at night by observations of the Pleiades and Orion.[38] The name of the
former in their language is _Tzab_, a word which also means the rattles
of the rattlesnake. In the opinion of Dr. Förstemann,[39] their position
in the heavens decided the beginning of the year (or, perhaps, cycle, as
with the Nahuas), and they were represented in the hieroglyphs by the
_moan_ sign (to be explained on a later page).
Certain stars of the constellation Gemini were defined, and named _Ac_,
or _Ac Ek_, “the Tortoise Stars,” from an imagined similarity of outline
to that of the tortoise.[40] This may explain the not infrequent
occurrence of the picture of that animal in the Codices, and its
representations in stone at Copan and elsewhere.
The terms for a comet in Maya were _Budz Ek_, “Smoking Star,” and
_Ikomne_, “Breathing or Blowing,” as it was supposed to blow forth its
fiery train; in Tzental it was _Tza Ec_, “Star Dust.” Shooting stars
were _Chamal Dzutan_, “Magicians’ Pipes,” as they were regarded as the
fire-tubes of certain powerful enchanters.
The stars in Orion were known as _Mehen Ek_, “the Sons,” doubtless
referring to some astronomical myth.
The Milky Way was spoken of under two different names, both of obscure
application, _Tamacaz_ and _Ah Poou_. Another meaning of the former word
is “madness, insanity;” and the latter term was also applied to a youth
who had just attained the age of puberty.[41] Perhaps the connection of
the word lies in the ceremonies of initiation practiced by many tribes
when a youth reached this age, and which, by fasting and the
administration of toxic herbs, often led to temporary mania; and the
deity of the Milky Way may have presided over these rites.
The moon in opposition was referred to as _u nupptanba_, from _nupp_,
opposed, opposite. When in conjunction, the expression was _hunbalan u_,
“the rope of the moon,” or, “the moon roped.” When it was in eclipse, it
was _chibil u_, “the moon bitten,” the popular story being that it was
bitten by a kind of ant called _xulab_. An eclipse of the sun was also
_chibil kin_, “the sun bitten;” but more frequently the phrase was
_tupul u uich kin_, or, _tupan u uich kin_, “the eye of the day is
covered over,” or, “shut up.” It is useful to record such expressions,
as they sometimes suggested the graphic representations of the
occurrences.[42]
-----
Footnote 14:
See my Library of Aboriginal American Literature, No. 1: _The Maya
Chronicles_, Introduction, pp. 37–50 (Philadelphia, 1882).
Footnote 15:
Vincente Pineda, _Gramatica de la Lengua Tzel-tal_, pp. 154, sqq.
(Chiapas, 1887). Pineda makes the multiplier 400 instead of 20, in
which he is certainly in error.
Footnote 16:
The object portrayed is evidently a _shell_, probably selected as a
rebus; but the name of the species I have not found. The ordinary
terms are _puy_ and _xicin_.
Footnote 17:
Förstemann, _Entzifferung_, No. IV, and Maudslay, _Biologia
Centrali-Americana, Archæology_. Part IV.
Footnote 18:
According to Pousse (_Archives de la Soc. Amer. de France_, 1887, p.
165), it is used to designate the particular day which falls on the
20th of the month, that is, the last day of the month, and has
therefore the sense of “last,” “final,” rather than of 20. It is
written as an affix to the month sign. Thomas states that it is used
with month symbols “only where the month (of 20 days) is complete or
follows one completed.” _Amer. Anthropologist_, Vol. VI, p. 246. There
is some doubt whether No. 4 is not an element of union. Compare Seler,
_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, 1887, p. 57.
Footnote 19:
Dr. Förstemann’s article, “Zur Maya-Chronologie,” assigning the
reasons for these identifications, appeared in the Berlin _Zeitschrift
für Ethnologie_, 1891.
Footnote 20:
_Etude sur le Manuscrit Troano_, p. 220.
Footnote 21:
A. P. Maudslay: _Biologia Centrali-Americana; Archæology_, Part II.
Text, pp. 40–42 (London, 1890). The character _b_ closely resembles
the day-sign _chuen_. This could readily be chosen to express
ikonomatically _chun_, “the beginning, the first,” and my studies
convince me that it repeatedly must be so understood. To this I shall
recur on a later page.
Footnote 22:
Since the above was written, Mr. Stewart Culin, Director of the museum
of the University of Pennsylvania, has called my attention to the fact
that the cross-hatching on the “cosmic sign” would, in Oriental,
especially Chinese symbolism, convey the idea of the fundamental dual
principles of existence,—male and female, upper and lower, etc. The
same interpretation may quite possibly apply in the Mayan symbolism.
Footnote 23:
See my _Native Calendar of Central America_, pp. 49–59 (Philadelphia,
1893).
Footnote 24:
The dictionaries give: “_bolon pixan_, bien adventurado;” _bolon
dzacab_, and _oxlahun dzacab_, “cosa eterna.” The numeral “one,” as in
English, had a superlative sense, as _hun miatz_, “the one scholar,”
_i. e._, the most distinguished. Why a symbolic or superlative sense
was attached to such numbers is a question too extensive to discuss
here. I have touched upon it in my _Native Calendar of Central
America_, pp. 8, 13, and in an article on “The Origin of Sacred
Numbers” in _The American Anthropologist_, April, 1894. In another
connection we find _maay_, odor from something burning; “_bolonmayel_,
qualquier olor suavissimo y transcendente”—_Dicc. Motul._ Dr. Seler
has suggested that the number 13 may refer to the thirteen heavens;
but offers no evidence that the Mayas entertained the Nahuatl myth to
which this refers.
Footnote 25:
Schrader: _Prehistoric Antiquities of the Aryan Peoples_, pp. 307–9.
Footnote 26:
To enter into this debated question at length would not be possible in
this connection; but I would merely note: (1) The positive assertion
of Landa that the Maya year “invariably” began July 16 (_Cosas de
Yucatan_, p. 236), could not be true even for five years, unless the
bissextile correction was made, which he asserts was done; (2) the
example of a Maya year given by Aguilar (_Informe contra Idolum
Cultores del Obispado de Yucatan_, Madrid, 1639), is actually one
containing six intercalary days, “_seis_ dias que fueron sus
caniculares;” and (3) Father Martin de Leon, in his “_Calendario
Mexicano_,” pointedly states that the fourth year was a bissextile
year (_Camino del Cielo_, fol. 100, Mexico, 1611). I do not maintain
that this knowledge was general, but that it had been acquired by the
astronomer-priests of certain localities. The investigations of Mrs.
Zelia Nuttall tend to demonstrate this opinion.
Footnote 27:
On these points I would refer the reader to my work, _The Native
Calendar of Central America and Mexico; A Study in Linguistics and
Symbolism_ (Philadelphia, 1893).
Footnote 28:
Professor Cyrus Thomas, in his carefully written article, “The Maya
Year,” in the _Bulletins_ of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washington,
1894), has collected evidence that the same calendar system, based, he
believes, on the year of 365 days, was used in Palenque, Menche
(Lorillard City), and Tikal, as well as in the Cod. Dresdensis. That
the Mayas had, at the time of the Conquest, long known the year of 365
days, was demonstrated from the Codices by Dr. Förstemann. (See his
_Erläuterungen zur Maya-Handschrift_, Dresden, 1886, p. 21, and his
“Die Zeitperioden der Mayas,” in _Globus_, January, 1892).
Footnote 29:
See especially his articles, _Die Zeitperioden der Mayas_, 1892, and
his _Zur Entzifferung der Maya-Handschriften_, IV, 1894.
Footnote 30:
The grounds for this opinion are stated in his _Zur Entzifferung_,
etc., No. II.
Footnote 31:
A. Pousse, in _Archives de la Société Américaine de France_, 1886,
1887.
Footnote 32:
In the _American Anthropologist_ for July, 1893.
Footnote 33:
See her “Note on the Ancient Mexican Calendar System,” communicated to
the Tenth International Congress of Americanists, Stockholm, 1894.
Footnote 34:
As the pages of the Codices are generally divided into compartments by
transverse lines, the custom of students is to designate these from
above downward by small letters added to the number of the page.
Footnote 35:
In _American Anthropologist_, July, 1893, p. 262.
Footnote 36:
“El lucero de la mañana, que parece hacer amanecer.” _Dicc. de Motul._
Footnote 37:
Like _chimal ik_, “north wind.” _Chimal_ is the Nahuatl _chimalli_,
shield, so these terms must be of late origin in Maya.
Footnote 38:
“Regianse de noche, para conocer la hora, por el lucero, i las
cabrillas i los astilejos; de dia, por el medio dia.” Landa, _Cosas de
Yucatan_, cap. 34.
Footnote 39:
_Entzifferung der Mayahandschriften_, No. IV.
Footnote 40:
“Las tres estrellas juntas que estan en el signo de Geminis, las
quales, con otras, hacen forma de tortuga.” _Dicc. de Motul._
Footnote 41:
These definitions are given in the _Dicc. Motul_.
Footnote 42:
In Cod. Peres., pp. 18, 19, the sun is shown bitten by birds, snakes,
etc. We probably have in this a reference to an eclipse. On a later
page I shall show the hieroglyph of the double loop of the rope, which
probably signifies the moon in conjunction.
III. The Pictorial Elements.
To understand the pictorial portions of the inscriptions some
acquaintance with the native mythology is indispensable.
1. _The Religion of the Ancient Mayas._
The religion of the Mayas was a polytheism, but the principal deities
were few in number, as is expressly stated by Father Francisco
Hernandez, the earliest missionary to Yucatan (1517);[43] and these,
according to the explicit assertion of Father Lizana, were the same as
those worshipped by the Tzentals of Tabasco and Chiapas.[44] Both these
statements are confirmed by a comparison of the existing remains, and
they greatly facilitate a comprehension of the Codices and epigraphy.
The spirit of this religion was dualistic, the gods of life and light,
of the sun and day, of birth and food, of the fertilizing showers and
the cultivated fields, being placed in contrast to those of misfortune
and pain, of famine and pestilence, of blight and night, darkness and
death. Back of them all, indeed the source of them all, was _Hunab Ku_,
“the One Divine;” but of him no statue and no picture was made, for he
was incorporeal and invisible.[45]
_Itzamna._—Chief of the beneficent gods was _Itzamna_. He was the
personification of the East, the rising sun, with all its manifold
mythical associations. His name means “the dew or moisture of the
morning,” and he was the spirit of the early mists and showers. He was
said to have come in his magic skiff from the East, across the waters,
and therefore he presided over that quarter of the world and the days
and years assigned to it.
For similar reasons he received the name _Lakin chan_, “the Serpent of
the East,” under which he seems to have been popularly known. As light
is synonymous with both life and knowledge, he was said to have been the
creator of men, animals, and plants, and was the founder of the culture
of the Mayas. He was the first priest of their religion, and invented
writing and books; he gave the names to the various localities in
Yucatan, and divided the land among the people; as a physician he was
famous, knowing not only the magic herbs, but possessing the power of
healing by touch, whence his name _Kabil_, “the skilful hand,” under
which he was worshipped in Chichen Itza. For his wisdom he was spoken of
as _Yax coc ah-mut_, “the royal or noble master of knowledge.”
_Cuculcan._—In some sense a contrast, in others a completion of the
mythical concepts embodied in Itzamna, was _Cuculcan_ or Cocol chan,
“the feathered or winged serpent.”[46] He also was a hero-god, a deity
of culture and of kindliness. He was traditionally the founder of the
great cities of Chichen Itza, and Mayapan; was active in framing laws
and introducing the calendar, at the head of which some Maya tribes
placed his name; was skilled in leechcraft, and was spoken of as the god
of chills and fevers.
As Itzamna was identified with the East, so was Cuculcan with the West.
Thence he was said to have come, and thither returned.[47] In the
Tzental calendars he was connected with the seventh day (_moxic_, Maya,
_manik_); hence he is mystically associated with that number. He
corresponds to the _Gukumatz_ of the Quiche mythology, a name which has
the same signification.
In the myth he is described as clothed in a long robe and wearing
sandals, and, what is noteworthy, _having a beard_. In the calendars of
the Tzentals he was painted “in the likeness of a man and a snake,” and
the “masters” explained this as “the snake with feathers, which moves in
the waters,” that is, the heavenly waters, the clouds and the rains; for
which reason Bishop Nuñez de la Vega, to whom we owe this information,
identified him with the Mexican Mixcoatl, “the cloud serpent;”[48]
whereas Bishop Landa was of opinion that he was the Mexican
Quetzalcoatl.
_Kin ich._—As Itzamna was thus connected with the rising, morning sun,
and Cuculcan with the afternoon and setting sun, so the sun in the
meridian was distinguished from both of them. As a divinity, it bore the
name _Kin ich_, “the eye or face of the day.” The sacrifices to it were
made at the height of noontide, when it was believed that the deity
descended in the shape of the red macaw (the _Ara macao_), known as _Kak
mo_, “the bird of fire,” from the color of its plumage, and consumed the
offering. Such ceremonies were performed especially in times of great
sickness, general mortality, the destruction of the crops through
locusts, and other public calamities. It seems probable from the
accounts that Kin ich was a much less prominent divinity in the popular
mind than either of the other two solar deities, and his attributes were
occasionally assigned to Itzamna, as we find the combination _Kin ich
ahau Itzamna_ among the names of divinities.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.—The Beneficent Gods draw from their Stores.
(Photographed from the Cortesian Codex.)]
_Other Gods._—To Itzamna was assigned as consort _Ix Chel_, “the
rainbow,” also known as _Ix Kan Leom_, “the spider-web” (which catches
the dew of the morning). She was goddess of medicine and of childbirth,
and her children were the _Bacabs_, or _Chacs_ (giants),[49] four mighty
brethren, who were the gods of the four cardinal points, of the winds
which blow from them, of the rains these bring, of the thunder and the
lightning, and consequently of agriculture, the harvests, and the food
supply. Their position in the ritual was of the first importance. To
each were assigned a particular color and a certain year and day in the
calendar. To _Hobnil_, “the hollow one” or “the belly,” were given the
south, the color yellow, and the day and years _kan_, the first of the
calendar series, and so on. The red Bacab was to the east, the white to
the north, and the black, whose name was _Hozan Ek_, “the
Disembowelled,” to the west.[50]
_The Cardinal Points._—Much attention has been directed to these
divinities as representing the worship of the cardinal points and to the
colors, days, cycles, and elements mythically associated with them.
Uniform results have not been obtained, as the authorities differ, as
probably did also the customs of various localities.[51] Pio Perez
assigns _kan_ to the east, _muluc_ to the north, _ix_ to the west, and
_cauac_ to the south. The arrangement based on Landa’s statements would
be as follows:—
_Cardinal _Bacab._ _Days._ _Colors._ _Elements._
point._
South, Hobnil (the Belly), Kan, Yellow, Air.
East, Canzicnal (Serpent Being), Muluc, Red, Fire.
North, Zaczini (White Being), Ix, White, Water.
West, Hozan ek (the Disembowelled Cauac, Black, Earth.
Black one),
On the other hand, it should be noted that the names of the winds in
Maya distinctly assign the color white to the east, thus:—
East wind, _zac ik_, “white wind.”
Northeast wind, _zac xaman ik_, “white north wind.”
Southeast wind, _zac nohol ik_, “white south wind.”
The solution of these difficulties must be left for future
investigation.
_The Good Gods._—Divinities of a beneficent character were _Yum Chac_,
“Lord of Waters or Rains;” _Yum Kaax_, “Lord of the Harvest Fields;”
_Cum Ahau_, “Lord of the Vase,” that is, of the rains, who is described
in the Dic. Motul as “Lucifer, Chief of the Devils” and is probably a
name of Itzamna; _Zuhuy Kak_, “Virgin Fire,” patroness of infants;
_Zuhuy Dzip_, “The Virgin of Dressed Animals,” a hunting goddess; _Ix
Tabai_, “Goddess of the Ropes or Snares,” also a hunting goddess as well
as the patroness of those who hanged themselves; _Ah Kak Nech_, “He Who
Looks after the Cooking Fire,” _Ah Ppua_, “the Master of Dew,” and _Ah
Dziz_, “The Master of Cold,” divinities of the fishermen.
To this list should be added _Acan_, “the God of the Intoxicating Mead,”
the national beverage, that being its name; _Ek Chua_, “the Black
Companion,” god of the cacao planters and the merchants, as these used
the cacao beans as a medium of exchange; _Ix Tub Tun_, “she who spits
out Precious Stones,” goddess of the workers in jade and amethysts; _Cit
Bolon Tun_, “the Nine (_i. e._, numberless) Precious Stones,” a god of
medicine; _Xoc Bitum_, the God of Singing, and _Ah Kin Xoc_ or _Ppiz Lim
Tec_, the God of Poetry (_xoc_, to sing or recite); _Ix Chebel Yax_, the
first inventress of painting and of colored designs on woven stuffs
(_chebel_, to paint, and a paint-brush).
A minor deity was _Tel Cuzaan_, “the swallow-legged,” a divinity of the
island of Cozumel (“Swallow Island”).
On a lofty pyramid, where is now the city of Valladolid, Yucatan, was
worshipped _Ah zakik ual_, “Lord of the East Wind.” His idol was of
pottery in the shape of a vase, moulded in front into an ugly face. In
it they burned copal and other gums. His festival was celebrated every
fourth year with sham battles.[52] Probably this was a representation of
Itzamna as lord of the cardinal point.
The “Island of Women,” Isla de Mugeres, on the east coast, was so named
because the first explorers found there the statues of four female
divinities, to whom altars and temples were dedicated.[53] They were
_Ix-chel_, _Ix-chebel-yax_, _Ix-hun-yé_, and _Ix-hun-yeta_. The first
two have already been mentioned. The last two seem to have been
goddesses connected with the moonrise and sunrise, as the dictionaries
give as the meaning of _yé_, “to show one’s self, to appear;” as in the
phrases _yethaz y ahalcab_, “at the appearance of the dawn;” _yethaz u
hokol u_, “at moonrise;” _yet hokol kin_, “at sunrise.”
Prominent among mythical beings were the dwarfs, known as _ppuz_, “bent
over;” _ac uinic_, “turtle men;” _tzapa uinic_, “shortened men;” and
_pputum_, “small of body.” They are sometimes represented in the
carvings, an interesting example being in the Peabody Museum. A legend
concerning such brownies was that before the last destruction of the
world the whole human race degenerated into like diminutive beings,
which prompted the gods to destroy it.[54] One class of these little
creatures, called _acat_, were said to become transformed into flowers.
As I have shown elsewhere,[55] many similar superstitions survive in the
folk-lore of Yucatan and Tabasco to-day. But it is not safe to look at
such survivals as part of genuine ancient mythology. For instance, the
goddess _Ix-nuc_, or _Xnuc_, said by Brasseur to have been goddess of
the mountains, by Seler, goddess of the earth, and by Schellhas, goddess
of water, is in fact not a member of the Maya Pantheon. The name means
simply “old woman,” and was first mentioned by an anonymous modern
writer in the _Registro Yucateco_.
_The Gods of Evil._—In contrast to the beneficent deities were those who
presided over war, disease, death, and the underworld. Distinctively war
gods were _Uac Lom Chaam_, “He whose teeth are six lances,” worshipped
anciently at Ti-ho, the present Mérida; _Ahulane_, “The Archer,” painted
holding an arrow, whose shrine was on the island of Cozumel; _Pakoc_
(from _paakal_, to frighten) and _Hex Chun Chan_, “The dangerous one,”
divinities of the Itzaes; _Kak u pacat_, “Fire (is) his face,” who is
said to have carried in battle a shield of fire; _Ah Chuy Kak_, “He who
works in fire,” that is, for destruction; _Ah Cun Can_, “The serpent
charmer,” also worshipped at Ti-Ho; _Hun Pic Tok_, “He of 8000 lances,”
who had a temple at Chichen Itza.
Chief of all these evil beings was the God of Death. His name is
preserved in the first account we have of Yucatecan mythology, that by
Father Hernandez, and, according to Father Lara, it was the same among
the Tzentals, Maya, _Ah-puch_, Tzental, _Pucugh_. These words mean “the
Undoer,” or “Spoiler,” apparently a euphemism to avoid pronouncing a
name of evil omen.[56] In modern Maya he is plain _Yum cimil_, “lord of
death.” He was painted as a skeleton with bare skull, and was then
called _Chamay Bac_, or _Zac Chamay Bac_, “white teeth and bones.”[57]
The spirit (_pixan_) after death was supposed to go to the Underworld,
which was called _Mitna_, or _Metna_ where presided the god _Xibilba_ or
_Xabalba_, sometimes called _Hun Ahau_, “the One lord,” for to his realm
must all come at last.[58] Another name for this Hades was _tancucula_
(perhaps _tan kukul_, “before the gods,” _i. e._, where one is judged),
which is given by the _Dicc. Motul_ as an “ancient word” (vocablo
antiguo). The happy souls then passed to a realm of joy, where they
spent their time under the great green tree _Yaxche_, while those who
were condemned sank down to a place of cold and hunger.
_The Conflict of the Gods._—Between these two classes of deities—those
who make for good and those who make for evil in the life of man—there
is, both in the myths and in the picture writings, an eternal conflict.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.—The gods of Life and of Growth plant the tree.
Death breaks it in twain. (Photographed from the Cortesian Codex.)]
In the Codex Troano, as Dr. Seler remarks, “The god of death appears as
the inevitable foil of the god of light and heaven. In whatever action
the latter is depicted, the god of death is imitating it, but in such a
manner that with him all turns to nought and emptiness. Where the
light-god holds the string, in the hands of the death-god it is torn
asunder; where the former offers incense, the latter carries the sign of
‘fire’ wherewith to consume it; where the former presents the sign
_kan_, food, the latter lifts an empty vase bearing the signs of drought
and death.”
2. _The Cosmogony of the Mayas._
We know practically nothing of the cosmogony of the Mayas; but it is
instructive in connection with their calendar system to find that, like
the Nahuas, they believed in Epochs of the Universe, at the close of
each of which there was a general destruction of both gods and men. The
early writer, Aguilar, says that he learned from the native books
themselves that they recorded three such periodical cataclysms. The
first was called _Mayacimil_, “general death;” the second, _Oc na
kuchil_, “the ravens enter the houses,” that is, the inhabitants were
all dead; and the third, _Hun yecil_, a universal deluge, a term which
the _Dicc. Motul_ seems to explain by mentioning a tradition that the
water was so high “that its surface was within the distance of one stalk
of maguey from the sky!” Another term for this catastrophe was
_bulcabal_, _haycabal_ or _haycabil_ (destruccion, asolamiento y diluvio
general con que fué destruido y asolado el mundo. _Dicc. Motul_).
This would make the present the fourth age of the world (not the fifth,
as the Nahuas believed); and this corresponds to the prophecies
contained in the “Books of Chilan Balam,” which I have quoted in another
work. The scene of the creation of man, the “terrestrial Paradise,” was
known as _hun anhil_, and the name of the first man was _Anum_, both
apparently from the verb _anhel_, to stand erect.