His significance can be conjectured. He seems to be of a warlike nature,
for he is almost always represented armed with the lance and also as
engaged in combat and, in some instances, pierced by the lance of his
opponent, god F, for example in Tro. 3c, 7a, 29*a. The peculiar object
with parallel stripes, which he wears on his head is a rope from which a
package frequently hangs. By means of a rope placed around his head the
god frequently carries a bale of merchandise, as is the custom today
among the aborigines in different parts of America. On 4b and 5a in the
Cod. Tro. this can plainly be seen. All these pictures lead us to
conclude, that we have here to do with a god of _travelling merchants_. A
deity of this character called Ekchuah has been handed down to us, who is
designated explicitly as a _black_ god. In favor of this is also the
fact, that he is represented fighting with F and pierced by the latter.
For the travelling merchant must, of course, be armed to ward off hostile
attacks and these are admirably symbolized by god F, for he is the god of
death in war and of the killing of the captured enemy. The god is found
in the Codex Troano in the following places and on many pages two or
three times: pp. 2, 3, 4, 5, always with the hieroglyph, then without it
on pp. 6, 7, 19, 4*c, 14*b, 17*a, 18*b and again with the hieroglyph
on pp. 22*a, 23*a, 25*a; finally it is found again without the
hieroglyph on pp. 29*a, 30*a, 31*, 32*, 33*, 34*. In the Codex
Cortesianus god M occurs in the following places: p. 15, where he strikes
the sky with the axe and thus causes rain, p. 19 (bottom), 28 (bottom,
second figure), 34 (bottom) and 36 (top). M is always to be recognized by
the encircled mouth and the drooping under-lip; figures without these
marks are not identical with M, thus for example in Tro. 23, 24, 25, 21*.
Tro. 34*a shows what is apparently a variant of M with the face of an
old man, the scorpion's tail and the vertebrae of the death-god, a figure
which in its turn bears on its breast the plainly recognizable head of M.
God M is also represented elsewhere many times with the scorpion's
tail, thus for example on Tro. 30*a, 31*a.
Besides his hieroglyph mentioned above, Figs. 45 and 46, another sign
seems to refer to god M, namely Fig. 48 (compare for example Tro. 5a and
Cort. 28, bottom). The head in this sign has the same curved lines at the
corner of the eye as appear on the deity himself. Förstemann mentions
this sign in his Commentary on the Paris Manuscript, p. 15, and in his
Commentary on the Dresden Manuscript, p. 56. He thinks the hieroglyph has
relation to the revolution of Venus, which is performed in 584 days. A
relation of this kind is, I think, very possible, if we bear in mind that
all the god-figures of the manuscripts have more or less of a calendric
and chronologic significance in their chief or in their secondary
function.
It should be mentioned that God M is represented as a rule as an old man
with toothless jaw or the characteristic solitary tooth. That he is also
related to bee-culture is shown by his presence on p. 4*c of the Codex
Troano, in the section on bees.
Besides gods L and M, a few quite isolated black figures occur in the
Codex Troano, who, apparently, are identical with neither of these two
deities, but are evidently of slight importance and perhaps are only
variants of other deities. Similar figures of black deities are found in
the Codex Tro. 23, 24 and 25 (perhaps this is a black variant of B as god
of the storm?) and on 21*c we twice see a black form with the aged face
and the solitary tooth in the under jaw (perhaps only a variant of M). In
the Codex Cortesianus and in the Dresden manuscript no other black
deities occur, but in the Paris manuscript a black deity seems to be
pictured once (p. 21, bottom).
According to Brinton (Nagualism, Philadelphia 1894, pp. 21, 39), there is
among the Tzendals in addition to Ekchuah, a second black deity called
Xicalahua, "black lord".
N. The God of the End of the Year.
[Illustration: Figs. 49-51]
We have here a deity with the features of an old man and wearing a
peculiar head ornament reproduced in Fig. 50, which contains the sign for
the year of 360 days. The god's hieroglyph is Fig. 49, which consists of
the numeral 5 with the sign of the month Zac. Förstemann has recognized
in god N the god of the five Uayeyab days, which were added as
intercalary days at the end of the original year of 360 days, and were
considered unlucky days. N is, therefore, the god of the end of the year.
Förstemann has discussed him in detail under this title in a monograph
published in Globus, Vol. 80, No. 12. It is still open to question
whether god N actually occurs in all the places of the Dresden
manuscript, which are mentioned by Förstemann. He can be recognized
positively on Dr. 17a, 21c (grouped with a woman) and 37a; also on
12c, but in this latter place with pronounced deviations from the usual
representations. The figures in Dr. 23c (first group) and 43a (third
picture) are doubtful, especially since the hieroglyph of the god is
lacking in both instances. The third group in Dr. 21c is equally
dubious. Here a woman is pictured sitting opposite a god. The latter
seems to be god N, yet in the text we find instead of his sign the
hieroglyph given in Fig. 51. It is not impossible that this sign likewise
denotes god N.
God N is found a few times in the Paris manuscript, for example on p. 4,
where he holds K's head in his hands, and on p. 22.
O. A Goddess with the Features of an Old Woman.
[Illustration: Fig. 52]
This goddess occurs only in the Madrid manuscript and is distinguished by
the solitary tooth in the under jaw, as a sign of age, the invariable
characteristic of aged persons in the manuscripts. She is pictured in the
following places: Tro. 5*c, 6*b, and 11*b, c and d, Cort. 10b,
11a, 38a. In Tro. 11* she is represented working at a loom. She does
not appear at all in the Dresden and Paris manuscripts. The figures of
women mentioned under I with the serpent on their heads, are especially
not to be regarded as identical with goddess O, for she never wears the
serpent, but a tuft of hair bound high up on her head and running out in
two locks.
Her hieroglyph is Fig. 52; it is distinguished by the wrinkles of age
about the eye. Owing to the limited number of her pictures, there is
little to be said concerning the significance of this goddess.
P. The Frog-God.
[Illustration: Fig. 53]
We call him the frog-god because in the Codex Tro. 31, he is pictured in
the first and second lines with the club-shaped fingers of a frog, which
occur only on this figure. The blue background, which is his attribute
twice in the same passage, likewise points to a connection with water,
and that the god also has something to do with agriculture may be deduced
from the fact that he is pictured sowing seed and making furrows with the
planting-stick. The two black parallel stripes at the corner of the eye
seem to be folds of skin or marks on the skin, which may represent a
peculiarity of this particular species of frog. His head ornament is very
characteristic and contains the sign for the year of 360 days. He
therefore bears some unknown relation also to the computation of time. It
should be recalled in this connection that one of the Maya months is
called Uo, frog. The god is pictured again in Tro. 30a and b, Tro. 22
(top, scattering seed) and Cort. 5 (at the very bottom, the figure lying
down). Finally his neck ornament must be mentioned, which, as a rule,
consists of a neck-chain with pointed, oblong or pronged objects,
probably shells.
In the Dresden manuscript he occurs but once, Dr. 4a (first figure),
with some variations it is true. The text at this place contains H's
hieroglyph. God P does not occur in the Peresianus.
His hieroglyph is Fig. 53. It occurs in Tro. 31 (top) and can be
unerringly recognized by the two black parallel stripes at the corner of
the eye; which correspond exactly to the same marks on the face of the
picture of the god himself.
This is all that can be said respecting this deity from the pictures in
the manuscripts. Its meaning is obscure. Seler's assumption that god P is
Kukulcan (Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 1898, p. 403) has certainly very
slight foundation, and in view of the material from the manuscripts
described in the preceding pages, it is in the highest degree improbable.
* * * * *
The foregoing is an almost complete enumeration of the god-figures proper
in the Maya manuscripts. Whatever other figures of gods occur in the
manuscripts are details of slight importance. This is especially true of
the Dresden manuscript, which is well nigh exhausted by the types
enumerated here; there may be, I think, a few figures still undescribed
in the Madrid manuscript, the careless drawing of which renders the
identification very difficult. An isolated figure of the Dresden
manuscript still remains to be mentioned, concerning which it is doubtful
whether it is intended to represent a deity or only a human personage.
This is the figure characterized by a peculiar head ornament in Dr. 20b.
It is designated in the text by two hieroglyphs, which belong together,
Figs. 54 and 55, the latter occurring once with K (Dr. 7a). It seems to
represent blowing from the mouth, screaming or speaking.
[Illustration: Figs. 54-55]