 days each. In order to divide these smaller periods still further the term of 177 days was used, as far as this was practicable; but 177 is the half of a lunar year of 354 days, which is composed of 6 months of 30 days and 6 months of 29 days: that is, to each month, in round numbers, are allowed 29.5 days. 177 is, therefore, equal to 3X29+3X30; but the average of 29.5 days for the duration of a lunar revolution is a little too small. In order to raise it to the most exact value possible, in certain places of the series of two other numbers were introduced, viz : 148=2X29+ 3X30 and 178=2X29+4X30; 148 is equivalent to 5 months of 29.6 days and 178 to 6 months of 29.666+ days. Now, we must see in what proportion these 148 and 178 days were distributed among the periods of 177. First we see that the term of 3,986 days, that is, a third of the whole period, was divided into three sections of 1,742, 1,034, and 1,210 days in the following manner : 1,742=8x377+148+ 378 1,034= 4X177+ 148+ 178 1,210= 6X177+ 148 3,986=18x177+3. 148+2. 178 This equals 135 months of 29.526 days each. How did the Maya express this fraction? Perhaps it will be shown in the future that in accordance with their vigesimal system, they approximately denoted it thus: 29 + i+ 4'o + s^. The whole period of 11,958 days was therefore divided m the fol- lowing way: 3X1,742=24X177+3X148+3X178 3X1,034=12X177+3X148+3X178 3X1,210=18X177+3X148 3X3,986=54X177+9X148+6X178 FOESTEMANN] SERIES OF NUMBERS, DRESDEN CODEX 465 For every six divisions by 177 there is, then, one by 148 ; for every nine divisions by ITT, one by 178. Since 177 and 178 each embrace C months and 148, on the other hand, embraces 5 months, the whole length of the period equals 405 months, which are divided into 69 periods. All this had to be discussed before I could communicate the entire series itself. I will here set down the numbers and join to them the difference between each number and the preceding one (in the case of the first, therefore, the difference between that and the zero point), just as they are given in the manuscript. I have placed an asterisk where I have corrected a number, the manuscript in the correspond- ing places containing an error in writing or in computation. The three columns correspond to the three thirds of 3,986 days each, the two horizontal spaces separate the periods of 1,742, 1,034, and 1,210 clays. (Page53a) 24 4,163* 177 47 8,149 177 1 177 177 25 4,340 177 48 8,326 177 2_ 354* 177 26 4,488 148* 49 8,474 148 3 502 148 (Page 58a) 50 8,651 177* 4 679* 177 27 4,665 177 (Page 55b) 5 856 177 28 4,842 177 51 8,828 177 6 1,034* 178* 29 5,020 178* 52 9,006 178* (Page 54a) 30 5,197 177 53 9,183 177 7 1,211 177 (Page 51b) 54 9,360 177 8. 1,388 177 31 5,374 177 55 9,537 177 9 1,565 177 32 5,551 177 56 9,714 177 10 1,742* 177 33 5,728 177 11 1,919 177 34_._._- 5,905 177 57 9,891 177 12 2,096* 177 35 6,082 177 58 10,068* 177* 13 2,244 148 36 6,230 148 (Page 56b) (Page 55a) (Page 52b) 59 10,216 148* 14 2,422* 178* 37 6,408 178* 60 10,394 178* 15 2,599* 177 38 6,585 177 61 10,571 177 16 2,776 177 39 6,762 177 62 10,748 177 17 2,953 177 40 6,939 177 (Page 57b) 18 3,130 177 (Page 53b) 63 10,925 177 (Page 56a) 41 7,116 177 64 11,102 177 19 3,278 148 42____-- 7,264 148 65 11,250 148 20 3,455 177 43 7,441 177 66 11,427 177 21 3,632 177 44 7,618 177 67 11,604 177 22 3,809 177 45_----. 7,795 177 (Page 58b) (Page 57a) (Page 54b) 68 11,781 177 28 3,986 177* 46-._-_. 7,972 177 69 11,958 177 No one who is familiar with the carelessness of the Maya manu- scripts will be surprised that I should pronounce 20 of the 138 num- 7238— No. 28—05 30 466 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 28 bers of the manuscript incorrect. Moreover, the 20 errors are lessened by the fact that six of them are really one and the same, for in all of these six cases, where the difference is 178, the writer has over- looked this and mechanically written down the usual ITY, although the numbers and days of the series quite correctly indicate 178. Moreover, the three errors in groups 58 and 59 are only one, for the author had confounded the diff'erences 177 and 148, and was, there- fore, obliged to write the number 10,039 instead of 10,068, which will find confirmation later. From this it follows besides that the writer was at the same time the computer, consequently the actual aiithor. I must further call attention to the regular position of the differ- ences 178 and 148. In the three periods of 1,742 days 178 is always in the sixth place, in those of 1,034 days it is always in the fourth place. It appears, therefore, in groups 6, 14, 29, 37, 52, and 60, that is to say, at intervals of 8, 15, 8, 15, 8 groups; in the periods of 1,210 days it is wholly wanting. The difference 148 in the nine divisions is always in the third place, that is to say, always close to the pictures, of which we shall presently speak ; therefore, in groups 3, 13, 19, 26, 36, 42, 49, 59, 65, that is, at intervals of 10, 6, 7, 10, 6, 7, 10, 6 groups. We can not yet look further into the causes of this curious fact. But I must refer to a pregnant error. Groups 22 and 23 quite correctly have the difference 177, but the writer in this single place sets down 178 and consequently computes the three days belong- ing here as VII 11, VIII 12, "iX 13, instead of VI 10, VII 11, VIII 12, and from here to the end he is always one day in advance, so that group 69 on page 58 closes with the days X 3, XI 4, XII 5, which ought to be IX 2, X 3, XI 4. Now it is important to determine the zero point belonging to this series, for every series of this manuscript conceals it. It must be 177 days before the first group, that is, before days VI 1, VII 2, and VIII 3, which leads to the days XI 4, XII 5, and XIII 6. Of these days the middle one, XII 5, is by far the most important; it occurs on the upper half of page 51 six times, on page 52 four times. On page 51, in the first column on the left, we first find the normal date and starting point of the computation, the day IV 17, as the eighth day of the eighteenth month in the year 9 Ix, but under it our day XII 5. Below the latter there is an 8, beneath this number the character kin (" sun ", " day "), and combined with the latter the character imix, with a sign above it clearly denoting " combination ", " union ". In the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1891, page 152, I have already ascribed the meaning of a katun (18,980=52X365 days) to this combination, and I still hold this opinion. This group may, therefore, signify the 8 days which elapse between IV 17 and XII 5, but it may also denote the period of 8X18,980= 151,840 days; probably it signifies both at the same time. FOESTEMANN] SEEIES OF NUMBEES^ DRESDEN CODEX 467 Two numbers are set down with this day XII 5, one in red and one in black: 1,578,988 on page 51 and 1,412,848 on page 52. The first nmnber points to the sixth day of the eighteenth montli [Cumku] in the year 6 Kan ; the second, to the first day of the fifteenth month [Moan] in the year 6 Midnc. From the year 6 Mukic to the year 6 Kan there are 39 years, or 14,235 days; from the first day of the fifteenth month to the sixth day of the eighteenth month there are 65 days; therefore the two dates are separated by an interval of 14,235+65, or 14,300 days, unless a round number consisting of multiples of a katun (18,980 days) comes into question. But 1,578,988 — 1,412,848 equals 166,140. Again, if 14,300 is subtracted from this last number, the remainder is 151,840, actually then 8X18,980 or 416X365 (solar years) or 260X584 (Venus years) or 52X2,920 (Venus-solar periods). Thus I am justi- fied in having really read 8 katuns on page 51. Moreover, I found this number 151,840 by computation once before in the manuscript. Compare my fourth article in this series, where I pointed out that it is the difference between the two numbers 185,120 and 33,280 on page 24 of the manuscript. On the last-named page, if my restoration of the effaced passage is correct, this same number stands as the highest of the series, actually set down as the quadruple of 37,960, in which the solar year, the Venus year, and the tonalamatl accord. All these remarks relate to the day XII 5, the middle one of the three days XI 4, XII 5, and XIII 6. But the third day, XIII 6, also demands consideration, for on it depends the great series that begins on page 58 at the right and extends over the whole of page 59, which has for its difference 780, in which I recognized the period of the apparent revolution of Mars. We must now leave the clear domain of numbers and enter a mys- terious realm in which science thus far has reaped but a scanty har- vest, and on which I, too, can throw but little light. As on pages 46 to 50 at the end of each period of 2,920 days there are three pictures, so there are pictures, ten in all, inserted between the different numbers and symbols. One of these pictures, the eighth, on page 56b, stands in the wrong place in consequence of the error in computation which I discovered in groups 58 and 59. It does not belong before, but after, group 59, the first on page 56b. This the manuscript itself suggests, for in group 59 the two glyphs usually standing above each group are miss- ing, and in their stead we find a character resembling a snail. But this, according to my Erlauterungen, page 29, is nothing more than an emphasized zero, which indicates that the section marked by a picture closes with this group. 4(58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 28 ^Y]len this error is corrected, we see that the ten pictures stand thus on the following pages and after the following numbers of the series : 1 53a 502 2 55a 2,244 3 56a 3, 278 4 57a 4, 488 5 52b 6, 230 6 53b 7, 264 7 54b 8, 474 8 ^-56b 10,216 9 57b 11, 250 10 58b 11, 958 From this it follows that a picture is assigned to each of the nine sections which form the series, yet never at the beginning or end of the section, but only after the expiration of 502=2XlTT+148 days. The intervals of time between the pictures, therefore, amount to 1,742, 1,034, and 1,210 days, exactly the same as the duration of the separate nine sections. The last picture alone is distant T08 days from the last but one, and besides has peculiar characteristics, and consequently must be specially discussed. But these Y08 days at the end and the 502 days at the beginning again quite regularly make 1,210 days. Now it is easy to suppose a new series in these nine pictures, which is interpolated in the original one, a series, in fact, whose zero point falls on the day 502. We shall, therefore, always have to subtract 502 days from the days occurring in the manuscript. This new series is then represented in the following manner : 1 53a 2 55a 1, 742 3 56a 2, 776 4 57a 3, 986 5 52b. 5, 728 6 53b 6, 762 7 54b 7, 972 8 56b 9. 714 9 57b ]0, 748 We are struck by the fact that the final number 10,748 corresponds so closely to Saturn's period of revolution, Avhich is computed at 10,753 days. There is no reason why the Mayas might not have been familiar, not merely with the apparent, but also with the actual revo- lution of this planet, first, on account of the slowness of its movement, and, secondly, on account of the absence of retrogradation, which is so important in the inner planets. Moreover, the apparent revolu- tion of Saturn (378 days from one superior conjunction to the next) could not be made to agree with the length of the solar year. I will immediately offer a further proof of my theory. FdESTEMANN] SERIES OF NUMBERS, DRESDEN CODEX 469 All these pictures are joined at the top to those rectangles of which I have spoken in my Erlanterungen, page 16, and which always con- tain two or three glyphs, that, with much hesitation, I was inclined to interpret as the symbols of the sun, moon, and planets. No serious contradiction of this theory has thus far ensued. As the symbol of Saturn, I indicated in the article mentioned a or h, figure 109 : These figures are actually found in all of the nine pic- tures with the exception of the first, which has no such rectangle, the place, therefore, where the zero point is concealed, according to the true Maya method. But I go still farther in my bold hypothesis. The time assigned to Jupiter for its apparent revolution is 397 days. I believe that the Mayas adopted 398 days for the period. In the article mentioned I have taken to be the symbol of Jupiter : c or d, figure 109. This character occurs in pictures 4, 6, 7, and 9. The numbers ^ ^ d f g h i k I m n o f q T 8 Pig. 109. Glyphs from the Dresden codex. belonging to them, reduced for the revolution of Saturn, are 3,986, 6,762, 7,972, and 10,748. But in addition I include, as the zero point, the place where the sign has been suppressed, the picture 3, that is, the number 2,776, and I also include picture 10, which is not reached by the revolution of Saturn and has the number 11,958. If these numbers are compared with 398, that is, with the appar- ent revolution of Jupiter, then we have the following result : 3 2,776= 7x398—10 4 3,986=10X398+ 6 6 6,762=17X398— 4 7 7,972=20X398+12 9 10,748=27X398+ 2 10 11, 958=30x398+18 The differences, 10, 6, 4, 12, 2, 18, in comparison with 398, are all so small that the numbers, 2,776, etc., might very well have been consid- ered as approximate multiples of the revolution of Jupiter. Let us 470 BUEEAU OP AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 compare the following numbers^ which do not come near coinciding with it : 1 502= 398+104 2 1,742= 4X398+150 5 5,728=14x398+156 8 9,714=24x398+162 Those belonging to the latter four pictures have in fact no Jupiter symbol. Further, the regular progression from the seventh to the tenth, seventeenth, twentieth, twenty-seventh, and thirtieth multiple in the six equations given above somewhat increases the credibility of my view. I will not go into particulars here in regard to the rest of the glyj)hs found in the rectangles. That task must be undertaken some day in a wider connection. For these rectangles are by no means a peculiarity of the Dresden codex, as it has them in common with the other Maya manuscripts, while, excepting one trace in Codex Teller- iano-Remensis, I have not found them in the Aztec manuscripts. Concerning the pictures, I regret that I have only detached remarks to oifer, and not, as I always desire to do, a definite, concise result of my investigations. I find human figures four times, not counting the tenth picture, as follows : Picture 1, page 53a, has the death god. A, sitting and pointing upward. Picture 2, page 55a, has the head of a deity, probably I), yet with the suggestion of a beard, and on his brow the symbol of the sun. The head is surrounded by a black and white striped ring. Picture 3, page 56a, has the head of B, again with a beard ; above it, kin (the sun) . The head is encircled hj a stripe, black on the left, white on the right. Picture 6, page 53b, has a hanged female figure, which Schellhas (Gottergestalten, page 11) believes to be the Maya goddess Ixtab, the goddess of the halter ; that is, of the hanged. The suggestion of a face, perhaps in place of the sign ahau, occurs in picture 4, page STa, as the center, but on the sides the surface is black and white. It is significant, furthermore, that kin (" sun ") forms the center of the picture four times, viz, in pictures 5, T, 8, and 9, pages 52b, 54b, 56b, and 57b. In all four cases Ave see beside the kin one black and one Avhite surface, as we have already seen them in picture 4 and similarly in picture 3. Pictures 8 and 9 are, as it were, disgorged by a snake drawn beloAV them. In pictures 5 and 8, four arrowlike symbols diverge from the kin in four directions, probably the four cardinal points or the four Bacabs, We see two of these symbols I'oestemann] series OF NUMBERS, DRESDEN CODEX 471 also in picture 7 (page 54b), but onlj'^ on the black, not on the white, side. Figure 10 is that of a nondescript creature. It has a human form and appears to be diving headforemost from the two symbols of the sun and moon, against which it presses its feet. Above the sun and moon symbols is a rectangle with the signs of Venus and Jupiter. Instead of a head, or perhaps as a mask over his face, this creature ]ias that symbol for Venus which is to be found not only on pages 51 to 58, but also on pages 46 to 50, and above this there is a kind of crown. Between his legs is a sjanbol which forms a kind of tail and is suggestive of the flint, so often found as the prefix to the Venus sign, only here it is so well formed that it resembles still more the Aztec equivalent, tecpatl. Of the glyphs above the pictures I can likewise give only an unsat- isfactory account. There are properly always ten of them, among them the two signs for the sun and moon; yet the writer has added these sun and moon signs to pictures 1 to 4 only, besides the more elaborate picture 10. From pictures 5 to 9 he has omitted them, as being understood, in order to make the remaining eight larger and clearer. Among the latter are several ghq^hs of gods, the most dis- tinct being those of A in pictures 1, 5, and 9, and of H in picture 5, besides which there are other uncertain heads, part of them birds' heads, as in pictures 1, 3, 5, T, 8, 9. The Ben-Ik sign, to which I have ascribed the significance of a lunar month, we see with pictures 4, 8, 9, and twice with pictures 1 and 10. I would like to see the symbol of Mercury with the figure in pic- tures 9 and 10, especially on account of its resemblance to the glyph of Venus. Pictures 1, 7, 8, and 10 show hands grasping a glyph (a sign for 20 days?). The enigmatic numbers before the glyphs occur several times, as a 1 in pictures 1 and 10, concerning which I shall say more directly, a 4 twice in picture 8, and a 6 in picture 3. I have already discussed the hieroglyph in picture 10 (Zur Ent- zifferung cler Mayahandschriften, IV), for they are very similar to those occurring on page 24. I denote them thus : 1 6 2 7 3 8 4 9 5_— — 10 Of these, 5 is certainly the sign for 7,200., and 6 that for 13X360= 4,680. In 7 and 9, on account of the Ben-Ik, I see two months of 29.5 472 BUEEAU OF AMERICAISI' ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 days, that is, 59 clays altogether, and in 4 I see the sign mentioned above for 20, together with the 1 that is before the fifth glyph, which is advanced one place by a little cross, hence 21. From this the fol- lowing result is obtained : 5 7, 200 6 4, 680 7 and 9— 59 4 21 11,960, the number arrived at in this whole series. The two rows of glyphs above the figures on these pages I can not consider as belonging at all to the subject under discussion. I have considered them more in detail in Zur Entzifferung der Maya- handschriften, V. MAYA CHRONOLOGY E. FOT^STEMANIST 473 MAYA CHEONOLOGY" By E. Forstemann All previous studies of the Maj^a calendar present some unexplained or baffling points for which an explanation or correction must be sought. I will here state these points in numbered paragraphs in order that I may afterwards refer to them. 1. The series of 20 days is said to begin either with Imix, which view is supported by the Aztec arrangement, as well as by various passages in Codex Troano-Cortesianus, or with Kan, which view is based on the express testimony of Diego de Landa, as well as on the Dresden codex.^ 2. All computation of long periods of time should, according to my own hypothesis, which I advanced in the year 1887, begin with the eighth day of the eighteenth month. What is the reason for the prominent position of this day? 3. The periods of 24 years, the ahaus, are said to begin with the second day of the Cauac year. Why should this day be chosen ? 4. The day XIII 20 is decidedly of great importance in the Dres- den codex in cases in which a period of 260 days is not in ques- tion, but a solar year divided into four equal parts of 91 days each. How is the prominence of this day in such cases to be explained ? 5. Pages 25 to 28 of the Dresden codex, which relate beyond a doubt to the change to the new year, are said actually to treat only of the last two unlucky intercalary days at the end of the year. Why of these only ? 6. Calendar dates have a formula like this: III, 2; 13, 3d month. This I explained in 1887 as the second week day Chicchan that is followed by the thirteenth day of the third month. Although I have tried to establish this view, it still seems somewhat forced. How is this difficulty to be obviated ? I have recently reached the conclusion that at the end of the fif- teenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century the confusion was observed which arose from the fact that the year was computed only « Zur Maya-Chronologie, Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, Dresden, 1891. " This rule, as has been subsequently shown, does not apply to the Dresden codes. C. T. 475 476 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 at 365 whole days. In earlier times such confusion was perhaps not possible, because the chronology was probably not based then on the solar year, but on the period of 260 days, the tonalamatl, pos- sibly also on a period of 400 (20X20) days. To obviate this con- fusion I think they did what has been done under similar circum- stances by other peoples; that is, they intercalated 17 days; and, instead of Imix, Avhich had hitherto begun the series of days, Kan, which had already passed, was reintroduced with the days which fol- lowed it. Traces are found in Codex Troano-Cortesianus of this older arrangement, for instance, in Cortesian codex on page 31a, and in Troano codex on page 31, whether this is older than the Dresden codex (which my correspondents will not admit) , or has been copied from an older manuscript, or was produced in some other region which still preserved the Aztec arrangement. But Landa, who un- questionably spoke of his own time, is thoroughly trustworthy when he gives Kan as the first day, especially as the Dresden codex gives precedence to that day. I need only recall the eight highest figures m this manuscript, those in the serpents on pages 61 and 62, whicji are all counted from a day Kan. In this way I explain number 1. Number 2 may also be very simply explained. Before the cor- rection of the calendar that eighth clay of the eighteenth month, from which all computation of time proceeded, was the twenty- fifth; that is, the last day of the eighteenth month, and therefore of the whole year. At least this was the case every four years. The Mayas therefore reckoned how many days had elapsed since this day as the zero point. The years which followed a year closing with Ahau quite properly began with Imix, the first day of the series ; the others, with Cimi," Chuen, and Cib (according to my notation 3, 8, 13). It would be interesting if we could discover anything to indicate that these three days had once been of especial importance (see, for instance. Codex Cortesianus, pages 13b to 18b, where four rows, of 52 successive days begin with these very four days, each row with one of them). New light is now also thrown on number 3. From this starting point of Si chronology, this last day of the year beginning with Cib, ihe period of 24 years then beginning (which was also the period of 15 apparent Venus years) was always computed. The fourth ahau, for instance, began with the year 5 Imix, and each ahau in the same Avay with this first day until everything was displaced by the intro- duction of the 17 days. It looks like a modification of this abrupt change that in the place of Imix, " maize bread ", its synonym, Kan, " maize kernel ", was used, the two glyphs occurring countless times closely connected in the manuscript. Wliile the first three points are thus explained by my theory of a correction in the calendar, the other three may be explained by an KOESTEMANN.] MAYA CHRONOLOGY 477 idea Avliich Doctor Seler communicated to me in a letter of December 21, 1890. He wrote to me that in his opinion the years in the Dres- den codex did not begin with Kan, Muhic, Ix, and Cauac, but with Akbal, Lamat, Ben, and Ezanab; according to the corrected calen- dar, therefore, the last days of the year must be Ik, Manik, Eb, and Caban. But Kan, etc., still rank as the principal days, and the years are designated by the first principal day encountered in them. For instance, they are distinctly prominent as principal days in Codex Cortesianus, pages 3a to 6a ; Troano codex, pages o3c to 32c and 23 to 20, and Dresden codex, pages 9b and 29c, New light next falls on number 4. The day XIII 20 (Akbal), wherein the highest week-day number is connected with the last day of the series, is nothing more than the new year's day of the year 1 Kan. These periods of 91 days, therefore, arranged in groups of four, are the 4X^1 days which, following the day XIII Akbal, make up the year 1 Kan, as, for instance, in the Dresden codex on pages 32 and 64. In the series to be found on the latter page the sig- nificance of the solar year is quite apparent, emphasized by the singularly elaborated sign of the zero in the fourth and the eighth terms of the series ; that is, at the close of the first and of the second years. As Doctor Seler himself writes me, number 5 can also be simply explained. For the Dresden codex, pages 25 to 28, does not treat of the last two days of the year, but far more naturally of the last day of the old and the first day of the new year. I must leave it to Doc- tor Seler to establish his vieAV by discussion of the pictures and glyphs. Lastly, number 6 also presents a more satisfactory aspect. For now III 2; 13, 3d month is no longer called 3 Chicchan which is followed by the thirteenth day of the third month, but far more simply 3 Chic- chan which is the thirteenth day of the third month. The normal date ly Ahau, 8, 18th month therefore really falls on the eighth day of the eighteenth month and, in fact, as I have always believed, in the year 9 Ix, which, however, according to the new theory began with 8 Ben. The next step is to attempt further conquests in this realm of glyphs, starting from this firm basis of numbers and computations, and the first thing to be done is to search for pictures which express the conceptions of year, the change to a new year, the beginning of the year, and the close of the year. As the serpent pictures have an undeniable reference to periods of time, so the most perfect symbol for the year, it seems to me, is a serpent forming a closed ring. Such a serpent is found in Codex Cortesianus, page 3a, and inscribed within it the numeral 18, which I am inclined to interpret as mean- ing the eighteen months. Likewise in Codex Cortesianus, pages 478 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 4a, 5a, and 6a we always encounter a serpent with the 18 inscribed within its ring, so that these four leaves readily suggest the four kinds of years. So, too, I believe I have found a very perfect picture of the change of years in Dresden codex, page 68, above on the left, in the two fig- ures of gods leaning back to back and sitting on a series of astronomic signs, arranged almost like the roof and wall of a house. But this picture belongs to a large section, which begins on page 65 and ends on the left side of page 69. I must here dwell more particularly on this section than I could in my Erlauterungen (Dresden, 1886). The real nucleus of this section consists of four rows of 91 days each, that is, of a year, of which the detailed explanation is found in six rows of glyphs and twenty-six pictures. Now, believing that I can complete the top row, which is almost wholly obliterated, from the still existing remnants, I read these four rows as follows : 9 XII, 5 IV, 1 V, 10 II, 6 VIII, 2 X, 11 VIIL 7 II, 3 V, 12 IV, 8 XII, 4 III, 13 III. 11 I, 13 I, 11 XII, 1 XIII, 8 VIII, 6 I, 4 V, 2 VII, 13 VII, 6 XIII, 6 VI, 8 I, 2 III. 11 XI, 13 XI, 11 IX, 1 X, 8 V, 6 XI, 4 II, 2 IV, 13 IV, 6 X, 6 III, 8 XI, 2 XIII. 9 IX, 5 I, 1 II, 10 XII, 6 V, 2 VII, 11 V, 7 XII, 3 II, 12 I, 8 IX, 4 XIII, 13 XIII. The study of these four rows shows that the end of each one of them can again be very well joined to its own beginning, and also that a good connection occurs between the end of the fourth and the be- ginning of the third, and likewise between the end of the second and the beginning of the first, also vice versa between the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth, and between the end of the first and the beginning of the second. But the second and third rows, on the contrary, stand in no such connection. We further see that the final point of the first two rows is a day III, that of the last two a day XIII. AVliat is more natural than to think of the two days III 2 and XIII 20, which are of such great impor- tance on pages 62 to 64? Our section, pages 65 to 69, then appears like an introduction to pages 62 to 64 and one part of our manu- script is again made to harmonize with another. Each row is, as Ave see, divided into 13 periods of time, whose average duration is 7 days; the four rows therefore form 52 periods of time. Now, we find 26 pictures on these pages ; the half of these periods of time is apparently without a picture. Thirteen of the pictures are between the second and third row and 13 below the fourth, but this probably has reference only to the symmetric arrange- ment of the pages. FOESTEMANN.] MAYA CHRONOLOGY ' 479 It further appears that if we begin at the top with the first row and advance to the second, but begin at the bottom, on the other hand, with the fourth and join it to the third, both rows proceed quite in the same waj^, and the intervening spaces between the separate days, designated by Arabic numerals, are found to be precisely the same. Thus, therefore, the 26 pictures, in certain circumstances, might hold good for both rows, that is, for all the 52 periods, although the starting points are different. Still I am inclined to think that the pictures as well as the glyphs all refer to the two lower rows only; that is, to the more important of the two days, XIII 20. Now, on page 65 at the beginning (the left) of the lowest row of glyphs we have 9 Kan. Is not this the year here meant, which, moreover, is perhaps not by accident the middle one of a katun beginning with 9 Ix? For, as I have set forth in the Compte rendu of the Congress of Americanists at Berlin, page 742, the begin- ning of the Maya chronology seems to lie in the year 9 Ix. But the day XIII 20 is the first day of the eleventh month in the year 9 Kan (according to the new theory making 9 Kan the second day of the year) ; this would be the beginning of the fourth row. If we continue to count with the differences 9, 5, 1, etc., in this fourth row, it ends with the twelfth day of the fifteenth month, and the third row begins with the third day of the sixteenth month. The ninth member of this third row would be the twenty-first day of the eighteenth month, the tenth the second day of the first month; that is, the day 10 Muluc, which gives the name to the new year. And precisely in this place, page 68, above on the left, we find that Janus picture. To make the meaning of this still more clear there are two characters above the gods strongly resembling a horizontal 8 (oo ) (g, figure 109). I think this is the hieroglyphic abbreviation for two contiguous serpents, that is, two years; and among the glyphs above them, the first in the top line is nothing more than the graphic- ally abbreviated repetition of the two persons leaning against each other (/, figure 109). But to the right of this we find a very com- posite glyph, one part of which again \erj closely resembles the horizontal 8, h. I hope that we are standing on a firm basis. Indeed, even the preceding ninth picture (page 67, above on the right) may be an allusion to the close of the year; it is a striding- god, at whose feet lies a little deity apparently inclosed in a sack. Therefore this may represent the old year and the j^oung year which has not yet crept out of its shell. It seems evident to me that this new year is a Muluc year from the continuously pouring rain of the tenth to the thirteenth pictures, as well as from the storm or lightning beast and its attendant in picture 11, known to us particularly from the Dresden codex, pages 480 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 44 to 45 (see Seler's article in this journal, 1888, pages 68 and 69 of the special reprint) . Two pictures occurring in this place can also be seen in another passage of this manuscript. First, we find the two figures seated back to back on page 22, on the lower right, as the last of the upper row of glyphs. Here is more distinctly to be seen than in the passage just mentioned that instead of heads they have two half (rising or setting) suns. I can not positively assert that there is a reference here to a new year, since I have not succeeded thus far in under- standing the calendar date of the beginning of the various tonala- matls of the manuscript (which would be a very important step in advance). A single, apparently quite naked, person of this form often appears in the manuscript; for instance, there is one on page 58 on the right, and even with head downward, together with a Venus sign, on pages 5Tb and 58b. If this should not be intended to represent persons, but cloud pictures behind which a star rises or sets, my interpretation in regard to the new year would not be affected. I may add that Doctor Seler, in his Charakter der Maya- Handschriften, page 9 of the special reprint, really regards them as rejoresentations of human beings. We might compare the picture on the left of the page 33c with the deity inclosed in a sack; but Ave must observe that Doctor Seler (Charakter der Maya-Handschriften, page 88 of the special reprint), probably correctly, takes this to be a hollow in a tree (the cloud tree). I am inclined to see another kind of designation for the close of the year on page 53, below, of the Dresden manuscript, to which I must here confine myself. There we see a dead woman suspended by a rope, which is fastened to astronomic signs. Above her are eight glyphs arranged in groups of four in two perpendicular rows. The third glyph in the second row has in the middle the same 8- shaped figure, but this time in a perpendicular position. I take the sign attached to the right of this to be the abbreviated glyph for the west or the Ix year (see Schellhas, Die Maya-Handschrift zu Dres- den, 1886, page 70) ; but the one added on the left, it seems to me, IS not the expected sign for the north, but a human arm, as if it were an allusion to the hanged woman. Is not the hanging figure intended for the water goddess Xnuc, and the whole meant to represent the death or end of a Muluc year, the beginning of an Ix year? It is probably meant for 13 Muluc and 1 Ix, but this is not absolutely cer- tain, especially as the periodic series, which is singularly composed of 54X177, 9X148, and 6X178 days, still puzzles me greatly (see another conception of the hanged woman in Schellhas, same place, page 45). In the two passages which have been discussed more in detail, pages 68 and 53, we see the sign resembling an co , and this we must pOestemann.] MAYA CHRONOLOGY 481 consider further. On page 2b, on the left, we find it very distinct as the headdress of a god, but whether here, too, it has reference to the new year is uncertain. In other passages I believe that the sign g^ figure 109, is a mere abbreviation of it, as on page 38a on the right. There ^^. picture represents the god with the serpent's tongue hold- ing the sign Kan in his hand; above is the usual glyph of the god, and above this a composite sign. A/ that is, the character referred to here, with the usual dots that signify movement or progression; to the left of it is the sign for the east, the Kan year. Does this sig- nify the end of a Kan year ? Then, on page 41b, on the right, below, IS the picture of a new god (the god of the new year?), apparently being carved out of a tree. The first among the glyphs is that of the west, probably combined with the sign for the close of the year, which we shall meet with later (the pile of stones on wdiich the image of the god is being erected). Again, on page 52b, where, 1,034 days before the picture of the hanged woman, we see i as the first glyph. To this belongs a heraldic figure below, beneath astronomic signs, of which the left side is colored yellow and the right side black, and which bears the sign for the sun in the center. It is not improbable that this, too, may mean the new" year, since there is a niargin of 178 days, which would warrant it, but more than that can not be asserted. B.ere I would like to point out another sign, which perhaps, like the preceding one, originated from the serpent, and therefore perhaps also refers to the year. I mean the spiral, or snail-shell line, k. We encounter it on page 29c both in the middle picture and in the one on the right. In the former we find it in the water, at the foot of a black divinity ; beside it, the sign kan, over which lies an alliga- tor. Among the glyphs above we see the abbreviation for the east (the Kan year) ; on the right above it, the entire sign for the west. Concerning the god seated on the right (the same as the one with the serpent's tongue, only white here), we observe over his head the sign kan and a fish above that; in his right hand, a bird's feather; in his left, the spiral, combined with the abbreviated glyph for the west and south. Among the glyphs above is that of the south in both full and in abbreviated form. This group is continued on page 30c, where the god, at whose feet there is an animal, holds a spear in his left hand, point downward; directly above it we find our spiral combined with the abbreviated glyphs for the west and south. Among the glyphs above we again find those for the west and south. These three pictures, however, are preceded by a fourth, which completes the whole row. Here- the god is in a boat; close by his head is the picture of a bird's head ; among the glyphs above we find that 7238— No. 28—05 31 482 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull.' 28 of the north; the spiral is absent. For the rest, there is an inter- val of 16 days between each picture and the next one. Let me note incidentally that this passage 29c to 30c is directly connected with 29b to 30b, possibly with 29a to 30a, which may help us to find a solution ; but this is not the place for further details. In close proximity to this group, on pages 33 to 35b, we find the spiral in a second group, which here, as well as in the other, forms the end of a row of a tonalamatl. On each of these pages on the left sits the same god in the jaws of a coiled serpent. In the circle formed by the serpent there is water, and in the water invariably the numeral 19 (see the 18 in the passage from Codex Cortesianus, which we took as our starting point) . The glyphs above invariably contain the spiral with the numeral 9 before it. I have spoken of the series of days belonging to this passage in my Erlauterungen, page 57. We began with the serpent and have insensibly returned to it. I will here'also mention page 56b, where, as the last glyph in the lowest row, we find one which consists of the abbreviated sign for the south and a serpent. This is the same series in Avhich we find the woman hanged by the neck, and it is 3,484 days after the period of time to which that refers. If I am right above in determining that period of time then this refers to a year 10 Cauac, and Cauac certainly corre- sponds to the south. It may further be mentioned here that the serpent often occurs as a head ornament, as on page 9c on a god, and on pages 15b, 20a, and 23b on a woman. In the third of these four passages the glyphs are obliterated ; in the second the glyph of the woman is combined with the sign for the north ; in the two others I find nothing relating to a period of time. Here we leave the domain of the serpent and come to a wholly dif- ferent sign, which we can perhaps regard more definitely as a sign of the change of years, but never of the year itself. I mean the sign X or D(:-, the elements of which, according to Maya usage, may of course be placed vertically as well as horizontally beside each other. If this really indicates the change of years, then it is quite natural to find it combined generally with two glyphs of adjacent cardinal points. With Kan-Muluc Ave should expect to find east-north, etc. It must be said at once, however, that as a rule west-south is preferred, as if it were not at all essential to designate the particular cardinal points with exactness. So we find it in the center of page 27, where we might expect south-east. On page 18c we see it with these cardinal points as the glyph of a woman who carries the sign west-south on her back. The tona- lamatl to which it belongs begins Avith the normal day IV 17. If this day is really the normal date, the eighth day of the eighteenth month, then the picture may coincide exactly Avith ncAv year's day 10 Cauac, FORSTEMANN.] MAYA CHRONOLOGY 483 for the series of days announces that 15 days have elapsed and that 33 are yet to elapse. Here, too, the cardinal points, west-south, are appropriate. On the same page, 18a, at the top, a woman l)ears in her hands the signs for both cardinal points, above which our sign once more appears. The glyphs belonging to it are effaced, and nothing can be determined from the series of clays. The next page, 19c, again shows the signs west-south on the back of a woman, with our sign combined with these in the glyphs. Very peculiarly combined with the west and the sign cinii, but varying someAvhat from its usual form, it appears on page 8c in the first row of glyphs. We have still to consider pages 46 to 50, on which we should expect to find this sign before all, as here terrestrial and Venus years are made to accord. We find it at once on page 46 in the last place in the lowest line. The date 2, 17 month, ought to be here, but the writer lias placed the little cross between the two dots of the 2, possibly to indicate that a Venusi j^ear of 584 clays closes here. On the right of the same page the line before the last again begins with our sign, as if to join it to the passage already mentioned. If this belongs, as it seems to do, to the third roAv of calendar dates, then it certainly coin- cides with a transition from the Kan to the Muluc years. The next three pages lack this glyph, but on page 50 it occurs almost in the same place in which we found it on page 46 (on the right side, the first sign in the lowest row), here again combined with the glyj)hs for west and south Avhere the fifth Venus year has ex- pired concurrently with the eighth terrestrial year, although not exacth?^ at the close of the latter. So much for the cross between two dots. The dot between two crosses, which also occurs, seems, on the contrary, not to belong here. One dot with one cross might easily be an abbreviation for the immeral 20. We now come to another sign for year, but which is, as I must state at once, that for the old official year of 360 cla3^s, which does not include the 5 unlucky days intercalated at its close. I mean the glyph Z, which sometimes has three clots as a suffix, sometimes with other appendices. I shall in future call it the '360 sign for the sake of brevity. Turning next to pages 25 to 28 of the manuscript, which assuredly treat of the change of j^ears, we find this sign on each of them below on the left, instead of the pile of stones on which the gods of the year were placed at the close of the year. It also occurs on every page in the row of glyphs which divides the second section from the third, even twice on page 27. It appears also in the partially obliterated upper lines of pages 26 to 28, on page 26 actually three times, once 484 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 with the sign Ix as a prefix, and once with Caiiac, and this particular page treats of the transition from Ix to the Cauac years, Tims the meaning of the sign seems here sufficiently established. Let us now turn to page 50. Here we find once more the same fig- ure as the second sign in the first line of calendar dates, with a pre- fix which signifies the number 20 and a somewhat unintelligible superior affix. The whole must mean, as I have already stated in my Erlauterungen (1886), page 12, the twentieth day of the eighteenth month, the official close of the year. This is another confirmation of my theory. There is certainly a reason, although it is still unknown to me, why this 360 sign agrees wholly or almost Avholly with the glyph for the sixteenth month, often rendering it difficult to decide with which one of the two we have to deal. In my Erlauterungen I still con- founded the two and besides confused them with a third sign, which I will now discuss. According to the Maya numeral system the number 360 is the unit of the third degree; that of the fourth is 7,200. May not this also, that is, the period of 20 official years, be represented among the glyphs? I think I recognize this glyph in an expansion of the 360 sign, m. We will call this figure the 7,200 sign. In order to establish this theory we next turn to page 58. In its lower half, on the left, a series of 11,958 (more exactly 11,960) days closes Avith a most striking picture. Above this picture stand ten glyphs in the following order : 1 6 2 7 3 8 4 9 5 10 The middle signs, according to position 3 and 8, are the sun and moon, but the middle ones in the series of numbers, 5 and 6, are the 7,200 and 360 signs, the former provided with a 1 (or a 20, if we so read the 1 with a little cross under it) , the latter with a 13. But the Maya figures for 11,958, the number belonging here, are 1, 13, 3, 18. Nothing, I think, could be more natural than to recognize the signs for 7,200 and 13X3^>0=4,680 in the two glyphs. Together this would be 11,880. I can not yet determine whether the remaining signs indi- cate the 78 which are lacking to the sum total. Let us next consider page 61, with its two rows of glyphs running from the top to the bottom. The fifth line from below is here formed by the 7,200 sign with the number 15 and the 360 sign with the num- ber 9. Taken together, this would signify 111,240 days. More num- bers from the lines above and below should doubtless be added, but F5RSTEMANN.] MAYA CHRONOLOGY 485 we can not determine which because we do not know in what relation the whole stands to the preceding row (on the right) or to any of the other numbers. We may conjecture that the glyph standing below the 7,200 sign, consisting of the day Chuen with prefix and suffix and the anterior 1, is meant for the month of 20 days. The Chuen sign would not be wholly inappropriate for this signification, as it begins the second half of a month beginning with Imix and thus, as the mid- dle of it, it represents in a certain sense the whole month. Below the 360 sign, however, we see the sun, kin, with a suffix and a prefixed 3. This would indicate that kin, in the sense of " day ", ends the whole number, as yet unknown to us, with three units. Such a number be- longs indeed to the most important day of this part of the manuscript, the day XIII 20, for the day 17 (Ahau) always corresponds to a number ending with 0. On the same page, 61, in the same vertical row, the sixth line frcun the top again forms our 7,200 and 360 signs, the latter forming part of a face and accompanied by an 8. Here again we at least recognize that these two belong together. As I have proved the parallelism of the two sections in my essay Zur Entzitferung der Maya Handschriften, II, we may expect to find in the last part of the manuscript (pages 69 to 73) something analo- gous to that which we have encountered in this section. Thus on i^age 69 we find the same two vertical rows of glyphs and in them again, in the fifth line from below, the 7,200 and 360 signs, the former again with 15, the latter again with 9 ; below them, the chuen sign, this time with 4, and the kin sign, this time again with 4. We are justified therefore in surmising some large number ending with 4, such as the principal day of this section, the day IX 11, really ought to have, if we begin once more at Ahau=0. Glancing carelessly farther up the same page we not merely find there our two signs, but we also recognize that the upper 16 gljq^lis drawn in a blue field correspond exactly to those on page 61, save for slight variations and the substitution for the Moan head of a sign of similar meaning often used in its stead. The association of the glyphs for 7,200 and 360 days is not a pecu- liarity of the Dresden codex; it also extends to the inscriptions on stone, Avhich differ so widely from the manuscripts. The inscription on the Cross at Palenque contains the two in close proximity almost a dozen times, the one beside or below the other. Where the two signs do not occur in such immediate proximity the matter becomes uncertain from the fact of the almost perfect simi- larity of the 360 sign to that for the month of Pax. I therefore leave the latter quite out of the question. For the 7,200 sign I refer to page 24, first column ; page 70, third column, third sign from the bot- 486 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 torn ; page 73, at the top, second column from the right. It occurs in specially large dimensions on page 60b, which is executed in a unique manner. But I will abstain here from making more remarks, though many suggest themselves, in order not to build farther on a founda- tion whicli might give way under our feet. In order to proceed I must premise the observation that the whole front side of Codex B (pages 46 to 60) now seems to me to be closely interconnected, the wholly isolated, peculiarly enigmatic page 60 forming the conclusion. We know now that pages 46 to 50, the first third of this whole, is a continuation of page 24. It treats of the agreement of the apparent Venus year of 584 days with the solar, or terrestrial, year of 365 days. This is done in three sections, each of which treats of 13 times 8 terrestrial years or 5 Venus years ; that is, 13 times 2,920 days, equal to 37,960 days or two katuns or 104 years. The second section (pages 51 to 58) correspondingly treats of 104 apparent Mercury years of 115 days; that is, the period of 11,960 days. Thus prepared, let us turn to the upper half of page 52, beginning with the fourth column. Here, at the very top, we find another calen- dar date, unfortunately partially obliterated, and beneath it, com- bined again in the manner that I pointed out when discussing pages 61 and 69, the Chuen sign and the 360-day sign, the former combined with 1, the latter with 5. According to my suggestion, this would signify 1,820=7X260. It might be explained by the illegible date above, but it may refer to the seven quite identical columns of daj^s on the left, each 260 days apart from the next ones, thus affording a slight confirmation of my theory. But directly below it we see the sign n, that is, Imix with a mark above it which looks like a union, a tying together, perhaps a variant of the sign composed of the rattles of the rattlesnake, which often seems to indicate a period of time. I take this to be the sign of the katun (52X365=18,980 days) , the period at the end of wdiich each day (here represented by the former initial day Imix) once more returns to the same position in the year. In this passage, therefore, there is reference to two katuns, the very period of time which w^e found to be the subject of pages 46 to 50. Below this sign we find a red 13 repeated 1 3 times. This can only mean that the two katuns are to be divided into 13 parts, each of which, therefore, as on pages 46 to 50, contains 2,920 days. The 104 terrestrial years are here placed close beside the 104 Mercury years. I think there can be no delusion about this. This presumptive discovery of the katun sign seems to find confirmation close by, in the first column of page 51. Here we read at the top the two calendar dates IV 17 ; 8, 18th month and XII 5, and below them the group in o. FORSTEMANN.] ' MAYA CHRONOLOGY 487 The, 8 with the kin beneath it may denote the 8 days which have elapsed between IV 17 and XII 5; but it may rather (for it quite accords Avith Maya usage to have one number refer to several signs) belong to the katun sign, for tlie following reasons: The point of departure in the Mercury series (which I regarded as a Saturn series in my Erlauterungen) is the day XII 5. This date occurs with two numbers: 1,412,848, that is, year 6 Mnluc; 1, 15th month, on page 52 ; and 1,578,988, that is, year 6 Kan ; G, 18th month, on page 51. The first of the two large numbers occurs 166,140 days before the second, but the lirst date occurs 30 years 65 days = 14,300 days before the second. If we add to this 14,300 the number 151,840, that is, 8 katuns, the result is actually 166,140, and to that this group of signs seems to me to point. I merely allude in passing to the fact that this Ivatun sign also occurs in the columns on pages 61 and 69 discussed above close beside the other glyphs referring to a period of time. If we look more closely at the passage on page 61 just mentioned, Ave find directly above the katun sign a new glyph not yet men- tioned, f. We will now look at the last column but one on the upper half of page 73. The uppermost sign is destroyed. Then follow the katun sign, the new sign, the 7,200 sign, and the number 34,732. Now, everything seems to point to the probability that the new sign is the ahau sign of the value 24X365=8,760. Let us now add the three numbers : 18, 980 8, 760 7, 200 34, 940 It all refers to the day IV 9. But this occurs 208 days before the normal date IV 17, and to it therefore rightly belongs a —208, and 34,940—208 is really 34,732. In the lower part of the third column of page 70 are five signs, one above the other. The first of these is the ahau sign (of 8,760 days) ; the third, the 7,200 sign; and the fifth, the 360 sign. We are prompted to seek the meaning of the second and fourth. Glyph q shows us the second sign. It is the Chicchan head, with a prefix, probably phallic, which we know as an element of the months Yaxkin and Yax, of the sign for the south, etc. Noav, when we see that the same Chicchan head, with the same prefix, also occurs on page 61, in the middle of the first column, and on page 69, in the middle of the third colunm, in a connection, too, quite similar to this one on pages 21c and 23b, but in very diiferent surroundings, 488 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 we readily reach the conchision that here, too, a period of time is meant. We find this combination nowhere else in onr manuscript. It now becomes probable that the period of time which we are seek- ing must have a close connection with the above-mentioned supposed ahau, for in this place we see the phallic prefix divided into two parts and furnished with two marks above it. Might it not therefore mean one-third of the ahau, that is, 2,920 days, that important period of 8 terrestrial or 5 Venus years Avhich plays so great a part on pages 24 and 46 to 50 ? If we turn to those pages we find the sign /■. The figure on the forehead seems to be only an abbreviation of the prefix, seen, as it Avere, from the other side. The passages in ques- tion are on page 24, second column above the middle; page 49, fourth column, in the middle; and page 50, on the left below. I find it nowhere else. We might perhaps mention that the Chicchan head, as Doctor Schellhas states in his Die Maya-Handschrift (1886), page 64, belongs to the picture of a serpent on page 35b, but has different, somewhat indistinct, prefixes and suj^erior affixes. The windings of the serpent run in five different directions, and on its- body are 8 spots resembling bosses? Can this be an allusion to the 5 Venus and 8 terrestrial years. This might be going too far. Suffice it to say that there are some reasons for thinking that we have really the period of 2,920 days before us, A glance at page 31a shows us how all these last-mentioned signs belong together. There is the number 2,804,100 in the second column from the right. Above this there must have been six signs. The two upper ones are effaced ; then follows a trace of Imix, probably the katun sign with a number before it; then, a very much stained glyph, perhaps the 2,920 sign just discussed; and last, but quite plain, the 8,760 and the 7,200 signs. The destruction or indistinctness of the uppermost signs is especiall}^ to be regretted here, as in all probability these signs stood in the closest relation to the large num- ber before mentioned. So much for the second of the five signs below on page 70. I will now hazard a modest conjecture in regard to the fourth as well. It has the form s. It probably originated in a bird's head. In place of the eye we find a figure which looks almost exactly like the 360 sign. The lines beneath it strongh^ resemble those in the Imix katun sign. Now, this fourth sign occurs between the third, the old ahau of 20X300, as it were (an ahau of 20 years has actually been found in the original sources) , and the fifth, the old year of 360 days. Now, nothing seems more natural than that the fourth sign should likewise refer to the ancient computation of time, and it is easy to suppose this to be an ancient katun=52X360= (72X260). According to this supposition. FOKSTE.MANX.] MAYA CHRONOLOGY 489 by no means positivel}' asserted, but merely suggested, tlie five signs sliould liave tlie foIIo^ying values of time : 8,760 = 1 ahau = 24 X 3G5 2,920 = i ahau = 8 X 3G5 =:' 5 X 584 7,200 = 1 old ahau = 20 X 360 18,720 = 1 old katun = 52 X 360 = 72 X 260 360 = 1 old year 37,960 = 2 katuns (2 X 52 X 365 = 2 X 73 X 260) The period of 2 katuns, however, has often proved very impor- tant ; for instance, on pages 46 to 50. It is also divisible by the Venus year of 584 daj^s, which is not the case witli 1 katun. It should not seem ver}^ surprising that the old designations, which must have been already hallowed by use, were not discarded after the introduction of the year of 365 days, and the ahau of 24 3'ears. A greater variet}^ of glyphs enhanced the mysterj^ of writing and the awe with which the priests were regarded. But here I pause. Above the five signs just now under discussion there are four others arranged in pairs. I have already expressed the opinion that these signs signifj^ a period of not less than 652 katuns and have tried to give grounds for this view, but it must rest on a firmer foundation before I can pro- mulgate it. I have perhaps already advanced more than Avill admit of proof. THE TIME PERIODS OF THE MAYAS E. FORSTEMAlSTJSr 491 THE TIME PERIODS OF THE MAYAS By E. FORSTEMANN Nature suggested onl}^ periods of 20 days to the Maya, because these they could count on their fingers and toes, in four divisions of five each. From this the representation in writing of all numbers up to 20 followed as a matter of course. The second thing they observed was that the sun, and with it the vegetation, returned to its former condition after about eighteen of such 20-day periods. From this resulted the most ancient solar year, consisting of 360 days, which in later periods was always preserved by the exceptional position of the 5 intercalary. days, but soon ceased to be practically employed. Upon this is based the numeral system which was subsequently in use, in wliich the unit of the second degree is 20 and that of the third degree 360. That of the fourth degree (7,200) and that of the fifth (144,000) had little or no relation to the actual year, and were prob- ably added later without regard to the length of the year, although the fourth degree may have given rise to the erroneous statement that the Mayas counted by ahaus of 20 years. These various units were governed by various gods called " lords of the cycle"; see "Lord of the Cycle" in Thomas's -Study of the Manuscript Troano, page 29. We find the heads of these lords of the cycles of 144,000, 7,200, 300, and 20 days, for instance, at the beginning of the inscription on the Cross of Palenque (A and B, 3 to 6), together with the glyphs representing these periods. The fifth period, the single day, has no head of a deity, but, quite appro- priately, only the instrument of numeration, a hand with its five fingers. The earliest of the inscriptions at Copan, given in Mauds- lay's book, contain similar figures, and these beginnings plainly give us the dates of the inscriptions. The Dresden codex shows a decided improvement on this method, inasmuch as the heads of the lords and the glyphs are omitted as " Die Zeitperiodeh der Mayas, Globus, v. 63, n. 2, 1893. 493 494 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY ^ [bdll. 28 superfluous, and, as with us, the value of the numbers is indicated by their position. This is also the case in Codex Peresianus, but I can not interpret the numbers, owing to the condition of the manuscript. In Codex Troano-Cortesianus we find only timid attempts at num- bers consisting, of many figures, as in the page which connects both parts and in the Troano codex, pages 20 to 23. ' "When at last it became patent that 360 days by no means consti- tuted a full year the numeric system could not be changed, because a multiple of 20 was needed for the third degree ; but in order to be able to compute by years it was necessary to add to the length of the year. In all probability the number 364 was chosen because it is divisible by 4, and thus had a certain relation to the four cardinal points and to everything connected with them in mythology. Many portions of the Dresden codex are based upon this year of 4X91 clays, most distinctly on pages 65 to 69, as I have shown in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1891, page 144. To it also pertain the series with the difference 91 on pages 31 to 32 and 63 to 64. The number 364, however, is not only 4X91, but also 28X13, and this seems to liaA^e given rise to the custom of dividing the year into periods of 13 days each, just as the period of 20 days was a natural division of the 360-day year. I or nature does not seem to have furnished the number 13, unless the most important parts of the human body, perhaps the ten fingers, together with eye, ear, and mouth, might have suggested it. Otherwise, there may have been a mythologic basis (13 heavens?) for the number 13. There may have been a time when they wavered between the 360- and the 364-day year, and consequently between the periods of 20 and of 13 days. In order to meet the difficulties arising from this, it was necessary to introduce a period which could be divided by both 20 and 13 days. Thus doubtless originated, not among the people, but among the priesthood, the sacred tonalamatl of 260 days, which had no connection with the duration of either the one or the other year. I believe that I have found a glyph which represents the tonal- amatl, combined with the figure 8, in the inscription of the Cross of Palenque, C, 2. The days of the 20-day period were then designated by their already established glyphs and those of the later 13-day period by merely adding numbers; thus 260 different characters for days were easily obtained, just as they are in the Aztec, which there- fore thus far agrees both with the method of the Mayas and with that of the Kiches. The need must now have been felt of bringing these periods of 260 davs into accord with the year, and particularly with the old year of 360 days. For this a period of 4,680 days would have been sufficient, in which the tonalamatl is repeated 18 times, the 360 days . 13 times, that is, a period in Avhich the 13-day period recurs 360 times. FOESTEMANN.] TIME PERIODS OF THE MAYAS 495 But this period of 4,680 days seems never to have come into actual use; the triple of it, 14,040 days, having been preferred, a period which certainly lends itself with marvelous adaptability to an immense number of the most various divisions. Like 4,680, it is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13. But it also admits of still more important divisions: (1) It is divisible by 13, and by the most diverse multiples of that number, 26, 39, 52, 65, 78, etc.; (2) it may be divided by 20 and by its multiples 40, 60, 120, 180; (3) it is divisible by 18, the number of the so-called months of the year, and by several of its multiples, as 36 and 54. It is, of course, equal to 54 X 260-day and 39 X 360-day periods. It, therefore, properly forms the very nucleus of the last section of the Dresden manuscript and appears conspicuously large in the right- hand column of page 73 with its Maya ciphers : 1 19 0. From this column proceed two rows of figures, one of which has the diiference 65 ; that is, a fourth of 260, a two-hundred-and-sixteenth of 14,040; the other increases hj 54, the triple of 18, which is the two- hundred-and-sixtieth part of 14,040. 14,040 is also concealed elsewhere in the same manuscript. Thus on page 24, at the bottom of the left-hand column, there are three dates, of which the right-hand one is 11,960 days distant from the middle one, and the middle one 2,200 clays from the left-hand one. There- fore the two extreme dates represent together 14,160 days, or, bearing in mind the intervals of days belonging to them, I Ahau and IV Ahau, 14,040 days from each other. It is well known that pages 46 to 50 are closely connected with this passage. It need not seem surprising, therefore, that 14,040 can here, tpo, be obtained by computation, as I may hereafter be able to demon- strate. Thus the ends of the periods recorded in the first serpent also have the difference 14,040 (see my treatise Zur Entzifferung der Mayahandschriften, II). Hence the period of 14,040 days must have been of the utmost importance before the introduction of the year of 365 days, and was doubtless designated by a word, which we unfortunately do not know. It was presently discovered that the solar year actually consists of 365 days, and an attempt was at once made to harmonize it with the tonalamatl of 260 days. The well-known katun^73 tonalamatls or 52 solar years= 18,980 days was thus obtained, a period after the expiration of which each day date again recurs in the same place in the year. In accordance with this, the katun seems to be expressed 496 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETIINOLOGY [bull. 28 by a glyph which contains a certain clay (Iraix) as its principal part, but as a superior affix a figure which expresses a tieing together. I have hazarded this conjecture in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1891, pages 152 and 153. The selection of Imix for this sign must there- fore have occurred at a time when Imix was accounted the first of the 20 days. The creation of time periods did not cease here. The movement of the most conspicuous planet, Venus, was also taken into consideration, and it was found that its apparent revolution embraced a period of 584 days. This had now to be harmonized with the newly discovered solar year, which could be easily done : 5X584=8X365=2,920. We find this latter number clearly indicated as the basis of the calcula- lations on page 24, as well as on pages 46 to 50 of the Dresden codex.. Then the Aztecs after every 8 solar years celebrated the greatest splendor of Venus, when Venus " smokes " (see Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico, volume 2, 1882, page 342). As we saw above, the Mayas proceeded from 4,680 to its triple, 14,040, in order to obtain greater divisibility; so, too, they advanced from 2,920 to its triple, 8,760, which is divisible by 3, 6, and 12. This is the ahau of 24 years of 365 days each, so often mentioned, virtually the principal period in Maya history. Here we are indebted to Cyrus Thomas, who, by his full investigation of the subject, laid the foundation for further re- search (see A Study of the Manuscript Troano, pages 28 to 58). Both the period of 2,920 and that of 8,760 days still had a defect. They did not harmonize with the tonalamatl of 260 days. The double l?;atun of 2X18,980=37,960 days, or 104 solar years, was therefore introduced, as we see it especially in the Dresden manuscript, pages 46 to 50, where three such periods are computed, in each of which 260, 365, and 584 are factors. The next task was to find a period in which both the ahau and the katun, as well as the revolution of Venus, that is, 8,760, 18,980, and 584, are contained. Accordingly, the triple of the period just men- tioned, the double katun, was employed, which resulted in the ahau katun of 113,880 days=6 katuns=13 ahaus=195 Venus years=312 solar years =43 8 tonalamatls. But the utmost perfection was attained in the period of 12 ahau katuns= 1,366,560 days, divisible not merely by tonalamatl=260, solar year=365, Venus year=584, ahau-=8,760, and katun=18,980 days, but also by 9, all important in Maya mythology, and hence by the old year of 360 days. This important period with the figures 9 16 F5ESTEMANN.] TIME PEEIODS OF THE MAYAS 497 occupies the first place among the large numbers in the Dresden codex on page 24, as 14,040 occupies the last place on page T3. The other large numbers in the Dresden codex, except those in the five serpents, are in strikingly close proximity to this high numfcer, just like the dates on the stelse at Copan. Thus we shall soon be able to determine all these numbers according to our computation of time, which will be a step of the greatest importance. Indeed, I believe that to all intents and purposes this step has already been taken in the ingenious exposition of Cyrus Thomas (see A Study of the Manu- script Troano, 1882, pages 187 to 197). The Aztecs do not seem to have been familiar with the great periods of 12X312 years just mentioned. According to the Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico, volume 2, 1882, pages 347 and 349, they had a cycle of 10X104 years and the triple of it, lOX^^^lS years; therefore, here, too, multiples of 8 years were always employed. Apparently, side by side with this interconnected series of periods, there is another quite distinct one. It was noted that Mercury per- formed its apparent revolution around the sun in 115 days, and to reconcile this 115 with the tonalamatl of 260 days, is the task of the number adverted to, 11,960=104X115=46X260. The two dates on page 24 of the Dresden codex at the left below, I Ahau, 18, third month, and I Ahau, 18, seventeenth month, are this distance apart, and this interval also forms the basis of the wonderful series on pages 51 to 58. Thus, that which was only represented in brief on page 24 is carried out more fully on pages 46 to 50, and also on pages 51 to 58. Yet this 11,960 is most curiously connected with the numbers before discussed. The double katun (37,960) has the same relation to 11,960 that the solar year (365) has to the Mercury year (115), for both are multiples of 104, and have the ratio, therefore, of 73 to 23. Thus the two numbers are distant from one another by just 100 (a round number to us, but not to the Mayas) tonalamatls. Further, if we subtract from the double katun twice 11,960 (=23,920), the result is nothing more nor less than the remarkable 14,040. The apparent revolution of Mars, indeed, 'which, strange to say, comprises just 3 tonalamatls =780 days, seems to be the basis of the Dresden series, on pages 43 to 44 and 59, and that remarkable 14,040 IS equal to 18 of these Mars years, while the 113,880 equals 146 of them. Here we must not, however, feel too secure. Jupiter and Saturn seem never to have been included in the computation at all, with their apparent revolutions of 397 and 380 days, respectively (between two superior conjunctions), which closely approximate the solar year. 7238— No. 28—05 32 498 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Not until long after all I have thus far explained became clear to me did I recognize that the Mayas had also very naturally turned their attention to the period of the moon's revolution. The wonder- ful series on pages 51 to 58 of the Dresden codex, already mentioned, only arrives at the number 11,960 ; or, when we take into consideration that there are three day signs with every number, the highest number there is in reality only 11,958. This number, however, is arrived at because periods of 177, 148, and 178 days follow each other strangely mixed ; indeed, the 177 occurs fifty-four times, the 148 nine times, the 178 six times. But now 177=3X29+3X30 148=2X29+3X30 178=3x29+3x30+1 The entire series, therefore, is constructed thus : 54X177=162X29+162X30 = 9,558 9X148= 18X29+ 27X30 = 1,332 6X178= 18X29+ 18X30+6= 1,068 198x29+207X30+6=11,958 There is, I think, nothing more natural here than to see alternate months of 29 and 30 days, just as they alternated with the Greeks. The 198 months of the one kind and the 207 of the other together make 405 months. But if we divide 11,958 by this 405, we find the length of the moon's revolution as observed by the Mayas to be 29.526 days. But the actual synodical revolution of the moon is 29.53 days. The Mayas, therefore, made it too short by only four-thousandths of a day; surely an amazing achievement. If they had employed merely the period of 177 days, the month would only have amounted to 29.5 days; by the addition of the nine periods of 148 days, only to 29.512. The six periods of 178 days, containing the intercalary days, were thus quite essential in order to reach this singularly accurate result. Thus we see combined on pages 46 to 50 of the Dresden codex the revolutions of the sun and Venus and on pages 51 to 58 those of the moon and mercury, that is, the revolutions of the four heavenly bodies most conspicuous in their movements combined in pairs; on the one hand, the two slower ones, on the other, the two of swifter motion, but of comparatively less brilliancy. Page 59 may refer to the revolution of Mars alone, while page 60, the final page of this front side of Codex Vaticanus B, seems lastly, but in a way as yet unexplained, to con- dense, as it were, the entire contents of this section. Perhaps above we here see the contest between these heavenly bodies, and below the victory of the one over the other. THE MAYA GLYPHS E. FORSTElVIANlSr 499 THE MAYA GLYPHS By E. Forstemann FIEST PAPEE <» It is well for the traveler occasionally to cast a backward glance over the road upon which he is journeying, and the same holds good of the path along which science is advancing. From the vantage ground of that which has already been attained we can see more clearly what should be the next step and what is still to be attained. The wonderful hieroglyphs which occur on the stone monuments and in the ancient manuscripts of Guatemala, Chiapas, and Yucatan, which but a few decades ago were a perfect enigma, are to-day one after another becoming intelligible and call all the more for such a retrospective view because in them pre-Columbian America attained its highest state of culture. The birth year of the decipherment of these glyphs was 1863. In that year the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg discovered at Madrid the manuscript of the Kelacion de las cosas de Yucatan by Diego de Landa (bishop of Merida in Yucatan from 1573 to 1579), which he published in 1864. In this manuscript were found the signs of the numerals from 1 to 19, the twenty day signs of the 20-day period, and the eighteen signs of the periods of this kind which make up the year. All these signs, apart from numerous variants, were actually met with again on the inscriptions and in the manuscripts, so that by the dis- covery of this manuscript the corner stone was laid, and building could proceed. I do not wish further to discuss these glyphs here nor to copy them since they are the undisputed possession of science and have been reproduced in many places, for example, in my Erliiuterungen, published in 1886. No one will misconstrue my silence with regard to the so-called alphabet of Diego de Landa. The next addition to this material was made in 1876 by Leon de Rosny in his Essai sur le dechiffrement de I'ecriture hieratique de I'Amerique centrale, in which we find interpreted the well-known signs which unquestionably denote the four cardinal points. This dis- covery was made simultaneously in America by Cyrus Thomas. In two of these four signs and in one of the eighteen signs of the 20- day periods was found the symbol for the sun, as if it were a matter of «Die Mayahieroglyphen, Globus, 1894, v. 60, n. 5, pp. 78-80. 501 502 BUREAIJ OF AMEETCAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 course, as Leon de Rosny himself acknowledged. The word for sim, kin, however, also denotes day, and it was proved, though somewhat later, that this sign is also used with the latter meaning. In the preface to my first edition of the Dresden manuscript (1880) I did not take occasion to express any opinion in regard to the meaning of the signs, and yet that very edition was a great stimulus to me and to others for further research. It was especially my acquaintance and subsequent collaboration (in person and by letter) with my friend Doc- tor Schellhas, of Berlin, that proved a source of manifold light to us both. Thus we soon found ourselves studying the sign in which Schellhas recognized the moon (and at the same time M. Pousse in the publications of the Societe Americaine), the period of 20 days. Both interpretations were correct. For, either the moon, being con- sidered dead during the period of new moon, was assumed to be alive only 20 days at a time, or the moon was conceived of as man, for in the Maya language " vinak " means both 20 and, from the number of fingers and toes, man. I was also on the point of finding a second symbol for 20 (Erlauterungen, page 12) which was positively recog- nized as such by Doctor Seler in 1887. It was a source of special satisfaction to me that in April, 1885, I was able to determine the sign for zero and soon afterward to dis- cover the way in which the Mayas expressed the higher numbers, so that they can now be read from zero up to millions. Upon this dis- covery is based the largest part of my later researches. Closely connected with this discovery was that of the glyph for the planet Venus, of the certainty of which we are constantly receiv- ing fresh proof. Having already communicated all these signs in the year 1886, in my Erlauterungen, I can omit them here to save space, only remark- ing that the attempt I made in that article to determine the signs for the rest of the planets seems to me now, as it did then, very uncertain. Two papers of Doctor Schellhas should have special mention here. Die Mayahandschrift der Koniglichen Bibliothek zu Dresden (1886, in the Berlin Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, page 12) and Die Gotter- gestalten der Mayahandschriften (1892, in the same journal, page 101). As it is not necessary to speak here of the merits of these writings except so far as they are connected with the determination of glyphs, I merely mention that in these articles we find, first, four little signs interpreted beyond a doubt, which often appear as pre- fixes to other glyphs. The office of these prefixes is to place the glyphs in their respective relation to the four several cardinal points, thus making it unnecessary to use the actual signs of these mentioned above. But of much more importance is the second discovery due to the efforts of Doctor Schellhas, viz, that about twenty different glyphs are recognized as the designations of twenty different deities. FOKSTEMANN.] THE MAYA GLYPHS 503 Those occurring most freqiientlv were determined with absohite cer- tainty, the others with more or less probability. Schellhas how- ever, has not applied any of the traditional names to these gods but has simply designated them provisionally by letters, and m doing so he is riaht, for the Olympus of the Mayas and Aztecs has so many intersecting paths and byways that it is almost unavoidable not to go astray, especially since it is difficult to discriminate between the universal and the local deities. I am now comDelled to speak of myself. Since the appearance ot my Erlauterungen (1886), I have published eight different treatises on the Maya science : . -u -4^. 1 Three essays entitled Zur Entzifferung der Mayahandschriften ■]887 1891, 1892, in pamphlet form, which were at first only intended for private circulation. These will soon be followed by a fourth, which is to be presented to the Congress of Americanists at Stockholm. / O /. O e(K> c^ c^ Pig. 110. Glyplis from the Dresden codex. m 2 Zur Mava-Chronologie (1891) in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie. 3. The preface to my second edition of the Dresden manuscript (1892). 4 Three articles in Globus, volume 63, number 2, and volume 65, numbers 1 and 15: Die Zeitperioden der Mayas, Zum mittelamer- ikanischen Kalender, and Die Plejaden bei den Mayas. As this material is so widely scattered, and as I still wish to speak of some signs not discussed in the above-mentioned articles, I will here give the form of a few glyphs which have been recently determined, omitting, for the sake of brevity, those which are still doubtful. As I have proceeded from the mathematic standpoint, these glyphs chiefly concern certain periods of time. The first (a, figure 110) is the sign for the year of 360 days, long since recognized as the sign of the 20-day period Pax. As such, how- ever, it generally appears with three balls added below, which, I am inclined to consider as a representation of the most conspicuous point in the celestial equator, the three stars in the belt of Orion, with which the sun is in conjunction in Pax. 504 BUREAU OF AMERTCAISr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 The second (b) represents the period of 20 years, 20X360=7,200 days. Both these signs (with variants) are common to both manu- scripts and inscriptions. From the latter I give here for the first time two characters (in the form in which they occur on the Cross of Palenque) : Number 3 (c), the period of 20x7,200=1-14,000 days, and number 4 (d), the period of 20 days. To these I add from the manuscripts number 5 (e), the period of 52X365=18,980 days, after which each day recurs in the same place in the year. Hence this glyph is the day sign Imix, which is usually considered the first of the day signs, with the so-called rattlesnake ornament which here and in other cases, as I will incidentally remark, signifies a tying together, a union. I will here pass over in silence the signs for the periods of 260, 2,920 (8X365), and 8,760 (24X365) days, which I think I have discovered, but am not yet sufficiently certain to publish a statement regarding them. It is important to ascertain whether other stars and constellations besides the sun, moon, and Venus have not their special symbols. I have already attempted in this journal to show that the Pleiades are probably designated by the Moan head and its representative signs. I think Mercury may be recognized in a Venus sign before which a human figure with head downward, /, is drawn (Dresden codex, pages 57 and 58). Doctor Seler has already shown (1887) that in all probability the firmament is commonly denoted by the day sign Akbal (night), g, with a circle of dots around it. With the chronologic and astronomic signs the ideas of beginning and end are closely connected, and for both these ideas I think I have found the glyph. These in the main are two heads, the first of which, h, has for an eye the day sign Akbal, just mentioned, with which, according to the most recent discovery, the 20-day periods may begin. Below are the familiar footprints denoting a movement forward. The second sign, i, agrees with Xul, the seventh of these periods, and Xul really means the end. From pages 61, 62, and 70 of the Dresden manuscript in particular, but also from other passages, we learn how these two signs are contrasted Avith one another. Of the small signs which appear as prefixes, suffixes, etc., to the larger characters I have alread}^ mentioned the four relating to the cardinal points and the rattlesnake ornament denoting a tying to- gether, k. In contrast to the latter is the sign of division, I or m, denoting the obsidian knife, which was recognized by Doctor Seler in 1887. I have already tried to prove in this journal that the superior affix, occurring so frequently, and common to both manu- scripts and inscriptions, which consists of the day signs Ben and Ik, probably denotes single lunar months of 28 and 29 days, and I expect still further to confirm this view. FORSTEMANN.] THE MAYA GLYPHS 505 The representations of particular objects in Maya literature are not in question liere, and they will be considered only in so far as they appear as actual glyphs in the series with the rest. To this class, for example, belong the four animal figures which often occur in close proximity — a portion of a mammal, a bird's head, a lizard, and a fish — possilbly designating various offerings. An important glyph is the hand, which so often occurs in both manuscripts and inscriptions. It appears sometimes in the act of grasping, with the thumb bent forward, and sometimes as pointing, with the thumb close to the hand. The first really appears to denote a tying together like the ornament mentioned above, to which I intend to refer in my forthcoming essay Zur Entziiferung der Mayahand- schriften, IV; the second can hardly denote anything but a move- ment in space (as it does on our finger posts) or a lapse of time, as in the many examples in the Dresden codex, pages 46 to 50. This is practically all the treasure that has thus far been secured from the writings of the Mayas. It probably comprises the most im- portant ones, but by no means the majority of the signs. Let us hope that in the near future these glyphic treasures may increase, though hitherto there has been a lack of laborers in this field. • X • 9 7i ^ Fig. 111. Glyphs from the Dresden codex. SECOND PAPERS In volume 66, number 5, pages 78 to 80, of this journal, under the same title, I published a short article which was intended to show in hasty review what progress had been made in the interpretation of these signs. Two or three years have passed since then, and now I have been unexpectedly called upon to summarize the progress which has been made in this work during the time which has elapsed, par- ticularly what I believe has been accomplished by myself. I shall be obliged to speak more of myself than is usually my custom. (1) a, figure 111. All that can be said concerning this figure is only partially new, for Schellhas has proved in his fundamental treatise "Die Mayahieroglyphen, Zweiter Artikel, Glohus, 1897, v. 71, n. 5, pp. 78 to 81. 506 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 Die Gottergestalten der Mayahandschriften that it is the glyph of the god C, and that it is a star, the polar star, in fact. I have recog- nized this meaning from the first, but I would prefer to call it the polar constellation (Ursa Minor). Now, it happened while I was recently examining the remarkable tonalamatl in the Dresden codex, pages 4a to 10a, that I discovered in it a peculiar displacement of time. As a fixed point of departure I found groups 14 and 15, the former representing the tiger, the latter the vulture, with an interval of 2 days between them. There is just the same interval between the Aztec day Ocelotl (jaguar) and Cozcaquauhtli (vulture). This was a very gratifying discovery, because it revealed a new point of contact between the Aztec and Maya systems. Now if we reckon back from this passage 23 days to group 5 (page 5) we find god C with his glyph, and are forced, on account of the distance of the days, to place this group with the Maya day Chuen or Aztec Ozo- matli (monkey). Finding this to be the case, the question at once flashed through my mind, Does not this glyph in the main repre- sent a monkey's skull ? Does it not present an indication of the lat- eral nasal aperture of the American monkey? The Aztec day sign Ozomatli has a certain, though distant, resemblance to this sign. But how are the monkey and Ursa Minor to be connected ? I fully be- lieve that the former is more appropriate here than the latter. The polar star is the last star in the tail, but the monkey, after the fashion of its kind, clings with its tail to a fixed point, around which it swings the rest of its body. But I already hear the opponents of this conception, and pass on to a second glyph. (2) ?>. After I had printed my treatise, Zur Entzifferung der Mayahandschriften, V, in 1895, I next undertook the task of ex- amining the 28 groups belonging together on pages 71 to 73 of the Dresden codex, each consisting of three glyphs, and found that they had no connection with the adjacent numbers, but represented a rit- ual year of 364 days, divided into 28X13 days. Then I forthwith noticed that groups 4, 11, 18, and 25 contained the glyph given above, in several variants, at intervals of 91 days. Hence nothing was more natural than to see in this sign h a Bacab, a deity of the wind and the cardinal points, since we have long known that each period of 91 days is under the dominion of a particular Bacab. This was fully confirmed by a comparison of the 69 groups of glyphs on pages 51 to 58, in which I likeAvise recognized weeks of 13 days. Although the groups are very often destroyed, especially in the first half, the sign appeared again in groups 39, 46, 53, and 60, and I attached to this fact various observations concerning repetitions after every seven groups. In a third series of glyphs on page 72 at the top, I ao-ain found the Bacab in the eighth member. The number 4 fre- fOrsxemann.] THE MAYA GLYPHS 507 quently occurring before this sign proves abundantly that one of the four Bacabs is intended. (3) c. On page 6 of my treatise just referred to in connection with the preceding glyph I mentioned the discovery of the character given here as c in the eighth and sixteenth of the 28 groups. I had reasons for making the ritual year reconstructed there begin with the spring equinox, and the consequent positions indicated for the two signs were June and September; that is, the beginning and the end of the rainy season. It seems to me to represent a cloud from which three streams of water are falling upon the earth. The obsidian knife added below may here indicate, as it often does, a division, or period, of time. On page 36c of the Dreden codex we see the figure of a god standing in the water and looking upward, upon whom similarly drawn raindrops are falling from a rain cloud, clearly distinguishable as such. (4) d. This sign occurs very frequently, with different variants, in the manuscript, but probably never in the inscriptions. In the treatise mentioned in connection with the preceding glyph, I have already cursorily pointed out that a somewhat similar sign seemed at least to approximate the idea of the week of 13 days, and I would like to speak more in detail concerning it. I will first remark that even in the manuscripts I can point out this glyph only in those sections which contain tonalamatls. It is therefore missing in the entire second part of the Dresden codex, from page 46 onward; also in the first part from page 25 to 28, and likewise in the Troano codex on those pages which correspond to the last-named pages, that is, 23 to 20, etc. It occurs more frequently with day XIII than with any other week day, as in the Dresden codex, pages lie and 41a, and in the Troano codex, pages 15c, 16a, 30c to 29c and 31*b. Furthermore, it appears after the period of 13 days, as in Troano codex, page 16c, and after 6+7 days in the Dresden codex at least, page 23c. But it is used especially at the close of the divisions of the tonalamatl, as after 2X13=26 days in the Dresden codex, page 14c, in the Troano codex, page 31*b, and in the Cortesian codex, page 29b; after 4X13=52 days in the Dresden codex, pages lie, 22b; after 5X13=65 days in the Dresden codex, page 16b, and in the Troano codex, page 7*c. Indeed, in the Troano codex, pages 30c to 29c, it appears to be added to each of the five divi- sions of 13 days eB,ch, which, however, is uncertain on account of the careless drawing. And in the Troano codex, pages 8c to 7c, where the 52 days are divided into five sections (4X10+12) it is likewise em- ployed five times. Finally, I call attention to it in the Dresden codex, page 30b, where it closes 10X13=130 days. I think these examples are sufficient to warrant me in ascribing to this glyph the function of denoting the week of 13 davs or the close of such a week having the day XIII. 508 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 I have still a word to say concerning the remarkable tonalamatl in the Dresden codex, pages 4a to 10a, where twenty of the first 52 days are rendered prominent by pictures and groups of glyphs. Here this character appears in the groups 1, 5, 11, and 16; that is, with the sec- ond, fifteenth, twenty-ninth, and forty-fourth days of the 260-day period. That might mean that a new 13-day period had begun mean- time, though not exactly with these days. The character (e) appears besides, in a somewhat different position, it is true, in the fourteenth group (the thirty-eighth day) ; that is, after the expiration of 13 groups. It is also remarkable that this day, as we saw above, is the day Ix of the Mayas, Ocelotl (tiger) of the Aztec, and this day, if we begin the series as usual with Imix, stands in the fourteenth place at the beginning of a new week. Indeed, it should be observed that this character, 6, resembles no day glyph of the Mayas more closely than Ix ; and here there is possibly a forgotten original connection. The sign Ix, hitherto entirely unexplained, almost suggests the idea that in it two lines radiate from an Imix, between which three dots are placed; now two lines and three dots form the number sign 13 (2x5+3). However, I do not wish to assert any conclusion. (5) This glyph, /, is the familiar sign for the thirteenth 20-day period of the year ; that is, the so-called month Mac. But I believe I was right when I assigned a second meaning to this sign in my treatise Zur Entzifferung der Mayahandschriften, IV. I examined there page 24 of the Dresden codex, the object of which is to link to- gether the solar year, the Venus year, and the tonalamatl, and inci- dentally the lunar month and the Mercury year as well. Here I found, first of all, in the series of glyphs on the left, several signs relating to the solar and Venus years, and then, in the eleventh and twelfth places, this glyph wherein I was inclined to see the tonalamatl, for which, strange to say, no sign has as yet been discovered. This sign IS repeated, which may possibly denote the recurring tonalamatl. How does the period Mac happen to have this meaning? The chief reason is that 260 days of the year have really elapsed at the end of the period Mac; but the form of this glyph also furnishes a certain justification for connecting it with this meaning, for in reality it is a variant of the familiar Imix which stands at the head of the series of days. This sign has a suffix which originally seems to have indicated a bird's feather and possibly still occurs in the manuscripts with this meaning. A bird's feather, however, is one of the most fitting sym- bols supplied by nature to designate the plural. Thus, in my opinion, this glyph denotes Imix, in that the day constantly returns until it regains its original position in the week. One place where I think I find a sign for the tonalamatl is in col- umns A and B of the Cross of Palenque. After the well-known I'OESTEMANN.] THE MAYA GLYPHS 509 superscription we find there, always combined with the pictures of the gods belonging to them, the signs of the periods of 144,000, 7,200, 360, and 20 days; then, the single day counted off on the subjoined fingers; after that, the principal day Ahau in the eighth place, with the picture of god D, to whom it is dedicated, which is often the case, as for instance, in the Dresden codex, page 9a, on the left. Should we not expect to find the tonalamatl among the succeeding glyphs on pages 9 to 12 ? I commend this passage to the student for further consideration. In addition, the moon's revolution and the point at which Maya chronology begins are represented. (6) First of all, at the top is the sign of a number, g, which I will leave for the present undetermined. Below it are two glyphs, the probably phallic yax (" vigor ", " strength ") and the kin (" sun ") signs. We are reminded of the month Yaxkin, which corresponds ap- proximately to our November, and consequently can not take its name from the power of the sun, but rather f.om a particular deity or sacri- fice. This, not the month, was thought of in connection with the sign, as is demonstrated by the following six passages of the Dresden manu- script where it occurs. . On page 18a is a woman holding the glyph (yax placed above kin) in her hand, like an offered sacrifice. The glyphs above the picture are destroyed, but probably contained the same sign once more. On page 18c a woman carries this figure on her back. Such a sign usually indicates a particular deity. The glyphs found above repeat the sign. On page 19c is the same representation as on the preceding page. The woman has a hair ornament of flowers. On page 27b the sign is placed on a vessel, a kind of bowl. This means food offered as a sacrifice. The two remaining examples, on pages 46b on the right and 50c on the right, are placed under different glyphs, most probably denoting gods, at the beginning and end of the great representation which treats of the period of 2,920 days, in which five apparent Venus years (5X584) coincide with 8 solar years. Each time the adjacent sign is the Moan, in which I have surmised the end of the year and the Pleiades. Four examples, in which this sign occurs in Codex Troano-Cort- tesianus (Cortesian codex, page 35b, and Troano codex, pages 21a, 22*a, and 14*b), owing to the inexactness prevailing in this manu- script, would demand a long discussion without advancing the matter. We must now observe the number sign v/hich stands above the glyphs yax and kin, g. For this purpose I will call attention to the example cited above from the Dresden codex, page 27b. The four pages 25 to 28 treat of the last day of the four kinds of years and of the first day of the succeeding years, but still offer a great many enigmas. The numerals scattered through the different parts of the 510 BUEEAU OF AMERTCAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 pages are especially to be counted among these riddles. I will here show the positions of these numerals. Pages 25 26 27 28 a 9 7 7 16 11 5 6 6 b 8 9 13 3 13 c 7 •X- 6 d 19 9 16 15 I would like to place the 9 of page 25b in page 25c, for it would produce greater uniformity. Numbers 9, 7, 11, and 6 of division a are connected with a sign in which there is an ik (" wind "' or " fire ") ; the other four numbers belong to a glyph of which the chief factor is the moon. In division b there belongs to each number a group formed of a chuen repeated three times, that wonderful sign, the interpretation of which would be so great a step in advance. In c each number refers to a vessel containing sacrificial gifts. Lastly, in d, on page 25, the number appears above a large kettle, which seems intended to be used for cooking the sacrificial flesh (the slaughtered fowl near it?), while on pages 26 to 27 it is also joined with offerings, but most directly in each case with the yet unex- plained sign /?, whose chief factor is the glyph of the moon. All the numbers, of which there are 20, seem to have been arbitra- rily chosen ; at least, with the greatest pains I have not yet succeeded in discovering the law that governs them. The fact that the sum of the first numbers in division a is 33 and that of the second numbers 34 did not even help me. The pages deal with the possible 52 years of a katun period. Now, it is striking that the sum of the five numbers on page 25 is exactly 52, and uncertainty as to whether this result is intentional or not van- ishes at once when we see that also on page 26 the sum is 52. With this fact in mind we proceed to page 27 and find here 11+5+2+16= 34. If here, too, 52 is the result intended, as we must certainly wish it to be, then the hitherto unknown numeral must be an 18, an abbre- viation for the awkward form /, standing literally for duodeviginti (20 — 2) in the Maya writing 18. FoiiSTEMANN.] THE MAYA GLYPHS 511 Finally, on page 28, the sum of the numbers is only 46, and this leads us to surmise that somewhere there should have been written 6 units more, in division a. Thus we are compelled to recognize in the number 18 a number pertaining to a deity, somewhat as 13 belongs to god S and 11 to god 1'. We should find more examples if the remains of Maya literature handed down to us were more voluminous; 18, how^ever, is also the number of the 20-day periods Avhich make the year. But which god belongs to the number? I think he is to be found close beside this glyph in the Dresden codex, page 27b. It is the "old god ", D, that moon and birth god, who, perhaps, as Izamna, was supreme among the Mayas, and as Tonacatecutli prominent among the Aztecs and as Hunahpu among the Cakchikels. But why is the number never added to his picture, as far as we have seen, but only to the sacrifices offered to him? His glyphs already had a determinative sufficiently plain, the day sign Ahau, which denotes the most important of all days and, as is well known, the beginning of all Maya chronology. The other chief gods. A, B, and C, likewise require no numbers to determine them more clearly. Where duodeviginti occurs one might expect imdeviginti also. I present here for consideration, without being able to prove anything, the sign ^ found in the Dresden codex, page 3, at the top on the right. In this passage it is near the sign of the serpent deity, H, which corresponds to the day Chicchan. But I would say by way of caution that the sign X which in the Dresden codex, page 58, lower half, stands before the glyph for 7,200 days, must not be interpreted in the same way as those last discussed, for the cross here only signifies that the dot does not belong in this place, but to the glyph above, wlhere there was no room for it. A comparison with the last glyph but one of the first column, Dresden codex, page 24, confirms this observation. (7) h. It is advisable in attempts at deciphering to turn our atten- tion to the glyphs which occur most frequently, as the difference of their environment may sometimes give us the right clue. It Avill cer- tainly be of value to consider all the details of their occurrence, even if an actual interpretation is not finally reached. To these fre- quently occurring signs belongs the one given here, h^ which we' will follow through the Dresden codex, which, owing to its careful execu- tion, gives more promise of success than the inexact Codex Troano- Cortesianus. This glyph occurs on page 3, near the tonalamatl combined with the picture of a human sacrifice, beside the sign of the god B, the most frequent in the manuscript. The great tonalamatl. pages 4a to 10a, shows the sign not less than five times, in the sixth, fifteenth, 512 BUBEAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 twenty-third, thirty-third, and forty-eighth of the 52 days, with the gods B, C, H, K, and E, successively in the sixth, fourth, fifth, sixth, and fifth places of each of the six glyphs. On page 5c we find it placed with the god D, page 6b with E, Tc with H, 10b with B, 11a with H, lib with L, lie with E, 12a with K, 13b with C, 14c with D, 17b with an undetermined female deity, likewise 19b and 20c, 21b with A, 21c with I), 22b perhaps Avith I, 23c with D and with three female personages. Here, in every case, the glyph is in a tonalamatl. It is wholly lacking on the astronomic page 24, notwithstanding that it contains 40 glyphs. Of the four calendric pages, 25 to 28, containing no tonalamatl, only page 26 contains this sign, where it stands in the middle row between the glyphs of E and U. In the large section devoted to god B, which contains so many tonalamatls, it is missing, strange to say, on all the pages from 29 to 37 and then appears again three times, on 38b, 39a, and 40a, each time with the picture of this god. The last five pages of the first part of the manuscript, 41 to 45, again entirely lack this character, although gods and tonalamatls abound in them. ^ In the second division of the Dresden codex, pages 46 to 74, the ritual year becomes of secondary importance and the astronomic year becomes more prominent. Accordingly, we rarely find this glyph here. On pages 46 to 50, on which the Venus and solar years are made to agree, it is found only once, on page 48 at the top on the right, directly in the center of the 20-membered period of 2,920 days, beside its tenth member. In the large section pages 51 to 60 this sign is wholly lacking. We first find it again on page 65, in the lower half. Here the period treated of is the ritual year of 364 days, the actual year 9 Kan, it would seem, the sign of which is on the left of the glyph under discussion. However, 9 Kan is the middle point of the great world epoch beginning with the year 9 Ix. At the end of the same section, 91 days, or a quarter of a year later, lower half of page 69, this glyph appears again. But what it may mean above on the same page, likewise at the end of 91 days, where it is connected with the ordinary sign of the owl (death bird) we must leave quite undecided. This section, which I have discussed more fully in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1891, presents special difficulties. Finally, in the last example offered by our manuscript, page 73, in the middle, our glyph stands directly under the sign of the death god A in the twentieth member of a series, each member of which denotes 13 days ; that is, after 13X20 days, just a tonalamatl from the beginning of the year. So much we know concerning the different circumstances under which this glyph appears in the Dresden codex, and yet we have hardly formed an opinion concerning its meaning, to find which must I'ORSTEMANN.] THE MAYA GLYPHS 513 be our chief object. We can only make the negative assertion that it can not possibly denote a particular cleit}^, a particular sacrifice, or a particular period. Almost the only other supposition is that it must denote a particular ceremony. Was it, perhaps, the sprinkling three times with the aspergill ? Or are we to think of the three steps which the priests had to take ? The chief part of the glyph is the day sign Oc, which, to be sure, means the foot, therefore, perhaps, also a step. Some one once suggested a " third order of priests ", of which, how- ever, nothing has ever been known. In any event, this communication will supply acceptable material for the final solution of the question. 7238— No. 28—05 33 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN CALENDAR E. FORSTEMAISTN 515 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN CALENDAR By E. Forstemann Dr Daniel G. Brinton, professor of American archeology and philology in the University of Pennsylvania, besides making many investigations in other directions, has since the year 1869 fnrnished nnmerous valuable contributions to his special branch of the science. Among these is his recent book The Native Calendar of Central America and Mexico (Philadelphia, 1893). This calendar is in every essential point identical in the territory of the Nahuas in the valley of Mexico and in Guatemala and Nicaragua, among the Mayas of Yucatan and their kindred in Chiapas and the surrounding region, hence among tribes which are linguistically unrelated. The chief feature of this book of Brinton's is an investigation of the names which in very different ways have been given by these peoples to the 20 single days and to the 18-day and 20-day periods of the year, erroneously called months. Certainly, no one is able to carry out a linguistic investigation of this kind more thoroughly than Doctor Brinton. since he has access to numerous manuscript vocabularies of the language, some of them in the library of the American Philo- sophical Society and others in his own possession. With the aid of these, he seeks in this book to determine the fundamental mean- ing of the different words by which a certain day is designated ; with the so-called months no such agreement is found. This meaning can always be found in the living forms of transmitted speech in Nahuatl, while in Maya, Tzental, Kiche, Cakchikel, and in the Zapotec these words mostly have an archaic character, which points to a greater antiquity of the calendar than it has in Nahuatl and naturally leaves room for much doubt. Now, it seems as if this investigation might be materially aided by the study of the appertaining glyphs, but Doc- tor Brinton does not admit this, for, according- to his view, the glyphs have nothing whatever to do with the meaning of the word, but only with the sound, as if we were to attempt to represent the English pronoun " I '' by an eye or the word '' matron " by a mat and a per- son running. I do not deny such a process, but accept it in the cases where an old day name has vanished from the living language; thus, « Zum mittelamerikanishchen Kalender, Globus, 1894, v. 65, p. 20. 517 518 BUREATJ OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 for example, the first day is called in Nahuatl Cipactli, undoubtedly a kind of fish. Imix, or Imox, in the Maya language must have had the same meaning, although the glyph seems to me to indicate the female breast (" im ", breast, and " ix ", feminine suffix) , Does it, how- ever, necessarily follow that the meaning was always so forgotten? The Maya glyphs for Chicchan, Cimi, Ezanab, for example, indicate clearly enough the serpent's skin, the death's-head, and the stone lance point. However, without this aid of the glyphs, Brinton has dis- covered much that is new and important, and it is only in consequence of the brief sj)ace allotted me that I am obliged to deny myself the pleasure of discussing it more in detail. Nor can I touch upon his subtle observations concerning the so-called month names. But let me remark here that a study of the glyphs would lead to and establish k m n P u w X y z Fig. 112. Day signs from the Maya codices. aa many thinsfs. For example, that the sixth month, Xul, actually means " end " is directly proved by the instances in which its glyph stands at the end of long periods of time, as it does seven times among the calendar dates discovered by me in the Dresden manu- script, page 61 to the bottom of page 62. and in many other places. Moreover, it is remarkable that there have been no names handed down to us for the actual lunar months, which must have been very well known to these tribes, as I haA'e showil in volume 63, number 2, of this journal. Still I think that I have now found at least the glyphs for these months in the twelve or more different signs, com- mon to both the manuscripts and the inscriptions, having affixed above them a combination of the day signs Ben and Ik {a, figure 112), Ben being separated from the second Ik following it by 29 fOrstemann.] CENTRAL AMERICAN CALENDAR 519 days. In the practical calendar the mconvenient ^-nj- ^9 -uld .K>t well be used, but onlv the convenient divisor 28 (28X13-364). On pages 6 and 7 Brintmi also touches on this division of the year, on whlh, I am sorry to say, I must not permit^ myself -e to dweU. 1 am also forced to leave the last chapters of his boolv^ The sym- bolism of the dav names " and " General symbolic significance of the calendar'-, without any discussion whatever, especially as 1 am unable to follow the author in his lofty flights. (For the twenty day glyphs see g to aa, figure 112.) THE PLEIADES AMONG THE MAYAS E. FORSTEMAIS'N 521 THE PLEIADES AMONG THE MAYAS« By E. Forstemann In volume 64, number 22, of this journal, the editor published an article. Die Plejaden im My thus und in ihrer Beziehung zum Jah- resbeginn und Landbau, in which he sets forth the importance of this constellation in the life of widely different peoples. This article inspired me to write down some thoughts which have long been in my mind concerning the Maya tribes of Central America ; that is, con- cerning the acme of all American civilization. Peter Martyr, in his book entitled " De nuper sub D. Carolo repertis insulis ", Basilege, 1521, page 34, says of the tribes living in and about Mexico: Annum ab occasu eliaco vergiliarum incipiunt et mensibus claudunt lunaribus. This refers to a new year's day which comes in May, as is recorded of the Chiapanecs in Chiapas, differing widely from the Maya year as we know it, which begins on the 16th of July. It refers also to the fact that the year is not divided into the well- known 20-day periods, but into 13 actual lunar months, 28 days long [?], as i have already assumed in volume 65, number 1, of this journal. ' At present I shall express no opinion regarding the relative antiquity of the two calendars or regarding the spread of each among the different tribes or the probability that they may have existed side by side. Now. the period of about 40 days during which the Pleiades dis- appear must coincide for the greater part with the fifteenth of the 18 20-day periods of the Maya, the so-called Moan month, from the 22d of April to the 12th of May. This month is designated hieroglyph- ically by the head of an unknown, probably mythical, bird {h, figure 112). The signs c and d also occur, apparently having the same meaning, and of these the second may indicate a bird's wing, raised up, while the first perhaps shows the intersecting paths of two heavenly bodies. The editor has shown in the essay referred to above that with dif- ferent peoples the Pleiades are designated by a bird or even a flock of « Die Plejaden bei den Mayas, Globus, 1894, v. 65, p. 246. 524 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 birds. But with the Mayas these pictures display an attribute which furnishes a striking- argument in favor of a connection between the Moan head and the Pleiades. It is the numeral 13 (e, figure 112), and rarely any other, which is placed before the signs in question. We see it thus accompanying the Moan head in the Dresden manu- script, pages 8b, 16c, 18b, and the second sign in pages 7c, 10a, 12a, etc. I think this can only mean that there is no reference here to the 20-day period Moan, or to a deity belonging to it, but to the thirteenth (last) lunar month of the year. This view is supported by evidence from still another direction. Pax, as the sixteenth period, follows the 20-day period Moan. Others may have already observed that the sign of this period (/, figure 112) is the same as the sign for the year of 360 days. This sign and its unmistakable variants are common to both manuscripts and inscrip- tions. It has long been thought that they stood for the stone (tun) which was set up at the confines of the villages at the beginning of the new ,vear; for example, in the Dresden codex, pages 25 and 28. I see in the two broad, vertical stripes a reference to the columns of glyphs which ahvays cover the monuments of the Maya in pairs. Where two fishes (as happens sometimes on the stone monuments) or at least two fins (as is sometimes the case in the inscriptions and always in the manuscripts) are portrayed above this year sign, the sign means 20X360^7,200 days, as I pointed out some time ago in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1891, pages 141 to 153. According to Perez's dictionary, cay means " fish " in the Maya language. Thus a fish placed upon a stone might be read caytun. Can this be an approximate representation of the word " katun '\ which, it is well known, was used to designate periods of time (vary- ing probably at different times and in different parts of the country) ? Thus Pax proves to be that period which, after the reappearance of the Pleiades, or probably a little sooner, begins the year of 13 months, the previous one having ended with Moan. Therefore, at the time wdien the 20-day periods were introduced Moan and Pax, belonging to an earlier period of time, seem to have been retained to mark the former new year, while for others a few new signs at least had to be created. Proceeding from the present communication, further research must not lose sight of two important points: (1) The meaning of the signs of the 20-day periods and their probable reference to con- stellations; (2) the cases where certain glyphs lacking calendar dates are combined with preceding numbers. At all events tlie number of Maya glyphs whose meaning is becom- ing clear to us is increasing constantly. It is true, however, that we have not progressed as far with the inscriptions as with the manu- scripts. CENTRAL AMERICAN TONALAMATL E. FORSTEMANN 525 CENTRAL AMERICAN TONALAMATL'^ By E. Forstemann One of the most important devices common to both the Aztecs and the Mayas, thus doubtless a common possession of all Central America, IS unquestionably the tonalamatl, that 260-day period in which the 13 week days are repeated twenty times ; but these two peoples differ widely in the manner of representing this period of time. The Aztecs mechanically copied the pictures of the 20 days in the order of their succession in constant repetition, designating the position of every day in the 13-day week by a number, and finally adding the represen- tations of the deities dominating the days and the Aveeks. To cite only one example, it is thus we see it in the Tonalamatl of Aubin, on which Doctor Seler has contributed an unusually full report in the Compte rendu of the Berlin Americanist Congress of 1888. The Mayas, to whom I shall confine myself here, proceeded very differently. They first divided the tonalamatl into quarters, fifths, or tenths; that is, into periods of five, four, or two weeks each, or 65, 52, or 26 days. They represented the first day only in every divi- sion with its sign, and these stand off', one below the other, thus requiring for the whole tonalamatl only four, five, or ten signs. Above these a number sign indicates once for all the place in the week occupied by these days. Furtherm.ore, not the whole tonala- matl, but only the first of its divisions of 65, 52, or 26 days, was divided into a number of equal or unequal parts, which were separated from each other by days on which apparently some particular business was performed or particular feasts were celebrated. These events are explained by pictures and glyphs. We are justified in supposing that the other parts of the tonalamatl were regarded as divided in exactly the same way as the manuscripts show the first part to be divided. It might not seem necessary to express myself otherwise than briefly here, as I have already treated the subject in my Erlauterungen treating of the Dresden manuscript in 1886, and Mr Cyrus Thomas has discussed it still more thoroughly in his Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices in 1888, but the accumulation of material since that "^ Das mittelamerikanische Tonalamatl, Globus, 1895, v. 67, n. 18, pp. 283-285. 527 528 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 time and the rate at which knowledge of the subject has in the mean- time progressed emphatically demand a fresh exposition. The matter is the more important because a large part of the sur- face of the manuscripts is covered with tonal amatls of this kind. To be sure, in those sorry remains which we call Codex Peresianus I find in one place only (page 17) a tonalamatl, of five parts, which seems to begin with the day VII 7. The Dresden codex, however, abounds in such examples, since it contains in its first part (not in the second, which is more astronomic) not fewer than about 70 of these tonal- amatls. Their number can not be determined with perfect accu- racy on account of the destruction of certain passages, the careless- ness of the scribe, and other causes of uncertainty. Codex Troano- Cortesianus, however, is richest in tonalamatls; all its parts indeed abound in them. It presents not fewer than about 223 examples. In order that this matter may not be too difficult for the compre- hension of the reader, I will here give examples, taken from Codex Troano-Cortesianus, of the three kinds mentioned above : 1. Codex Cortesianus, pages 10b to lib, tonalamatl of four parts: XIII 9 IX 9 V 10 II 6 VIII 2 X 10 VII 5 XII 7 VI 7 XIII 19 4 9 14 2. Cortesian codex, page 17a, tonalamatl of five parts : I 11 XTI 12 XI 8 VI 13 VI 8 I 17 9 1 13 5 3. Troano codex, page 33b, tonalamatl of ten parts : IV 11 II 6 VIII 3 XI 6 IV 8 18 14 4 20 10 6 16 12 2 The Roman numeral in the left-hand upper corner indicates the week day with which the tonalamatl begins ; the Eoman numerals at the right of it indicate the week days with wdiich the different parts begin; the last week day (XIII, I, IV) must always be like the first, as the number of days is always divisible by 13 without remainder. The length of the different periods is shown by the Arabic numerals, and the sum of these nnist therefore be 65, 52, and 26. The vertical roAV of numbers on the left gives the so-called month days, reckoned from the day Kan. "V\^ioever counts from Imix must set down 1, 2, and 3, instead of 18, 19, and 20, respectively, and increase the other numbers by 3. These days, in the three examples, are actually sepa- I'ORSTEMANN.] CENTRAL AMERICAlSr TONALAMATL 529 rated by 5, 12, and 6, but relatively by 65, 52, and 26, since the week day indicated above them in always included. However, I have explained this somewhat at length in my Erlauterungen. The three kinds mentioned include the entire number of tonala- matls contained in the manuscripts, with the exception of a few anomalous examples, and it is quite worth while to learn in what pro- portion the three kinds occur in the two manuscripts. Dresden Troano-Cortesianus Tonalamatl of four parts 13 44 Tonalamatl of five parts 43 132 Tonalamatl of ten parts 8 40 63 216 Both manuscripts, otherwise differing so greatly from one another, agree in this, that the division is by far the most frequent into peri- ods of 52 days, into those of 65 days less so, and into those of 26 days least frequent of all. Indeed, the ratio of the tonalamatls of five parts to the entire number is surprisingly alike in both manuscripts : m the Dresden codex, 1 to 1.5 ; in Codex Troano-Cortesianus, 1 to 1.6. It is more a matter of chance with the other two kinds, owing to the smallness of the numbers; nevertheless the figures expressing the ratio of the periods of four parts do not ditl'er very greatly : in the Dresden codex, 1 : 5.2 ; in Codex Troano-Cortesianus, 1 : 4.9. Who will be the one to discover the reason for this wonderful similarity ? But there are still other remarkable coincidences observed. While we have just seen that the division of only the first quarter, fifth, or tenth of the tonalamatl is carried out in detail, and it is left to the reader to apply this arrangement to the other sections, in isolated cases a tonalamatl of four parts (and only such a one) shows uniform treatment throughout. The Dresden codex offers three examples of this : 1. On each of the four pages 31b to 34b 46 days are separated into periods of 9, 9, 9, 2, 4, 9, and 4 days, and 19 days are designated as the distance of each one of these groups from the next; thus, 260=4 (19-f46). 2. On pages 33c to 39c the division into 9, 11, 20, 10, and 15=65 days occurs four times in succession with great uniformity of detail; thus, 260=4 (9+11-f 20+10+15). 3. On pages 42c to 45c (the end of the first division) four repeti- tions of 17+6X8=65 days give rise in each case to a special row of glyphs and a special representation; thus, 260=4 (17+6X8)- I can quote two examples from Codex Troano-Cortesianus, which correspond perfectly : 1. In Codex Cortesianus, pages 13b to 18b, four horizontal rows, each of 52 days, follow each other in close succession, the last being 7238— No. 28—05 34 530 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 51 days distant from the first; from the end of each row to the beginning of the following one, therefore from the end of the last to the beginning of the first as Avell, there are 14 days ; thus, 260=4 (51+14). 2. In the Troano codex, pages 33c to 32c, is another example. Four days standing in a vertical row are repeated four times, with a dis- tance of 20 days between each row ; that is, 3X20r--:60. From the last day of every column to the first of the next, therefore from the end of the last to the beginning of the first, there are 5 days; thus, 4X5 = 20. Consequently, 260=4 (5+3X20). We should try to approach the secrets which lie concealed here from every side. Unfortunately, we have not yet passed the tentative stage. There is lack of workers in this comparatively new field, in which scarcely a dozen men are seriously laboring, and in which conse- quently each individual may hope for a comparatively rich harvest. If we next inquire whether it is the subject of the particular part of the manuscript which influenced the choice of one or the other of the three kinds of tonalamatls, the answer is entirely in the negative. Thus all three kinds occur indiscriminately in the portion of the Dresden codex pertaining to women (pages 13 to 23). They appear in the same w^ay in the other manuscript, in the section relating to household economy and agriculture (Codex Cortesianus, page 19; Troano codex, page 24*), in that relating to bee culture (Troano codex, pages 9* to 1*), and, finally, in that relating to the chase (Troano codex, pages 19 to 8), although it is a striking fact that in this latter passage in one instance (Troano codex, pages 12b to 9c) six of the unusual tonalamatls of ten parts follow each other in close succession. If the question is put whether Ave have gained clearer view^s from the division of these periods of 65, 52, and 26 days, Ave must deny this also ; still Ave must, notAvithstanding this, continue to study them, for they may yet perhaps lead to ncAv conclusions. It is note- Avorthy that there are in the Dresden codex 13 and in Codex Troano- Cortesianus at least 44 cases (in both instances from a sixth to a fifth of the entire number) in Avhich the single parts consist oiily of periods of 13 or of 26 or of 39 days, that is, of undiAaded Aveeks. There are some very similar cases in Codex Troano-Cortesianus (not found in the Dresden codex) in Avhich each Aveek is divided into Iavo unequal parts. Thus the 26 in the Troano codex, pages 9*c to 8*c, is divided into 2 (7+6), the 52 in Codex Cortesianus, page 19a, into 4 (T+6), and page 30a into 4 (8+5), the 65 in the Troano codex, page 33*b, into 5 (8+5), and vice versa, page 3*b, into 5 (5+8). The period of tAVO weeks is cA^en divided in Codex Cortesianus, page 28b, into 18+8, in order to form a period of 52 days. FOESTEMANN.] CENTRAL AMERICAN TONALAMATL 531 Contrariwise, 26, 52, and 65 are never divided, respectively, into 18 sections of 2, 4, and 5 days ; that has nnqiiestionably been avoided. Thus it is doubtless intentional, not accidental, that these three periods are often divided into the greatest number of equal parts, to which one or tw^o more unequal parts are added or between which they are inserted in order to complete the sum. I here give the cases which have come to ni}^ knowledge : 1. 26=4X4+10 (Troauo codex, page 25*e) =4x5+6 (Troano codex, page 28*c) =3X7+5 (Dresden codex, page 21b, also Troano codex, page 23*d). 2. 52=4X6+28 (Troano codex, page 29*a) =8X6+4 (Troano codex, page 15*c) =5x8+7+5 (Troano codex, page 24*d) =5x9+7 (Dresden codex, page 8c, and Troano codex, page 31*c) =4x10+3+9 (Dresden codex, page 40c) =4x10+12 (Troano codex, page 8c) =3x11+10+9 (Dresden codex, page 19c) =4x11+8 (Troano codex, page 31b) =4+6x8 (Troano codex, page 23*b). 3. 65=6x10+5 (Troano codex, page 35a) =5x12+5 (Dresden codex, page 23b) =3x16+17 (Cortesian codex, page 20d). The varieties of intentional regularity are entirely exhausted by these examples, and I should w^aste space if I were to cite more. I will only add one from tlie Dresden codex, pages 4a to 10a, where the period of 52 clays is divided into not fewer than 20 parts of from 1 to 4 daA^s each without any intelligible order. All these 20 parts have a common superscription, consisting of two glyphs. And, besides, each part has belonging to it the picture of a god and a glyph closely connected with the latter. I have given a thorough study to this one tonalamatl and have really found much that is curious, which, how- ever, is not yet read}^ for publication. Let us now^ attempt to approach these tonalamatls from a third side, proceeding from the initial days. If the arrangement here were left to chance, Ave should, on an average, find each of the so-called month days in one-twentieth, and each of the week daj^s in one- thirteenth of all the cases. But this does not accord with the actual facts in two points in which the two manuscripts agree with each other in a very remarkable manner. (1) Among the month days both give decided prominence to the seventeenth day (Ahau, " lord "), which Avas by far the most exalted day, and the one most in use among the Mayas and also the beginning of their entire computation of time. Ahau stands 14 times at the beginning of the tonalamatl in the Dresden codex and 59 times in Codex Troano-Cortesianus, thus in betAveen a fourth and a fifth in- stead of in a tAventieth of all the cases. (2) Among the Aveek days, the first and the last, I and XIII, were greatly preferred. They appear in the Dresden codex 9 and 11 times; in Codex Troano-Cortesianus 27 and 25 times, ]'espectively, 532 BUREAU OF AMERICA]:^ ETHNOLOGY [boll. 28 amounting, therefore, in the former to about one-third and in the latter to about one-fourth of all the cases, instead of only two- thirteenths. I can further add that the day IV 17 in Codex Troano- Cortesianus stands at the beginning of the tonalamatl about 24 times. Its importance is not so plainly shown in the Dresden codex on account of the smallness of the number (I know only of two cases) ; IV 17, however, is the day from which computation of time begins. Codex Troano-Cortesianus (41 instances) gives to IV even greater prominence than to I or XIII. Apart from these points, the week days and month days in both manuscripts are purely the result of chance and caprice. This being so, we arrive first at two negative results : (1) The tonalamatls of the Maya manuscripts do not immediately follow one another like months and years; else they would all have to begin with the same day, which would always recur after 260 days. (2) Neither can they have a fixed place in the year; else their first days, even on tlie supposition that intercalary days were inserted after certain periods, would easily be seen to follow a definite rule. The 3^ear, or at least the exact date in the year, would also occasion- ally be stated, but as yet I find no traces of this. I haA^e a special reason for speaking of this second point, since the distinguished and untiring worker in the field of Aztec research, Mrs Zelia Nuttall, at the Americanist Congress held last year at Stock- holm, presented her treatise On the Ancient Mexican Calendar Sys- tem, in Avhich with great ingenuity she advances the view that with the Aztecs the tonalamatl as a special festal season occupied the mid- dle of every year of 364 days, which was preceded and followed by four Aveeks. I do not deny that the Mayas had such a festal season, but the tonalamatls of the manuscripts surely have nothing whatever to do Avith it. After these negations let us aslv Avhat these tonalamatls really are. I can only arriA^e at the following hypothesis, which may A^ery soon be superseded by a better one: The tonalamatls of the manuscript are kinds of horoscopes AAdiich were cast by the priests for the purpose of foretelling the future Ha^cs of persons, classes, or tribes, as AA^ell as future political events or natural phenomena. They may haA^e been so emploA^ed because they approximate periods of pregnancA^ Natu- rally, they had constant reference to the mythologic personages, but had no connection AvhatcA^er Avith the established calendar. This hypothesis also explains the fact that such horoscopes Avere occasionally cast, not for only 260 clays, but for multiples of this period. I believe I have found five cases of this in the Dresden codex. I give them here in a table shoAving in the first cohnnn the place in the manuscript, in the second the distance of the month FOESTEMANN.] CENTRAL AMERICAN TONALAMATL 538 days from each other, in the third the same with reference to the week days, and in tlie fourth the entire resulting period : Pages 22a to 23a 19 39 oQx 39=3X260 Pages 30c to 33c 17 117 20X117=9X260 Page 32a 11 91 20X 91=7X260 Pages 38b to 41b 4 104 5X104=2X260 Page 44b 18 78 20X 78=6X260 In addition, there is the somewhat ditferently arranged passage, pages 32a to 39a, where 16X13=208 days are given, which point to 10X208=8X260. I have already discussed three of these six pas- sages in my Erlauterungen, pages 26 to 27. I am glad to be able to add to this table two parallel cases from Codex Troano-Cortesianus : Codex Cortesianus, page 10a 4 104 5X104=2X260 Troano codex, pages 31c to 30c 19 39 20X 39=3X260 The reason for these multiple tonalamatls is obvious: 260 is not divisible without remainder by 39, 78, 91, 104, and 117, as it is by the numbers mentioned above, 26, 52, and 65. In addition to the main object of this article, I desire to point out for the first time that the two highest intellectual productions of the A¥estern Hemisphere, so far as we now know, the Dresden and the Madrid manuscripts, with all their points of difference, show very surprising similarities, which prove them to be much more nearly related than has been hitherto supposed. It is unnecessary to discuss here the tonalamatl in Codex Cortesianus, pages 31 to 39, where it is completely written out with all the 260 days. RECENT MAYA INVESTIGATIONS ¥1. FORSTEMANlSr 535 EECENT MAYA INVESTIGATIONS" By E. FORSTEMANN A bibliography of a science is the boundary mark in its history, and such a boundary mark has now been set for Maya investigation. The Centralblatt fiir Bibliothekswesen, in the last number for 1895, contains an article by my former colleague, Prof K. Haebler, Die Maya Literatur und der Maya Apparat zu Dresden. What I wrote on the same subject, in an article contributed in 1885 to the same journal, has here been immensely expanded in accordance with the surprising activity evinced in this branch of science in recent years. No one has greater cause to rejoice than I that the Dresden Library, since my retirement from it, continues to take an interest in the work of this department, as becomes the custodian of the most important manuscript in Maya literature. From 400 to 500 books, treatises, and notices, some from quite obscure American journals, have been recorded there by Doctor Haebler, with extraordinary labor and the greatest care. Thus this literature has been rescued from the deplor- ably scattered condition which characterized it, owing to the fact that the book market supports no special journal for Maya literature, nor even one for Central American research in general. It is a matter of course that absolute completeness and perfect accuracy are unattainable, and for this reason I am glad to be able to announce that Mr Marshall H. Savillc, of New York, whom we have recog- nized as an earnest worker in this field since 1892, is just now occu- pied with a Maya bibliography, which we shall rejoice to see placed side by side with the German one, and which will certainly add much that is new to the material already in our possession. We, too, have new and important matter to record, which has appeared since the German bibliographer issued his treatise. The fourth volume of the Veroffentlichungen aus dem Koniglichen Museum fiir Volkerkunde, issued in 1895, contains two valuable treatises in close succession, namely, on pages 13 to 20, "Altindianische Ansiedelungen in Guatemala ", by Karl Sapper, and on pages 21 to 53, " Neue Mayaforschungen, Globus, v. 70, n. 3, 1896. 53Y 538 BUREAU OF AMEEICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [edll. 28 "Altertiimer aiis Guatemala ", by Eduard Seler. The names of these two German investigators, Sapper and Seler, who are both entitled to a hearing by virtue of long or frequent sojourns in the country of which they write, and w^ho have given us most valuable results from their serious researches, are guarantees that the two papers contain welcome information. We may undoubtedly expect further com- munications in this particular field from Mr Seler in the near future, for on February 9, 1896, he writes from Tonala, in Mexico, to the Geographical Society in Berlin that he is on the point of going to Guatemala. Furthermore, the long-delayed appearance of the fifth part, text as well as illustrations, of the "Archaeology " of A. P. Maudslay. which, oddly enough, forms a part of the Biologia Centrali- Ameri- cana, or Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America, is very gratifying. Maudslay confines himself in the text, as he has done before, chiefly to the story of his investigations and the description of the structures Avhich have been found. Mythology and the study of inscriptions are not so much in his province, and yet both departments can derive great benefit from the admirable illustrations. AVhile the earlier parts were chiefly concerned with Copan and Quirigua, that is, with the region inland from the Gulf of Flonduras, this fifth part carries us some 6° farther north and treats of the extensive ruins of Chichen- Itza, which have not been described for nearly two decades, and only very meagerly before that time. From my point of view it is espe- cially important and gratifying that these ruins also show a consid- erable number of inscriptions which, as a rule, rarely occur north of 18° north latitude, whereas Chichen-Itza lies 2|° farther north. I will here mention what seems to me a very interesting as well as important point. Wliile the Aztecs indicate the number 5 only by five small discon- nected circles, the Maya represent it by a straight line; thus the latter obtain two number signs, the point or circle and the line. In this way only is it possible for them to represent large numbers wdth so much ease, which the Aztecs could never succeed in doing with their circles and their signs for 20, 400, and 8,000. I had hitherto been familiar with this line for 5 only in the Maya manuscripts, in all of which it is very common, also in the inscriptions of the ruins and vessels of Palenque, Coban, Quirigua, and Copan, and finally in the wooden tablets of Tikal, but not in anything coming from Uxmal or Labna in the north of Yucatan. Hence, all the more eagerly I hailed the pres- ence of this sign in Chichen-Itza, where it occurs very often. The familiar Ben-Ik sign occurring often in manuscripts and inscriptions, for which I proposed an interpretation in the Globus, lORSTEMANN.] RECENT MAYA INVESTIGATIONS 539 volume 65, number 20, is also frequently met with here. It even occurs in connection with ahau, with which it is otherwise rarely seen. We likewise see here the frecjuent glyphs kan, ahau, imix, kin, and others, in their usual and easily recognizable form. The frequently occurring day glyph Manik is worthy of note here. According to Mr Seler it represents a hand grasping upward, which is distinctly corroborated by the inscriptions of Chichen-ltza, for they reproduce tlie liand very clearly, even with the thumb nail and that of the forefinger (it is to be hoped that the illustrations do not give more than the originals). I now also understand the Maya sign for the west, which I no longer take for the sign of the east, as I did in 1886. Manik with kin represented below it shows how the sun has descended from above. Reversed, kin with Ahau above, it means the east, the beginning of the dominant sun. The south is similarly symbolized by the sign yax (" strength ") with the scales above it, while the north is represented by the polar, star, god C. But what can be meant where the day Manik on the upper part of plate xii is com- bined three times with an 8? Does it signify an eighth day of the week? A similar question arises from the fact that we see the num- ber 11 combined with the sign which indicates either the day Cauac or one of the three months Yax, Zac, and Ceh, for the four cases are all characterized by the symbol resembling a bunch of grapes (honey?). The combination of 11 (Zac is the ele\'^enth month) with this glyph appears on the two plates xii and xix. Curiously enough the sign Ahau with Ben-Ik above it follows it in both cases. Unfortunately, in Chichen-ltza the stelae seem to be as completely lacking as Maudslay has reported them numerous in Copan and Qui- rigua; for that reason the interesting exact dates which are expressed by means of large numbers are also wanting here. I have likewise been unable to find an example of the usual calendar dates, which consist of two numbers and two glyphs, and which are found not only in the manuscripts, but are very numerous elsewhere; for example, on the Cross of Palenque. With this we leave the work of Maudslay, with the hope that he may vigorously prosecute his researches, and also that his work maj come into more extended use than has hitherto been the case. I must now mention the Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fiir Anthropologie, of the regular session of December 21, 1895. Here my friend Doctor Schellhas, as he has done before more than once, pre- sents three essays by our mutual friend Dieseldorff at Coban (Guate- mala) : (1) A Relief from Chipolem, (2) Cukulcan, and (3) The Vase of Chama. The three essays all show how successfully Mr Diesel- dorff continues to conduct his researches and how satisfactorily the material at his command has increased (as well as the scientific col- 540 BUKEAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 lections). I shall pass over the difficult and much discussed Cukulcan question, which has been touched upon in both the first and third essays, for I do not like to venture upon mythologic ground. In reference to the Vase of Chama, both Seler and Dieseldorll' have taken exceptions to my attempted explanation of it, and in this they may not be wholly wrong. But it is never safe to attack certain details, if other details which, in connection with the former, both pictorially and in writing, tend to establish the general fundamental idea of the representation are passed over in silence. While writing this I have received from Mr Philipp J. J. Valen- tini, of New York, the second part of his "Analysis of the Pictorial Text Inscribed on Two Palenque Tablets ", reprinted from the Pro- ceedings of the xA-merican Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass., 1896. The author, whom since 1878 we have esteemed as an earnest investigator in this field, continues to discuss the two sides of the inscription on the so-called .cross monument. He offers many obser- vations, which certainly contain much of lasting worth, from the store of knowledge gathered chiefly during his long stay in the states of Central America. But it is all the more to be regretted that, con- trary to the method prevailing on almost all Maya monuments, he persists in reading every column separately from top to bottom, instead of always taking two columns together. Consequently, his conception of many of the details, as well as of the whole, is incorrect. It is necessary to become cognizant of the whole framework of this inscription, which consists of a number of calendar dates, with their intervals stated in numbers. Only then will it be possible to recog- nize more clearly the remaining signs, by means of which the events occurring in the intervals must be determined. In the articles mentioned thus far the authors express themselves variousl}^ on the question actually underlying all these investigations, namely, the relation to each other of the two civilizations that are here under consideration, the Aztec (Nahua) on the one side, and the Maya on the other. In his article Altertiimer aus Guatemala Doctor Seler adopts the theory of a movement of the Maya southward (page 24), while (page 46) he speaks of a southward migration of the Nahuas (as far as Nicaragua) from Tabasco, and even suggests that they may have migrated to Yucatan. Mr Dieseldorff (page 774), on the contrary, holds the theory that Maya art was developed independ- ently, and that the connecting link between the two civilizations indi- cates an exchange of cultural influences between them in which the Maya race was the giver and the Nahua was the receiver. He is of the opinion that the unfortunate downfall of the Maya power one or two centuries before the Conquista was directly caused by the Nahuas. On page 776 he advances the idea that the Nahua received their deity Quetzalcoatl, from the Toltecs, and that the Toltecs were a Maya FOESTEMANN.] RECENT MAYA INVESTIGATIONS 541 tribe. Finally, Mr Valentini expresses the opinion that the Mayas were the aboriginal race and the Aztecs " mere parasites ", Now that these expressions of opinion and countless earlier discus- sions on the same subject lie before us, it is time that for once a con- sistent hypothesis should be framed regarding the whole matter, on the principle of the old adage that even a faulty hypothesis is better than none at all, and that all progress must have a point from which it advances. In this case, however, such an hypothesis must seek to offer an explanation for the following facts : 1. The similarity and at the pame time the difference of the two civilizations. 2. The antiquity and mystery of the vanished Toltec race. 3. The entire separation of the Huastecs in 22° north latitude (between Tampico and San Louis Potosi) from all other Maya tribes and their distinguishing characteristics. 4. The equally complete separation from the other Aztec tribes of the Pipiles (in southeastern Guatemala), and of those Aztecs who had pushed forward as far as Nicaragua. 5. The curious fact that almost no Aztec place names appear in Yucatan, while they are met with by hundreds in Chiapas, Guate- mala, and Honduras as far as Nicaragua, leaving almost no traces of Maya names on the maps. On the other hand, little care need be taken to make the hypothesis agree with the ancient native accounts of wars and migrations. If it does, then such accounts will always be welcome in spite of their legendary nature. In presenting my hypothesis as a connected chain of opinions, I ask those who attack any one of these opinions, and thus propose to destroy a link of this chain, to take care at the same time to replace it by another and a stronger link. I assume that in the most ancient period of Central American his- tory with which we are acquainted the country from about 23° to 10° of north latitude was chiefly inhabited by different tribes of the Maya race. Indeed, one can assume that, beyond the mainland, this race also occupied the island of Cuba, which is still archeologically unknown. Such a theory is favored by certain facts connected with the first expedition of Cortes (see, for example, Peter Martyr, pages 10 and 11 of the edition of 1521). \Vliile this race was still at quite a low stage of civilization the Aztecs advanced out of the north from at least 26° north latitude. Their advance took place on the Pacific, not on the Atlantic, side (Brinton, American Race, page 128), and this explains the fact that the Huastecs remained almost undisturbed in the east. Maya civilization soon influenced the Aztecs very per- ceptibly and it was natural at first that they should call the Mayas 542 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Toltec after one of their northern branches, the inhabitants of the region about Tula, in the north of Mexico. That, when connection between the Aztec and Maya became clearer, the Toltecs passed more and more out of view and at last became legendary reminds one of the Allemands, who are not found in Germany at all at the present day, or of the Graeci in Greece, etc. Incidentally, I am reminded of the place Toltecapan, east of Mexico and north of Tlaxcala. The Aztecs adopted as their own many things which they learned from the Mayas, especially their deities, whose names they simply translated. The translation of Cukulcan into Quetzalcoatl is a very typical case, for kuk (in the Pocomchi dialect) and quetzal des- ignate the bird Pharomacrus mocinno or Trogon resplendens, and can and coatl mean the snake. That the Mayas had already devel- oped their writing in this locality is inconceivable. This first took place in the center of their territory, in the region of Guatemala. The Aztecs first came in contact with the higher civilization developed here after a migration into the Mixtec and Zapotec territories had taken place, which was not very long before the arrival of the Span- iards, so that they did not have time here to establish their supremacy and to absorb the Mayas, but, on the contrary, were absorbed by them. The Pipiles on the outposts on Lake Nicaragua, which had advanced farthest and passed beyond the principal territory of the Mayas, alone preserved their individuality. Now, whence come the hundreds of Aztec names in the territories between Chiapas and Nicaragua? In this connection we must note that these names are confined almost entirely to the important settlements, Avhile the unimportant places bear designations belong- ing to the language of the Indians settled there. The Aztec names of the more important places, moreover, are really used only officially and hence are on the maps. That part of the population which keeps aloof from the Spanish-speaking part uses only the names derived from the native language. Aztecs as well as Mayas use and always preferred to use place names which are verbally compre- hensible to them, and on this account they employ for the name which they can not understand a native expression, a translation, or some other substitute. Hence in this case Sapper concludes, Globus, volume 66, pages 95 and 96, that these Aztec names were mostly given to the places by the Spaniards, who, as we know, were familiar with Aztec, and by their Mexican auxiliary troops, but that this tendency had ceased by 1535. For this reason, according to him, Aztec names are not found in Yucatan, Avhich was not conquered from Mexico. I confess that at first I was not in sympathy with this view, but I can not replace it by a more acceptable one. The higher Maya civilization which grew up around Guatemala had not yet fully spread over Yucatan when its further development rOKSTBMANN.] RECENT MAYA INVESTIGATIONS 543 was checked in the south by the Spaniards and by the Mexican influ- ence which came with them. It probably had not histed very long, if my opinion, expressed in Zur Entzifferung der Mayahandschriften, IV, page 9, that the stela? of Copan do not date further back than the fifteenth century is found to be correct. There may occasionally be an isolated Aztec name that strayed into northern Yucatan ; I am reminded of Mayapan, lying southeast from Merida, for names ending in pan are Aztec. It remains to be proved whether the narratives of the old native chroniclers, who attach special importance to this Mayapan, throw any further light on that matter. I expect, however, the most light in reference to Yucatan from the investigations which Teobert Maler is carrying out on a gigantic scale, of which the Globus, volume 68, pages 245 to 259 and 277 to 292, gives such brilliant evidences. It is to be hoped that the results of these investigations will soon appear as a whole.*^ After concluding this article I received the eighth publication of the Field Columbian Museum of Chicago, which forms the first number of the anthropological series. It has the special title Archaeological Studies Among the Ancient Cities of Mexico, by William H. Holmes, part 1 (Monuments of Yucatan), Chicago, 1895. The author here treats of the first part of a three months' journey, from December, 1894, to February, 1895, to Yucatan, Chia- pas, and Oaxaca, and describes first what he saw of Maya ruins in the little explored region of northeastern Yucatan, from Cape Ca- toche to Tulum, and in the islands off that coast, Cozumel, Mugeres, etc. ; then follows an account of a brief visit to Uxmal, Izamal, and Chichen-Itza. The rest of the journey (Palenque, Oaxaca) is re- served for a later number. The whole is a very welcome report on the extant buildings, together Avith a very clear survey of Maya architecture in general, which verifies and supplements much that is already known. I wish especially to mention the large number of illustrations accompanying it, among which I call particular atten- tion to the plans of the site of Uxmal and Chichen-Itza and a general view of the ruins, which for the first time give us a really clear com- prehension of these magnificent ruined piles. "They buve beeu piiblislied as a Memoir of the Peabody Museiim, vol. II, n. 1', C. T. THE INSCRIPTION ON THE CROSS OF PALENQUE E. FORSTElNlAISriSr 545 7238— No. 28—05 35 THE INSCRIPTION ON THE CROSS OF PALENQUE" By E. Forstemann It is high time for science to occupy itself with the meaning of the most famous inscription of ancient America, even though it will be a long time before a complete decipherment of this monument can be achieved. The ruins of Palenque have been known since the middle of the last century, and as early as 1787 they were investigated and partly sketched by Antonio del Eio. The inscription on the Cross, in par- ticular, early aroused the attention of the amateur and the scientist. Since the beginning of om^ century it has been mentioned frequently, discussed superficially, and copied many times. Especially through the admirable drawing in J. L. Stephens's Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, this monument has become widely known since 1841. But the question as to the real meaning of this tablet (plate xli) has been approached with great hesitation, although it was clear at the first glance that the middle part represented a great sacrificial scene ; the glyphs, about 250 in number on both sides of it, however, remained dumb. I can call attention to but three works in which the first attempts have been made to treat the subject in a strictly scientific spirit. I refer to the three following treatises : 1. Charles Rau, The Palenque Tablet in the United States National Museum. Washington, 1879. ( Smithsonian Contributions to Knowl- edge, volume 22, Washington, 1880.) This work is of decided merit in the history it gives of the inscription, as Avell as in the designa- tion, first introduced by Eau,, of the vertical and horizontal lines by letters and numbers, which designation I have likewise adopted m the following. Ran also examines some glyphs of this tablet, but is successful only in the case of a few almost self-explanatory day signs. Concerning the main question, the meaning, he comes pretty near to Die Kreuzinschrift von Palenque, Globus, v. 72, n. 3, July 17, 1897. 541 548' BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 the truth in his remark on page 63: "I venture to suggest that the_ inscription constitutes a chronologic record of some kind ". 2. Cyrus Thomas, A Study of the Manuscript Troano. Wash- ington!^ 1882. This contains the special chapter, pages 198 to 208: Inscriptions on the Palenque Tablet. The author here settles, beyond dispute, the order in which the inscription is to be read (two columns at a time). With his accustomed carefulness he examines one series of characters and, although he does not accomplish his purpose, he very nearly succeeds in reading correctly the various periods occur- ring here. 3. Philipp J. J. Valentini, Analysis of the Pictorial Text Inscribed on Two Palenque Tablets; parts 1 and 2. Worcester, Mass., 1895- 1896. Valentini lays stress on the decided ritual character of the inscription; at the beginning of the first column he finds the por- traits of the founders of the theocracy of the country, and farther on the scattered pictures of later priests, with an account of their time and the manner of their ritual activity. He especially directs his attention to the discussion of the separate day signs and the relation between the monumental characters of the inscription and the cursive characters of the manuscripts, in the course of which he makes a number of suggestive observations. The author unfor- tunately adheres to the idea of reading each column separately, and so deprives himself of the possibility of finding the right way to interpret the connection. In what follows I shall abstain from all controversy with my predecessors and leave my opinions to vindicate themselves. . Long after the following had been written, I received a treatise by Lewis W. Gunckel printed in the American Anthropologist for May,, 1897: The Direction in which Mayan Inscriptions Should be Read. This memoir treats chiefly of the inscription of the Cross, but does not touch upon its meaning, merely discussing the succession of the characters, a point which I had long since settled in my own mmd and which Mr Gunckel also recognizes. We see, therefore, that little progress has been made hitherto toward comprehending the meaning of the Cross inscription. But we are fortmiately enabled by the successful interpretation of the Maya numeral system and the discovery of the meaning of several glyphs to make a considerable advance in this direction. "^ This progress results chiefly, however, from the observation that the inscriptions of the Maya region, excepting some short inscriptions on buildings and altars, are of two dilf erent kinds : (1) The^so-called stelae, which, as a rule, display glyphs in pairs of vertical rows, beginning at the top with a large number lying between one and one ancl a half millions, which, reckoned from the starting BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY PAINTED CLAY IMAGE OF THE GOD MAGUIL XC SELER COLLECTION, ROYA BULLETIN 28, PLATE XLIl rL (FIVE FLOWER), FROM TEOTITLAN DEL CAMINO 3EUM OF ETHNOLOGY, BERLIN FORSTEMANN.] INSCKIPTION ON THE CEOSS OF PALENQUE 549 point of Maj^a chronology, denotes the present day or at least a day that is near the present. (2) The broader inscriptions, the framework of which consists of calendar dates, between which large numbers are interspersed that state the interval between each two dates. Between these dates and intervals there are some other glyphs, for the most part still wholly unexplained. The Cross inscription belongs to this second class. Leaving aside the center of this tablet as not pertinent to my pres- ent task, I will now give here the six columns of glyphs on each side, containing seventeen glyphs each, to be seen on the left and right of the central sacrificial scene (plate xliii). Thus we see here 201 glyphs. There would be 17X12=204 were not the first four places above on the left occupied by a single char- acter, the superscription, such as is customary in inscriptions of both kinds (with some variants). In this case this superscription con- sists of three parts, aside from the ornaments added at the top and bottom. The character for the year of 360 days occupies the chief place ; on the right and left of it are added the fins, by which the year is increased twentyf old, that is, to 7,200 days ; above it we see a char- acter never yet discussed, to which we must ascribe the meaning of 20X7,200=144,000 days, as will be shown farther on. This superscription, compounded of the three largest time periods in use, accordingly means something like " chronologic guidfe '' or " historic table ". The larger part of the two columns A and B under this superscrip- tion seems like an introduction or a guide to the remainder. It sets forth certain glyphs of special importance, necessary for the com- prehension of the rest. Signs B 4 and B 5 are important to u? as having been interpreted beyond question, for I may now assu]ne that their meaning, 7,200 and 360 days, is fully recognized. Then follows, almost of necessity, B 3=144,000 days, as the sign of a simi- lar form in the superscription has led us to conjecture, and as we see it repeated in C 5, F 6, U 2, and V 12. I am equally certain that I see in B.6 the sign for 20 days, although it has no resemblance to the corresponding signs in the manuscripts. This is confirmed by no fewer than sixteen succeeding passages in this inscription. The character employed here appears to be a day sign, Chuen, and such it has already been considered by others. As this day lies in the middle of a 20-day period beginning with Imix, it may, perhaps, denote the whole period. Now, the four characters B 3 to B 6 are each connected with a picture, A 3 to A 6. These can hardly be pictures of anything but gods, who preside over such periods, although up to this point we have known nothing of these deities. In fact, in F 10 instead of the 550 BUREAU OF AMERICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 sign for 360 we notice the corresponding picture, just as the same sub- stttution occurs on other monuments; for instance, on the inscrip- tions in Stephens, English edition, D Y and H 11 in the beginning of volume 2, the same on page 342, and the first sign on page 7. Now, B T is quite logically the sign kin, the single day. In A 7 there is no longer a picture belonging to it, but a hand, probably because the single days were simply counted on the fingers. I will not attempt to explain the figure drawn above the hand. In D 4 Ave see the same character reversed, the hand on top, the rest below. In B 8 follows Ahau, the most important of the days, and in A 8 the god D (Izamna) belonging to it. This deity is recognized by the open mouth and the solitary tooth, visible in some copies of this pas- sage. Concerning A 9 and B 9 I hardly venture a conjecture. Are these signs meant to express the day 20 ( Akbal) and the god B (Cukulcan) ? Thus far the characters in A are joined to those in B with no inter- vening space. From here on each of the two signs in the adjacent col- umns is independently drawn. In B 10 we notice the numeral 5. It seems as if A 10 and B 10 might denote the 5 unlucky days at the end of the year. A 11 I do not know how to explain ; it must refer to B 11. The latter, however, is composed of the numeral 2, a face looking toward the left, and a hand pointing to the right. It might be considered as suggesting the change from the old year to the new, the last day of the old and the first day of the new year, which two days are the principal subject of representation in pages, 25 to 28 of the Dresden codex. A 12 and B 12 are wholly obscure to me. In A 13 we see a crescent and under it the numeral 9. Nine lunar revolutions formed a sacred period, especially as this length of time nearly corresponded with the tonalamatl. The moon sign in B 13 must be closely related to A 13. , In regard to the four characters, A 14 to B 15, 1 am unable to decide whether they are to be regarded as the end of this introduction or as the preliminaries of the real subject-matter of the inscription. • With A 16 begins the regular alternation of dates and periods, which continues to the end of this tablet. The points of time, or calendar dates, as I proved long ago, have the formula : I 17 ; 18, I7th month. This formula designates a certain specified day recurring after a period of 52 years, that is, the first day of the 13-day week when it is the seventeenth of the 20-day period and the eighteenth of the sev- enteenth so-called month. The time periods, on the other hand, have as the first sign that tor the 20-day period, which we have already found in B 6. There is a BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY A. B. C. D. E. F. S. BULLETIN 28 PLATE XLII U. V. W. X. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 INSCRIPTION ON THE TABLET OF THE CROSS-PALENQUE r5KSTEMANN.] INSCRIPTION ON THE CROSS OF PALENQUE 551 number both above and before it. The first states how many such periods are meant; the second, how many additional single days. Then follow the signs for 360, 7,200, and occasionally also for 144,000 days, provided with numbers which indicate how many such periods there are. In accordance with this the following is the actual framework of the inscription: Date Interval 1 .A16B16 D1C2 2 D3C4 D5C6 3 . _-C9D9 D 10 4 CUD 11 D13-D14 5 E 1 F 1 F 5-F 6 6 E 9 F 9 E 10-F 11 7 F 12 E 13 F 15-F 16 8 T2S3 T 3 9 S4T4 S6T6 10 T8S9 T9 11 ..-.SIOTIO S12T12 12 S14T14 S15 18 T 17 U 1 U 3-U 4 14 U7V7 U8-U9 15 U 10 V 10 V 13-V 14 16 -U 17 V 17 W 1-W 2 17 X5W6 X6-W7 18 .X low 11 X 11-X 12 19-:. ..-W 14X14 W15X15 Of the pairs of glyphs, which together express a certain date, the first (A 16, D 3, C 9, etc.) must always designate one of the 20 days, the second (B 16, C 4, D 9, etc.) one of the 18 so-called months. This observation will decidedly facilitate the final deciphering of this and of kindred inscriptions, although progress in this direction is checked by countless difficulties— variants, deviations of the monu- mental from the written text, abrasion, and disintegration. If I w^ere to review the entire tablet in detail, the numerous queries would still give the impression of a barren waste. I can only direct atten- tion here to a few points of special interest. The study of the first two dates and the intervening period is already sufficiently interesting. It reminds us of the beginning of the large numbers and dates on page 24 (below on the left) of the Dresden codex. Here we found two dates I 17 ; 18, 17th month. IV 17 ; 8, 18th month. and perceived that they were separated by 2,200 (8X260-f 6X20) days. Now, we find in the Cross inscription : A 16 : I, 17 B 16 : 18, unknown month. D 3 ; IV 17 C 4 ; 8, 18th month. Between them, however, is D 1, the sign for 20, and above it, as there was no room on the left, in all probability a 6 (the 1 for lack of 552 BUEEAU OF AMERICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 room close to the 5), and in addition C 2, an unknown glyph, with 8 prefixed. I think that nothing is more natural than to regard the obscure character B 16 as the seventeenth month (Kayab) and C 2 as a glyph for the tonalamatl. The stonecutter of the Cross inscription, therefore, proceeds from the same two dates from which the writer of the Dresden codex proceeds, and this fact increases the probability, already appearing from other circumstances, that the Dresden codex had its origin not far from Palenque, probably in the district of the Tzentals, who, therefore, should receive closer atten- tion from this time forward. ' In spite of many difficulties the interpretation of a few of these groups can be considered correct, as the specified period agrees with a preceding and following date, inasmuch as it is the interval between them. I here give some examples in which, in order to facilitate the examination, I will state the years found by computation in which the dates are contained. The simplest example is the twelfth date, the twelfth period, and the thirteenth date, as follows : S 14 T 14: II 14; 10, 6th month. (11 Muluc.) S 15: 3+6x20=123. T 17 U 1 : VIII 17 ; 13, 12th month. (11 Muluc.) In fact, day II 14 precedes VIII 17 by 123 days, and day 10, 6th month is 123 days before 13, 12th month. The year remains the same. I will add that day VIII 17 in the last part of the Dresden codex is of special importance (see my second treatise, " Zur EntziiTerung der Mayahandschriften ", pages 14 to 17). The example directly preceding also corresponds admirably. It forms the eleventh and twelfth dates and the eleventh intervening period. S 10 T 10 : XI 5 ; 6, 6th month. (11 Kan.) g 12 T 12: 9+3X20+13x360=4,749. S 14 T 14: II 14; 10. 6th month. (11 Muluc.) The space between the two dates is actually 4,749=18X260+69^ 13X365+4. And 69 is in fact the distance from XI 5 to II 14, 4 the distance from 6, 6th month to 10, 6th month. In addition, I would mention the second and third dates and the second period : D 3 C 4: IV 17; 8, 18th month. (9 Ix.) D 5 C 6: 2+9X20+360=542. C 9 D 9: XIII 19; 20, 8th month. (11 Kan.) It should be noticed here that an affix is attached to the sign for 360, C 6, which seems to me to denote the close of this period and to prevent the next sign D 6 from being added to it. Moreover, D 9 probably denotes the eighth month : but its prefix, according to my supposition, only denotes the close of the month. F6RSTEMANN.] INSCRIPTION ON THE CROSS OF PALENQUB 553 Now, 542=2X260+22=365+177. The day IV 17, actually pre- cedes the day XIII 19 by just 22 days. But the day 8, 18th month is distant 177 days from 20, 8th month of the following year, and there^ fore distant 365+177=542 days from the same day 2 years later. A most singular error results if the dates 17 and 18 are compared with the intervening period 17. The inscription here reads as follows : X 5 W 6: II 18; 4, 12tli month. (1 Caiiac.) X6W 7: 1+30+360=381. X 10 W 11: VII 1; 17, 8th month. (8 Mulnc.) Now, II 18 to VII 1=83 ; and 4, 12th month to 17, 8th month=298. The sum of the two numbers is 381, which is recorded as the interval of time between them, while in reality the two dates are separated by ;lg^Y23=45X 365+298 or 64X260+83. It is plain therefore that the characters were engraved on the stone before the computation was completed. In one instance the month seems to be omitted. This occurs in F 9, in the date which ends a period in the inscription. I here combine the starting point of the whole computation with the sixth date : A 16 B 16: I 17; 18, 17th month. (3 Kan.) E F 5 and 6: 2+11X20+7X360+1X7,200+2X144,000=297,942. E 9: IX 19; completed, 15, 4th month. (1 Multic.) If, since after 18,980 (52X365) days, the dates have the same posi- tion in the year, 15X18,980=284,700 is subtracted from 297,942, 13 242 days remain. But 13,242=50X260+242=36X365+102. And the time from I 17 to IX 19 is actually 242; from 18, l7th month to 15, 4th month, 102 days; I therefore believe that it is not venturing too much thus to complete the date. The passage F 6, moreover, is the only one in the inscription where a multiple of 144,000 really follows the sign for 7,200, as would be expected. Such a multiple of 144,000, indeed, occurs three more times, but in C 5 it is 8X144,000, and here it stands directly before the period beginning with the single days, while in U 2 and V 12 we have nine times and five times this number, but separated m each case from the succeeding period by a glyph (V 2 and U 13, differing from each other) . Here is a problem to be solved m the future. An attempt, however, with the sign U 2 seems to be successful. Let us compare the thirteenth with the fourteenth date : T 17 U 1- VIII 17: 13, 12th month. (11 Muluc.) U 2 U V 3 U 4: 9X144,000+18+20+8X360+1X7,200=1,306,118. U 7 V 7: III 15; 16, 1st month? (2 Kan.) That the indistinct last sign denotes the first month is, of course, only a conjecture; also that a line is lacking in the number 11 stand- ing before it. If it is correct then everything agrees, for 1,306,118— 554 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 68X18,080=15,478, but this equals 59X260+188=42X365+148. From VIII 17 to III 15 is 138; from 13, :l2tli month to 16, 1st month is 148. In another case, where I combine the fourth iind fifth dates with the fourth period, I must hazard two conjectures. First, it seems to me that in D 11 the actual starting point of Maya chronology, the eighth day of the eighteenth month, is not designated by the same sign as in C 4, but instead by the old god (Izamna), the lord of the day 17 standing beside it ; and, second, I believe that the indistinct prefix of D 13 is to be read as 2. These postulates being accepted, we have the following result : C 11 D 11 : X 17; 8, IStli montb. (2 Ix.) D 13, C 14 D 14: 2+12x20+3x360+18x7,200=130,922. B 1 F 1 : IX 19 ; 15, 12th month. (10 Muluc.) If the number 113,880=6X18,980 is subtracted from 130,922, there are left 17,042 days=65X260+142=46X365+252, and 142 is the interval between X 17 and IX 19, while 252 is the interval between 8, 18th month and 15, 12th month. Perhaps it is also worthy of notice here that, if 20 years (20X365) are subtracted from 17,042, 9,742 days remain, which we recognized as a recurrent and very remarkable number in the last part of the Dresden codex (see Zur Entzifferung der Mayahandschriften, II, pages 16 and 18). » This number, 9,742, results still more directly if the second date is combined with the fifth date just now under discussion: D 3 C 4 : IV 17 ; 8, 18th month. (9 Ix.) E 1 F 1 : IX 19 ; 15, 12th month. (10 Muluc.) The two dates are indeed separated by 9,742=27X365—113 days, for 9,742 equals 37x260+122=26X365+252; but there are in fact 122 days between IV 17 and IX 19, and 252 days between 8, 18th month and 15, 12th month. It is remarkable that this period of 9,742 days does not seem to be expressed anywhere on the inscription ; per- haps it is denoted by a character still unknown. These examples will suffice to point out the way along which fur- ther investigation, not merely of this but of other Maya inscriptions, must be pursued. And I have reasons for desiring an early successor in this work. We have seen that as a rule each date is connected with the one immediately preceding it, for I could proceed from the dates 1, 2, 4, 11 12 13, and 17 directly to 2, 3, 5, 12, 13, 14, and 18. But I have made a jump only from 1 and 2 to 6 and 5, though I will mention also that I have jiunped from 1 to 7 for my own satisfaction, apparently not incorrectly. It appears, therefore, that a more or less direct reference to the starting points of the whole computation occurs m the three dates of BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 28 PLATE XLIV m (c mi may y 10 1^ 11 12 a 15 ft© 18 23 tmiii 28 29 GLYPHS FROM THE TEMPLE OF INSCPIPTIONS AT PALENQUE FOKSTEMANN.] INSCRIPTION ON THE CROSS OF PALENQUE 555 columns E and F. And these three days are peculiar in that they all three (E 1, E 9, and F 12) proceed from the same day, IX 19. How may this be accounted for ? I now add an observation in which Cyrus Thomas has led the way. In nine passages of the inscription we find two unknown glyphs, the same ones each time in immediate succession : F 7 E 8, S and T 1, T 7 S 8, T 15 S 16, U and V 6, V 11 U 12, U and V 16, W and X 3, and W and X 17. Six times this pair of signs occurs between the interval and the following date; in U 6 V 6 it occurs between two dates, in V 11 U 12 between the date and the following interval, in W X 17 at the end of the whole inscription after an interval. The character- istic of the first signals a hand pointing forward, that of the second, a kin ('' sun ", " day ") ; accordingly, they may perhaps mean nothing more than " counting of the days ". The sense must be very general, otherwise it would not occur in nine places. THE DAY GODS OF THE MAYAS E. FORSTEMANIST 557 THE DAY GODS OF THE MAYAS" By E. Forstemann To assign to each day a certain god as a ruler or protector is a wide- spread custom, a trace of which is still perceptible in Europe to-day, inasmuch as we still call our week days after heathen deities. This custom also prevailed in the domain of Aztec and Maya cul- ture. "With regard to its practice among the Aztecs, Doctor Seler, in particular, has given us considerable information in the Compte rendu of the Berlin Americanist Congress of 1888 in his great treatise on the Aubin Tonalamatl. In reference to the Mayas, this scholar says in his treatise on the names of the Maya gods represented in the Dresden manuscript (1887), page 230, that it appears from the old Relacion of the Priest Hernandez (which I am unable to consult) that Cukulcan was the chief of the 20 gods, who, according to the description, clearly denoted the deities of the 20 day signs. Many names and glyphs of Maya and Aztec gods combined with numbers always refer to certain specified days not in the series of 20 but in that of the 260 days of the tonalamatl, especially those of the Mayas beginning with Hun (1), and those of the Aztecs beginning with Macuil (5). From the account of Nunez de la Vega, as well as from that of Francisco Fernandez, whose narrative is preserved by Bartholome de las Casas, it appears that, generally speaking, the 20 days were each dedicated to a god or lord. Such day gods have been handed down to us from certain parts of the country, not only in a general way, but special ones for special days. Thus it is said of the first day, Kan, that among the Tzentals in Chiapas and Tabasco (who, by the way, were the probable authors of the monuments of Palenque and of the Dresden manuscript) this day had been called Ghanan, and Ghanan had been a divinity in those localities (see Brinton, Mayan Hieroglyphs, pages 62, 123). The fifth day, Lamat, is designated among the Kiche-Cakchikels in Guatemala by Kanel, a deity of seed sowing (see below). « Globus, V. 73, n. 8 and 9, 1898. 559 5(30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 The sixth day, Mukic (we are calling the days according to Landa, that is, according to the usage of northwestern Yucatan), is called Toh in Kiche, after the god of thunderstorms (see Brinton, Calendar of Central America and Mexico, 1893, page 27). The sixteenth day, Cauac, was called Ayotl, "tortoise" (Brinton, Calendar, page 33) , by the Pipiles, an Aztec tribe, it is true, but living among Maya tribes, and among the Mayas the tortoise belongs to the mythic animals, which rank in order with the actual gods. The seventeenth day, Ahau, is called in the Kiche and Cakchikel Hunahpu, the one lord of power, from which the name for the day Ahau (Brinton, Calendar, page 22) has obviously been derived. As patron of the eighteenth day, Imix, Ek-chuah, a black god, the god of cacao planters, travelers, and merchants, is mentioned (see Seler, Charakter der aztekischen und der Mayahandschriften, 1888, pages 6 and 44 ; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Histoire des nations civili- sees du Mexique et de I'Amerique centrale, volume 2 (1888), pages 43 and 44). Lastly, the twentieth day, Akbal, is called by the Tzentals Votan, "the heart", a well-known deity, corresponding to the Aztec Te- peyollotl (Brinton, Calendar, page 24). The above are detached fragments of the system of the Maya day gods. But we are now able to see our way more clearly to the recon- struction of this system, inasmuch as the second revised edition of Die Gottergestalten der Mayahandschriften, by Paul Schellhas, has just been issued (Dresden codex, 1897, by Eichard Bertling). In this work the distinguished author as far as possible separates the individual gods according to the pictures and the written designation. Furnished with such aids, we will now proceed to join each one of the 20 days in their order {g to aa, figure 112) to the respective deities, ignoring everything on the right and left of our path which does not further this end. 1. Kan, g. Brinton, Calendar, page 24, also gives Kanan, which seems to me to be the more primitive form, for kan means yellow and ripe, and kanan (derived from it) is probably the yellow maize kerjiel after it has become ripe. The Tzental form for the day, Ghanan, corresponds to this, for in the Tzental vocabulary of Pater Lara, ghan is the maize ear (see Brinton's Primer, pages 62, 123). The Aztec meaning of the day name does not concern us, but among the Nahuas of Meztitlan the day is actually called Xilotl, "ear of corn" (see Brinton, Calendar, page 25) . Hence it is safe to assume that E is the deity belonging to this day, in whose picture we plainly see the kan symbol, which is itself nothing but a maize kernel, and the sprouting maize plant (see Schellhas, Gottergestalten, page 19). VORSTEMANN.] DAY GODS OF THE MAYAS 561 2. Chicchan, h. Chic means great, and chan in Tzental, can in Cakchikel, means serpent ; the hist syllable of Cukulcan has likewise the same significance. The Aztec name for the day, Coatl, also signifies serpent. The first part of Chicchan, however, might be cliii (" to bite, to sting''). The glyph is a head about whose temples is wound a row of small circles like a string of pearls, and according to Schellhas, Gottergestalten, page 23, the divinity H, the serpent god has the same pretty decoration, which has long been regarded as signifying a serpent's skin. 3. Cinii, /. The meaning of cimi is death ; the Aztec name for the day, Miquiztli, and the Kiche-Cakchikel, Camey, likewise have the same significance. Accordingly there can be no doubt that the divinity A belongs to this day, especially as the glyph and the picture resemble each other. Whether the bird Moan, as a special representation of A, also belongs to this day, I must leave undecided for the present, but I will return to the subject later. 4. Manik, k. AVe know no more about a satisfactory meaning for this word than we do for the Tzental Moxic. On the other hand, the clay name in Nahuatl, Mazatl, in Zapotec, China, and in Kiche- Cakchikel, Queh, denotes in each case deer (Brinton, Calendar, jiage 26). The glyph signifies a hand in the act of grasping, as in the character for the east, where the hand (as it were) draws up the sun which lies below it. To the deer as well as to this hand, a hunting god would be most appropriate, in connection with Avhich we particularly recall Codex Troano-Cortesianus, in which there is such great prominence given to the deer hunt (with snares, traps, and spears) that an entire section is devoted to the subject. But thus far the picture of a god suitable for a hunting god has not been found, although there is no lack of names of gods of the chase both among the Mayas and among the Aztecs. I think that one of the various forms under which F is rep- resented might possibly apply here, especially as F is regarded as a death god, who perhaps is meant to denote a violent death by sacri- fice or at the hands of a hunter. 5. Lamat, I. Without doubt the Tzental Lanibat is a purer form, which Brinton, Calendar, page 27, interprets as derived from lam, " to sink in ", '^ to sink beneath ", and from Bat, Avhich means both the grain, the seed, and a mattock for working the ground. The Aztec designation for this day, Tochtli, " rabbit ", might convey the idea of the animal as a symbol of fertility or even as destroyer of the crop. The glyph perhaps denotes the furrows or holes for the recep- tion of the seed. 7238— No. 28— 05 36 ii 562 BUREAU OF AMERICAISr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 We might, but only perhaps, look here for a grain god, particu- larly as in Kiche-Cakchikel among the inhabitants of Ixtlavacan in Guatemala, the name of the day, Kanel, designates a deity of seed- sowing, to whom sacrifices were performed on this day (Scherzer in Boletin de la Sociedad Economica de Guatemala, December 15, 1870). The picture of a deity of seed-sowing, however, has not yet been discovered in Maya literature, although this action is represented several times in the manuscripts. 6. Muluc, m. This word, to which Mulu, or Molo, in Tzental cor- responds, might be derived from muyal, "clouds" (Stoll, Ethnog- raphic von Guatemala, page 59) , and this may be connected with mul, " to heap up ". Among the Zapotecs the day is called Niza, or Queza, " water "; in Kiche-Cakchikel, Toh. Toh, how^ever, signifies the god of thunderstorms. To this the Aztec Atl also corresponds and the Quiahuitl of the Pipiles, w^ater or rain. The glyph is doubtful. It is either the firmament Avith a cloud in the center, or a sheet of water with an islet rising out of it. With this I place the deity K, blowing from his enormously exagger- ated nose, therefore probably denoting the storm god. 7. Oc, n. The meaning, foot, which this word has among the Mayas, is of no use to us. But perhaps it is useful to know that according to Stoll, Ethnographic von Guatemala, among two Maya tribes, the Tzotzils in Chiapas and the Chaiiabal in the north of Guatemala, the wild dog (coyote) is called ohil, from which this word Oc may have been derived. Now, this day has the name Tzi with the Kiche-Cakchikels, and with the Aztecs, Itzcuintli, both meaning- dog; the Zapotec name, Telia, is said, according to Bartolomiius of Pisa (Brinton, Calendar, page 28), to mean the same. But the dog occurs in mythology as the lightning beast, in which character it fre- quently and distinctly occurs in the manuscripts (Schellhas, Gotter- gestalten, page 30). Tlie glyph occurs in manifold forms, which have in common sev- eral zigzag lines (for example, in tlie books of Chilam Balam), and which might very well signify lightning. 8. Chuen, o. In Tzental and Kiche-Cakchikel, this day is called Batz, in Nahuatl, Ozomatli, and both mean monkey. It denotes a particular species of monkey, Tzental, according to Lara (Brinton. Calendar, page 28). Chin, and perhaps Chuen, the meaning of which is otherwise unknown, ib connected with it. The glyph shows a gaping jaw. which Seler likewise ascribes to a monkey, but Schellhns to a serpent. T do not venture to decide the matter. The figure of the deit}' C belonging here displaj^s, as does also its glyph, peculiar lines about the mouth and nose, which suggest a monkey's skull and even look like the lateral nasal aperture of the FOESTEMANN.J DAY GODS OF THE MAYAS 563 American monkey. This Schellhas lias recognized as a deity of the north. We assume, therefore, that the Little Bear is conceived of as a monkey which holds fast with its prehensile tail to the pole and swings about the latter. 9. Eb, p. This Maya word is doubtless connected with the Euob of the Tzentals and the E. or Ee, of the Kiche-Cakchikels. Like the Pija of the Zapotecs and the Malinalli of the Aztecs, it signifies a com- bination of points, spines, or thorns, a row of teeth, stiff varieties of grass, and the brushes or brooms made of them. The glyph of this day is a head, and therefore, no doubt, a deity. By the side of the eye and the nose are seen either two lines running from the top downward or, carried out more in detail, a row of p. any dots like spines around these lines, so that the whole is not anlike a broom, as in Landa and often in the manuscripts. What deity is denoted here we can not yet positively determine. We must expect to find similar marking on its face. In connection with day 4 (Manik) we have already alluded to the various kinds of lines on the face of the god F. Here, too, the deity we are in search of may easily have been confounded with the forms supposed to rep- resent the god F. I recall, for instance, the figure drawn on the left at the top of page 5 of the Dresden codex, in which two glyphs are mi fortunately destroyed. It should also be remembered that among the Mayas the cleansing of the dwellings for the feasts was a pre- scribed ritual act. We are reminded of the herba verbenaca used by the Romans at the lustratio. 10. Ben, q. The meaning of reed, rush, or straw belongs to Acatl in Aztec, to Quii or Laa in Zapotec, and to Ah in Kiche andCak- chikel. The significance of Ben in Maya and Tzental is unknown, but caghben in Tzental means dried cornstalk (Brinton, Calendar, page 30). The Aztec glyph, as usual, is very distinct. In the Maya glyph there are several straight lines at right angles to each other. The most probable meaning of this is a roof made of reeds or rushes, and this opinion Doctor Schellhas expressed to me in a letter years ago. It may possibly refer to the Kiche god Chahalhuc, the god of dwellings (see Stoll, Ethnographic der Indianerstamme von Guatemala in the Internationales Archiv fiir Ethnographic, 1889). But it is more likely to refer to the Aztec patron of this day, Itztla- liuhqui,whoisgivenasthegodof coolness and of drought, also of sin. It reminds us that the roof is a protection from sun heat and pouring rain, and hides secret sin from view ; for were not adulterers stoned before the image of this particular god? I am far, however, from wishing that this train of thought should be regarded in the light of an assertion. After the explanation above written Professor Brinton sent me his interesting work. The Pillars of Ben. but I must 564 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 here confine myself to referring simply to it, especially as it really contains nothing that contradicts my view. 11. Ix, r. In Aztec this day is called Ocelotl; in Zapotec, Eche; in Kiche and Cakchikel, Balam. All these mean the jaguar. The Kiche, however, has also the word Hix for it, which is the same in Tzental. The Maya word is written Ix,^ix, Hix, and means the sor- cerer. But jaguar and sorcerer are actually synonyms, for to the lat- ter the power is ascribed of transforming himself into the former, and the verb balam in Kiche denotes precisely this transformation (Brin- ton. Calendar, page 30). The Maya glyph with its two lines and three dots, therefore, seems plainly to denote the striped and spotted jaguar skin, which possibly is a symbol of the starry heavens ( a more detailed account is given in Brinton's Calendar, page 56). Ocelotl among the Nahuas is specifically the designation of the Great Bear, as Ozomatli, the eighth day, is that of the Little Bear. But the deity belonging to it is actu- ally represented among the Mayas by a jaguar (Schellhas, Gotter- gestalten, page 31). In the Dresden codex, page 26a, at the end of the Ix year, the priest carries away the image of the jaguar. 12. Men, s. The Tzental and Kiche-Cakchikel word Tziquin means bird, the Aztec, Quauhtli, specifically the eagle. Now, the bird among Central American peoples is the symbol of knowledge and of wisdom, as the owl was among the Athenians. In harmony with such a vieAv this day is called Naa by the Zapotecs, as it is called Men by the Mayas, both meaning knowledge and understanding, Ah-men, " the wise one ". The glyph is a head. Below the eyes are various markings which might very well mean bird's feathers. Doctor Seler has been at various times reminded of the Aztec goddess, Tonantzin, the great earth mother who is adorned with eagle's feathers. Among the mythical birds of the Mayas the most important is the Moan (Schellhas, Gottergestalten, page 29), which occurs often in their glyphs, and which denotes a month of the year. In Globus, volume 65, number 15 (1894), I have considered whether Moan is the sign of the Pleiades. This suggestion may be of use in connection with this day, but I do not ascribe much importance to the fact that the consonants agree in Moan and Men. 13. Cib, t. The Aztec Cozcaquauhtli means the vulture, literally the king vulture, named after its feather ornament. The Tecolotl of the Pipiles means the owl. The Zapotec Loo, or Guil-loo, seems also to denote a bird, for ba-loo denotes crow or raven. The meaning of the Maya word Cib and of the Tzental Chabin is very uncertain (Brinton, Calendar, page 31) ; but that the Mayas actually regarded the vidture as the symbol of the deity of this day is confirmed below (see Schellhas, Gottergestalten, page 31). fObstemann.] day gods OF THE MAYAS 565 The glyph shows a line winding from below upward, on the upper end of which there is a small round object. I do not consider it impossible that this may indicate' a bird mounting into the air. 14. Caban, u. I connect this word with cab, to which Perez in his lexicon gives the meaning of earth, world, soil. At the first glance the Aztec Ollin does not seem to correspond to it at all, because the idea of movement attaches to Ollin and particularly the movement of the sun; but when we find that the Meztitlan expression, Nahui Olli means the four movements given for this day in Brinton's Calendar, page 32, and read " directions " rather than '' movements ", the riddle is solved, for it means the four cardinal points surrounding the world. I must leave it to the future to reconcile this meaning with the Tzental Chic, the Kiche-Cakchikel Noh, and the Zapotec Xoo, to which the meaning of great, firm, powerful is ascribed. Can these be the designations for the gods of the four cardinal points, the Bacabs ? The form of the Aztec glyph accords with my supposition. Around a central design in which, without too much imagination, one can see a suggestion of the earth, the ocean, and the surrounding atmosphere, figures in the form of sails of a windmill extend in four directions. We are here strongW reminded of the represen- tation in Codex Cortesianus, pages 41 to 42, which Leon de Rosny not inappropriately has called a tableau des Bacabs; that is, of the four deities of the cardinal points. It is a tonalamatl in which, from a central inclosure, half of it rectangular and half circular, four figures representing the separate days project in as many directions. The Maya glyph unquestionably denotes the ground. I here (juote the words of Schellhas (Die Mayahandschrift der Koniglichen Bib- liothek zu Dresden, 188G, page 21) : The sign is tlie symbol of land, the ground, the earth, which is called cab in Maya. Numerous pictures of persons and objects, which sit, lie, and stand on this sign, and especially its frequent occurrence as ground and foundation in the representations, confirms the signification of the word. Thus the sign cab occurs especially in the Troano codex, frequently also the sign Kan, as a symbolic glyph of the fruitful earth from which maize stalks are sprouting (Troano codex, page 33). In another passage (Troano codex, page 32) there are vines, twining about a pole, on the sign Caban. Yet, notwithstanding all those assured points, it is difficult to inter- pret the form of the Maya glyph- It includes the same spiral line terminating in a small round object at the top which we saw in the preceding day Cib and interpreted as a soaring bird. In addition, it contains a second small object, from which a straight dotted line runs downward. Can this be an indication of two directions, up and down? This explanation does not altogether satisfy me. We shall therefore be forced to regard the four Bacabs as the gods of this day. 15. Ezanab, v. The Aztec Tecpatl is flint, such as is used for 566 BUREAU OF AMERTCAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 knives and lanee keads. To this corresponds the Tzental Chinax, an old form for the usual zninax, '' knife ". The Cakchikel Tihax is said to mean biting, scratching, while in the Zapotec Gopaa Brinton (Calendar, page 32) surmises a variant of guipa, " sharp point, edge " (gueza-guipa, " flint knife "). The Maya word Ezanab, Brinton, in the same work, connects with eclz, " to stab, to sharpen ", and nab, something stained, especially with blood. In fact the lance heads repeatedly appear bloodstained in the manuscripts. The glyph consists of two intersecting zigzag lines, which are also repeated on the lance heads. These lines reproduce very well the jagged slanting lines of a flint knife (Schellhas, Mayahandschrift, page 22). It is difficult to find an appropriate deity for this sign. For the present I am inclined to consider in connection with it one of the serpent deities (Schellhas, H and I), so difficult to distinguish, one of which belongs to the second day. The wound made by stabbing or cutting could be conceived of as a serpent's bite. All this is very un- certain, but I hope later to bring forward more arguments in support of my opinion. 16. Cauac, w. In this sign I see the rainy season, the time of the greatest heat and most frequent thunderstorms. The Maya word is exactly equivalent to the Tzental Cahogh (chaoc), the Pokonchi and Pokoman Cahoc (cohoc), and the Chontal Chauoc, which all mean thunderstorm. Even the remote Huastec has the same word in its tzoc. The Zapotec Ape (api), properly dark cloud; in the compounds laari-api-niza and ri-api-laha, signifies lightning (Brin- ton, Calendar, page 33). In the Aztec the name of this day is Quia- huitl, equivalent to rain. The glyph, which distinctly includes a mass of clouds, corre- sponds very well to the above. The language of the remote Aztec Pipiles shows us how to find the god belonging to the day. In this language the day is called Aj^otl, " the tortoise ", which is a symbol of the thunderstorm deity, as Schell- has has already stated in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1892, page 120, and also in his latest work, page 31. I myself have principally demonstrated in my third treatise, " Zur Entzifferung ", that the tor- toise signifies the summer solstice, the climax of the season of rain and thunderstorms. Add to this that among the Mayas cooc, or caoc, denotes the lightning, and coc the tortoise, and it seems prob- able that the resemblance of the word m"ay have influenced the selec- tion of the symbol. Indeed, it may be thought that the Yucatec rain god Chac is the same word as cauac, caoc, or cahogh. Even to-day chaac (chac) is used in the sense of rain. 17. Ahau, X. Literally " lord of the necklace ". as the ornament marking a distinguished rank. From this the name of the day iruKSTEMANN.] DAY GODS OF THE MAYAS 567 Aghiial, '^ lordship ", is derived in the Tzental. In the Kiche-Cak- chikel it is called outright by the name of the god Hun-ahpu, '' the one lord of power ", in Zapotec Lao, or Loo, '' the eye '', which ineans the eye of the day, the sun, as the Mayas have the god name Kin-ich- ahau, "lord of the eye of the day''. And the Aztec Xochitl, " flower ", is also explained by the xochitonal of the dialect of Mez- titlan, " the flower of the day, the sun " (Brinton, Calendar, page 34) . The glyph displays a face which differs from the other heads, inasmuch as it is seen from in front, and its eye forms the symbol of the moon, while an akbal (night) is placed on the forehead. Th(^ god belonging here is doubtless the old god D, to whose glyph the sign Ahau is usually added as a determinative. The close rela- tion of this god to the sun is probably the reason why there no longer seems to be a vacant place for the sun god proper, which in all prob- ability he originally occupied, as we shall see directly. The question now arises. Is the "close relation of god D to the moon among the Mayas an innovation or is it the most ancient relation? The moon is the nearer, the sun the more remote, lord of time and of the whole chronology. 18. Imix, y. In the course of time the meaning of Imix has under- gone two changes which have rendered the interpretation very diffi cult. It may be assumed that among the Mayas, mex, or meex, means the beard, which doubtless suggests primarily the sun's beard (u mex kin), that is, the sun's rays (Brinton, Calendar, page 23). This is very appropriate to the day, which was placed at the head of the day series by the Aztecs and by various Maya races. Mex, however, is also the name of the cuttlefish, from whose head extend eight or ten ray like arms (un pescado que tiene muchos brazos) , and it may be the oldest hieroglyphic designation of the day. But the little-known cuttlefish, when the original connection was forgotten, was replaced by another aquatic creature. Among the Zapotecs the day was called Chiylla, " water lizard ". In the Nahuatl it was Cipactli, which is applied to an undefined aquatic creature. The Aztec glyph is an alligator. Secondarily, the process which Brin- ton calls ikonomatic began at this point. Instead of Mex, the Mayas used Imix as the designation of this day ; the Tzentals used Imox, or Mox. The Kiches and Cakchikels have Imox, or Moxin, which in their language, according to Ximenes, also denotes the swordfish, and this facilitates the transition of the meaning. Im signifies udder or the female breast, while ix is a frequent prefix or suffix, denot- ing the feminine gender. Here it should be observed that milk is denoted by cab-in, " honey of the breast ''. Then, in this connection, we are reminded that the intoxicating pulque was obtained from honey, and that numerous pulque gods occur among the Aztecs and Mayas. The gathering of honey was a prominent industry, as is 568 BUEEAU OF AMERTCAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 shown by the large section devoted to it in Codex Troano-Cortesianus. The frequent combination of the signs kan and imix (with water and pipes as affixes) seems to signify food and drink, a meal, a banquet. They occur almost exclusively in the tonalamatl, and not in the astronomic representations. The Maj^a glyph unquestionably denotes a female breast. All this seems, therefore, to point to a deity of the honey industry or of pulque. Schellhas has not yet discovered such a god, but I hope to find one farther on. I must call attention to the fact that, first by Brasseur de Bour- bourg, then by Seier and others, a black god, Ek-chuah, is mentioned as patron of the day Imix, as protector of Cacao planters, travelers, and merchants. Yet I avoid connecting this god bj^ a factitious train of thought with the desired pulque god, and leave the question open for the future. 19. Ik, z. The Maya word ik is the same as the igh of the Tzen- tals and the ik of the Kiches and Cakchikels, and corresponds in mean- ing also to the Aztec Ehecatl. Owing to this agreement it is unnec- essary for my purpose to examine the various Zapotec expressions for this day. But the common meaning is that of wind, breath, air (in the pictorial representations also that of fire, as a particular kind of air) , then, figuratively, that of life and spirit. The glyph of the day has various forms. The most primitive appears to me to be the rectilinear one, as it occurs particularly in the inscriptions, and also in the eye included in ^h^ gl^jph of the god. The day series of the tonalamatl readily suggest a burning torch or candle, but this rectilinear shape reminds one of the tree of life or of the sacrificial tree. In addition to this other forms occur, which are entirely unintelligible to me (see, for example, Brinton, Essays of an Americanist, page 271). The deity of the day is decidedly god B, Cukulcan. or Quetzalcoatl, the bird-serpent, this most universal and most diversely busy god of the Mayas, especially of the Tzentals. In place of the eye this glyph displays the rectilinear figure of ik, which alone is conclusive. The picture of the god itself may, by the long nose, have reference to breath, just as god K, by his ornamental nose, denotes the blast of the storm. 20. Akbal, aa. In Kiche-Cakchikel this daj^ is called by the same name. It means darkness, night, like the Zapotec Guela. In Nahuatl we have Calli, " the house ", probably in the sense of an abode for the night and on account of the darkness prevailing within it. In Tzental the day is called Votan, after the demigod, the so-called " heart of the nation ■', who built a dark house in Tlazolayan for the sacred objects of his cult. He answers to the Aztec Tepeyollotl FORSTEMANN.] DAY GODS OP THE MAYAS 569 (Seler in the Compte rendu des Berliner Kongresses, pages 561 to 569). The Aztec glyph of the day distinctly designates a liouse, Avlnle that of the Mayas is still unintelligible to me. Seler (Berliner Kon- gress, page 562) sees in this a representation of the mountain cavern, the jaws of the earth. This deity we shall probably find in the black god whom Schellhas has denoted by L. I am unable to discover a methodic arrangement in the significance of the 20 days or in the gods belonging to them. When Brinton in his calendar undertakes to construct an organic order of the day names I am not able to follow^ him. It is plain that in this grouping of the gods with the days, along with much that is certain, there is also much that is doubtful, but I believe that I am in a position to find confirmation of my opinions in another direction. My hope rests, first of all, on the unique tonala- matl of the Dresden codex, pages 4a to 10a, which in the customary manner treats the first 52 days more in detail, but specifically divides them into 20 different parts, which occurs in no other tonalamatl. One is therefore involuntarily led to ask whether a relation may not be discovered between these small time periods and the 20 days. At first glance the answer to this question is in the negative. The tona- lamatl has as its zero point the day Imix, y; but if, proceeding from this point, Ave attempt to prove the divisions of time recorded in the manuscript and the representations concluding them, then the day found in no case corresponds with the pictures and their glyphs. It is quite a different matter if we assume that the zero point was mistakenly placed at Imix, ?/, by the scribe, instead of five days earlier at Cib, t, where it should be. He seems to have placed the tonalamatl of a certain year on the same days of the next year, with- out reflecting that they ought to be moved forward five .days. This supposition seems to me to become a certainty through the following statement. If we proceed from the day 13 (Cib, t) the intervals of one, two, three, or four days will give at the close the following days of the 20 sections : 1 15 Ezanab 11 2 Chicchan 2 19 Ik 12 6Muluc 3 3 Cimi 13 8 Chuen 4 4Manik 14 Ills 5 8 Chuen 15 13 Cib 6-.-:-. 10 Ben 16 16 Cauac 7 12 Men 17 18 Imix 8 16 Catiac 18 1 Kan 9 ..18Imix 19.._--- 3Cimi 10 20 Akbal 20-__--. 5 Lamat Thus it appears that there was no attempt made to have all the 20 days represented, for the days 3, 8, 16, and 18 occur a second time 570 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 after 20 or 40 days, while, on the other hand, the days 7, 9, 14, and 17 are missing. Now let us see how the groups consisting each of a picture and six glyphs (of which the first two are always the same) agree with the days found by calculation. 1. Ezanab, v. We find here an actual serpent god (H or I) hold- ing a serpent in its hand, and in the third and fourth glyphs, with slight variations, the symbols of the other serpent god belonging to the day Chicchan, h. The deity as an ear ornament distinctly wears the sign ezanab. Here everything corresponds. 2. Ik, z. This is the actual god B. His sign is also in the fourth glyph. If the object held in his hand is intended for a bird, it would be a symbol, of wind. This also agrees. 3. Cimi, i. We expect to find the god A here, but we find another, probably N. Unfortunately^ the destruction of the glyph has ren- dered a critical examination difficult. We can not, therefore, prove an agreement. 4. Manik, k. Here we plainly have one of the forms of god F, but the diificulty of arriving at a decision in reference to this god, as well as the obliteration of the glyphs, prevents us from definitely placing this group among those which show a satisfactory agreement. 5. Chuen, o. The picture of god C, as well as his glyph, accords admirably with my view. 6. Ben, q. Here, it is true, one of the common Ben-Ik signs is found among the glyphs, but below it is again the deity B. We must here defer a final decision. 7. Men, s. This is a sign which belongs to the sought-for Moan, but the picture is probably another form of god F, with the nose peg of the sun god G. It is true the Moan is connected with the position of the sun, but that is not sufficient to constitute a positive agreement here. 8. Cauac, w. The sought-for tortoise does not occur here, unless we are inclined to consider the object which the god holds in his hand as such. Among the glyphs the two central ones which belong to the serpent god H are noticeable, and they agree tolerably well with the rainy season and thunderstorms. A proof of positive correspondence, however, does not appear. 9. Imix, y. The deit}' is feminine, as is appropriate to this day. This is shown by the tresses displayed before the third and fifth glyphs. But she appears to be one of the forms of god F, which is indicated by the death sign on her cheek. I do not venture to explain what she holds in her hand or the serpent on her head. The matter, therefore, remains undecided. 10. Akbal, aa. The black god L, as well as the traces still left of the third glyph, correspond to the idea of darkness conjectured here. FORSTEMANN.] DAY GODS OF THE MAYAS 571 And since Akbal is one of the days with which the months in the Kan vear begin, the sixth glyph, ahaii, also agrees. Ih Chicchan, h. The dog with his glyphs certainly does not agree with this, since we expect a serpent god here. Yet it is curious that the last two glyphs are the same, only in reversed order, as the last two in group 1^ which certainly belongs to a serpent god. The ques- tion remains undecided. 12. Muluc, m. Here the divinity K corresponds admirably in the picture and the two central glyphs. The fifth glyph shows the day as one of the regents of the year. 13. Chuen, o. Here there is no agreement, since the picture repre- sents god A, and the glyphs are his. 14. Ix, r. Nothing can better correspond to this day than the pic- ture of the jaguar and his glyph occupying the third place. 15. Cib, t. Here, too, as in the preceding group, the picture and third glyph agree, both denoting the vulture. The fifth, on the other hand, represents the lightning dog, in relation to which it is curiously fitting that on page 13c vulture and dog are combined in one group. These two groups, 14 and 15, separated by two days, like jaguar and vulture in the Aztec calendar, seem to me by themselves quite a convincing proof of the connection of this tonalamatl wdth the days. They formed the basis of my hypothesis. 16. Cauac, w. Here we find nothing that we expected, but in its stead the god D and the ahau sign, almost always accompanying him, in the fourth place, the third glyph being unfortunately destroyed. We are, therefore, led to assume, not with certainty, but wath great probability, that an error of one day has been made here by the writer. It should be the day 17 (Ahau), for otherwise the chief of all the gods w^ould be missing. The number of days w^anting in these 20 groups and of those appearing twice is, therefore, reduced to three (7, 9, and 14 and 3, 8, and 18) . 17. Imix, y. Corresponding to the day, the picture shows a female deity who in two things agrees very well with what was remarked above, in the bee sitting on her head and in the bandaged eyes, which I believe, as well as the uncertain position of the hands (or do I see too much here?), indicate intoxication from drinking pulque. 18. Kan, g. The sought-for grain goddess E, with her glyph, is actually found here. 19. Cimi, i. This is not the expected deity A, but the closely related figure of the Moan, having the death symbol on his head, and his glyphs, thus entirely suitable to the day. 20. Lamat, I. Nothing corresponds to this day, but god A occurs with his glyph, perhaps not through error, but intentionally. The fourth glyph is very remarkable. In it I am very much inclined to see a time period, 6 lunar months and 6 days, that is, 6X28+6, or a 572 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 s]3ace of 174 days; yet I hesitate to express the conjecture which I entertain relative to this subject, for it does not pertain to my present theme. Among the twenty groups, therefore, ten (1, 2. 5, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19) agree very well wath my view, corroborating it in part, while an eleventh (16) will as well if we accept a slight conjecture. After this result the question naturally arises whether in the remaining tonalamatls of the manuscripts the pictures and glyphs correspond to the intervals of the days. Such cases are readily found: In the Dresden codex, page 15c, D appears 14 days after A (3 to 17) ; page 13b, C, 7 days after E (1 to 8) ; page 16b, A, 4 days after B (19 to 3). But still more cases must be found to form a con- clusive proof, as isolated cases can readily be ascribed to mere acci- dent. This is a question upon which I will not touch at j)resent. THE TEMPLE OF INSCRIPTIONS AT PALENQUE E. FORSTElVIANlSr THE TEMPLE OF INSCRIPTIONS AT PALENQUE" By E. Forstemann We have perforce confined our efforts from the beginning of Maya research chiefly to the manuscripts, in the interpretation of which considerable progress has already been made. The time has now come to take the first steps toward a decipherment of the Maya inscriptions. Available copies of the inscriptions were until recently too inaccurate to offer an incentive to thorough study. My treatise, Die Kreuzin- schrift von Palenque, published in Globus, volume 72, pages 45 to 41), might therefore be called premature, since my only guide, at least, for the left side of the inscription, was the drawing by Catherwood in Stephens's book of travels. This drawing is admirably executed, it is true, but it is inadequate for accurate research. I use the word '^ premature ", however, only in reference to a few details upon which fuller light has now been shed ; I certainly comprehended correctly the main point, namely, the fact that the inscriptions consist essen- tially of a framework of dates and the intervening periods. Considerable progress has recently been made in the critical exami- nation of the inscriptions, since we now have facsimiles of them which are as accurate as the condition of the originals permits. In par- ticular the great Biologia Centrali-Americana, by Godman and Sal- vin, has materially assisted us in this with the section edited by Maudslay under the title Archeology, and each new number of this work as it appears is an additional station on the road of science. Of the plates to this work, the free use of which has been made possible to me by the courteous permission of Mr Maudslay himself, I wish to call attention to the three designated as plates lx to Lxn. They are from the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque. Plates lx and Lxii are of the same dimensions, each having 20 vertical columns and 12 horizontal rows, while plate lxi has only 14 vertical columns and 10 horizontal rows. Hence there are on these plates 240+140-}- 240=620 glyphs, of which, however, those in the first 9 columns of plate LX are mostly destroyed. There is no doubt that plate lx is » Aus dem Inschriftentempel von Palenque, Globus, v. 75, n. 5. 1899. 575 576 ■ BUREAU OF AMERICAlSr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 actually to be considered the first of the three, because its initial glyphs correspond with those at the beginning of other inscriptions, while plates lxi and lxii are without such characters. I shall denote the columns of plates lx and lxii by the letters A to U, of plate lxi by A to O,- allowing H, I, and K to succeed one the other in the original way (without a J), and the horizontal rows I shall naturally denote by numbers. It can furthermore be proved that plate lxi is in fact the continua- tion of plate LX. The day 9X144,000+9XT,200=-1,360,800 is given on plate lx at P and Q 6; on the same plate U 2, on the other hand, 10x7,200 is given; on plate lxi A 3 is llX'<'i200, and on the same plate G 2 is 12X7,200; that is, they occur in regular periods of 20 years, just as the centuries are sometimes found noted on the margin of our his- torical tables. Evidently 9X144,000 is mentally to be added to each of the last three numbers. Hence they signify the four days 1,360,800, 1,368,000, 1,375,200, and 1,382,400; these, however, denote the calendar dates III 17, 3, 4 (year 7 Cauac), I 17; 8, 17 (year 13 Ix), XII 17; 8, 12 (year 7 Ix) and X 17; 8, 7 (year 1 Ix). As a matter of fact the first date occurs in plate lx, Q 2 P 3, the third in plate LXI, A B 2, the fourth, although somewhat irregularly written, in plate lxi, G H 1 ; and the second, in plate lx, T U 1, has been destroyed. These dates, judging by the other inscriptions, obviously refer to the present. Let us hope that we shall soon be able to trans- late them into our chronology. According to all appearances they are in the fifteenth century. Plate LXI suggests another observation which may be of impor- tance. We find there in not fewer than 6 places a glyph which is not unlike a fist (see 1, plate xliv). With this there are always from 4 to 12 otlier signs, which, from their positions, as well as from their repetition, suggest the idea that we have to deal here with 6 groups of glyphs closely allied in meaning. The 6 groups are as follow : I C 5 to C 7, five glyphs. II C 8 to E 1, seven glyphs. Ill F 1 to F 6, eleven glyphs. IV I 4 to II , thirteen glyphs. V L3toL9, thirteen glyphs. VI M 9 to O 5, thirteen glyphs. The total number of glyphs is, therefore, 62, but this number, owing to many repetitions, is reduced to about 29 different characters. As all the glyphs of the inscriptions are subject to manifold varia- tions, it is not always easy to distinguish between them. It is possible that there are 28 or 30. I give here a transcription of these characters in the following order: First, those (1 to 3, plate xliv) which occur 6 times in these groups; then, those (4 to 9) occurring 3 times; then, FORSTKMANN] TEMPLE OF IISrSCRIPTIONS AT PALENQUE 577 those (10 to 15) occurring twice, and, finally, those which occur but once (16 to 29). These 29 signs are now divided in the following manner among the 6 groups : I II III IV V VI 1_ .0 5 1_ -0 8 1--F 1 1..I4 1..L 3 1. .M 9 10_ .D5 11_ .D8 13--E2 19--K4 4_.M3 4. -LIO 3_ -0 6 16. -0 9 3--F3 20--I5 2-.L4 2. .MIO _D6 3- .D9 2.-E3 2.-K5 5..M4 5. .Nl 13. .07 3_ -OlO 13. -F 3 5. -I 6 6..L5 26. .0 1 4- -DIO 17.-E4 6--K6 7..M5 t - .N2 9. .El 6-.F4 7--I7 23. .L 6 27. .0 2 18. -E 5 31. .K7 24.. M 6 8- -N3 14.. F 5 8. .18 8-.L7 12. -0 3 15._E6 10. .K 8 11. .M7 3. -]sr4 9--F6 3. .19 15.. K 9 22. .110 3-.L8 25. .M 8 9..L9 28. 29. 14. .0 4 -N5 .0 5 The groups II and III, likewise V and VI, join one another; there is a single glyph between I and II, and five between IV and V. On the other hand, betAveen III and IV. before the beginning of the three larger groups, there is a space filled with entirely different characters, which occupy a part of columns E and F, the whole of columns G and H, and the first three rows of I and K. We know the meaning of but one of these glyphs ; this one occurs three times and is numbered 5 (ahau, " lord "). The others, however, occur, almost all, in other inscriptions of Palenque, as the moon (2), fist (1), the recumbent person (9), the inverted net or cobweb (3), the chessboard (29), and also several of the profile heads; but we know nothing of their import. Lastly, the character 6, occurring fre- quently elsewhere, is to be mentioned. I am inclined to consider it the Aztec itzcoatl (" arrow serpent ") . In these six groups of glyphs, none of the Avell-known characters, with the exception of ahau, are to be found, neither the glyphs of the days, months, and longer time periods, nor those of the constellations and the cardinal points, nor even the glyphs of the gods. Furthermore, all numbers are omitted here, which is an especially striking fact. From all this it seems probable that we have to do here with cer- tain sacred formulas, most likely formulas of prayer. It would give me great pleasure if this remark of mine should pave the way for on-^ of my fellow students to some new discovery. Beginnings of such groups appear even on plate lx. Although about a third of the characters occurring there are destroyed, glyph 1, plate XLiv, appears no less than eight times. To this, in six cases, are joined several of the glyphs given above and in addition the one given here (30). 7238— No. 28—05- 578 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 This, however, is no other than the glyph of god C, the representa- tive of the north and the night. The six small groups on this plate are as follow : A7toB9: 1,13, (?), 30, 16, 9, 29. F 9 to E 11: 16, 9,29, 1. K 6 to 7 : 1, 4, 30. B 4 Q 4 : 1, 30. R 7 to 8 : 1, 13, 30. T 10 to 11: 1, 13, 30. The last two identical groups have still further reference to one another inasmuch as each is directly preceded by three glyphs which correspond to one another; S 1, S 2, and S 3, namely, are like U 6, U T, and U 8, though the intervening characters m columns K and i are very different in both places. On plate lxii the formation of such groups or formulas would be hardly appropriate, for this plate is almost wholly filled with dates and periods, as 1 have shown to be the case in the familiar Cross inscription. A few remarks relative to the dates and periods may be in place here. . ■ j- J.^ We are first struck by the fact that the beginning of the page con- tains four dates without a statement of the periods intervening: B8A9: X17; 8, 7 (1 Ix). ClDl: VIII 17; 8, 2 (8 Ix). 7 D 7 : VII 17 ; 18, 2 (10 Kan) . C 11 D 11: X 17; 13, 7 (9 Muluc). The day 17, therefore, occurs four times. This is the most impor- tant and most frequently employed of all the days, but it occupies a varying position in the weeks and years. The interval from the firs to the^second is computed at 7,200, from the second to the third at- 740, from the third to the fourth at 9,220 days. The number (,200 represents, of course, the familiar period of 20X360, but what are the other two intervals? ^, ■ ^ A few of the dates on this plate correspond to the intervening period : Q 5 • X 17 ; there is no 8, 7 (1 Ix) with this. p 5 Q 5: 0+6x20+3X360=1,206=4X2604-166=3X365+111. P 7: VII 3; 19, 12 (4 Muluc). In fiiet. X 17 to VIT 3=166; 8. 7 to 19, 12=111. Again, R G S 6: VII, 14 ; 15, 1 (7 Kan). R 7 to R 8: 1+6X20+7X360+2X7.200=17,041 = 65X260+141=46X 365+251. R 11 S 11: V 15; 6. 14 (1 Ix). _^ ^_ R 6 should be read VIII rather than VII. Then. VIII 14 to ^ 15=101 and 15, 1 to 6, 14=251. FORSTBMANN] TEMPLE OF INSCKIPTIONS AT PALENQUE 579 Thirdly and lastly, R 11: V 15; 6, 14 (1 Ix). S 11 R 12: 2+11x20+9X360=3,462=13x260+82:^10X365—188. T 1: IX 17; 18, 4 (11 Kan). But V 15 to IX 17=82 and 6, 14 to 18, 4=— 188. I now come to a mysterious circnmstance. It is this, that though the ]3eriod corresponds to the time between the two neighboring dates, it only does so when the process is reversed and the computation is made from the second to the first : C 11 D 11 : X 17; 13, 7 (9 Muluc). E 1 F 1: 9X20+12x360=4,500=17X260+80=12X365+120. E 3 F 3: VIII 17; 13, 1 (10 Muluc). But VIII 17 to X 17=80 ; 13, 1 to 13, 7=120. I would also note that the 9 in E 1 is only a conjecture with me; the original being plainly 8. SimilarW, E 6 F 6: V 5; 1, 8 (9 Muluc). E 7 F 7: 8+4x20+2x360=808=3x260+28=2x365+78. E 8 F 8 : III 17 ; 3, 4 (7 Cauac). But actually. III 17 to V 5=28 ; 3, 4 to 1, 8=78. Thirdly and lastly, P 7: VII 3; 19. 12 (4 Muluc). Q 7 to 8: 9X144.000+7X7,200+11X360+3X20=1,350,420=5,193X260 +240=3,699x365+285. F 10 Q 10 : I 3 ; 19, 16 (9 Muluc). And, in fact, I 3 to VII 3=240 ; 19, 16 to 19, 12=285. There seems also to be backward computation in the case of U 5 to U 8, but the characters of U 8 have certainlj^ undergone a change which as yet is inexplicable. Since this backward computation occurs several times, it can not be based upon a confusion of the two dates or upon a mere accident. Furthermore, I think it also occurs in columns Q and R, of the Temple of the Sun at Palenque (Maudslay, plate i.xxxix). One hardly would think that the Maya priests tried in this way to obscure the meaning of the inscriptions. In two cases the period between the two dates is evidently omitted because the interval between the dates is the same in the tonalamatl and in the year : G 9 PI 9 : X 17 ; 1.3, 7 (9 Muluc). H 10: V 5; 1, 8 (9 Muluc). For the interval X IT to V 5 and 13, 7 to 1, 8 is in each case only 8 days : P 10 Q 10 : I 3 ; 19, 16 (9 Muluc). SI: VII 3; 14, 10 (10 Ix). 580 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 Here I 3 to VII 3 as well as 19, 16 to 14, 10 is equalto 240 days. For unknown reasons the period is not stated in other places, as between E 3 and F 6, between E 8 and G 2, between H 10 and H 11, between T 1 and T 3. It is impossible to obtain a clear understanding of the matter. There must be a corruption of the text in H 1 to G 7 and in T 3 to U 4 which it is quite impossible to fathom. It is very remarkable that the first date is omitted before Q 3 and also before R 3. The day VIII 17, occurring in both cases, appears to have different positions in the year. This day, which divides a regu- lar tonalamatl, beginning with IV 17, in the ratio of 8: 5 (160: 100), is of special significance in the last part of the Dresden codex. The ratio 8 : 5 is also that of the apparent Venus year to the solar year (584:365). Plate Lxii suggests still another remark. The plate contanis, at the most, 30 regular calendar dates, each consisting of 2 glyphs and 2 numbers. Now, since there are in all 18,980 (52X365) different dates of this kind, it would be very improbable that one of these dates should be repeated if we were dealing with a historical succession of events. Nevertheless we find here : X 17 : 8, 7 in B 8, A 9, and Q 5. X 17 : 13, 7 in C D 11 and G H 9. V 5 : 1, 8 in E F 6 and H 6 G 7, also in H 10. The frequent use of the day 17 (B 8, C 1, C 7, C 11, E 3, E 8, G 9, P 4, Q 5, T 1, U 8) , which occurs almost as often as all the remaining 19 days together, is in itself an argument against a historic and in favor of a hieratic significance of this plate, while plates lx and Lxi indicate rather that the significance is of a historic nature. The prayer formulas, if they be such, mark the transition. Quite different from the inscriptions is the well-known Cross inscription of Palenque (Maudslay, pages 73 to 76). The latter appears to be a consecutive chronologic table which treats of mythic ages as far as F 12 and thenceforward of historic time. Two other inscriptions, likewise from- Palenque, one from the Temple of the Sun (Maudslay, pages 81 to 82), and one from the Temple of the Foliated Cross (Maudslay, pages 88 to 89), are very closely related to one another, particularly s;o in their arrangement as a whole, then in the striking agreement of the so-called initial series, and also in their alternation of dates and periods: but I will venture no further remarks. Very different from all these inscriptions are the stelfe and altars of Copan, which belong to about the same period as the monuments of Palenque, as those appear to refer in every instance to a single event. THREE INSCRIPTIONS OF PALENQUE E. FORSTEIVIANN 581 THREE INSCRIPTIONS OF PALENQUE By E. Forstemann If we turn to the southeast from the principal edifice, the so- called palace, on the long famous site of the ruins of Palenque, we find at a distance of about 100 meters three buildings which approxi- mately form the corners of an equilateral triangle whose sides are about 50 meters in length. Their position can be best understood from the sketch map of Holmes, xVrchieological Studies among the Ancient Cities of Mexico, part % page 208, plate xxiv, Chicago, 1897 ; also in Maudslay, volume 4, plate i. The three buildings are as follow : I. The Temple of the Cross, the inscription of which I have dis- cussed in Globus, volume 72, number 3, pages 45 to 49. II. The Temple of the Cross No. 2 (according to Holmes) or of the Foliated Cross (according to Maudslay). III. The Temple of the Sun. Each of these three buildings contains a large inscription of an en- tirely different character from the three tablets in the Temple of Inscriptions southwest of the palace, of which I have recently treated. The inscriptions of these three temples, on the other hand, are closely related, and to show this will be the theme of the present arti- cle. I shall designate them by the numerals I, IT, and III, as the temples themselves have been designated. Maudslay also says, vol- ume 4, page 30, in regard to Temple II : " The plan and arrangement of the building are almost precisely similar to those of the Temple of the Cross ". A cursory glance shows that these three inscriptions belong together. Their center is occupied by a large design, which in I and II is a figure resembling a cross, usually thought to be the tree of life, on which the sacred quetzal bird sits. In III the central figure rests on the shoulders of two crouching persons. The lower part of the figure consists here of a rectangle curiously adorned, from which two crossed lances project, the point of intersection being hidden by a fantastic <• Diei Inschriften von Paleuque, Globus, v. 76, n. 11, 1899. 583 584 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bitll. 28 face, which has been regarded as the symbol of the sun, hence the name of this inscription and of the temple. At the right and left of the central picture stands a priest, or, more correcth% a ]:)riest with his assistant, the latter smaller in size. In I and III the priest is on the right, in II on the left, and his assistant on the other side. The ]jriest in each of the three reliefs holds up his hands, also the assistant in III reaching toward him a form re- sembling a human being as a sacrifice. The assistants in I and II hold the hands downward and grasp an object unintelligible to me. Tablets of inscriptions on each side of the picture produce a sym- metric whole. In I each of these tablets has six columns, in II and III only four. I designate those in I by A to F and S to X, in II by A to D and L to O, in III by A to D and O to R. The intervening letters I employ for the smaller groups of glyphs, which are irregu- larly scattered about the central design. In I and II each vertical column consists of IT glyphs, in III of 16. Not only are the three inscriptions very much alike in their general arrangement, but they also correspond in many details. All have at the top, on the left, the superscription occurring on other Maya re- mains, which occupies the space of four glyphs. These superscrip- tions, indeed, dill'er in particulars which are still unexplained, but they all have the signs for 360 and 7,200 days, and must, therefore, denote something like " measure of time ". In fact, the three in- scriptions contain numerous periods and dates, which occur most fre- quently on inscription I, as I have stated in the article referred to. The superscription is followed by the eight glyphs A 3 to B 6, of which the several pairs undoubtedly indicate the periods of 144,000, 7,200, 360, and 20 days, and in II and III there are two heads of gods for each period, a fact which is not yet clearly understood. In I, in- stead of the second head (in column B) there is the mere glyph which elsewhere denotes the period in question. I am inclined to conclude from this that I is more recent than II and III. A 7 B 7 in I has a hand, cleverly intimating that counting is to be done on its fingers, and there is no head beside it. This at all events denotes the single day. Both II and III, on the other hand, have two heads each. Farther on the three inscriptions become more unlike, yet they still offer many points of comparison. Thus in almost the same place they have a pointing or an extended hand — in I, B 11 ; in II, B 10; in III, A 11. The various glyphs which have a Ben-Ik above them occur in these three inscriptions, as in all Maya literature. They do not therefore prove that a more or less close connection exists between these inscriptions, but they deserve very special investigation. That the familiar signs for the days and those of the months, rflRSTEMANNl THREE TlSrSCRIPTIONS OF PALEISTQTTE 585 which are more difficult to recognize, often occur in each one of the three inscriptions, I need not point out in detail, any more than that (lie day 17 (Ahau) is very prominent here, as in all Maya literature. But I must call attention to a sign («, figure 113), the understand- ing of which would be an important step in advance. With many variants, it has the form given above. We find this glyph in the following places : I : A 11, 17, C 17, D 2, E 7, 13, 17, S 7, 11, U 15, V 4, 9, W 13, 16, X 2, 7, 9. II : A 10, B 16, C 5. M 2. Ill : B 10, C 1, 10, Q 13. I believe the chief element of this sign to be a serpent from whose back arrow points project. This recalls the Aztec itzcoatl (" arrow snake "), as it is represented by Brasseur de Bourbourg (Histoire des nations civilisees du Mexique, volume 1, page xlv). This was also the name of the fourth king of Mexico. Can this sign have the mean- Fig. 113. Glyphs from the Palenque inscriptions. ing of combat or war ? I hesitate to refer it to the king who died in 1440. Quite as important as points of agreement in all three inscriptions are points of agreement in two of them. The most important of these is the repetition on one inscription of a calendar date occurring on another. This can not be accidental, for the Mayas had 18,980 different calendar dates, and each of the three inscriptions has only between 10 and 20. But it must be regarded as direct evidence of the dependence of one inscription on the other when in two inscriptions the same two calendar dates are consecutive and the actual interval between the two is even given in both cases. I will mention the fol- lowing instance first : I III Date IX 20 ; 6, 6 G 1 H 1 Q 6 R 6 and E F 1 Interval 537 L 7 and 8 Q 14 R 14 Date XIII 17; 18, 14 L 9 R 14, Q 15, and G 2 H 2 Thus in Til the two dates occur even twice, but their distance apart is stated only once. 586 BUREAU OF AMERICAIS]' ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 This interval, however, is really the correct one, but in III it is somewhat irregularly written. But 537=2X260+17, and there is, in fact, an interval of 17 days from the day IX 20 to XIII 17. 537 also equals 365+172, and from the sixth day of the sixth month to the eighteenth day of the fourteenth month there are in fact 172 days. In none of the three cases, however, does the interval follow directly after the first date; after G 1 H 1 there first follow 8 glyphs, after E 1 F 1 there are 4, and after Q 6 K 6, 14. But of these 14 signs the last 6 are doubtless to be disregarded ; they consist of a period, a date, and two more glyphs, which, it is true, are connected in a manner as yet obscure with the rest of the passage in which they are inserted, the detailed investigation of which does not belong here. In the three places, therefore, there are left 8, 4, and 8 glyphs, which are inserted respectively between the first date and the period of time. We can, therefore, readily conjecture that these three groups have a similar purport and similar signs, and where the signs differ that one sign has been substituted for another. But I must leave the investigation of this point, like so many others, to the future. I only add that the sign I 1 in inscription I is like the sign E 2 in inscription III; both stand at the beginning of the group of inserted glyphs; and in G 1, which is third in the group of the inserted signs of inscription III, we find a glyph with the nu- meral 7 as a prefix ; with this corresponds the fourth in inscription I, the obliterated glyph L 2, of which, however, enough remains to show that it likewise has the prefix 7. Thus we certainly have two indications that the inscriptions are of like import. But I can furnish a second example of the agreement of two dates and their interval in two inscriptions. It is the following : II III Datell 13; 14,8 LlMl 04P4 DatelllU; 15,8 M5L6 P708 It is plain that two successive days are here meant, therefore an interval need not be stated. Between the two dates inscription II has 7 glyphs, inscription III only 5. Among these the first two in both cases are identic, and this is also true of the third, which is a very evident sign that the two inscriptions are of kindred import. It should be remarked, further, that the date II 13 is repeated in inscription II, N 16, in the following very remarkable connection : Period 604 13N14 Date VIII 17; 8, 2 N 15 Date II 13 (no month given) N 16 But 604=2X260+84, or 365+239. From II 13 to VIII 17, how- ever, there arc 84 days (counting backward), hence the fourteenth day 'of the eighth month is to be supplied after N 16, as we found it above with the date II 13. fOrstbmann] THEEE IKSCETPTIOlSrS OF PALENQUE 587 It is verj^ remarkable that the inscriptions I and II correspond with regard to the following point : In I, on the right and on the left of the lower part of the cross, there are two glyphs, each combined with the numeral 5 ; in II the middle part presents the same signs, although less symmetrically. One glyph in each of these two series of four glyphs contains the sign of the fifteenth day, Ezanab; the others are indistinct. But in a period of 20 years, each period of 5 years begins with one of the days Lamat, Ben, Ezanab, and Akbal, and to this the glyphs seem to refer. The date VIII T ; 3, 17, is worthy of notice ; this occurs in I at O 1 and 2 ; in II it even occurs twice, N and O 5 and E 1 and 2. In reference to the prominence of the day 17 (Ahau), already men- tioned, it should be remembered that the beginning of Maya chro- nology is to be sought, as a rule, in the day IV 17 ; 8, 18, in the year 9 Ix, whilst sometimes the day I 17 ; 18, 17 in the year 3 Kan, which day is 2,200 days before the day first named, is also regarded as a starting point. In the last part of the Dresden manuscript the day VIII 17 seems to be important ; this day divides a tonalamatl, begin- ning with IV 17, in the ratio of 8 : 5, that is, in the ratio of the appar- ent Venus year to the solar year. If we examine our three inscrip- tions with respect to this day, we find the normal date IV 17 ; 8, 18 actually in I, D 3 and E 4, and in III, P 2 and O 3. The day I 17, but in a ditferent position in the year, appears in I, A 16, and m II, B 8 and D 14 ; the dav VIII 17 occurs in II, N 15. The day II 17, too, occurs in II, C 8; V 17, in I, U 10; XI 17, in II, C 13; XII 17, in III, Q 2 ; and XIII 17, in III, G 2. The other 19 days only occur singly. In my treatise mentioned above, I remarked, at the end, concerning inscription I, that in it these two glyphs (6, figure 113) occur nine times, apparently indissolubly united. The passages where they occur are F7E8, SlTl, T7S8, T15S 16, U 6 V 6, V 11, U 12, U 16 V 16, W 3 X 3, W 17 X 17. In II we find this combination only twice, O 2 N 3 and E 3 and 4, once also in III, namely, at M 2 N 2. They are even found in the Temple of Inscriptions (see Maudslay, plate lxii, T U 9) . With this abundance of examples, it is hoped that further light will soon break on the meaning of these glyphs. Inscriptions II and III, but not I, also correspond with regard to the preceding sign, c. We find it in II, C 9 and M 10 ; in III, P 13. It consists of a hpnd grasping an object in such a way that it is held between the thumb and four fingers. ^Vhen the separate places where it occurs are compared with each other, the object can not well be anything but a fish, and fish have a meaning of no slight importance in the manuscripts of Maya literature. Does this glyph refer directly to fishing ? In the next four examples we see an agree- 588 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull, 28 ment of inscriptions II and III with the Temple of Inscriptions, while on the other hand these glyphs are lacking in I. ■ The most important among them is a hand, of which the thumb and forefinger are plucking or picking or holding up some object (see d ande). Another of these two fig-ures occurs in inscription II, M 2 and O 8 ; in III, O 9 ; and in the Temple of Inscriptions (in Maudslay, plate 62), in D 2, H 1, and G 11. The second figure means, as the context shows, nothing else than the day IV 4, or IV Manik. I think that in my article on the Day Gods of the Mayas (Globus, volume 73, number 9) I have pointed out that the fourth day, the hand, and a hunting god belong together, but I do not know what the hand was doing in this connection. Now, the second of the above signs shows in two passages in the inscriptions of the Teiiiple of Inscriptions that it is hanging the snares in which the game— the same day is called in Aztec Mazatl (" deer, or roe ")— is to be caught, such snares as have become familiar to us as forming the subject of an entire section of Codex Troano-Cortesianus. We see a similar snare with a XIII in an inscription of the Palace of Palenque, in Maudslay, volume 4, plate 29. The following three glyphs have been met with already, in my article on the Inscriptions of the Temple, as parts of those groups which I believe should be regarded as formulas of prayers, but these can hardly be in question in inscriptions I, II, and III. The sign represented in / usually occupies the first place in the formulas of prayer and seems to be only a left fist. It occurs in II, E 7 and M 8, as well as in III, P 10. A second sign is the accompanying figure, g, resembling a chess- board, which is likewise familiar from the Temple of Inscriptions. The passages where it occurs are in II, O 10, in III, D 6 and P 6. When I first became familiar with these inscriptions none of the glyphs attracted my attention so much as the recumbent person often occurring in the Temple of Inscriptions (see h). This glyph occurs in Inscription II no less than four times: D 2, C 6, M 4, and N 10. In III it seems to be lacking, yet i\\Q question arises, whether the two crossed legs in B 11, i, which I have seen in no other passage, may not be meant for a recumbent human body viewed from below. Perhaps these figures are connected with the large pic- torial representations on the pillars of the Temple of Inscriptions (Maudslay, volume 4, plates 45, 46), where the priests bear in their arms a recumbent figure about the size of a child 4 years old. The agreement between inscriptions II and III is most pronounced in the two columns which stand directly at the right of the central pictorial representation. These are columns L and M in II and O and P in III. I will place side by side the glyphs that are exactly FOESTBMANN] THREE INSCRIPTIONS OF PALENQUE 589 alike, a few of which I have already discussed above, and inclose in parentheses the number of intervening signs that are unlike: II III LI 04 Ml P4 L2 5 (1) (1) L3 06 (4) (3) M5 P7 L6 08 M6 P8 II III (1) (1) M7 P9 L8 OlO MS P 10 (3) L9 O 12 M9 P12 LIO 13 MIO P13 Hence in each 20 glyphs 14 are alike, occurring in the same order of succession, and only 6 in each are unlike. But even of these M 2 proves to belong to P 5, possibly as a variant, as it has the same prefix. Many comparisons of other glyphs in these inscriptions might be made here, but enough has no doubt been said to stimulate further research. It is a remarkable fact that the glyphs of the individual gods do not seem to appear at all in these tablets as they have been pointed out to us by Schellhas. At most I believe that I have a clew to the two gods C and K, perhaps also to D and A ; but to follow up this clew now would lead me too far. All that I have communicated here doubtless gives the impression that I scarcely know how to answer the obvious question, AVhat does all this mean? that in the decipherment of the inscriptions, even far more than in that of the manuscripts, Ave are yet only at the very beginning. This is certainly to be regretted, especially on account of the progressive decay of the originals, but still more unfortunate is the lack of workers who will earnestly strive for the advancement of science in this department. Even the" Americanist congresses either regard Maya research as secondary, although it concerns itself directly with the highest mark attained by all aboriginal Indian culture, or they give it no consideration at all. So I feel that my position is an isolated one, and I foresee, besides, that my activity in this field of reseach will soon be terminated. Therefore let us hope that this communication, aside from its especial object, may be regarded as an invitation to cooperate with me. COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN THE FIELD OF MAYA ANTIQUITIES F. SCHELLHAS 591 CONTENTS Page Introduction 595 Written remains 597 Representations on manuscripts and inscriptions 599 The human form 599 Tatooing 600 Dress 601 General characteristics 601 Footgear 603 Dress and ornamentation of the leg 604 Arm ornaments 606 Dress of the lower part of the body 607 Dress of the upper part of tlie body 610 Neclvlaces, collars, and ear ornaments 613 Headdress 617 Utensils and kindred objects 620 Conclusions 621 7238— No. 28—05 38 598 COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN THE FIELD OF MAYA ANTIQUITIES « By p. Schelliias INTRODUCTION In Central America aboriginal civilization reached its highest development among the Maya races. Its remains offer material for the scientific reconstruction of this old and interesting domain of man's endeavor in the realms of thought and culture, and in the form and extent in which they now lie before us they are of three kinds : 1. The architectural remains, the temples and palaces, with repre- sentations in relief and inscriptions. 2. The Maya manuscripts. 3. The smaller antiquities, which have received a material accession in the Yucatan collection at the Berlin Museum of Ethnolog}^ As regards the value of these various kinds of antiquities to the investigator, it must above all be remembered that we are dealing here with a civilized people, whose earliest phases of intellectual activity and of thought had already found expression in a species of literature and a distinct stjde of art. Such an inquiry must be first directed to the most perfect and best developed phenomena. If we understand these, the interpretation of all subordinate and antecedent phenomena follows as a matter of course. I believe, therefore, that the chief stress should be laid upon deciphering the written charac- ters, and that the solution of all questions should be sought for there (see Die Mayahandschrift der Koniglichen Bibliothek in Dresden, in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, 1886).^ The literary productions contain the quintessence of the entire civilization ; they are the key to the comprehension of the whole. It has since been acknowledged in various quarters that the mode of deciphering that I suggested was " Vergleichende Studien anf dem Felde der Maya-AltertViiimer, Internationales Archiv fiir Ethnographic, v. 3, Berlin, 1890. ^ Also my Gottergestalten der Mayahandschriften, 2d ed., Berlin, 1904 ; translated into English in Papers of the Peabody Museum, v. 4, n. 1, 1904. 595 596 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 28 the true one, although the results could be but scanty at first. Valu- able contributions have been made by Seler, with the aid of rich material from cognate departments (Zeitschrift ftir Ethnologic, 1888). On the part of the American scholars, too, a gratifying suc- cess has been attained in this field (Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices, by Cyrus Thomas, Washington, 1888), and the amazing results which Professor Forstemann has won in the domain of the Maya calendar and chronology are not far removed from a complete solution. Having thus gained a firm footing, in contrast to the earlier fanci- ful attempts, and an important addition having been made to the material for investigation in the Yucatan collection of the Ethno- logic Museum at Berlin, we can now take a more comprehensive sur- vey of the whole field than was hitherto possible. The first question which presses upon us in such a comparative survey is in regard to the unity of the whole, the period and place of origin of the individual relics. The material must be carefully sifted and sorted before it can be studied. In this respect Americanist research is laboring under great disadvantages. In other fields ethnology col- lects its material among nations, who, though on the eve of entire absorption by European civilization, still live in a condition which makes a study of their organism possible. Among nations, like the Hindoos and Chinese, whose traditions are carefully fostered, and who still preserve a close connection with the peculiar creations of their past in the forms in which they have developed down through the ages to the present time, the study of the earliest periods of civilization is a comparatively easy matter. But in America ancient civilization breaks off abruptly and forever at the point where it fell a victim to a stronger power. No continuous development took place ; no tradition preserved what had already been acquired. The bearers of that more powerful civilization had no comprehension of humanity when it manifested itself in a manner so utterly alien to and remote from their own ; the tender care with which the remains of a peculiar, highly developed intellectual life are cherished in these days was wholly unknown to them. The origin of the little which still remains, therefore, is for the most part undetermined. Archeologic diffi- culties are also added to this difficulty of ethnologic investigation. A multifarious swarming of races prevailed in Central America: civilized nations roamed hither and thither; centers of civilization flourished and perished; numerous languages existed side by side, and were exchanged, changing and altered with marvelous rapidity. Without transcending the limits of science in fanciful suppositions, which are never more dangerous than in this domain, we may assume that many chapters of ancient human history have sunk into oblivion SCHBLLHAS] WRITTEN REMAIN'S 597 on Central American soil, and that many a civilized race, of which not the slightest memor}^ remains, existed upon that soil long before the conquest. Where there is no difficulty in determining the local origin of remains, as in the case of buildings and monuments, the obstacles in the way of an ethnologic and chronologic determination are often all the greater. Inductive inquiry into this ancient civilization must begin with an external comparison of the remains. In this way alone can we attempt to determine in how far they are of the same origin. We can pave the way to an accurate determination of the period and source of separate antiquities only by means of careful sifting and discrimination based on their external characteristics. WRITTEN REMAINS The written remains, to begin with these, show great uniformity. We may assert positively that all the written material from Central America proceeds from one and the same source: the characters are essentially the same in the inscriptions, in the manuscripts, and on the clay vessels and other lesser antiquities. There was but one mode of writing in Central America, which emanated from one center of civilization. The four manuscripts in particular are plainly of one and the same origin. They may readily be divided into two groups. The Troano and Cortesian codices are entirely similar, and are simpler and ruder. They are undoubtedly'' fragments of a single manuscript. The Dresden manuscript and Codex Peresianus, which also strongly resemble each other, are more elegant and artistic in text and pictorial representations. It is highly probable that all the manuscripts pertain to one and the same nation, but whether they belong to the same period " is very doubtful. The forms of the characters differ too much for us to ascribe the differences merely to the peculiarities of two writers. The presumption that Codex Troano-Cortesianus is the oldest lies near at hand, but it is contra- dicted by the fact that not only the representations but also the written characters in this manuscript are simpler, more conventional- ized in form, than in the Dresden and Peresianus codices. Gljqohic characters never become more complex with time; they rather be- come simplified; they become conventional figures, such as occur repeatedly ^n Codex Troano-Cortesianus (compare forms a and c. figure 114, from the Dresden codex, and h and d^ figure 114, from the Troano codex). » Professor Forstemann has devoted himself particularly to the question of the period of the Maya manuscripts (see his Commentare zur Dresdener Handschrift, Dresden, 1901 ; Zur Madrider Handschrift, Danzig, 1902 ; and Zur Pariser Handschrift, Danzig. 1903). 598 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 It is therefore difficult to settle the question. It is possible that the very skillful scribe of the Dresden manuscript took the more elaborate forms of the inscriptions for his models. We have already (Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1886, page 50) emphasized the fact that the forms of the outlines of the written characters show characteristic differences. In the Troano and Cor- tesian codices the form of the parallelogram prevails, /, while the Dresden and Peresian codices give preference to a peculiar ellipse, e. The inscriptions have more or less perfect circles or squares with rounded corners, g. Two isolated exceptions to the uniform similarity of the written characters may be mentioned. In Stephens's Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, on plate xiii, we have the back of one of those statues found in such large numbers at Copan covered with glyphics which consist of entire, singularly contorted S o ^o ^a ii-.ii:i0lii Fig. 114. Glyphs from the Dresden codex. human figures. We may, however, doubt whether this wholly iso- lated instance of such ideographic representation has the character of writing; it may possibly be intended to represent scenes from the myth of the deity in question. No less striking characters occur, however, on a small clay image in the Yucatan collection at the Berlin Museum of Ethnology. A short thickset tigure, with a huge head- dress, sits or stands on a bench-shaped pedestal covered with characters, h. They appear to be written characters, as is indicated by the inter- spersed numerals (an 8 and four times a 3) as is usual in Maya writing. Otherwise they show considerable divergence from the usual form of Maya glyphics and are wholly unintelligible. A con- jecture may, however, be hazarded. When numerals occur in Maya writino-, it is almost invariably in connection with calendric and astronomic dates. It is very probable that the clay figure in ques- tion represents a divinity of the calendar, and that the inscription RCHELLHAS] REPRESENTATIOlSr ON MANUSCRIPTS AND INSCRIPTIONS 599 has a mythologic calendric meaning («, figure 115, kin, " the sun "; 6, the same; c, the waning moon; f/, tlie increasing moon; 6, the name sign of the deity represented, similar to /, from the Dresden manu- script, also the sign for a calendar divinity). Besides this remarkable inscription, we also find in the Yucatan collection of the Berlin Museum of Ethnology two pottery vessels with glyphic characters, one in round, the other in square forms, just as in the different manuscripts. Almost all the characters on these vessels may be inclentified with characters in the manuscripts; but this unfortunately does not determine their meaning. While the written remains leave no room to doubt that they are all from one original source, a comparison of the pictorial representations in the manuscripts with those on the reliefs and on the objects com- posing the Yucatan collection shoAvs such startling differences that any attempt to explain them meets with the greatest difficulties, and a common origin is scarcely to be assumed, unless, indeed, the existing remains belong to widely differing periods of time. I I :i0 ?i? c d e f g Fig. 115. Glyphs from the Dresden codex. The representations of the human form with its dress, ornaments, weapons, etc., are especially well adapted to serve as objects for comparison. EEPRESENTATIONS ON MANUSCRIPTS AND INSCRIP- TIONS The Human Form The physical characteristics of the persons represented are in gen- eral always the same. We everywhere meet with the artificially deformed skull (compare Landa, Eelacion de las Cosas de Yucatan, chapter 30), the large hooked nose, and the protruding lips, all of which are evidently racial peculiarities of the peoples of the Maya region. So, too, that " los indios de Yucatan son bien dispuestos y altos " (Landa, chapter 20) is repeatedly confirmed by figures on the reliefs and by the clay images in the Yucatan collection. A beard, which, it is well known, the Mayas lacked, occurs in very rare in- stances and of scanty growth in the Dresden manuscript (for instance, on pages 7 above, 11 in the middle, and 27) and always in the case of a particular deity, the god D. It also occurs once in the Troano codex, on page 24 above. A figure with complete moustache and chin beard, of the form worn by the Spaniards at the time of the conquest, occurs in the Yucatan collection; nothing similar appears either on 600 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 28 the reliefs or in the manuscripts. There is nothing to favor the assumption that the figure represents a European. It shows quite the usual type seen in similar representations. Tattooing Tattooing was customary among the Mayas. Landa gives an account of it in chapter 22. We find but little in the manuscripts which we can positively regard as tattooing. As such we may cer- tainly consider the foregoing character, g, figure 115 (cimi, " death ") , on the cheek of the sitting figure from the Dresden codex, page 28, middle (priest of the death god), and perhaps the sign akbal ("night", "dark") on the forehead of the same figure (see, too, Dresden codex, page 5, middle), also the sign for the sun on the body of the figure (sun god) in the Dresden codex on page 15, above. It is hard to say whether the singular flourishes on the faces of many of the deities'^ represented are intended for tattooing or whether 5 d f Fig. 116. Tattooing and facial decoration. they are not more probably conventional symbolic accessories to the representation. A peculiarity of the manuscripts, which is especially noticeable in the written characters and which consists in indicating the jawbone with the teeth in human faces (especially in the case of the death god, but not in his alone) , recurs as tattooing on a figure in the Yucatan collection at the museum. The figure given on plate i of the Veroffentlichungen des Konigiichen, Museum fiir Volkerkunde, October, 1888, one of the finest pieces in the collection, on close exam- ination shows tattooing on the face, as restored in the accompanying cut, Z), figure 116. « It would lead us too far to go into particulars. We may mention the decorated eye (a, fig. 116), whicli occurs so often, also the face of the deity C, who is frequently represented in Codex Troano-Cortesianus, and the god F, the figure with the thicli black line on the face, Troano codex, p. 30, Ijelow, Codex Cortesianus, p. 42, etc. SCHELLHASJ DRESS 601 Compare with this the head of the death god so often represented in the manuscripts, for instance, on pages 15, 23, and elsewhere in the Dresden codex (see c), in wliich the lower jawbone with the teetli is likewise always seen, drawn very plainly; also the glyphs given above («, c, and d, figure 111). This tattooed jawbone with teeth was apparently meant to impart to the face a terrible aspect. A decided preference seems to have ex- isted for tattooing the vicinity of the mouth. The accompanying head (cZ, figure 116) occurs frequently in the manuscripts, for instance, in the Dresden codex, page 14, below, and in Codex Cortesianus, page 33, above. Viewed from the front it would give the mouth tattooing in e. We find quite similar faces in the Yucatan collection, where tattooing also occurs most frequently about the mouth (see ^, A, «, and k). The peculiar object occurring upon two figures in the Yucatan col- lection is also probably to be regarded as a kindred form of facial decoration. It is the facial ornament shown in the accompanying cut, I. We can hardly explain this object otherwise than as a chin orna- ment, possibly metallic, possibl}^ connected w^th the ear ornaments. It has, as a comparison shows, the closest resemblance to the drawings of tattooed jawbones here reproduced from the manuscripts, and has most probably the same meaning. There is much to be said against the supposition that it is a beard, particularly the fact that the rep- resentation of a beard on another figure in the collection, already mentioned, is wholly different and much more natural. There is no tattooing to be seen in the relief representations. This, however, is probably due to the rougher nature of those representa- tions, in which less attention is paid to details. The rudely executed Codex Troano-Cortesianus also has little of the sort. Dress generan characteristics Landa makes a few statements in regard to the dress of the ancient inhabitants of Yiicatan which may serve as a basis for comparative investigation. The bishop tells us in his Eelacion (chapter 20) : Their dress consisted of a girdle, of the width of a man's hand, which served them as breeches and hose (bragas y calgas), and which they bound about their loins several times, in such fashion that one end hung down in front, tJie other behind.o These ends were carefully wrought by the women and adorned with embroidery and feather work. Over this they wore large square mantles,* which they fastened on the shoulder, and on their feet sandals of hemp or tanned deerskin. They used no other clothing. " This is the same article ot' dress which the Aztecs cnlled maxtli. "Called zuyen according to Cogolludo, Historia de Yucatan. (302 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 In another place (chapter 5) Landa says, speaking of the ancient buildings : That all these buildings were erected by the same Indies who live there now « is plainly seen by the naked men portrayed on them in stone, whose privy parts are covered with broad girdles, which they call in their language ex.6 And we are told of the warriors that they went forth to war " clad in the skins of tigers and bears ". Concerning the dress of the w^omen, Landa says, after paying them a very flattering and, we hope, unbiased compliment (" son en general de mejor dispusicion que las espahiolas y mas grandes y bien hechas ") ," that it consisted merely of a skirt, which covered the body from the hips down, while in some parts of Yucatan still another article of dress was used, which covered the breast. A long, sacklike jacket, reaching to the hips and fastened there by a belt, was also worn by many. In chapter 3 he states further that the female divinities of the country were represented " vestidas de la cinta abaxo y cubiertos los pechos, como usan las indias ". Lastly, also a cover- ing is mentioned, which the women use when sleeping, and which " when they take journeys they commonly roll up and carry on their shoulders ". The meager accounts of other authors for the most part agree with the foregoing, for instance, CogoUudo in his Historia de Yucatan. Bancroft, The Native Eaces of the Pacific States, draAvs from recorded statements the conclusion that the dress of the various classes of the population did not differ greatly among the Mayas, save that, of course, the material used by persons of higher rank was finer. Warriors were, however, as already mentioned, provided with special articles of dress (skins), and the priests were also undoubt- edly distinguished by their dress from the " jorofanum vulgus ". Landa says, in his account of the Yucatec ceremony of infant baptism (chapter 26), that the officiating priest '' w^ore an overdress of red feathers, decorated with feathers of various colors, while larger feathers were pendent from it, and to the lower hem were attached long strips of cotton reaching to the ground. On his head he wore a sacerdotal cap of the same feather work and in his hand he had a kind of aspergill of wood, with elaborate carvings, upon which, in- stead of horsehair, rattlesnakes' tails were fastened ". One of these sprinklers is depicted in Codex Cortesianus, page 26, lower middle. A glance at the representations in the manuscripts, the reliefs, and the figures in the Yucatan collection is enough to show that, on the « This could not have been accepted as a fact beyond a doubt even at that time. How else could Landa have thought of bringing forward express testimony in its favor? "Ex in the Maya of to-day (according to Pio Perez) means "breeches". •^Moreover, other authors say the same; for instance, Cogolludo (Book IV, chap. C) and Herrera (Historia de las Indias Occidentales). SCHELLHAS] FOOT GEAR 603 one hand, the dress was far more varied and manifold, and that, on the other, Landa's description is not entirely accurate, nor do the remains correspond among themselves. Brasseur de Bourbourg's assertion : " Le vetement chez la plupart des America ins eta it immu- able " (Hist, des nat. civ., volume 3, page 647) is contradicted by the antiquities, Herrera's remark that " the Mayas dress like the Mex- icans " is not wholly accurate, and we can by no means draw the con- clusion from the remains, as Bancroft does, that the dress of people of various ranks among the Maya was very uniform. FOOT GEAR Let us begin with the foot gear. According to Landa the Mayas wore sandals. While these occur constantly in the Mexican manu- scripts, they are almost wholly wanting in the Maya manuscripts. Cogolludo (page 187) says, indeed, that the Maya mostly went bare- foot; however, if they used sandals at all we might expect to find them frequently on the persons represented in the manuscripts (priests, warriors, gods, etc.). CogoUudo's remark plainly refers to the daily custom of the common people. In the Dresden manuscript the feet are almost always bare and quite carefully drawn. There are but few ah c d e f Fig. 117. Representations of sandals, from Dresden codex and inscriptions. places where we find sandals (pages 26, 28, 46, 47, and 50). On pages 26 and 28 they have the form of a, figure 117; on pages 46, 47, and 50 that of h. This is the same form that this foot gear has in the Mexican manu- scripts (see r, Codex Telleriano-Eemensis, and d, Fejervary codex). On the other hand, not a single sandal occurs either in the Trqano codex or in Codex Cortesianus; all the feet are uncovered; yet san- dals are apparently quite common in the very badly preserved Codex Peresianus, usually in the form of h above. They are certainly far more frequent on the reliefs than in the Maya manuscripts, but here of an entirely different form (see e, bas-relief at Labphak, after Stephens, and /, drawing on a door at Chichen, after the same). These forms of foot gear occurring on Yucatec reliefs are, to all ap- pearances, not sandals, but complete shoes covering the entire foot, no mention of which is made by Spanish authors. Besides these, simple sandals also occur on the reliefs. In the figures of the Yucatan collection at the Berlin Museum the feet are, for the most part, -;o very slightly treated that it is not pos- 604 BUREAIJ OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 sible to tell whether they are clad in sandals. Some of them, how- ever, are evidently bare. The fine, lifelike figure of a priest copied in the Veroffentlichungen des Koniglichen Museum fiir Volkerkunde, October, 1888, plate x, wears distinctly executed sandals, of the form given in «, figure 118. We also find in the same collection a certain number of large clay feet with sandals, &, strongly resembling those given above taken from the Dresden manuscript. These feet do not seem to have been broken off larger figures, but to have an independ- ent purpose, one of religious symbolism. This view is confirmed by the circumstance that similar feet are given in the Troano codex, page 21, in a sacrificial scene, c. e f any me to Ixkanha, receiving in advance half of the pay agreed upon, the rest to be paid at Ixkanha. When we reached Ixkanha, the three Icaiche men voluntarily proposed that for a certain sum they should accompany me still farther to the railroad station, and that I should there pay them the whole amount. To this arrangement I agreed. The Indians of Icaiche and Ixkanha are compelled to have passports, and therefore my Icaiche men could not journey farther without the express permission of the Ixkanha authorities. As General Arana was absent, my guides had to transact their business with the commandant, the contract I have mentioned serving to prove their identity. After a while I was also summoned, and the com- mandant informed me through his interpreter that I had not fulfilled the contract, since the Icaiche Indians had not yet been paid. Al- though they did not in the least wish it, I nevertheless hastened to pay them, w^hile the commandant looked on attentively. He then 632 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 informed me that a new contract might now be made. He conferred with the Icaiche Indians, communicated their conditions to me through his interpreter, and when I declared myself satisfied with them, the clerk was instructed to draw up the contract and to sign it " in the name of General Arana ", upon which the Icaiche Indians, after the proceedings had lasted about an hour, received permission to accompany me farther. Although the whole affair was of no impor- tance whatever, I was glad to observe how much trouble the com- mandant took to protect against possible fraud the Indians who on their part did not in the least distrust me, and how quietly and straight to the point the whole transaction Avas conducted. The mis- trust of foreigners is very easily explained Avhen one knows how fre- quently the Indians are defrauded and cheated of their stipulated pay b}^ the half-breed element of the population. As to the character of the independent Mayas, I can make an almost wholly favorable report from my own experience. Having come from Honduras, where the indolent negro and half-breed population, spoiled by the too liberal laws, can often be kept only with difficulty to the fulfillment of engagements into which they have entered, I was particularly impressed by the reliableness of these Mayas, by the jjunctuality with which they fulfilled a promise once given, and by the fidelity which they showed to me on my journey. My Maya guides freely shared their hunting booty with me and the bearers who accompanied me from Guatemala. Everywhere, even in the most iso- lated hut, we found hospitable entertainment. Family life was peace- ful and quiet, wherever I had an opportunity to observe it, and although the Mayas are somcAvliat reserved and more silent than the tribes of Guatemala and Chiapas, they are by no means of a sullen disposition, but, on the contrary, very quick to appreciate a harmless jest. It is often said of the Mayas that they are honest in important matters, but that they readily steal trifles; but I have never had the least thing stolen from me during my travels in Maya territory. On the other hand, drunkenness is a prevailing vice; and I can believe the accusation of cruelty against the Mayas, the more readily as from my own observation I judge that a certain trait of cruelty is peculiar even to the mildest of the Central American Indians. The blood- thirsty crueltj^ and warlike readiness Avhich the Santa Cruz Indians in particular evince in their expeditions have made their name exceed- ingly feared, and have caused the generalh'- accepted report of their great numbers and invincible armies. This reputation and the slight commercial relations of the inde- pendent Mayas are j^robably the principal reasons why scientific trav- elers so seldom visit these regions and Avhy their topography and pecu- liar political conditions are so little known. Engineer Miller, the account of whose travels in the Proceedings of the Eoyal Geographical SAPPER] INDEPENDENT INDIAN STATES OF YUCATAN 633 Society, 1889, is nnfortiinately not accessible to me, was the first Euro- pean since the rebellion of 1847 to visit Chan Santa Cruz, the chief city of the eastern Mayas, and toward the end of 189?> tAvo Englishmen, Mr Strange and Mr Bradlej^, passed through the same village, at that time almost depopulated, on their way to see the chief of this tribe at his place of abode, the neighboring Chanquec* I could ascer- tain even less concerning southern Yucatan than concerning the Santa Cruz territory when at the beginning of the year 1894 I in- tended to advance through that region to the civilized northern por- tion of the peninsula. Orange Walk was the first place where I could obtain fairl}^ accurate information regarding the route to be followed. Unfortunately, 1 am not permitted in this article to use my itinerary maps, and therefore am restricted to an approximate location of places. As the basis of my sketch map I have used the " Map of the Penin- sula of Yucatan, based mainly on the Mapa. de la Peninsula de Yuca- tan of 1878, compiled by Joachim Hiibbe and Andres Aznar Perez, and revised and enlarged by C. Hermann Berendt ", given by Dr A. Woeikof in Petermanns Mitteilungen, 1879, plate ii. From this map I have copied without change the comparatively well-known northern and western part of the peninsula, but have omitted the details, be- cause the latter, based merely on hearsay, are for the most part very unreliable. On the other hand, I have added the railroads. I have given the location of the ruins, as far as they are known to me, owing to the great interest attached particularly to those of Yucatan. I have been able to make some not unessential corrections in regard to the south and east of the peninsula. At Icaiche, where Berendt's map gives a lake, there is no large permanent body of water. According to the information which I received, the Aguada of Hola- uolpech is only about 150 to 200 meters across. The connected lakes of Chonil and Chacanbacab, with a width of about half a legua, are together 2 leguas in length. The Laguna Corriente and the lake of Olchem are each 4 leguas in length. I have inserted the salt lake of Chichankanab in accordance with the verbal statements of Mr E. Thompson, of Merida, who has recentl}'^ measured it. The largest of the three narrow water basins, probably connected at high water, is 5f leguas in length. As the interior of Yucatan is very scantily " The two Englishmen had gone there as envoys to quiet the Santa Crnz Indians, who had been aroused hy political news recently received, namely, that the British Government had concluded a boundary treaty with the Mexican Government on July 8, 1893, in which, among other things, the English bound themselves to prohibit tlie selling of arms and ammunition to the independent Mayas. This stipulation aroused such dissatisfaction among the Santa Cruz Indians that a j-aid on Corozal was seriously feared. However, a large part of the Mexican people claim the northern section of British Honduras, includ- ing Belize itself, as Mexican territory, and on this account condemned the boundary agreement ; hence the Mexican Senate, in deference to public opinion, refused to ratify the treaty. 634 BUEEAU OF AMERTCAK ETHi^OLOGY [bull. 28 populated and many settlements were forsaken or destroyed in conse- quence of the rebellion and the war following upon it, many villages and roads no longer exist which, as a ride, are still marked on the maps. According to my information and experience, only the fol- lowing important roads are still extant in the southern and eastern parts of Yucatan: (1) The road from Peten to Yucatan, which divides into two branches at Concepcion; one branch going by way of Convuas to Champoton, the other by way of San Antonio and Tubusil to Campeche; both can be traversed on horseback. (2) From Icaiche, which can be reached from Belize either by way of Orange Walk and Corosalito, or by way of El Cayo and Caxuvinic, there is a road over Ilalatun to Ixkanha, which is little traveled and can be used only by pedestrians and beasts of burden. The road which once led from Icaiche over Xaibe to San Antonio is now overgrown. (3) A bridle path leads from Orange Walk, by way of Santa Cruz, on the Kio Hondo, to Ixkanha. From there a direct road leads over Xul to the railroad station Oxkiitzcab and another runs by way of Chun- chintok to Iturbide or to Tzibalchen and Campeche. (4) A bridle path leads from Bacalar to Petcacab, and thence through populated territory, by way of Chunox, to Santa Cruz la Grande and Chanquec. Foot paths, but seldom used, lead from the district of Santa Cruz to the neighboring inhabited regions. The topography of the peninsula of Yucatan, apart from that of the seacoast, is still very defective, and therefore I hope that the modest, approximate corrections presented by my sketch map, which is intended only for general orientation, will not be deemed quite without value. TWO VASES FROM CHAMA BY _E. P. DIESELDOPtFF, EDXJARX) SELER, AND E. FORSTEMAlSriSr 635 CONTENTS Page A pottery vase with figure painting, from a grave in Chama, by E. P. Dies- eldorff, witti remarlvs by Doctor Sctiellhas 639 The vase of Chama,' by E. I^orstemann 647 The vase of Chama, by Eduard Seler 651 A clay vessel with a picture of a vampire-headed deity, by E. P. Dieseldorff. 665 637 A POTTERY YASE WITH FIGURE PAINTING, FROM A GRAYE IN CHAMA'^ By E. p. Dieseldorfe A notable discovery has recently been made in the Chama valley, known to us through Verhandlimgen der Gesellschaft fiir Anthro- pologie for 1893, pages 375 and 548. Tn the excavation of the north- Avestern temple mound of the upper plaza on the left bank of the Salta river a grave formed of stones was discovered, nearly 8 feet below the surface, containing several pottery vessels, the most im- portant of which I borrowed for a short time in order to make the accompanying drawing (plate xlviii). The original is now in the United States, where it probably figures as one of the chief ornaments of some drawing-room. When I first began my excavations in Chama, in 1892, I began to explore the hill in question, but Avas forced to abandon Avork because the OAvner forbade further search, in the belief that the articles found Avere of great money value. I observed then that, just as in the northern mound of the lower plaza (described in Verhandlungen, 1893, page 376), about 3 feet beloAV the surface there Avas a layer of resin about 6 feet broad and one-half of a foot thick, in Avhich a quantity of small broken sacri- ficial plates Avere mingled Avith bits of burnt stone beads and polished disks of iron pyrites, which I recognized as the remains of a burnt offering to the god of the north. Unfortunately, no notes Avere taken at the time of the discovery of the grave, but I heard that various pieces of jadeite Avere found among the pots, but no remains of bones, Avhich is explained by the fact that the tomb had partially fallen into ruins. The pottery vase is cylindric ; its height is 23.5 centimeters, and its diameter at the top and at the bottom is 14.8 centimeters, while the sides are 4 millimeters and the bottom 5 millimeters thick. In the « Ein bemaltes Thongefiiss mit figiirlichen Darstellongen, aus einem Grabe von Chamii, VerliaDdlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fiir Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte, pp. 372 and following, published in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, 1894, pt. v. 639 640 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 25 colors used, in j^olish and border decoration, it corresponds to the vases described in Verhandlungen, 1893, page 548, except that the ground is white. It is well preserved, and does not seem to have been used before burial. This time, however, the picture is essentially different. Thus far we have only met with paintings where one figure aj)pears twice on the same pot, w^ith slight variations ; on this vase, on the contrary, we have a group of seven persons taking part in a common action. This is no conventional design, but a painting which possesses life and shows an amazing degree of artistic skill. It seems to represent some religious ceremony which was celebrated at the completion of a cer^ tain still undetermined period of time, and at which human sacrifice was performed. It ought to be possible, however, to determine this period, since the glyph referring to it occurs on the monuments of Palenque and Copan. Unfortunately, it has not thus far been pos- sible to collect sufficient accurate material for such comparisons, and yet it is of the utmost importance for the decipherment of the glyphs that the inscriptions on stone should be made accessible to all. The only student who has made this his life task is the distinguished Englishman, Mr A. P. Maudslay, who for many years has studied the ruins and collected extensive material, which he is gradually publishing in his work, Biologia Centrali-Americana, issued in London. Thus far four volumes have appeared, which treat of Copan and Quirigua, and which should be consulted by all who are inter- ested in Maya investigation. Science owes Mr Maudslay a debt of gratitude for his generous labors, to which he is devoting much care and expense. It is to be hoped that others may soon follow who will share in these researches, but wealthy institutions and govern- ments are particularly called upon to undertake this work. In Germany we possess the most valuable Maya manuscript, and our scholars have taken the most active part in deciphering it; but, on the other hand, almost nothing has been done on the part of Germany toward collecting fresh material and promoting researches which give such rich returns when conducted on the spot. The British Museum, on the contrary, as soon as space can be found will arrange a Maya department in which the plaster casts prepared hj Mr Maudslay are to be placed, and the Peabody Museum has leased the ruins of Copan for eight jears more and has already begun exca- vations, the results of which will, it is hoped, very soon be published. Meanwhile some of the ruins, especially Quirigua, past which the new Guatemalan railroad is to be carried, will soon be completeh^ destroyed. If Germany desires to take part in these researches a beginning must be made at once. I will now proceed to a description of the picture. I will designate the Indian standing in the left-hand corner by a, the next by b, and DiESELDOKFF] POTTERY VASE WITH FIGURE PAINTING 641 SO on. An elderl}^ Indian, who has been chosen for the sacrifice, kneels in the center; a black personage of rank advances toward him from the right, holding a lance and apparentl}^ demanding his life with bloodthirsty vengeance, while another stands on the left, evi- dently trying to pacify his opposite neighbor. Abont this main group stand four Indians who take no active part in the proceedings, and seem more like subordinates, upon whom the execution of the sacri- fice devolves. Each of them has a strongly marked type of face, of which I have found examples among the Kekchi Indians showing an almost perfect resemblance. From the diversity of headdress, ornament, and clothing we are justified in supposing that the char- acters represented filled different offices. It is probable that the Indian advancing from the right held the office of high priest, the one opposite him that of chilan, " soothsayer ", and that the other four were the Chacs, who were chosen by the priests and people in the month Pop from among the old men of rank to assist at sacrifices and religious ceremonies (see Landa, Relacion, pages 146, 160, and 166). The kneeling figure, which I have designated by e, holds a staff, which is either the token of his rank, like the short thick staff that the stewards of the caciques of Mayapan used to carry (see Landa, page 40), or was used to ignite fires, as in the pictures of the codices. On his arms and legs appears, painted or tattooed, the design of the woven mat, which I cail the pop character, and to which I shall recur later. His right hand is held over the left shoulder so that it is not visible, though it seems to hold a white flower. He has no head cov- ering or ornament. The wrinkles on his face and his black-rimmed eyes characterize him as an old man. His mien is rather that of fear than of calm submission to his fate, such as Indians usually show. The chief priest, /, advancing from the right, is painted black and has in his outstretched right hand a gala lance, with a flint point and rattles, the shaft of which reaches to the ground. In his left hand he holds a painted fanlike object, Avhich I recognize as the soplador woven of palm leaves, used in every household in this country to kindle the fire, and which I do not think was ever used for fanning, a custom unknown among the Indians. A jaguar skin with head and forepaAvs hangs from his shoulders and seems to be fastened to a white article of attire on the breast, something like a shirt front. The under side of tlie animal skin is visible below the left arm and has a jagged edge produced in drying, the fresh skin being stretched on the ground with wooden pegs. A black stick protrudes from his neck, which I can not explain. Wrists and ankles are swathed in colored fabrics, also the left leg above the knee. The ex appears between the feet. The face is covered by a long beard, and there is a white rim about the mouth, such as we find in the black male monkey (batz, in Maya), and it is therefore probable that he 7238— No. 28—05 41 642 ■ BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 wears a monkey mask, like the priest in the Dresden codex, pages 25 to 28, who appears with an animal mask at the ceremony of the new year. To the left of the kneeling figure stands the figure fZ, painted black, holding in its right hand a two-lashed scourge, while the left is raised apjoeasingly. The orbit of the eye, the ear, and the lower part of the face are painted yellow. A checkered, pointed cap, such as the chief priests usuallj^ wore, is bound on the back of his head. An ex of elaborate design hangs down before and behind. The black painting of figures / and d may possibly have some connection with the thirteen days' fast which is observed at the end of the year, during which it was the custom of the Mayas to paint their bodies with lampblack (see I>anda, pages 278 and 280), or the persons repre- sented may be the priests of black gods. The short but corpulent figure c that follows holds a soplador in his right hand. The face is distinguished by an aquiline nose and droop- ing lower lip and the black ring about the eye already noted in figure e, which I had also noticed in a statue at Copan. The head is bound with a strip of jaguar skin, from which the hair protrudes in rays. Below the ear and on the necklace hangs a round, black ball, which also appears on the shoulder of figure d^ and looks almost like a blot, but undoubtedly has a meaning. Figure h has the same sort of staif in his hand as the kneeling figure. The face is dark-colored, and the headdress similar to that just described, save that the hair is worn in tufts. On the breast, attached to a neck chain, rests a shield bearing the pop character, with an edge of sharp points. One end of the chain seems to be held by the man behind, as if he were holding him fast by it, an idea which is probably not convej^ed intentionally. Figure a is marked' by a huge headdress resembling a beehive, from which two feather fans project sidewise. The long, straight hair hangs down from the back of the head. The left hand grasps a bone partly painted red, and the right hand carries a soplador. The wrists and ankles are swathed. A white shield lies on the breast. Figure g^ standing in the right-hand corner, in many points resembles the one just described. He also holds a bone in his left hand, which is vari- ously applied as head ornament and ear peg. In his right hand, which is thrown over the shoulder, he grasps a three-lashed scourge, and under his arm is a soplador. Bright-colored fabrics are bound around his ankles and above the knee. The headband is narrow and yellow, and the eje is surrounded by a black ring with rays. There is a monstrous wart on the nose, which was probably con- sidered beautiful, for we note the same excresences in figures h and 16 5 S 11 1-t 17 9 15 18 19 20 21 23 22 The last one, 23, is explained by Forstemann as a numeric expres- sion. It does, indeed, contain the numeral 8 and the element which in the Dresden manuscript and upon the Copan stek> denotes the period of 3G0 days, combined, it is true, with another element as yet unknown. Forstemann conjectures that the entire glyph is meant to indicate a period of 8 solar years. Glyph 12 may have a similar special meaning. It may possibly, in so far as the indistinct drawing admits of any recognition, denote the uinal Xul. The other glyphs, the groups 1, 2, 3 ; 4, 5, 6 ; 7, 8, 9 ; 10, 11; 20, 21, 22; 13, 14, 15; 16, 17, 18, 19, would belong, respec- tively, to figures a, h, c, d, e,./, and g, beside which they stand. As to the significance of all these, only vague conjectures can be made. The special reference to food which Forstemann accepts for 6 and 14 is more than questionable. The reference to the fire drill which he conjectures for 4, 17, 21 may stand, without justifying th- conclusions which he draws from the fact. From the entire order of arrangement I should conjecture that in each case the glyphs stated the title and name of the person in question; but, as we know nothing about either the one or the other, speculations concerning them al^e of little value. I am somewhat in sympathy with Diesel- dorff's definition of 1 and 10 as Ah-pop. In that case we should have a curiouslv reduced foi-m of Pop. Should'it be correct that 12 denotes the uinal Xul and 23 the period of 8 solar years, I might develop a theory which would accord very well with Forstemann*s fundamental assumption, although, of course, the interpretation of the principal conception moves along Avholly different lines. From the sixteenth day of uinal Xul to the first day of uinal Yaxkin, inclusive, the departure of Cukulcan was celebrated at Mani in Yucatan, and it was believed that during those days Cu- kulcan descended from heaven to receive gifts and homage in person. Xow, Cukulcan is Quetzalcoatl, and Quetzalcoatl is identified with Venus, and in /, plate xlviii, of our vase painting, we are reminded of Quetzalcoatl by the form of the beard. If the two glyphs, therefore, correspond to the periods indicated above, we should have here the revolution of Venus and the feast held in honor of the god who is identified with Venus, Quetzalcoatl-Ceacatl, the morning star, who appears and begins his course anew. This would then be the fundamental idea of our vase painting. The above would be my explanation if I had only / and the two 662 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 clyphs in question to take into consideration, and if I could be convinced of the exclusively astronomic purport of the manuscripts and of the myths of the Central Americans. But I think that all the personages, including /, exhibit so much realism and local color that we can not rest content with mere astronomy. This realism is like- Avise fully appreciated by Mr Forstemann. A certain analogy existing between the first person in the picture given above in rt, figure 133, and /, plate xlviii, of the vase picture, might admit of another explanation. The Maya races in Guatemala, as 1 have already shown in an earlier essay," were well acquainted with the Toltecs, the Yaqui-Vinak, and their god Quetzalcoatl. In the Popol Vuh the creative god is identified with Gucumatz, that is, Quetzalcoatl, and in one place he is actually called Ah-Toltecat, the Toltec. According to the traditions of the Guatemala tribes, as well as those of the Mayas of Yucatan, the ancestors of their races came from Tula, the city of the Toltecs. In a most valuable treatise upon the Toltec question Doctor Stoll '^ calls attention to the great part Avhich traveling Nahuatl merchants and the great hordes of Nahuatl nationality which crowded into these southern regions as traders and colonists must doubtless have played in Central America. Is it not possible that the painting on our vase illustrates the appear- ance of one of these tribal hordes, represented by their deity, in the midst of the native Maya population? There is undoubtedl}^ a cer- tain contrast between the figures on the right and those on the left of the picture. The arrangement and bearing of the different figures in the tAvo groups would seem entirely natural if we accept such a solution. Unfortunately, there is very little prospect of ever attain- ing positive knowledge in regard to questions of this sort. It is principally in Guatemala that we are very insufficiently or not -at all informed respecting the local ti-aditions and myths of the various tribes. Priests sent to Guatemala were forbidden b}?^ an absurd decree to teach Christianity to the Indians in their own language. Hence the priests took no interest in the language or in the traditions of the natives, and the later discovery of such interesting documents as the Popol Vuh can not wholly supply the absolute want of a medium of interpretation. Unfortunately, a Sahagun did not arise for the ancient races of Central America. In concluding these remarks I will add a few observations concern- ing the other vessels from Chama which Mr Dieseldorff has de- scribed. It is particularly worthy of notice that at least four of the vessels — the one first discussed, the one with the bat god (Verhand- lungen, 1894, plate xiii) , and the two vessels shown in plate xvi, Ver- « Verhandlungen, 1804, p. 578. ^ Guatemala. Reisen unci Scliilderungen aus den Jahren, 1878-1883, Leipzig, 1886, pp. 408 to 412. SELElil THE VASE OP CHAMA 663 hancllungen, 1893 — are proved by the style of the figures and glyphs, and especially by the pattern of decoration, to be allied to each other and evidently to have been made in the same place. The o-lyphs generally agree with the forms with which Ave are familiar in the Maya manuscripts and on the reliefs of Copan and Palenque without enabling us to connect them more closely Avith any one manuscript or relief. With regard to the figures, the god in the snail shell, occurring on two vessels, may at once be identified with the god who is regent of 7 Ahau in the Perez codex. I sent a drawing of this god to Mr Dieseldortf, which is reproduced in his first essay .'' I would, however, remark that this god does not hold a skull in iiis hand, but the head of the god with the proliferous nose, the god of increase and abundant Avater, whom I think I can identify with Ah Bolon Tzacab. The god in the snail shell is the third in the series of 20 deities in the Dresden manuscript He has no direct connection Avith the old god, D of Schellhas's nomenclature. This puts an end to the speculations in regard to the moon and the north. The relations of this old god to the moon are at least very doubtful. A youthful god is represented on one of the tAvo vessels, Avhich are reproduced in volume 25 of the Verhandlungen, plate xvi. The glyphs betAveen the two pictures of the god in the upper half of the decorated surface may be of value in determining this deity. These consist of two rectangles, each containing tAAO day signs. The first one, whch I haA^e reproduced in c, figure 134, undoubtedly contains the signs ben and ix." In the other, d, the loAver character is with equal certainty meant for Caban, Avhile the upper one is some- what more uncertain, but in my opinion it may, Avith tolerable prob- ability stand for Cib. Noav, as Ben and Ix both precede the charac- ter Men, while Cib, and Caban are the day signs immediately folloAV- ing it, it seems probable that the picture of the god betAveen the Iavo rectangles containing the glyphs is meant to represent or to express the sign Men, Avhich is missing between the tAvo pairs of day signs, as being a deity in some manner associated Avith it. Tavo rectangles containing glyphs occur on the other vessel, that represented in plate xvi, Avhich is decorated with the figure of the god ' in the snail shell. One rectangle, /, figure 134, contains the same « Verhandlungen, 1893, p. 379, fig. 9. •' Ml- DieseMoi-Q; originally read these ben-imix, or, with reference to the three dots m the second sign, Imox. After receiving a communication from me he accepted my reading, p 376 of the Verhandlungen for 1894. But when he says there : " Ix, more correctly written hix (' iaguar')", I must observe that the Maya Ix corresponds to Iz or Itz of the Guatemalan tongue, and the latter means ■' magic ", or " magician ". In the latter sense it may take the prefix ah, the sign of the masculine gender, which gives us ah-itz, and in Maya, hix. But the latter is by no means necessary, and indeed we more fre- quently find the Maya character written Ix and Hix. The day sign Yiz, Ix, or Ah-ltz, IIix corresponds in Pipil to the character Teyolloquani ("the magician"). The latter word was undoubtedly allied in the old Indian conception to tequani, another word for Ocelotl ("jaguar"), the Mexican name for this day sign. 664 BUEEAU OF AMERTCAISr ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 28 signs Ben and Tx in reverse order. In the other, e, I think I recognize without a doubt the day sign Oc. I am still doubtful about the upper character. But if we could as- sume that the same connection between the picture and the glyphs exists here that I have just proved to exist on the other vessel, we might read the upper character in e as Chuen, and we should then have in d Oc and Chuen, the two signs preceding Eb, in /, Ben and Ix, the two signs following Eb, and could therefore assume that the deity in tlie snail shell, who is twice repeated upon this vessel, is intended to represent or to express the day sign Eb. In that case we should have a very peculiar, hitherto unknown, form of the sign Chuen to deal- with. A third god is the bat god, who is also represented on two of the Dieseldorff vases. In an earlier article '^ I assembled wdiat informa- tion I had at hand regarding this deity and pointed out that special veneration was paid to it in Guatemala, among other places. I had at that time only very cursorily seen the glyphs accompanying the pic- ture of the bat god on the Dieseldorff vase. Opportunity now being- afforded by the publication of the drawing to study them carefully, I still consider the same reserve to be wise on my part which Mr Diesel- dorff maintains on his in regard to their interpretation. I will only remark that the picture of the bat, which is obvious in the glyph of the uinal Zotz and in the other glyphs reproduced there, does not appear here. If we designate the gh^phs, as in plate xiii, volume 26 of the Verhandlinigen, by the numbers 1 to 6 from above downward, then glyph 1 appears to me to be the principal one. It contains the cloud masses of the cauac sign, which also occur everj^.vhere on the head of the bat in the glyphs on the Copan stela}.'' The second glyph may contain the skidl of the character Cimi. The third seems allied to the sixth, and both seem to contain the character Kan. The fifth contains the character Imix, together with another element, which, combined with Imix, occurs in another glyph on page 61 of the Dres- den manuscript. But I can offer no suggestion as to the actual mean- ■ ing of all these glyphs. Mr Dieseldorff' has rendered to science a conspicuous service by his careful and expert excavations and by the publication of their results. Had there been the same careful and thorougli researches made in many different localities of Mexico and Central America, we might decide with much more certainty the problems which now occupy us, and we should more clearly comprehend the early history of these interesting ancient races. May Mr Dieseldorff' be enabled to continue his investigations and may equally active and equally successful workers come forward in other ])laces to increase our Icnowledge. « Verhnndlungen, v. 2G, 1894, pp. 577 and following. " Verhandlungen, v. 2G, 1894, pp. 583, 584. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 28, PLATE XLIX DESIGN ON A VASE FROM CHAMA A CLAY YESSEL WITH A PK^TURE OE A YAM- PIRE-HEADED DEITY' By E. p. Dieseldorff The accompanying drawing of the vampire god (plate xlix) occurs on a chiy vessel Avhich I found buried with a dead person on the sum- mit of a temple mound in Chama, together with urn 2, discussed in Verhandlungen, 1893, page 549, where I described the spot where it was found. The pot is cylinclric in form, about 55 centimeters in circumfer- ence, measured around the outer edge, and 15 centimeters in height. It was broken into many pieces, and the polish and painting are greatly damaged. It is to be noted that reddish black, droplike spots occur all over the pot, as if some resinous fluid had been sprin- kled over it with a brush. I have also observed similar spots on pots from the Zacapa region. In order to form a characteristic image of the vampire god we nuist direct our attention to his dress and to similar representations on the monuments of ancient Ma^^a civilization. The first thing that strikes us is that he wears the collar of the death god, showing the three round balls, which also appear on the cloaklike wings, and which Dr Eduard Seler, no doubt correctly, assumes to be human eyes. That an ornament of this kind should be given to the death god is entirely in keeping with the fact that the extinction of the eyesight in approaching dissolution is one of the most striking phenomena of death. In the temple at Copan which bounds the western court on the north, on the east side of the inner entrance, was the representation of a battle between the vampire god and Cukulcan, the god of light, which I am inclined to regard as morning twilight, the struggle between darkness and light. On the basis of this, supported by the fact that the vampire leaves his hiding place at tAvi light, I regard " Ein Thongeniss mit Dai'stellung einer vampyi'kopfigen Gottheit, Verhc-iudlungen dei- Berlinei- Gesellschaft flir Anthi-opologie, ELhnologie, und Urgeschichte, pp. 576-577, pub- lished in Zeitsclirift fur Ethnologic, 1894, pt. 6. 665 ijQQ BUREAU OF AMERTCAlSr ETHNOLOGY [boll. 28 the bands of breath that shoot from his mouth as a symbol of sunset and dawn. It seems to me certain that this does not mean wind, with which force of nature this god has no connection, although I know that his glyph often occurs with Ben-Ik, which combination, however, refers to all birds, beasts, and gods whose life and dwelling is sup- posed to be the air. We may therefore regard the vampire god as the servant of death, the ruler of twilight. The god Cukulcan, ruler of air and light, and therefore of life, is represented in almost all the temple pictures and on the monoliths of Copan, sometimes with a human body, more frequently as a bird, also as a double snake. I will not at present enter more deeply into the reasons which have led me to this decision because the subject deserves treatment in a special paper. The glyphs belonging to the picture on this vessel afford us no solution, since we do not understand them ; the central glj^phs of plate a probably denotes the vampire god, since the dots appearing on the forehead remind us of the representations at Copan, where they occur in a similar manner. The central glyph of plate h occurs in the Dresden codex, page 61, at the bottom. I do not think that this clay vessel was prepared especially for burial, as I supposed in regard to the urns with a melon-shaped base. It seems to me rather to have served for religious purposes. NOTES AND EMENDATIONS BY DR EDUARD SELER Owing to the absence of Doctor Seler on an expedition to Mexico and Central America during the period in which his papers were going tlirough the joress, tlie proofs conld not be placed in his hands. On his return to Berlin, however, he kindly consented to prepare the accompanying notes, in which are incorporated such corrections and additions as he deemed most important : 1 (page 22, line 4). My supposition that tlie Jesuit astronomer Don Carlos Siguenza y Gongora was the first who brought up the theory of an intercalation of thirteen days at the end of each period of fifty-two years was an erroneous one. The same opinion had been stated before him by Jacinto de la Serna, the author of Manual de Ministros de Indios, who, too, relied on former authorities.. It is quite probable that these were the same as those consulted by Siguenza. Nevertheless I have not been able to find a trace of a similar explanation from the contemporaries of Father Sahagun and his immediate successors. 2 (page 34, line 3 from the bottom). I have lately changed my opinion in regard to the correspondence of colors and directions. I believe now that the correspondence given by Landa — that is to say, that yellow, red, white, and black represent, respectively, south, east, north, and west — was the generally accepted one, but that Landa did not connect in the right way the colors and their directions with the different years. He ascribed the colors and the direc- tions to the years next following their respective years, because in the last five days of a certain year the u-uayeyab, or evil demon, of this year was taken to the plaza of the village, and, after certain performances had taken place over him, was thrown out of the village in the dii'ection appropriated to the new year. Thus, for instance, the yellow demon of the south was set up in the last five days of the Cauac, or southern, years, and thrown out of the village in the direction east, appropriated to the new year, viz, the Kan j^ear. The pages SOb and 29b, 31d and 30d of the Troano codex, adduced by me in support of the theory I presented in my former paper, admit a different explanation. On the other hand, the very name given by Landa as designating the Ekel Bacab, or black Bacab — Hozan ek — is a proof that this Bacab and his coior are to be ascribed, as is done by Landa, to the western sky ; for Hozan ek is the name of the evening star. 3 (page 35, line 6). In the later edition of this paper, reprinted in the first volume of my Gesammelte . Abhandlungen zur amerikanischen Sprach- und Alterthumskunde, page 530, and in another paper published in the same volume, pages, 367 to 389, I pointed out that not only the two signs of north and south, represented on pages 26 and 28 of the Dresden codex, but the whole lower parts, of these two pages, with the signs of north and south they contain, must be changed. ^ 667 668 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 28 4 (page 36, line 14 from the bottom). The name, correctly spelled Ah bolon tz'acab, occurs in corresponding places in the different books of the Chilam Balam. 5 (page 55, line G). Brinton, in his Native Calendar, drew attention to the fact that the name of this sign with the Yucatecs, as well as with the different Guatemalan tribes, means " thunder storm ", " thunder and lightning ". In the Zapotec language " thunder and lightning " are rendered bj' the term laha quiepaa que^a quiepaa, " flre on the sky, water on the sky ", and the verb " it thunders " is given by ti api nica, ti api laa, " water conies down, fire comes down ". It may be that this very api, " to come down ", is to be supposed to be contained in the Zapotec name of the nineteenth day sign. Ape, Appe, Aape, Gappe. The turtle may be identified with the cloud or the thunder storm, because the carapace of the turtle was generally used as a drum. The thunder is the " big drum of the heavens." 6 (pages 68, line 10 from the bottom, and 117, line 5 from the bottom). As to the region to which the Vienna manuscript and the allied codices belong I have changed my opinion. I believe now that they originated in the territo- ries bordering the Gulf coast, inhabited by the people that are designated in the Aztec manuscript of Father Sahagun as Olmeca Uixtotin Mixteca. 7 (pages 95, line 2, and 112, line 3 from the bottom). The comparison with the so-called relief tiles of Chiapas, preserved in the National Museum in the City of Mexico, ought not to be taken into consideration, as these relief tiles seem to be a fraud. 8 (pages 157, line 27). The element generally explained as giving the idea xocoyotl, "the younger", is tiae yacaxiuitl, "blue (or turquoise) nose orna- ment ", the particular badge of the soul of the dead warrior, as it is represented, for example, by the mummy bundle built up at the time of the feast Tititl. ( See Codex Magliabecchiano, page 72, XIII, 3, edited by the Due de Loubat.) The hieroglyph giving the name Motecuhzoma xocoyotzin is in fact designative of the soul of the dead warrior or dead king, which may have been in some way identified by the Mexicans with the fire god. ( See my Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur amerikanischen Sprach- und Alterthumskunde, 1904, volume 2, pages 731 to 738 and 742 to 745.) 9 (page 179, line 4). The figure in question is more correctly designated Tlauizcalpan Tecutli, " god of the morning star ". (See my paper on the Venus Period in Picture Writings of the Borgian Codex Group, pages 355 and follow- hig.) Camaxtli, the war god of the Tlaxcaltees, was, it seems to be beyond question, a very near relative of the god of the morning star, wearing the same color of the body and the same facial painting as the morning star. 10 (page 287, last line). The confrontation indicated in the text is not to be taken into consideration, as pages 1 and 2 of the Tonalamatl of the Aubin Col- lection seem to be a fabrication, attribvitable to Leon y Gama, the author of the well-known book Las Dos Piedras, or to one of his contemporaries. 11 (page 293, line 16). It has become a matter of doubt to me whether the words " corazon del pueblo" are in all cases to be identified with the Mexican Tepeyollotl. There might be applied to it the more simple meaning of " life of the sky " or " tribal god ". As to the idol fetish of the town of Achiotla. the sculpture on its surface, described by Father Burgoa, points to the name Quetzalcoatl, who. it seems, ought not to be identified offhand with Tepeyollotl. 12 (page 312, line 28). I have of late become more doubtful regarding even the meaning and the origin of those compounds of radiant eyes, and am now inclined to retain for them the character of luminous objects in general and particularly of stars. Doctor Preuss has lately identified them with the butter- sbler] NOTES AND EMENDATIONS 669 fly as an image of fire. This is in a certain way proved l)y the particuhir form which these radiant eyes assume on certain monuments of Mexican construction. (See the account of the quauhxicalli, "dish for sacrificial l)lo()d ", of the National Museum in the City of Mexico in my Gesammelte Abhandlun.t,'en zur amerilvanischen Sprach- mid Alterthumskunde, 1904, volume 2, page Sll.) But here, too, the coincidence might be explained in a different way — that is to say, by the supposition that the Mexicans by this form tried to transform tlic star symbol, which, perhaps, was handed over to them l)y the astronomer-i)riests of the eastern tribes, into a symbol more in accordance with Mexican thought i\nd Mexican pictorial style. As to the true meaning of these eyes and the faces by which in fragments II to XI of our Mitla wall paintings the eyes are replaced, it is an important fact that in fragment V the faces surrounded by eyes, which are seen looking down from the sky, are painted with the quincunx, the facial painting of the morning star. The interpretation I gave of the border of which these eye-surrounded luminous faces form part, viz, that this border represents the eastern sky, is proved by this to l>e true. 13 (page 342, line 2). The plain on which the houses of the village of Tepoxtlan are built is the bottom of a huge crater, the borders of which sur- round the plain on the north and south sides of the village. 14 (page 344, line 8). On my recent trip to Mexico, in October and Novem- ber, 1904, I took the opportunity to visit Tepoxtlan, in order to make molds of the sculptures that adorn the walls of the cella. I there assured myself that the walls of the pyramid are plainly visible from the village site, being dis- tinguished by their white color from the surrounding mountain crest. 15 (page 346, line 5). On visiting Tepoxtlan I saw that it is not a picture of the sun that is seen on the pillars walling the entrance to the cella, but the lower part of a huge glyph of the chalchiuitl, or green precious stone. 16 (page 366, line 20). I was mistaken in assuming that the day sign Cipactli, on page 25 of the Borgian codex, is placed beside the god C (figure 94), who, by the striped white body coloring and the deep black painting around the eyes, resembles Tlauizcalpan Tecutli, the divinity of the morning star. It escaped my notice, when I first brought together the material handled in this article, that on page 25 of the Borgian codex it is indicated by red lines in what manner the day signs are to be connected with their corresponding figures. By these red lines the sign Cipactli is appointed to the figure in the upper corner on the right-hand, who, by his long beard and general appearance, resembles the god E (figure 94). This god is consequently to be considered as the representative of the east, and the figure resembling Tlauizcalpan Tecutli, the divinity of the morning star, corresponds to the north. The latter figure is, in fact, not the morning star represented in a special role. It is an image of Mixcuatl, the god of the chase, the god of the Chichimecs, who is not identical, it is true, with the morning star, but must be regarded as very nearly related to him. I explained this more in detail in the revision of this article, published in my Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur amerikanischen Sprach- und Alterthumskunde, 1902, A'olume 1, pages 618 to 667, and in the first volume of my interpretation of the Borgian codex, 1904, pages 259 to 265. 17 (page 367, line 15). As I pointed out in the foregoing note, the god with the heavy beard and eyebrows and the bicolored, half red, half black, face painting, must be regarded as the lord of the first division, or the east; Xipe Totec, consequently, as the lord of the third division, or the west, and Tlaloc as the lord of the fourth division, or the south. 18 (page 369, line 8). As to this point, too, I came recently to another inter- pretation. I believe now— and I explained these figures in this way in 670 ■. BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 volume 1 of my interpretation of the Borgian codex — that the first two rows of divinities are constructed witlj regard to the planet Venus as morning star, and consequently refer to the east ; but that the two latter rows are constructed with regard to the evening star, and refer to the west. The east is the region of the warriors, that is, of the sacrificed ; the west, that of the women. In the first two regions we have, therefore, representations of sacrifice ; in the latter two, representations referring to childbirth and nursing. The tearing out of the yellow stripe ending in flowers and precious stones I am inclined to consider now as a figurative expression of childbirth, since it is very common in Mexican figurative speech to allude to a newly born child by the names of precious feathers or precious stones. 19 (page 369, last line). In conformity with the view expressed in the fore- going note, I am now inclined to accept the nursing of the female deities simply as that which it is, i. e., the nursing of a child. 20 (page 371, line 25). I repeat that h and d, figure 95, as well as c and d, figure 94, represent not the morning star himself but the morning star in his special role of hunting god and war god ; that is to say, the god Mixcuatl, or Camaxtli. 21 (page 389, line 25). I am now inclined to assume another correspondence of these five spear-throwing gods with the five directions, supposing that each of these divinities was allotted to the quarter just opposite to that where lives the demon at whom he throws the spear. On this supposition, the black god would occupy the region of the west, throwing his spear at the god of festivity in the east; this black god, consequently, would correspond to the god Xipe of page 25 of the Borgian codex. The red rain god of the second period, throwing his spear at the jaguar in the north, would then own the region of the south and correspond to the rain god of the Borgian codex. The god with the animal face, who throws his spear at the maize god, that is, to the west, must correspondingly belong to the east and be identified with the god with the heavy beard and eyebrows and the bicolored, half red, half black, face who stands in the upper right corner of the page in the Borgian codex. And the warrior with the face painting resembling that of the Mexican Tezcatlipoca, who throws his spear at the sun-bearer, the turtle, the symbol of the kings, must correspond to the Chichimec god Mixcuatl of the Borgian codex, god of the north. The fifth and last divinity is the god with the beady eyes, who, I said, must symbolize the lower region, or tl:;e earth. He throws his spear at the warrior, that is, the J, inhabitants of thQ upper world, of the heavens, where the dead warriors go (see my interpretau: of the Borgian codex, 1904, volume 1, pages 327 to 336). I]^DEX Acalan, female deity worshipped intiabitants of visited by Cortes Acalans, worship among AcatI (reed), Mexican year sign_ Page. 81 79 78 82 24. 25, 26, 27, 33, 47 Achiotlan, holy city of Mixtecs 292-293 idol at ^ 292-293,668 oracle at 292 Acompanados, the nine " lords of the night " 18 Ahau, Maya day sign 26. 27, 30, 33, 35, 36, 54 Ahpula, date of death of 332 Akbal, Maya day sign 26, 33, 34, 35 Alta Vera Paz, ancient inhabitants of 101 characteristics of 78 Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Juan de, paper belonging to 20 Amatitlan, toothed vessels of 77 Ambras, collection at castle of 59, 73 Anales de Quauhtitlan, account of light of planet Venus . in- 384-385 ornaments ascribed to Quetz- alcouatl in 60 Andagoya on dress in Nicaragua 612 Antequera, settlement of 260 Antiquities, Maya, comparative studies of, paper on, by P. Schellhas 591-622 no uniform type among 621 Zapotec, bearing of, on myth- ical conceptions 302-305 Architecture in Guatemala 81 Arm ornaments, Maya 606-607 Atemoztli, Mexican feast 23 Atlcaualco, as first month of Mexi- can year I39 Aubin-Goupil collection, figure of Axayacatl in 59, 60 papers of Siguenza contained in 20 shield in 64 synopsis of, by E. Boban 60, 64 Auitzotl, King, glyph of, in temple of Tepoxtlan 347 Axayacatl, figure of, in Aubin- Goupil collection 60 in war against Moquiuix 61 Xipe dress worn by 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 69 Azcapotzalco, Mexicans .freed from, by Itzcouatl Bancroft, H. H., on Maya dress_ Page. 61 602, 603, 617 266 241 235 233 Banner of Axayacatl and Bilimec warriors Bastian, Adolph, on the " geo- graphical province "_ Bat god, corresponds to east cult of, limited to Maya and Zapotec-Mixtec drawing of, sent by Dieseldorff to Anthropological Society glyph of 238-241 names of 234 of the Maya, paper on, by Ed- uard Seler 233-241 on vase excavated by Dies- eldorff 241 Beard, depicted in Maya manu- scripts 599-600 in Mexico 658-659 Becker, P. J., Mixtec manuscripts in collection of 64 Been, Chiapanec or Maya year sign 24, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, 40, 47 Benito, Pray, idol at Achiotlan de- stroyed by Berendt, C. H., books of Chilan Balam prepared by_ on Lacandons Berlin Anthropologicri Society, drawing ^^ painted vessel .c to report of Dieseldorffs work published by Bernal Diaz, on date of Cortfe's en- trance into Mexico- _ on expedition of Cortes to Honduras 78, 79, 80 on Zagoatan in Tabasco 81 Bibliography, Maya _ 537-538 Biblioteca Laurenziana, figure from Sahagun manuscript >92-293 27, 329 80 87 140 132 Biblioteca Nazionale at Florence, picture manuscript in 59, 60. 72 Bilimec collection, painting in 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67 Bill for provisions from Mizqui- yauallan 196-200 671 672 INDEX Page. Bill of complaint, Indian 210-212 Biologia Centrali-Americana 575 Blood offering among Zapotecs 277 Boban, E., synopsis of Auliin- Goupil collection by_ 60, 64 , Bolon Zacab, Maya god 34, 46,,668 Bones, use of, in making imple- ments 658 Boturini Bernaducci, Cavaliei'e Lorenzo, Museo Indi- ano of 128 on fragments iii and iv of Humboldt collection- 176-178 Signenza's papers in posses- sion of 20 Boturini collection, fragments of Humboldt collection attributed to 190, 196, 200, 217, 221, 227-228 Bowditch, C. P., study of native American writing promoted by 9 translation of papers on na- tive American writ- ing directed by 10 Bowls, circular, of Amatitlan 110 Bradley, Chan Santa Cruz visited by 633 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbe, Lauda manuscript discovered by 501 on blessing of the fields: 43 on dress of American In- dians 603 on morning star 321 Brinton, D. G., books of Chilan Balam owned by 27 Chilan Balam published by__ 329 glyph on vessel reproduced by _ 111 on relation of glyphs to meaning of word 517 on sign Cauac 668 Buildings, magnificence of, in Za- potec country 248 Burgoa, Father, on harvest cere- mony at Quiecolani- 300 on house of high priest at Mitla _ 249-252, 253-254, 255 on human sacrifice among Zapotecs 277 on idol at Achiotlan 292, 668 on intercalary days 19 on marriage of Mexican prin- cess and Zapotec king Cocijoeza 264 on Mixtec cave burial 248 on southern migration of Za- potecs 261 on Zapotec expiation of sin 278-280 on Zapotec high priest 248 on Zapotec priest pupils 277 on Zapotec priests 275, 276 (?aban, Maya day sign 33. 50, 51, 52 Cacique, office of, among the Mayas „.,„ 630 Page. Cahabon, characteristics and lan- guage of 88 Calendar, Central American, in- vention of, ascribed to Toltecs 327 paper on, by B. Forste- mann 515-519 Maya, baffling points in 4 75 dates of 402-407 nature of 327 significance of, in historic chronology, paper on, by Eduard Seler 325-337 III 2; 13, 3d month, explanation of 477 Mexican, origin in Zapotec country 55 table illustrating 136 Zapotec 36-54, 266-267, 268 four sections of, referred to rain god :__ 268-269 initial days of four quar- ters according to- — 25 Calendars, Central American. 150 Calli (house), Mexican year sign_ 24, 25, 26, 27, 33 Camaca, estate of Motecuhzoma_ 155, 157-15S Camaxtli, Tlaxcaltec war god 179, 668, 670 Campur, cave in, excavated by Sapper 80-90 Canek, cacique of Peten, visited by Cortes 78 Cannibalism among Mexicans and Zapotecs 278 Cardmal points, colors for 31-33, 667 glyphs for 27-85 in Zapotec calendar 38 symbol of 132-13: Carrillo y Ancona, Crescentio, on vessel found at Puerto Progreso 108-109 Castaiieda, B., collection of — 113 Cauac, Maya glyph 53, 54, 668 Maya year sign 24, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, 667 Cave burial among Zapotecs and Mixtecs 247-248 Cazuelas, three-footed dishes 92 Ceamay, cave in, excavated by Sapper 90 Chac, Maya god of rain and thun- der 22. 31. 32, 34, 40. 46, 51, 52 Chalca, subjugated by Motecuhzo- ma the elder 61 Chalcatongo. cave of. burial place of Mixtec kings 248 Chama, Maya ruins near 86. 87, 88 two vases from, papers on, by DieseldorfC, Seler, and Forstemann 635-(,..r Chan Santa Cruz, sacred city of eastern Mayas i -'6. 628, 629, 630, 633, 034 INDEX 673 Page. Charencey, C int de, vocabulary by 50 Charnay, D., sacrificial vessels found by, at Menche Tinamit 83 vessels from Tabasco placed in Trocadero Museum by 90 Chiapas, as an industrial center— ■ 110 Lacandons in 80 Chiatzam, collections from 90 Chibiras, Zapotec goddess 50 Chichen Itza, fall of 336-337 ruins of ^^'^ Chilan Balam, books of, assign- ment of Maya year to cardinal points in 27 chronology in 330-331 initial day of Maya year in — - 26 nature of 321) sixteenth Zapotec day sign in 49 Chimalli stone from Cuernavaca_ 6-1 Chimalpahin, on date of Cortes's entrance into Mexico 140 on death of Quauhtemoc 159-160 on San Antonio Pimentel Tlauitoltzin 194 Chinax, Chiapanec year sign 24 Chixoy, valley of, ruins in 86 Chols, characteristics and lan- guage of 81-83 described by Dominican monks 82-83 fate of 82 location of 80 Chronica de la S. Provincia del Santissimo Nombre de Jesus de Guate- mala, 1683 19 Chronology, Maya, paper on, by B. Porstemann 473-489 Mexican, early, contradictions in 332—333 how reckoned 134-139 in early history 330 paper on, by Bduard Seler 11-55 peculiarities of 13 Ciclografia Mexicana, lost work by Siguenza y Gon- gora 20 Cipactli, Mexican day sign 25, 26, 366, 369 Civilization, degree of, in Vera Paz 110 Central American, character- istics of 596-597 source of - 621-622 Maya, modern 628-634 relation of to Aztec civil- ization 540-543 Mexican and Central Ameri- can, unity of 266-274 Clavigero, on beginning of time cycle on intercalary days Cloaks used by iNIayas Coatl, Mexican day sign. Page. 25 20 611 42 Cocij, Zapotec time period of 13 days 271 Cocijo, Zapotec god of rain, etc 267, 300 Cocijoeza, marriage of, with Mexi- can princess 264 Codex, Borgian, demon Xolotl in — 46 Mexican chronology in 21 pictures of bat god in 235-237 rain god in 38, 269-270 Tezcatlipoca represented in __ 68 tiger drumskin in 67 Xolotl represented in . — 65 Codex, Boturini, glyph in 60 Codex. Cortes, cardinal points in_ 28, 29, 31 glyph in 52 nineteenth Zapotec day sign in 53 Codex, Cozcatzin, figures in 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67 Codex, Dresden : black Chac in 40 celestial shields in 95 computation from zero point in 35-36 computation of time in 20 explanation of page 24 of 431-443 pages 25 to 28 477 pages 31a to 32a 455-461 pages 46 to 50 387-389 pages 51 to 58 and 71 to 73 445-453 pages 61 to 64 and 69 to 73 409-422 series of numbers, pages 51 to 58 463-472 glyphs in 31. 51, 52, 54, 438-443 initial day of Mexican year in 26-27 numbers and dates in 397-407 numbers in 433-437 page 24, astronomic problem on 431 copy of 432 tenth Zapotec day sign in 45 Codex, Fejervary, pictures of bat god in 235 Codex, Mendoza, tribute of cities of Mixteca in 144 Codex. Perez, celestial shields in — 95 computation of time in 21 Codex Telleriano-Remeusis, begin- ning of time cycle in 25 figure of member of Jalisco tribe in 74 marriage of Mexican princess with Cocijoeza in 264 Mexican flag festival in 131 seventeenth Zapotec day sign in 50 Tepeolotlec in 291 7238— No. 28—05- 674 INDEX Page. Codex, TroatiOjL animal traps in 53 blaclj Cbac in 40 colors for cardinal points in 32 glyphs in 30,51,52 inversion of true order of glyphs in 33 Codex Vaticanus A, Mexican flag festival in 131 seventeenth Zapotec day sign in 50 Tezcatlipoca represented in 59 war dress in 61-62 "Codex Vaticanus B, demon Xolotl in 46 pictures of hat god in 235 rain god in cardinal points in 38 Codex, Vergara, village statistics in 201, 202, 206 Codex, Vienna, cited 48 region of 668 Cogolludo, on length of Katun 329 on Maya dress 602, 609, 611 on second Zapotec day sign 40 Collars, Maya 613-617 Commandments, Ten, and Creed, in fragment XVI of Humboldt collection- 221-227 Congress of Americanists at Ber- lin, exhibit of Hum- boldt collection at 128 Constellations, Mexican, relation of to cardinal points 356-358 Cooking, importance of among Mexicans 214 Copa pitao, Zapotec name of ordinary priests 276 Copan, architecture at 81 Chorti near 81 excavations near 77 prosperity of 82 Copenhagen, museum at. clay ves- sel from Peten in 83 clay vessel from Tabasco Coqui-Cilla, Zapotec deity 284, 285, 286 Coqui-Nij, Zapotec deity 285 Coqui-Xee, Zapotec deity 284, 285, 286 Cordova. Juan de. on animals in Zapotec calendar 43 on human sacrifice among Za- potecs 278 on Zapotec calendar 37 on Zapotec day signs 271, 272-273 on Zapotec expiation of sin 278 on Zapotec omens 42 on Zapotec religion 284 on Zapotec time signs 267 Zapotec calendar recorded in grammar of 36 Zapotec language taken up by 41 Cortes, agreement on dates of, in Mexico 140-144 expedition of, to Honduras, 1525 78-79 on Zagoatan in Tabasco 81 Page. Coslahan tox, demon of the Tzental-Zotzil 43 Cozaana, Zapotec creation deity __ 288 Cozcaquauhtli, Mexican day sign_ 25, 48, 49 Creation, god and goddess of 286-289 Mixtec legend of 289-290 Creed and Ten Commandments in fragment XVI of Humboldt collection- 221-227 Cronica Franciscana, Guatemalan, nemontemi in 23-24 Zapotec day signs in 47, 48 Cronica Mexicana of Tezozomoc, ad- monitions regarding the stars to Motecuh- zoma Xocoyotzin in_ 355 Cuetzpalin, Mexican day sign 41, 65 Cukulcan, Maj^a god of light 665, 666 Cumku, Maya month 26, 27, 33, 35 L>ate, ^ori^al, in Maya computation 328-329 477 35-36 13 13, 15 274 40,43 476 493 Day, Maya, designation of XIII 20, prominence of Day signs, Mexican, in harmony with Maya method of reckoning tables illustrating Zapotec 37-54, 271-274 relation of, to Mexican and Maya signs Tzental-Zotzil Days, 17 intercalated, among the Mayas origin of series of 20. among the Mayas series of 20, first day of 475-476 Deities, female, of Acalan, Ta- basco, and Tixchel 81-82 identification of 33-34 minor Zapotec 801-302 Deity, Zapotec creative, character- istics of 284-289 names of 284 Del Castillo, Cristobal, notes by__ 18 Del Rio, Antonio, ruins of Pa- lenque studied by 547 DieseldorfE, E. P., collection of, heads of sun god in_ 99 incense spoon handle in_ 93-94 example of 121 excavations at La Cueva by__ 103 excavations at Panquip by 107 excavations in Alta Vera Paz under direction of 78 on meaning of Mol 429 on vessel from Chama 97 researches by, in Central America 539-540 Dominical letters, Maya 17, 34 Dorenberg, Mixtec manuscripts in collection of 64 Dos Piedras. by Leon y Gama, last five days of Mexican .vear in 18 Dr^ss in war of Mexican kings__ 61-62, 69 Maya, characteristics of 601- 603, 607-613 INDEX 675 Page. Durftn, atlas of, plume in 63 bat dancer in T- on cipactli 39 ■ on last five days of Mexican year 1'^ Ear ornaments, Maya 613-617 Eb, Maya day sign 33 Ehecatl, Mexican wind god 133-134 (wind), second Mexican day sign 40, 134 Etzalqualiztli, festival of Mexican rain god Tlaloc 23, 129, 132, 135, 136 Excavations near Copan and in Alta Vera Paz 77-78 Exhibition, American Historical, at Madrid, 1892 77, 83 Expiation, Zapotec ceremony of_- 278-280 Zapotec symbols of 281-283 Exposition, Columbian, vessel from Ecuadorian exhibit at 83 Ezanab, Maya day sign— 26, 33, 34, 35, 52 Fabrega, on seven suppressed days in reckoning Mexi- can time 21 Face masks on Lacandon ves- sels 84-85 Fans, use of, among Mayas and Mexicans 651-654 Feather ornament, Mexican, con- jecture concerning — 73 how worn 74 Feather ornaments, ancient Mexi- can, paper on, by Ed- uard Seler 59-74 Feathers, use of, in holiday dress_ 172-173 Fernandez, Francisco, on Maya day gods 559 Figure fragments, Guatemalan — 95-99 Figure vessels from La Cueva 103-104 from Vera Paz 107 Finger joints in vessels found at La Cueva 105-106 Flags, use of, among Mexicans 131 Foot gear, Maya 603 Forstemann, E., computation of dates by 20 Maya calendar studied by 327, 328, 330 on glyph of planet Venus 311, 371 on Mexican computations on planet Venus 364, 375 on Mexican year signs 26-27 on reckoning from zero point- 35 on tablets in Maya manu- scripts 101 studies of Maya calendar and chronology by 596 Gama. See Leon y Gama. Garcia, Gregorio, Mixtec creation legend told by 289-290 Geinelli Carreri, Siguenza's Ciclo- ' grafla Mexicana re- ferred to by 20 Page. (Jlyphs, on Chamft vase_ P60-662, 663-664 on vessel in Castafieda col- lection 114-121 use of, in Humboldt collec- tion of Mexican pic- ture writings 228 Guatemalan ■ 88 Zorita on 88 Maya, interpretation of 503-504, 505-513 papers on, by E. Forste- mann 499-513 Gods, day, of the Mayas, paper on, by E. Forstemann 557-572 Maj'a, and their respec- tive days— 560-569, 570-572 pulque, Mexican 347-352 names of S'S.i Zapotec, in relation to cal- endar 290-291 Golfo Dulce, expedition of Cortes to 78 Gomara, on names of cities, in Acalan 79 in Mazatlan 80 Goupil, Eugene, Aubin collection owned by 20 Goupil-Boban atlas, village statis- tics in 201-202, 204, 206 Government of independent Maya States 626,630-632 Grass rope, symbolism of, among Zapotecs 280-283 Guatemala, antiquities of, paper on, by Eduard Seler_ 75-121 Gunckel, L. W., on reading Maya manuscripts 548 Haebler, K., Maya bibliography by 537 Hair, how worn by Mexican war- riors 162-163 Hand rollers, Guatemalan 91 Headdress depicted on pottery 117-118 Maya 617-620 Hernandez, on tlaca-xolotl 94 Herrera, on Maya dress 603 High priest, Zapotec 248 house of 249-252 Historia de los Mexicanos por sus Pinturas, Mexican creation myth in 24 Hochstetter, on Mexican feather ornament 60, 68, 73-74 on standard of feather orna- ment 66 Holmes, W. H., cited on Mexican archeology 543 study of glazed vessels from Zoncuautla by 109 Honduras, British, invasion of, by Icaiche Indians 627 Horse of Cortes, worshipped at Peten 94 Huamantla, fragments III and IV of Humboldt collec- tion found at 178 676 INDEX Page. Huaxteca, gesture inviting to eat in 30 Huechaana (Huicliaana), Zapotec creation deity 288-289 Humboldt, Alexander von, Mexican picture writings of, paper on, by Eduai-d Seler 123-229 on fragment II of Mexican picture writings 154-155 on fragment VI of Mexican picture writings 190 on purchase of fragment II of collection of Mexi- can picture writings 127-128 on seated figures in fragment VI of Mexican pic- ture writings 192-193 on symbolism of tongue 162 theory of Fabrega supported by 21 Icaiche, southern Maya town 626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 633, 634 Ichcanzihoo, Spanish victory at, date of 331 Ik. See Ix. Imix, Maya day sign, meaning of 40 Imperial Museum of Natural His- tory at Vienna, Mex- ican feather orna- ment in 59 Incense, burning of, among Zapo- tecs 277 pouch of Mexican priests 146-147 spoons 92-94 Intercalary days, in Mexican year. See Year, Mexican. 13, after 52 years 20-21, 667 25, after 104 years 21 Intercalation, in Maya calendar 328-329 Interpretation of device worn by Axayacatl and Bili- mec warrior 67-68 Itzaex, idolatry of 45, 82 Itzamna, Maya god 35 Itzcouatl, Mexicans freed from Azcapotzalco by 61 Ixcozauhqui, flre god of Tlatelolco_ 68 Itzcuintli, Mexican day sign, in- terpretation of 44 Ix, Maya year sign 24, 26, 27, 28, 83, 34, 35, 40, 47 Ixchebelyax, Zapotec goddess 50 Ixchel, Zapotec earth goddess 50, 51 Ixkanha, southern Maya town_ 626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 634 Ixtlilxochitl, codex attributed to 59 on population of Tezcuco 192 Kakupacat, Maya god . 40 Kan, Maya year sign 24,26,27, 28, 33, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42, 45, 667 Katuns in Maya calendar 329-330 Kayab, Maya tortoise month, im- portiint days in 426 Kinchahau, Maya god 34, 35 Page. Kingsborough, fragments I and II of Mexican picture writings in work of_ 128 Lacandons, characteristics and language of 80-81 described by Sapper 82 worship of 82 La Cueva, fiagments from 103-105 plan of 103 Lamat, Maya day sign 26, 33, 34, 35, 44 Lambat, Chiapanec year sign 24 Landa, Diego de, discovery of man- uscript by 501 on beginning of Maya year 446 on colors for cardinal points- 31, 32, 667 on initial day of Maya year 26, 27 on last five days of Mexican year 17 on length of katun 329 on Maya dress : 601-602, 603, 607, 608, 609, 611 on Maya headdress 617 on Maya human sacrifices 276-277 on Maya New Year 22-23 on physical characteristics of Mayas 599 Zac Ziui mentioned by 50 La Serna, Jacinto de, on interca- lary days 667 Las Pacayas. See Panquip. Lawsuit illustrated in fragment VI of Humboldt col- lection 193-195 Leap year, theory of, in comput- ing Mexican time 18-19 Leg, dress and ornamentation of, among Mayas 604-605 Leon, Nicolas, Cordova's grammar republished by 36 Leon y Gama, Antonio de, frag- ment II of Mexican picture writings from collection of 127-128 on beginning of Mexican year_ 17-18 on last five days of Mexican year 18 theory of intercalation in Dos Fiedras of 21 tonalamatl of Aubin collec- tion, pages 1 and 2, attributable to 668 Ijery, on use of flre fan in Bra- zil 652 Lords of the cycle among the Mayas 493 Lords of the night 18 Mac, Maya month 43 Macuilxochic, buildings at 298-300 Maler, Teobert, investigations in Y'ucatan by 543 Malinalli, twelfth Mexican day sign 134 Manik, Maya day sign 30,33 Mars, revolution of. relation of, to Maya chronology 497 INDEX 677 Page. Maudslay, A. P., Central American ruins studied by 640 contributions to Central Amer- ican archffiology by_ 538-539 glazed face jar from Copan copied by 109 on figures on stelae of Copan_ 81 on Temple of Cross No. 2 at Palenque 583 Maya investigations, recent, papers on, by B. Forstemann 535-543 Mayapan, destruction of 334-337 Mayas, custom of, at feasts 109 names of treatises by E. Forstemann on 503 nationality preserved by 82 independent, Character of 632 Mazatl, " deer," seventh Mexican day sign 65, 134 Mazatlan, visited by Cortes 79 Melchior Rodriquez, Lancandons met by 80-81 Merida, bishop of. See Carrillo y Ancona. founding of, date of 331-332 Mexico, last native rulers of 160-170 Miller, Chan Santa Cruz visited by 632-633 Millstones, Guatemalan, Sapper on_ 90-91 Miquiztli, Mexican day sign 25 Mitla, description of 247-257 subjugated by Mexicans 262 San Pablo de, church of 257 Mixcuatl, god of chase 669, 070 Mixteca, intercalary days in year of 19 Mizquiyauallan, bill from 196-200 receipt from 214-215 Moan, Maya cloud spirit 43, 44 Molina, on last five days of Mexi- can year 17 Monte Sacro, shrine of Amaqueme 154, 175 Montejo, Francisco de, aid of Cortes sought by 625 Moon worship, among Zapotecs 300 Moquiuix in Aubin-Goupil collec- tion 60 Motecuhzoma, glyphic designation of elder and younger 156, 668 origin of name of 157 the elder, Mexican dominion extended by 61 the younger, estate of 155-156 picture of 155 war dress of 62,64,69 Motolinia on intercalary days 19 Mounds, Indian burial, in Guate- mala 77 Muhlenpfordt, E., plan of build- ings at Mitla by 252, 256 Muluc, Maya year sign 24, 26, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35 Nahuas, migration of 112 Nauauatzin, " poor leper " 66 Page. Necklaces, collars, and ear orna- ments, Maya 613-617 Nemontemi, counting of 136 last five days of Mexican year 16, 17, 18 variations in 23-24 New Year, Maya 22-23 Mexican, Clavigero on 23 Cristobal del Castillo on 23, 25, 26 Durtln on 23,2.5,26 February 2 22 in Vatican Codex A 23 NezaualcoyotI, conflicts regarding portrait of 66 drum of 66 Notation in Mexican picture writings— 192,202-203,208 Numbers, large, in Maya manu- scripts 398- 402, 412-414, 420-421 series of, in Maya manu- scripts 410-411,418-419 Numerals, encircled, in Maya man- uscripts __ 411-412, 419-420 in serpents, in Maya manu- scripts ___ 414-417,421-422 Nuiiez de la Vega, on god Votan 294-295 at Chiapas 45 on Maya day gods 559 on Tzental-Zotzil demon 43, 44 Nuttall, Zelia, attempt by, to ex- plain away Bilimec pic- ture 71-72 on Aztec tonalamatl 532 on Mexican calendar 138-139 on Mexican feather ornament at Vienna 59, 60, 73-74 on Mexican year 446-447, 456 on standard of feather orna- ment- 66, 67 on tortoise in Vienna manu- script 427 Nuundecu. See Achiotlan. Oaxaca, feather ornaments of clay figures at 174 human sacrifice in 277-278 origin of 260 OcelotI, Mexican day sign 47 Ochpaniztii, festival of Mexican earth goddess 130, 131 human sacrifice at 174 Mexican broom festival 23 Ocna, Maya feast of the New Year 22 Olin, seventeenth Mexican day sign 133 Olvera, Manuel de — receipt for cooking done for — 214- 215,216 receipt for provisions given to_ 199 Ometecutii OmeciuatI, Mexican creation deities 286 Ornament, wheel-shaped, in Coz- catzin Codex 74 678 INDEX Page. Orozco y Berra, M., Father Burgoa quoted by 19 on acompafiados 18 on agreement between Mexi- can and European chronologies 139-140 on beginning of time cycle 25 Pineda quoted by 23 Osuna, Duke of, Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regidores de Mex- ico preserved by 188, 190 Ozomatli, Mexican day sign 25 Painting among Mexican warriors. 180 Palenque, architecture of 81 Chols near 81 Cross of, dates on 426, 436 inscription on, investi- gated 548-555 paper on, by E. Porstemann 545-555 prosperity of 82 Temple of Cross at 583 Temple of Cross No. 2 at 583 Temple of inscriptions at, paper on, by E. Forstemann 573-580 Temple of Sun at 583 three inscriptions of, paper on, by E. Forste- mann 581-589 Panquetzaliztli, festival of Mexi- can god of war Uit- zilopochtli 131 Panquip, lance points and pottery from, in Royal Mu- seum 107 Parker, Miss A. M., assistant in translations 10 Patecatl, Mexican pulque god 49 Pax, Maya month, war dance in 40 Peabody Museum in Boston, exca- vations near Copan under direction of__ 78 Penafiel on glyph of King Nezaual- pilli 157 on mural paintings at Mitla_ 256 Perez, Pio, on length of Katun 330 on Maya calendar 427 Peten, clay vessel from, in Museum at Copenhagen 83 island city of Lagoon of Itza_ 78 Philadelphia University Museum, vessel in 111 Picture manuscript, Maya 25 Picture writings, Mexican, col- lected by H u m - boldt, ■ chronology of 228 fragment I 128-154 entries in 143-154 fragment II 127, 128, 154-176 meaning of 155 fragments III and IV 176-187 fragment V 187-190 fragment VI___ 128, 190-190 Picture writings, Mexican, col- lected by H u m - boldt, fragment VII_ 196-200 fragment VIII 200-209 meaning of 202 fragments IX, X, XI, XII 209-212 fragment XIII 212-217 fragment XIV 217-220 fragment XV 221 fragment XVI 221-228 paper on, by Eduard Seler 123-229 presented to the Royal Library at Berlin 127 Pije-Tao, Zapotec deity 284, 285, 286 Pi.ie-Xdo, Zapotec deity 284, 285, 286 Pineda, cited on Zotzil New Year_ 28 Pinopiaa, goddess of Xalapa 301 Pipes, pottery figure, in Sarg col- lection 101-103 in Strebel collection 101 Pipils, region settled by 112 Pitao, Zapotec name of signs of four tonalamati di- visions 267 Pitao-Cozobi, Zapotec god of har- vests 300 Pixana, Zapotec ceremony 278-280 Pleiades among the Mayas, paper on, by E. Forstemann 521-524 Poinsett, J. R., collection of Mexi- can manuscripts of_ 200, 212 Pomar, .Tuan Bautista de, on Neza- ualcoyotl's palace at Tezcuco 191 Popol Vuh, Quiches and Toltecs in_ 234 Zotzil traditions in 233 Pottery, Guatemalan 91,95-97 heads from Saculeu 110 Powell, J. W., publication of pa- pers on native Amer- ican writing ar- ranged for by 9 Preuss, Doctor, on " eye of light " at Santa Lucia Coz- umalhuapa 668-669 Priest pupils among Mexicans and Zapotecs 277 Priesthood and ceremonials, Za- potec 275-283 Priests, Maya, costume of 602 Zapotec, ordinary 276-277 Pulque, Mexican drink 210 Quaubtemoc, king of Mexico 158-160 glyph of 158. 160 Quauhtemoctzin, date of capture of, Chimalpahin on_ 139 Cortes on 139 Gomara on 139 Sahagun on 139 Quauhtii, Mexican day sign 48 Quauitleua, feast of the rain god and Mexican New Year 22,23 INDEX 679 Page. 90* 3-90 286 112, 668 97-99 275 Qu'ekclii region, centi-fil, pottery from, in Royal Mu- seum eastern provinces of Quetzalcouatl as synonym of Pije- Tao, Pije-Xoo death of 359-360, 364-365 Mexican name of high priests- 275-276 priest god of Toltecs 276 wind god 40, 48, 118, 133-134 ornaments of 60 Quiches Identified with Toltecs in Popul Vuh 234 Quiecolani, harvest ceremony at — 300-301 Quiri'gua, architecture at 81 prosperity of 8- Rain god, dwarfs of 268 four water casks of 267-268 in Borgian Codex 269-270 Ramirez de Quinones, P., expedi- tion of 80 Rau, Charles, cited 547-548 Rebellions, Maya 625-626, 627 Receipt from village of Mizqul- yauallan 214-215 Reliefs at Copan, bat in 239 from Chiapas in Museo Na clonal de Mexico - in Sarg collection Religion, Zapotec, similar to that of Mexicans and Mayas Rings, red, numerals inclosed in, in Maya manu- scripts 397 Rockstroh, Prof., on Cahabon Rodriguez, Francisco, on pyramid of Tepoxtlan 343-344 Rosetta stone 9 Rosny, Leon de. on cardinal points 29,31,501 family of Mexico, extinc- tion of 160-162, 165-168 Library at Berlin, frag- ments of Mexican picture writing pre- sented by Humboldt to 127 Royal Museum at Berlin, glazed vessels from Karwin- ski and Uhle collec- tions in 107-108 Guatemalan antiquities from Vera Paz region in_ 77 hand rollers in lance"" points and pottery from Panquip in ornamented Guatemalan ves- sels in 107-108 vessel from Ecuadorian ex- hibit at Columbian Exposition in Sacrifices, among Chols and La candons animal, among ZapOtecs -398 88 Royal Royal 78, 83 91 lO-i 83 83 277 Page. Sacrifices, human, among Mayas — 644, 649, 654 among Zapotecs 270, 277-278 in Mexico-- 174, 278. :!67-369. 370 Sahagun, B., de. on l)eginning of Mexican year 22 on Cipactli 39 on date of Cortes"s entrance into Mexico 1-t*^ on intercalary days 18-19 on last five days of Mexican year 1G> 17 on Mexican astronomy 355-350, 357, 358 on Mexican feather orna- ments 71, 74 on ornaments of Quetzal- couatl 60 on Quetzalcouatl 316-317 on tlaca-xolotl !^4 on war dress 61 shield in manuscript of 64 Saint Katharine of Siena, con- fused with goddess Pinopiaa 301 Salama, tradition regarding 112 Salinas de los Nueve Cerros, pottery, etc., from mound at 86 ruins of ^6 San Cristobal de Chiapas, Zotzil settled near 233 San Francisco Teuetzquititzin. Diego de, head and glyph of 168,173 Santa Lucia Cozumalhuapa, mon- uments of 112 relief slab of, deity on_- 312, 668-669 sculpture from, in Royal Mu- seum Q'l Santa Maria Nanacacipactzin, Luis de, death, in 1565, of 160 Sapper, Karl, contribution to Cen- tral American arche- ology by 537-538 example of 121 excavations by, at La Cueva- 103 at Panquip 107 in Alta Vera Paz 78 on caves in eastern Qu'eckchi region 88-90 on Choi language in Cahabon- 88 on Chols and Chorti 81 on Guatemalan millstones 90-91 on Lacandons 80, 82, 83 on ruins in Chixoy valley 86 Sarg, F. C, Guatemalan antiqui- ties collected by 77 Saville, M. H., Maya bibliography by r,37 report on pyramid of Te- poxtlan by 343-344 ScarabKUS, Egyptian, in collection of Sociedad Econfim- ica 77 680 INDEX Page. Schelllias, Paul, on Dieseldorff's paper on pottery vase from Cbama 645 on glyph of month Kayab 423 on glyph of snail 429 on glyphs for cardinal points- 31 on Maya day gods 560 on Maya glyph of Caban 565 studies of Maya glyphs by 502-503 Schultz-Sellack, on cardinal points 27, 29, 31, 32 Segura de la Frontera. See Ante- quera. Seler, Ediiard, contribution to Central American archeology by 538 contribution to Maya studies of 596 on beginning of years in Dres- den codex 477 on Maya day gods 559 on relation of sea snail to deities of death 428 Serpent as Maya year symbol 477-478 Shield in Sahagun manuscript 64 Shoe vessel, from Quiche territory 110 in Sarg collection 91 Sickness, eruptive, epidemic of 334 Siguenza y Gongora, Carlos, fate of papers of 20 on intercalary days 22, 667 Skin, human, drawing of 173 Snail, tortoise and, in Maya litera- ture 42.3-430 Sociedad Economica, Guatemalan antiquities belonging to 77 Soldiers, Maya and Mexican, de- scription of 650-057 Solstice, summer, assigned by Mayas to tortoise 423-427 winter, assigned by Mayas to snail 423,427 Spaniards, appearance of, in Yuca- tan, date of 333-334 Mexican glyphs of 195 Standard for feather ornament 66-67 Star, morning, divinity of ■- 360-363, 366, 382 worship of, in Mexico 358-360 symbols, Maya 504 Stars, worship of, in Mexico 358 Stephens, .T. L., cited 547 on tortoise on monument at Copan 427 Stoll, Otto, on Indian burial mounds in Guate- mala 77 on Lacandons 80 on Nahuatls in Central Amer- ica 662 on Salama 112 on uniformity of religious ideas 275 Stones, precious, among the Mexi- cans 150 Page. Strange, Chan Santa Cruz visited by 633 Strebel, glazed fragments found at Zoncuautla by 109 on varnished vessel of .Talna_ 117 vessel from region of Atoto- nilco and Quimistlan in collection of 109 Stuttgart Museum, Mexican shields in 182-183 Sun, eclipse of, Zapotec ideas re- garding 300 god, Kinich Ahau, heads of 99-101 worship in Mexico and Cen- tral America 295-296 of Lacandons 82 T.abaseo, as commercial center 110 female deity worshiped in 81 traffic with Acalan 78 Tablets, red pottery, in Sapper and DieseldorfE col- lections 101 Tahitza 79 Tattooing in Maya inscriptions 600-601 Tecpatl, Mexican year sign 24, 25, 26, 27, 33, 52 Tehuantepec, idol near 293 intercalary days in year of 19 oracle near 293 Tenanco, chieftain of, in fragment I of Humboldt col- lection 145 Tenochca, Tlatelolca conquered by' 61 Tenochtitlan, war with Tlatelolco- 61 Teotihuacan, pyramids of sun and moon at 296 Teotitlan del Camino, worship of Xipe at 296-297 Teotitlan del Valle, buildings at__ 298-300 idol and oracle at 296-298 Teotleco, twelfth feast of Mexican year 59 Tepeolotlec, Zapotec god 291-294, 668 Tepoxtecatl, god worshiped at Tepoxtlan 349-352 glyph of 350 images of 350-352 Tepoxtlan, history of 342-343 location of 341-342.669 temple pyramid of, date of 347 deity worshiped at 347-352 description of 344-347, 069 paper on, by Eduard Seler 339-352 Teteo innan, Mexican earth god- dess 130 Tezcatlipoca, feather basket worn by 67 forms of 68-69 god of the Chalcas 59. 670 Mexican god who eradicates sin 281 Tezcuco. palace at 190-191 plan of 190-192, 196 population of 192 INDEX 681 Page. Tezontepec, places of that name in Mexico 188 Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana of, Mexican astron- omy in_- 355, 356, 357, 358 Moteciilizoma's armor in_ 69 war dress in 61, 62 Tliomas, Cyrus, acltnowledgment to 10 cited 29. 266, 411, 418, 496. 497, 501, 527, 548, 596 signs of cardinal points inter- preted by •''01 Time, computation of. in Mexico — 15 Time periods of the Mayas, paper on by E. Forste- mann 491-498 Time unit of 20 days, Mexican 13 dedication of 16 Tititl, Mexican feast 23 Tizoc, Tizocic, glyphic representa- tion of 156 Tlacauepan, brother of Motecuh- zoma the younger 62 Tlacaxipeualiztli, Mexican feast — 23, 132 Tlacotzin, glyphs of 164-165 Tlaelquani, Mexican earth god- dess as eradicator of sin 281 Tlaloc, Mexican rain, thunder, and mountain god— 22, 129, 669 Tlaltelolco, conference to decide beginning of year at_ 22 conquered by Tenochca 61 Moquiuix, king of 60 war with Tenochtitlan 61 Tlauitol family in Tezcuco 194-195 Tlauitoltzin, San Antonio Pimen- tel, Chimalpahin on_ 194 Pomar on 194-195 Sahagun on 194 Torquemada on 104 Tlauizcalpan Tecutli, as synonym of Coqui-Xee. Coqui- Cilla 286,669 Tlaxcala, clay vessel found near_ 64 Tochtli, Mexican year sign 24, 25, 26, 27, 33, 44 Toci, Mexican earth goddess 120, 131 ToUan, legend cycle of 60 Toltecs, antiquity of 327 explanation of •"•42 identified with Quiches in Popul Vuh 234 Tonacaciuatl, Mexican creation goddess 286 Tonacatecutli, Mexican creation god 286 Tonalamatl, as horoscope 532 Central American, paper on, by E. Forstemann — 525-533 Maya name of 14 Maya, divisions of 527 origin of 494 Mexican time period 14, 134 referred by Zapotecs to car- dinal points 267 Page. Tonalamatl, represented in Auhin- Goupil collection 64 Tonantzin, Maya goddess 48, 50, 51 Torquemada, Juan de, o'n inter- calary days 19 on temples at Mitla 249 Tortoise and snail in Maya liter- ature 423-430 in Codex Cortesianus 423-426 in Troano Codex 426 Trade, pottery distributed by 107-109 Trading expeditions, Mexican, into Zapotec country 258-259 Treaty with Mayas in 1853 626 Trocadero Museum, vessels from Tabasco in 90 Tzimin-Chac, Itzaex idol, god of tliunder and light- ning 45 Tzinacantan. Guatemala 233 Uaxtec cap 67, 71 Uaxtepec, " Jardin d'acclimation " of Mexican kings 171 Uaxyacac, settled by Mexicans un- der elder Motecuh- zoma 261 Uexotzinco, enterprise against 62 Ueza-eche, Zapotec name of ordi- nary priests 276 Uhde, collection of. Royal Mu- seum of Ethnology- 64 Mrs Nuttall's views defended by 60 on Mexican feather orna- ment 71,72 on standard of feather orna- ment 66 Uija-tao. Zapotec high priest 248, 275 Uitzilopochtli, Mexican god of war 131 Mexican tribal god, head- dress of 59 shield of 181-182 Uixachtepec, periodic fire on 20 Usumacinta, sacrificial vessels of the 77,83 Utensils in Maya inscriptions 620 Uuayayab, Maya demon of evil 17 Valentini, P. .T. .L, cited .59,540,548 Vampire god, Maya 665-666 Vase, pottery, with figure paint- ing, from a grave in Chama, paper on, by E. P. DieseldorfE 639-645 Vase of Chama, paper on. by E. Forstemann 647-650 paper on, by Eduard Seler 651-664 resemblance of, to Dresden Codex, page 60 647 Venus, planet, glyph of 371-373 human sacrifices to 370 light of 383-386 Mexican observations of_ 363-367, 375-384 revolution of, length of-_ 496 worship of, in Mexico 358 682 INDEX Page. Venus period, analogies between Maya and Mexican manuscripts regard- ing 376-382 assignment of, to five cardinal points 367 compared with solar year 389-391 initial days of, table of 374 paper on, by Eduard Seler 353-391 relation of, to tonalamatl_ 365-367, 386 Vessel with vampire-headed deity, DieseldorfE on 665-666 Vessels, glazed 107, 110 Guatemalan, at American His- torical Exhibition __ 77 juglike, in Sapper collection.. 92 of the Maya type 77 representing toad and monkey, in Sarg collection 108 sacrificial 83-85 gketcnes of, from Castaiieda collection 11.3-121 toothed, obtained by Sarg in Nebah 110 Vienna, Mexican feather orna- ment in museum at- 59 Villagutierre y Sotomayor on Que- hache (Mazatlan) __ 79-80 Votan, Chiapanec year sign 24 Mexican god 45 Tzental god ___; 294-295 Vues des Coi-dilleres, by Hum- boldt, fragments II and VI of Mexican picture writings in__ 127-128 Wall paintings at Mitla 256-257 explanation of 306-324 importance of 324 paper on, by Eduard Seler 243-324 Wesselhoeft, Selma, papers trans- lated by 10 V/hip, use of, in Central America_ 657 Wilken, Friedrich, on Mexican pic- ture writing in Hum- boldt collection 127 Worship of Acalans, Lacandons, and Chols 82-83 Xahlla, Zotzil traditions in 233 Xipe, red god, Mexican 132,669,970 of the Yopi, dress of- 61, 62, 63, 67 forms of 68-69 shield of 63-64.66,67 Xiuhtecutli, Mexican fire god 18 Xochitl, Mexican day sign 35, 36, 54 Xochiquetzal, goddess 50 Xolotl, Mexican and Zapotec god_ 46 65-66, 74, 94-95, 118 Page. Year, Maya, assigned to cardinal points 27 beginning of 446 last five days of 17 length of 402 symbols of 477-489 Mexican, assigned to cardinal points 24 beginning of, variations in 21-24,26 first month of 139-140 initial day of 14, 25 intercalary days in 18-21 last five days of 15-18 length of 14, 15 named from initial days- 15 names of 136-139 table illustrating 137 ritual, Maya 447 Year signs, Chiapanec 24 in Yucatan . 24 Mexican 24 Years, order of 33 period of 24, Maya computa- tion of 476 Yokes, stone, in Royal Museum from Seebach collec- tion 111 Yucatan, belief regarding the Balam in 52 frontier tracts near, charac- teristics of 78-79 independent Indian states of, geography of 633-634 paper on, by Karl Sapper- 623-634 last five days of year in 16-17 Zaeatlan, chieftain of, in fragment I of Humboldt col- lection 145 Zapotec country, ancient 258-265 authority of Mexicans in- 260 estate of Cortes in 265 isolation of 258 Mexican conquests in 261-264 settlement of Mexicans in 259 Zapotecs, deities and religious conceptions of 284-305 relation of, to Mexicans and Mayas 266 submission of. to Cortes 264-265 Zero point, among Cakchikels 35 among Mayas 35 days reckoned by Mayas from_ 35 Zotz, Maya for bat 233 name of Maya time period 237 Zotzihia, "bat's house" 234 Zotzil, tribes so named 233 o Ot'^/c^ ./•7n '^^ ..- ■/^ '^: