mask, and not a serpent mask, as has been ingeniously proved by Dr.
HARRISON ALLEN in his paper so often quoted. It is the mask of _Tlaloc_,
as shown by the teeth and corroborated (not proved) by the way in which
the eye is expressed. The curved hook within the eyeball here, as in
185, stands for the air--the wind--of which _Tlaloc_ was also god. The
Mexicans had a similar sign for breath, message.
The _chiffre_ 1975, on which _Huitzilopochtli's_ priest is standing, I
believe to be the synonym of 185 in Plate XXIV. Just in front of
_Tlaloc's_ priest is a sacrificial yoke (?), at the top of which is a
face, with the eye of the _Tlalocs_, and various decorations. This face
is to be found also at the lower left-hand corner of Plate XLI (of
STEPHENS'), and also (?) in the same position in Plate XLII (of
STEPHENS'). These will serve as subjects for further study.
Notice in Plate LVI (our Fig. 48) how the ornaments in corresponding
positions on either side of the central line are similar, yet never the
same. A careful study of these pairs will show how the two gods
celebrated, differed. A large part, at least, of the attributes of each
god is recorded in this way by antithesis. I have not made enough
progress in this direction to make the very few conclusions of which I
am certain worth recording. The general fact of such an antithesis is
obvious when once it is pointed out, and it is in just such paths as
this that advances must be looked for.
I have just mentioned, in this rapid survey of the plates of vol. ii of
STEPHENS' work, the principal pictorial signs relating to _Tlaloc_.
There are a number almost equally well marked in vol. i, in Plates VII,
IX, X, XIII, and XV, but they need not be described. Those who are
especially interested can find them for themselves.
The following brief account and plate of a _Tlaloc_ inscription at Kabah
will be useful for future use, and is the more interesting as it is
comparatively unknown.
_INSCRIPTION AT KABAH (Yucatan)._
This hitherto unpublished inscription on a rock at Kabah is given in
_Archives paléographiques_, vol. i, part ii, Plate 20. It deserves
attention on account of its resemblances, but still more on account of
its differences, with certain other Yucatec glyphs.
We may first compare it with the Plate LX of STEPHENS (our Fig. 59).
The head-dress in Plate 20 is quite simple, and presents no resemblance
to the elaborate gear of Plate LX, in which the ornament of a leaf (?),
or more probably feather, cross-hatched at the end and divided
symmetrically by a stem (?) or quill about which four dots are placed,
seems characteristic.
_Possibly_, and only possibly, the square in the rear of the head of
Plate 20, which has two cross-hatchings, may refer to the elaborate
cross-hatchings in Plate LX. The four dots are found twice, once in
front and once in rear of the figure. The heads of the two figures have
only one resemblance, but this is a very important one. The tusks belong
to HUITZILOPOCHTLI and to his trinity, and specially to TLALOC, his
companion.
Both Plate 20 and LX have the serpent wand or yoke clearly expressed. In
LX the serpent is decorated with crotalus heads; in 20 by images of the
sun (?), as in the FERJAVARY MS. (KINGSBOROUGH). The front apron or
ornament of Plate 20 is of snake skin, ornamented with sun-symbols.
Comparing Plate 20 with Fig. 52 (_ante_), we find quite other
resemblances. The head-dress of 20 is the same as the projecting arm of
the head-dress of Fig. 52; and the tusks are found in the helmet or mask
of Fig. 52.
These and other resemblances show the Kabah inscription to be a TLALOC.
It is interesting specially on account of its hieroglyphs, which I hope
to examine subsequently. The style of this writing appears to be late,
and may serve as a connecting link between the stones and the
manuscripts, and it is noteworthy that even the style of the drawing
itself seems to be in the manner of the Mexican MS. of LAUD, rather than
in that of the Palenque stone tablets.
From the card catalogue I select the following _chiffres_ as
appertaining to the family of the _Tlalocs_. As I have said, these must
for the present remain in a group, unseparated. Future studies will be
necessary to discriminate between the special signs which relate to
special members of the family. The _chiffres_ are Nos. 3200; 1864; 1403;
811; 1107?; 1943?; 4114??; _b_?; 1893 (bearded faces, or faces with
teeth very prominent); 166?; 4??; 807?; 62?; 155?; 26; 154?; 165?; 164?;
805; 4109; 1915?; 675??; 635?? (distinguished by the characteristic eye
of the TLALOCS).
Here, again, the writing is ideographic, and not phonetic.
X.
CUKULCAN OR QUETZALCOATL.
The character 2021 occurs many times in Plate LVI (Fig. 48), and
occasionally elsewhere. The personage represented is distinguished by
having a protruding tongue, and was therefore at once suspected to be
QUETZALCOATL. (See BANCROFT'S _Native Races_, vol. iii, p. 280.) The
protruding tongue is probably a reference to his introduction of the
sacrificial acts performed by wounding that member.
The rest of the sign I suppose to be the rebus of his name,
"Snake-plumage"; the part cross-hatched being "snake," the feather-like
ornament at the upper left-hand corner being "plumage." It is necessary,
however, to prove this before accepting the theory. To do this I had
recourse to Plates I and IV (Figs. 49, 50), my dictionary of synonyms.
This _cross-hatching_ occurs in Plate I. In the six tassels below the
waist, where the cross-hatching _might_ indicate the serpent skin,
notice the ends of the tassels; these are in a scroll-like form, and as
if rolled or coiled tip. In Plate IV they are the same, naturally. So
far there is but little light.
In Plate IV, just above each wrist, is a sign composed of ellipse and
bars; a little above each of these signs, among coils which may be
serpent coils, and on the horizontal line through the top of the
necklace pendant, are two surfaces cross-hatched all over. What do these
mean? Referring to Plate I, we find, in exactly the same relative
situation, the forked tongue and the rattles of the crotalus. These are,
then, synonyms, and the _guess_ is confirmed. The cross-hatching means
serpent-skin. Is this _always_ so? We must examine other plates to
decide.
The same ornament is found in Plates IX, XIV, XVI, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI,
XXXV (of STEPHENS'), but its situation does not allow us to gain any
additional light.
In Plate XII (STEPHENS') none of the ornaments below the belt will help
us. At the level of the mouth are four patches of it. Take the upper
right-hand one of these. Immediately to its right is a serpent's head;
below the curve and above the frog's (?) head are the rattles. Here is
another confirmation. In Plate XVIII I refer the cross-hatching to the
jaw of the crocodile. In Plate XXII I have numbered the _chiffres_ as
follows:
4201 4202 4203 4204.
4211 4212 4213 4214.
* * * *
* * * *
* * * *
4311 4312 4313 4314.
4204 has the cross-hatching at its top, and to its left in 4203 is the
serpent's head. The same is true in 4233-4. In 4264 we have the same
symbol that we are trying to interpret; it is in its perfect form here
and in No. 1865 of the Palenque series. In the caryatides of Plate XXIV
(Fig. 60) the cross-hatching is included in the spots of the leopard's
skin; in the ornaments at the base, in and near the masks which, they
are supporting, it is again serpent skin. Take the lower mask; its jaws,
forked-tongue, and teeth prove it to be a serpent-mask, as well as the
ornament just above it. In Plate LX (Fig. 59) it is to be noticed that
the leopard spots are not cross-hatched, but that this ornament is given
at the lower end of the leopard robe, which ends moreover in a crotalus
tongue marked with the sign of the jaw (near the top of this ornament)
and of the rattles (near the bottom). This again confirms the theory of
the rebus meaning of the cross-hatching. In Plate XXIV (Fig. 60) the
cross-hatching on the leopard spots probably is meant to _add_ the
serpent attribute to the leopard symbol, and not simply to denote the
latter.
Thus an examination of the _whole_ of the material available, shows that
the preceding half of the hieroglyph 2021 and its congeners is nothing
but the _rebus_ for QUETZALCOATL, or rather for CUKULCAN, the Maya name
for this god. BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG, as quoted in BANCROFT'S _Native
Races_, vol. ii, p. 699, foot note, says CUKULCAN, comes from _kuk_ or
_kukul_, a bird, which appears to be the same as the _quetzal_, and from
_can_, serpent; so that CUKULCAN in Maya is the same as QUETZALCOATL in
Aztec. It is to be noticed how checks on the accuracy of any deciphering
of hieroglyphs occur at every point, if we will only use them.
The Maya equivalents of HUITZILOPOCHTLI and TLALOC are undoubtedly
buried in the _chiffres_ already deciphered, but we have no means of
getting their names in Maya from the rebus of the _chiffres_.
In the cases of these two gods we got the _chiffre_, and the rebus is
still to seek. In the case of _Quetzalcoatl_ or CUKULCAN, the rebus was
the means of getting the name; and if the names of this divinity had not
been equivalent in the two tongues, our results would have led us to the
(almost absurd) conclusion that a god of certain attributes was called
by his Aztec name in the Maya nations.
Thus every correct conclusion confirms every former one and is a basis
for subsequent progress. The results of this analysis are that the Maya
god CUKULCAN is named in each one of the following _chiffres_, viz: Nos.
1009, 265, 2090, 2073, 2021, 3085, 2045, 3073, 3070, 3032, 1865, 265,
268?, 4291? 73?? I give the numbers in the order in which they are
arranged in the card-catalogue. There is, of course, a reason for this
order.
BANCROFT, vol. iii, p. 268, says of QUETZALCOATL that "his symbols were
the bird, the serpent, the cross, and the flint, representing the
clouds, the lightning, the four winds, and the thunderbolt."
We shall find all of his titles except one, the bird, in what follows.
We must notice here that in the _chiffre_ 2021 and its congeners the
bird appears directly over the head of CUKULCAN. It is plainly shown in
the heliotype which accompanies Professor RAU'S work on the Palenque
cross, though not so well in our Fig. 48.
In what has gone before, we have seen that the characters 2021, 2045,
2073, 3073, 3085, 265, etc., present the portrait and the rebus of
CUKULCAN. It will not be forgotten that in the examination of the
question as to the order in which the stone inscriptions were read we
found a number of _pairs_ in Plate LVI, Fig. 48; the characters 2021,
etc., being one member of each. The other members of the pairs in the
Plate LVI were 2020, 2044, 2072, 3072, 3084, etc. 264-265 is another
example of the same pair elsewhere.
I hoped to find that the name CUKULCAN, or 2021, was associated in these
pairs with some adjective or verb, and therefore examined the other
members of the pair.
In a case like this the card-catalogue is of great assistance; for
example, I wish to examine here the _chiffres_ Nos. 2020, 2044, 2072,
3072, 3084, etc. In the catalogue their cards occur in the same
compartment, arranged so that two cards that are exactly alike are
contiguous. We can often know that two _chiffres_ are alike when one is
in a far better state of preservation than the other. Hence we may
select for study that one in which the lines and figures are best
preserved; or from several characters known to be alike, and of which no
one is entirely perfect, we may construct with accuracy the type upon
which they were founded. In this case the hieroglyph 2020 is well
preserved (see the right-hand side of Plate LVI, Fig. 48, the upper
left-hand glyph). It consists of a _human hand_, with the symbol of the
_sun_ in it; above this is a sign similar to that of the Maya day
_Ymix_; above this again, in miniature, is the rebus "snake plumage" or
_Cukulcan_; and to the left of the hieroglyph are some curved lines not
yet understood. No. 2003 of the same plate is also well preserved. It
has the hand as in 2020, the rebus also, and the sign for _Ymix_ is
slightly different, being modified with a sign like the top of a cross,
the symbol of the _four winds_. The symbol _Ymix_ may be seen, by a
reference to Plate XXVII (lower half) of the MS. _Troano_, to relate to
the _rain_. The figure of that plate is pouring rain upon the earth from
the orifices represented by _Ymix_. The cross of the _four winds_ is
still more plain in Nos. 2072, 3084, and 3072.
The part of this symbol 2020 and its synonyms which consists of curved
lines occupying the left hand one-third of the whole _chiffre_ occurs
only in this set of characters, and thus I cannot say _certainly_ what
this particular part of the hieroglyph means; but if the reader will
glance back over the last one hundred lines he will find that these
_chiffres_ contain the _rebus_ CUKULCAN, the sign of a _human hand_, of
the _sun_, of the _rain_, and of the _four winds_.
In BANCROFT'S _Native Races_, vol. iii, chapter vii, we find that the
titles of QUETZALCOATL (CUKULCAN) were the _air_, the _rattlesnake_, the
_rumbler_ (in allusion to thunder), the _strong hand_, the lord of the
_four winds_. The bird symbol exists in 2021, etc. Now in 2020 and its
congeners we have found every one of these titles, save only that
relating to the _thunder_. And we have found a meaning for every part of
the hieroglyph 2020 save only one, viz, the left-hand one-third,
consisting of concentric half ellipses or circles. It may be said to be
quite _probable_ that the unexplained part of the sign (2020)
corresponds to the unused title, "the rumbler." But it is not rigorously
proved, although very probable. The thunder would be well represented by
repeating the sign for sky or heaven. This much seems to me certain. The
sign is but another summing up of the attributes and titles of CUKULCAN.
2021 gave his portrait, his bird symbol, made allusion to his
institution of the sacrifice of wounding the tongue, and spelled out his
name in rebus characters. 2020 repeats his name as a rebus and adds the
titles of lord of the four winds, of the sun, of rain, of the strong
hand, etc. It is his biography, as it were.
In this connection, a passing reference to the characters 1810, etc.,
1820, etc., 1830, etc., 1840, etc., 1850, etc., of the left-hand side of
Plate LVI should be made. Among these, all the titles named above are to
be found. These are suitable subjects for future study.
We now see _why_ the pair 2020, 2021 occurs so many times in Plate LVI,
and again as 264, 265, etc. The right-hand half of this tablet has much
to say of CUKULCAN, and whenever his name is mentioned a brief list of
his titles accompanies it. Although it is disappointing to find _both_
members of this well-marked pair to be proper names, yet it is
gratifying to see that the theory of pairs, on which the proof of the
order in which the tablets are to be read must rest, has received such
unexpected confirmation.
To conclude the search for the hieroglyphs of CUKULCAN'S name, it will
be necessary to collect all those faces with "_round_ beards" (see
BANCROFT'S _Native Races_, vol. iii, p. 250). TLALOC was also bearded,
but all the historians refer to QUETZALCOATL as above cited. I refer
hieroglyphs Nos. 658, 651?, 650?, and 249? to this category.
Perhaps also the sign No. 153 is the sign of QUETZALCOATL, as something
very similar to it is given as his sign in the _Codex Telleriano
Remensis_, KINGSBOROUGH, vol. i, Plates I, II, and V (Plate I the best),
where he wears it at his waist.
In Plate LXIII of STEPHENS (vol. ii) is a small figure of CUKULCAN
which, he calls "Bas Relief on Tablet." WALDECK gives a much larger
drawing (incorrect, however, in many details), in which the figure, the
"Beau Relief," is seen to wear bracelets high up on the arm. This was a
distinguishing sign of QUETZALCOATL (see BANCROFT'S _Native Races_, vol.
iii, pp. 249 and 250), and this figure probably is a representation of
the Maya divinity. He is on a stool with tigers for supports. The tiger
belongs to the attributes which he had in common with TLALOC, and we see
again the intimate connection of these divinities--a connection often
pointed out by BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG.
This is the third proper name which has been deciphered. All of them
have been pure picture-writing, except in so far as their rebus
character may make them in a sense phonetic.
XI.
COMPARISON OF THE SIGNS OF THE MAYA MONTHS (LANDA) WITH THE TABLETS.
We have a set of signs for Maya months and days handed down to us by
LANDA along with his phonetic alphabet. _A priori_ these are more likely
to represent the primitive forms as carved in stone than are the
alphabetic hieroglyphs, which may well have been invented by the
Spaniards to assist the natives to memorize religious formulæ.[243-*]
BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG has analyzed the signs for the day and month in
his publication on the MS. _Troano_, and the strongest arguments which
can be given for their phonetic origin are given by him.
I have made a set of MS. copies of these signs and included them in my
card-catalogue, and have carefully compared them with the tablets XXIV
and LVI. My results are as follows:
PLATE XXIV (our Fig. 60).
No. 42 is the Maya month _Pop_, beginning July 16.
No. 54 is _Zip_??, beginning August 25.
No. 47 is _Tzoz_??, beginning September 14.
No. 57 is _Tzec_? beginning October 4.
No. 44-45 is _Mol_?, beginning December 3.
No. 39 is _Yax_, _Zac_, or _Ceh_, beginning January 12, February 1,
February 21, respectively.
PLATE LVI (our Fig. 48).
No. 1804 is _Uo_????
No. 1901 is _Zip_????
No. 1816 is _Tzoz_??
No. 1814 is _Tzec_?
No. 1807 is _Mol_?
No. 1855 is _Yax_, _Zac_, or _Ceh_.
No. 1844 is _Mac_?
The only sign about which there is little or no doubt is No. 42, which
seems pretty certainly to be the sign of the Maya month _Pop_, which
began July 16.
No. 39, just above it, seems also to be _one_ of the months _Yax_,
_Zac_, or _Ceh_, which began on January 12, February 1, and February 21,
respectively. Which one of these it corresponds to must be settled by
other means than a direct comparison. The signs given by LANDA for these
three months all contain the same radical as No. 39, but it is
impossible to decide with entire certainty to which it corresponds. It,
however, most nearly resembles the sign for _Zac_ (February 1); and it
is noteworthy that it was precisely in this month that the greatest
feast of TLALOC took place,[244-*] and its presence in this tablet,
which relates to _Tlaloc_, is especially interesting.
In connection with the counting of time, a reference to the bottom part
of the _chiffre_ 3000 of the Palenque cross tablet should be made. This
is a _knot_ tied up in a string or scarf; and we know this to have been
the method of expressing the expiration and completion of a cycle of
years. It occurs just above the symbol 3010, the _chiffre_ for a metal.
An examination of the original stone in the National Museum, Washington,
which is now in progress, has already convinced me that the methods
which I have described in the preceding pages promise other interesting
confirmations of the results I have reached. For the time, I must leave
the matter in its present state. I think I am justified in my confidence
that suitable methods of procedure have been laid down, and that certain
important results have already been reached.
I do not believe that the conclusions stated will be changed, but I am
confident that a rich reward will be found by any competent person who
will continue the study of these stones. The proper names now known will
serve as points of departure, and it is probable that some research will
give us the signs for verbs or adjectives connected with them.
It is an immense step to have rid ourselves of the phonetic or
alphabetic idea, and to have found the manner in which the Maya mind
represented attributes and ideas. Their method was that of all nations
at the origin of written language; that is, pure picture-writing. At
Copan this is found in its earliest state; at Palenque it was already
highly conventionalized. The step from the Palenque character to that
used in the Kabah inscription is apparently not greater than the step
from the latter to the various manuscripts. An important research would
be the application of the methods so ably applied by Dr. ALLEN to
tracing the evolution of the latter characters from their earlier forms.
In this way it will be possible to extend our present knowledge
materially.
FOOTNOTES:
[225-*] The Life Form in Art, Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc., vol. xv, 1873, p.
325.
[233-*] From KINGSBOROUGH, vol. i, plate 48, it appears that TLACLI
TONATIO may have had four hands. His name meant (?) Let there be light.
[237-*] See KINGSBOROUGH, vol. ii, Plate I, of the LAUD MS.
[243-*] Since this was written I have seen a paper by Dr. VALENTINI,
"The LANDA alphabet a Spanish fabrication" (read before the American
Antiquarian Society, April 28, 1880), and the conclusions of that paper
seem to me to be undoubtedly correct. They are the same as those just
given, but while my own were reached by a study of the stones and in the
course of a general examination, Dr. VALENTINI has addressed himself
successfully to the solution of a special problem.
[244-*] See BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG, _Histoire du Mexique_, vol. i, p.
328.
Index
Allen, Dr Harrison 208, 225, 238, 245
Bancroft, H. H., Huitzilopochtli, description of 231
, Maya hieroglyphics, mode of reading 223
Band, G. H. 229
Braam, S. A. van 229
Brasseur de Bourbourg, C. E. 208, 210, 243, 244
Card catalogue of hieroglyphs 223
Chalchihuitlicue 237
Codex Telleriano Remensis 243
Copan, Statues of 207, 224, 227, 228, 229, 245
Cortez, H. 209
Cuculkan. (_See_ Quetzalcoatl.)
Deciphering, Principles of 207
Desaix, le Capitaine 210
Herrera 232
Hieratic art 210
Hieroglyphs 210
are read in a certain order 223
Huitzilopochtli 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 238, 239, 241
Kingsborough, Lord 210
Landa, Bishop 208, 243
Landa's hieroglyphic alphabet 208
Leemans, Dr 229
Leon y Gama 232
Lockwood, Miss Mary 224
Manuscript Troano 234
Miclantecutli 229, 232
Months, their hieroglyphs 243
MS. Troano 234
Müller, J. G., Mexican gods 232
Naolin 230
Nomenclature 211, 220
Palenque, Statues of 207, 224, 237-239, 245
Quetzalcoatl 230, 237, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243
Rau, Dr 221
Stephens, John L. 207-210
Teoyaomiqui 229
Tetzcatlipoca 230
Tlaloc 229, 230, 231, 233-239, 241, 244
Torquemada 232
Touatihu 230
Troano, Manuscript 234
Valentini 243
Variank 208
Waldeck 210, 243
Transcriber's Note
TN-1 209 cotemporaries should read contemporaries
TN-2 210 the the should read the
TN-3 220 Maya day should read Maya day.
TN-4 225 coindences should read coincidences
TN-5 227 Synonomous should read Synonymous
TN-6 230 Cuculkan should read Cukulcan
TN-7 231 blue globe. should read blue globe."
TN-8 232 Tezcatlipoca should read Tetzcatlipoca
TN-9 Fig. 55 Huitzilopochtli should read HUITZILOPOCHTLI
TN-10 237 pertend should read pretend
The following word was inconsistently spelled:
Labphak / Labphax
The following phrase had inconsistent use of italics and
capitalization:
_MS. Troano_ / _Ms. Troano_ / MS. _Troano_