CHAPTER IV: THE MAYA RACE AND MYTHOLOGY

The Maya

It was to the Maya--the people who occupied the territory between

the isthmus of Tehuantepec and Nicaragua--that the civilisation of

Central America owed most. The language they spoke was quite distinct

from the Nahuatl spoken by the Nahua of Mexico, and in many respects

their customs and habits were widely different from those of the

people of Anahuac. It will be remembered that the latter were the

heirs of an older civilisation, that, indeed, they had entered the

valley of Mexico as savages, and that practically all they knew of

the arts of culture was taught them by the remnants of the people

whom they dispossessed. It was not thus with the Maya. Their arts

and industries were of their own invention, and bore the stamp of

an origin of considerable antiquity. They were, indeed, the supreme

intellectual race of America, and on their coming into contact with

the Nahua that people assimilated sufficient of their culture to

raise them several grades in the scale of civilisation.

Were the Maya Toltecs?

It has already been stated that many antiquarians see in the Maya

those Toltecs who because of the inroads of barbarous tribes quitted

their native land of Anahuac and journeyed southward to seek a new

home in Chiapas and Yucatan. It would be idle to attempt to uphold

or refute such a theory in the absolute dearth of positive evidence

for or against it. The architectural remains of the older race of

Anahuac do not bear any striking likeness to Maya forms, and if the

mythologies of the two peoples are in some particulars alike, that may

well be accounted for by their mutual adoption of deities and religious

customs. On the other hand, it is distinctly noteworthy that the cult

of the god Quetzalcoatl, which was regarded in Mexico as of alien

origin, had a considerable vogue among the Maya and their allied races.

The Maya Kingdom

On the arrival of the Spaniards (after the celebrated march of Cortés

from Mexico to Central America) the Maya were divided into a number

of subsidiary states which remind us somewhat of the numerous little

kingdoms of Palestine. That these had hived off from an original

and considerably greater state there is good evidence to show, but

internal dissension had played havoc with the polity of the central

government of this empire, the disintegration of which had occurred

at a remote period. In the semi-historical legends of this people

we catch glimpses of a great kingdom, occasionally alluded to as

the "Kingdom of the Great Snake," or the empire of Xibalba, realms

which have been identified with the ruined city-centres of Palenque

and Mitla. These identifications must be regarded with caution,

but the work of excavation will doubtless sooner or later assist

theorists in coming to conclusions which will admit of no doubt. The

sphere of Maya civilisation and influence is pretty well marked,

and embraces the peninsula of Yucatan, Chiapas, to the isthmus of

Tehuantepec on the north, and the whole of Guatemala to the boundaries

of the present republic of San Salvador. The true nucleus of Maya

civilisation, however, must be looked for in that part of Chiapas

which skirts the banks of the Usumacinta river and in the valleys of

its tributaries. Here Maya art and architecture reached a height of

splendour unknown elsewhere, and in this district, too, the strange

Maya system of writing had its most skilful exponents. Although the

arts and industries of the several districts inhabited by people of

Maya race exhibited many superficial differences, these are so small

as to make us certain of the fact that the various areas inhabited

by Maya stock had all drawn their inspiration toward civilisation

from one common nucleus, and had equally passed through a uniform

civilisation and drawn sap from an original culture-centre.

The Maya Dialects

Perhaps the most effectual method of distinguishing the various

branches of the Maya people from one another consists in dividing

them into linguistic groups. The various dialects spoken by the folk

of Maya origin, although they exhibit some considerable difference,

yet display strongly that affinity of construction and resemblance

in root which go to prove that they all emanate from one common

mother-tongue. In Chiapas the Maya tongue itself is the current

dialect, whilst in Guatemala no less than twenty-four dialects are in

use, the principal of which are the Quiche, or Kiche, the Kakchiquel,

the Zutugil, Coxoh Chol, and Pipil. These dialects and the folk who

speak them are sufficient to engage our attention, as in them are

enshrined the most remarkable myths and legends of the race, and by

the men who used them were the greatest acts in Maya history achieved.

Whence Came the Maya?

Whence came these folk, then, who raised a civilisation by no means

inferior to that of ancient Egypt, which, if it had had scope,

would have rivalled in its achievements the glory of old Assyria? We

cannot tell. The mystery of its entrance into the land is as deep

as the mystery of the ancient forests which now bury the remnants

of its mighty monuments and enclose its temples in impenetrable

gloom. Generations of antiquarians have attempted to trace the origin

of this race to Egypt, Phoenicia, China, Burma. But the manifest

traces of indigenous American origin are present in all its works,

and the writers who have beheld in these likenesses to the art of

Asiatic or African peoples have been grievously misled by superficial

resemblances which could not have betrayed any one who had studied

Maya affinities deeply.

Civilisation of the Maya

At the risk of repetition it is essential to point out that

civilisation, which was a newly acquired thing with the Nahua peoples,

was not so with the Maya. They were indisputably an older race,

possessing institutions which bore the marks of generations of use,

whereas the Nahua had only too obviously just entered into their

heritage of law and order. When we first catch sight of the Maya

kingdoms they are in the process of disintegration. Such strong young

blood as the virile folk of Anahuac possessed did not flow in the veins

of the people of Yucatan and Guatemala. They were to the Nahua much

as the ancient Assyrians were to the hosts of Israel at the entrance

of the latter into national existence. That there was a substratum of

ethnical and cultural relationship, however, it would be impossible to

deny. The institutions, architecture, habits, even the racial cast of

thought of the two peoples, bore such a general resemblance as to show

that many affinities of blood and cultural relationship existed between

them. But it will not do to insist too strongly upon these. It may be

argued with great probability that these relationships and likenesses

exist because of the influence of Maya civilisation upon Mexican alone,

or from the inheritance by both Mexican and Maya people of a still

older culture of which we are ignorant, and the proofs of which lie

buried below the forests of Guatemala or the sands of Yucatan.

The Zapotecs

The influence of the Maya upon the Nahua was a process of exceeding

slowness. The peoples who divided them one from another were themselves

benefited by carrying Maya culture into Anahuac, or rather it might be

said that they constituted a sort of filter through which the southern

civilisation reached the northern. These peoples were the Zapotecs,

the Mixtecs, and the Kuikatecs, by far the most important of whom were

the first-mentioned. They partook of the nature and civilisation of

both races, and were in effect a border people who took from and gave

to both Maya and Nahua, much as the Jews absorbed and disseminated the

cultures of Egypt and Assyria. They were, however, of Nahua race, but

their speech bears the strongest marks of having borrowed extensively

from the Maya vocabulary. For many generations these people wandered

in a nomadic condition from Maya to Nahua territory, thus absorbing

the customs, speech, and mythology of each.

The Huasteca

But we should be wrong if we thought that the Maya had never

attempted to expand, and had never sought new homes for their surplus

population. That they had is proved by an outlying tribe of Maya,

the Huasteca, having settled at the mouth of the Panuco river, on

the north coast of Mexico. The presence of this curious ethnological

island has of course given rise to all sorts of queer theories

concerning Toltec relationship, whereas it simply intimates that

before the era of Nahua expansion the Maya had attempted to colonise

the country to the north of their territories, but that their efforts

in this direction had been cut short by the influx of savage Nahua,

against whom they found themselves unable to contend.

The Type of Maya Civilisation

Did the civilisation of the Maya differ, then, in type from that of

the Nahua, or was it merely a larger expression of that in vogue in

Anahuac? We may take it that the Nahua civilisation characterised

the culture of Central America in its youth, whilst that of the Maya

displayed it in its bloom, and perhaps in its senility. The difference

was neither essential nor radical, but may be said to have arisen for

the most part from climatic and kindred causes. The climate of Anahuac

is dry and temperate, that of Yucatan and Guatemala is tropical,

and we shall find even such religious conceptions of the two peoples

as were drawn from a common source varying from this very cause,

and coloured by differences in temperature and rainfall.

Maya History

Before entering upon a consideration of the art, architecture, or

mythology of this strange and highly interesting people it will

be necessary to provide the reader with a brief sketch of their

history. Such notices of this as exist in English are few, and their

value doubtful. For the earlier history of the people of Maya stock we

depend almost wholly upon tradition and architectural remains. The net

result of the evidence wrung from these is that the Maya civilisation

was one and homogeneous, and that all the separate states must have

at one period passed through a uniform condition of culture, to which

they were all equally debtors, and that this is sufficient ground for

the belief that all were at one time beneath the sway of one central

power. For the later history we possess the writings of the Spanish

fathers, but not in such profusion as in the case of Mexico. In fact

the trustworthy original authors who deal with Maya history can almost

be counted on the fingers of one hand. We are further confused in

perusing these, and, indeed, throughout the study of Maya history,

by discovering that many of the sites of Maya cities are designated

by Nahua names. This is due to the fact that the Spanish conquerors

were guided in their conquest of the Maya territories by Nahua, who

naturally applied Nahuatlac designations to those sites of which the

Spaniards asked the names. These appellations clung to the places

in question; hence the confusion, and the blundering theories which

would read in these place-names relics of Aztec conquest.

The Nucleus of Maya Power

As has been said, the nucleus of Maya power and culture is probably

to be found in that part of Chiapas which slopes down from the steep

Cordilleras. Here the ruined sites of Palenque, Piedras Negras, and

Ocosingo are eloquent of that opulence of imagination and loftiness

of conception which go hand in hand with an advanced culture. The

temples and palaces of this region bear the stamp of a dignity

and consciousness of metropolitan power which are scarcely to be

mistaken, so broad, so free is their architectural conception, so

full to overflowing the display of the desire to surpass. But upon

the necessities of religion and central organisation alone was this

architectural artistry lavished. Its dignities were not profaned by

its application to mere domestic uses, for, unless what were obviously

palaces are excepted, not a single example of Maya domestic building

has survived. This is of course accounted for by the circumstance

that the people were sharply divided into the aristocratic and

labouring classes, the first of which was closely identified with

religion or kingship, and was housed in the ecclesiastical or royal

buildings, whilst those of less exalted rank were perforce content

with the shelter afforded by a hut built of perishable materials,

the traces of which have long since passed away. The temples were,

in fact, the nuclei of the towns, the centres round which the Maya

communities were grouped, much in the same manner as the cities of

Europe in the Middle Ages clustered and grew around the shadow of

some vast cathedral or sheltering stronghold.

Early Race Movements

We shall leave the consideration of Maya tradition until we come to

speak of Maya myth proper, and attempt to glean from the chaos of

legend some veritable facts connected with Maya history. According to

a manuscript of Kuikatec origin recently discovered, it is probable

that a Nahua invasion of the Maya states of Chiapas and Tabasco took

place about the ninth century of our era, and we must for the present

regard that as the starting-point of Maya history. The south-western

portions of the Maya territory were agitated about the same time by

race movements, which turned northward toward Tehuantepec, and, flowing

through Guatemala, came to rest in Acalan, on the borders of Yucatan,

retarded, probably, by the inhospitable and waterless condition of

that country. This Nahua invasion probably had the effect of driving

the more peaceful Maya from their northerly settlements and forcing

them farther south. Indeed, evidence is not wanting to show that

the warlike Nahua pursued the pacific Maya into their new retreats,

and for a space left them but little peace. This struggle it was

which finally resulted in the breaking up of the Maya civilisation,

which even at that relatively remote period had reached its apogee,

its several races separating into numerous city-states, which bore

a close political resemblance to those of Italy on the downfall of

Rome. At this period, probably, began the cleavage between the Maya

of Yucatan and those of Guatemala, which finally resolved itself

into such differences of speech, faith, and architecture as almost

to constitute them different peoples.

The Settlement of Yucatan

As the Celts of Wales and Scotland were driven into the less hospitable

regions of their respective countries by the inroads of the Saxons,

so was one branch of the Maya forced to seek shelter in the almost

desert wastes of Yucatan. There can be no doubt that the Maya did not

take to this barren and waterless land of their own accord. Thrifty

and possessed of high agricultural attainments, this people would

view with concern a removal to a sphere so forbidding after the rich

and easily developed country they had inhabited for generations. But

the inexorable Nahua were behind, and they were a peaceful folk,

unused to the horrors of savage warfare. So, taking their courage

in both hands, they wandered into the desert. Everything points to

a late occupation of Yucatan by the Maya, and architectural effort

exhibits deterioration, evidenced in a high conventionality of design

and excess of ornamentation. Evidences of Nahua influence also are

not wanting, a fact which is eloquent of the later period of contact

which is known to have occurred between the peoples, and which alone

is almost sufficient to fix the date of the settlement of the Maya in

Yucatan. It must not be thought that the Maya in Yucatan formed one

homogeneous state recognising a central authority. On the contrary, as

is often the case with colonists, the several Maya bands of immigrants

formed themselves into different states or kingdoms, each having its

own separate traditions. It is thus a matter of the highest difficulty

to so collate and criticise these traditions as to construct a history

of the Maya race in Yucatan. As may be supposed, we find the various

city-sites founded by divine beings who play a more or less important

part in the Maya pantheon. Kukulcan, for example, is the first king

of Mayapan, whilst Itzamna figures as the founder of the state of

Itzamal. The gods were the spiritual leaders of these bands of Maya,

just as Jehovah was the spiritual leader and guide of the Israelites

in the desert. One is therefore not surprised to find in the Popol

Vuh, the saga of the Kiche-Maya of Guatemala, that the god Tohil

(The Rumbler) guided them to the site of the first Kiche city. Some

writers on the subject appear to think that the incidents in such

migration myths, especially the tutelage and guidance of the tribes

by gods and the descriptions of desert scenery which they contain,

suffice to stamp them as mere native versions of the Book of Exodus,

or at the best myths sophisticated by missionary influence. The truth

is that the conditions of migration undergone by the Maya were similar

to those described in the Scriptures, and by no means merely reflect

the Bible story, as short-sighted collators of both aver.

The Septs of Yucatan

The priest-kings of Mayapan, who claimed descent from Kukulcan or

Quetzalcoatl, soon raised their state into a position of prominence

among the surrounding cities. Those who had founded Chichen-Itza,

and who were known as Itzaes, were, on the other hand, a caste of

warriors who do not appear to have cherished the priestly function

with such assiduity. The rulers of the Itzaes, who were known as the

Tutul Xius, seem to have come, according to their traditions, from the

western Maya states, perhaps from Nonohualco in Tabasco. Arriving from

thence at the southern extremity of Yucatan, they founded the city

of Ziyan Caan, on Lake Bacalar, which had a period of prosperity for

at least a couple of generations. At the expiry of that period for

some unaccountable reason they migrated northward, perhaps because

at that particular time the incidence of power was shifting toward

Northern Yucatan, and took up their abode in Chichen-Itza, eventually

the sacred city of the Maya, which they founded.

The Cocomes

But they were not destined to remain undisturbed in their new

sphere. The Cocomes of Mayapan, when at the height of their power,

viewed with disfavour the settlement of the Tutul Xius. After it had

flourished for a period of about 120 years it was overthrown by the

Cocomes, who resolved it into a dependency, permitting the governors

and a certain number of the people to depart elsewhere.

Flight of the Tutul Xius

Thus expelled, the Tutul Xius fled southward, whence they had

originally come, and settled in Potonchan or Champoton, where they

reigned for nearly 300 years. From this new centre, with the aid of

Nahua mercenaries, they commenced an extension of territory northward,

and entered into diplomatic relations with the heads of the other

Maya states. It was at this time that they built Uxmal, and their

power became so extensive that they reconquered the territory they had

lost to the Cocomes. This on the whole appears to have been a period

when the arts flourished under an enlightened policy, which knew how

to make and keep friendly relations with surrounding states, and the

splendid network of roads with which the country was covered and the

many evidences of architectural excellence go to prove that the race

had had leisure to achieve much in art and works of utility. Thus

the city of Chichen-Itza was linked up with the island of Cozumel

by a highway whereon thousands of pilgrims plodded to the temples of

the gods of wind and moisture. From Itzamal, too, roads branched in

every direction, in order that the people should have every facility

for reaching the chief shrine of the country situated there. But the

hand of the Cocomes was heavy upon the other Maya states which were

tributary to them. As in the Yucatan of to-day, where the wretched

henequen-picker leads the life of a veritable slave, a crushing system

of helotage obtained. The Cocomes made heavy demands upon the Tutul

Xius, who in their turn sweated the hapless folk under their sway past

the bounds of human endurance. As in all tottering civilisations, the

feeling of responsibility among the upper classes became dormant, and

they abandoned themselves to the pleasures of life without thought of

the morrow. Morality ceased to be regarded as a virtue, and rottenness

was at the core of Maya life. Discontent quickly spread on every hand.

The Revolution in Mayapan

The sequel was, naturally, revolution. Ground down by the tyranny of

a dissolute oligarchy, the subject states rose in revolt. The Cocomes

surrounded themselves by Nahua mercenaries, who succeeded in beating

off the first wave of revolt, led by the king or regulus of Uxmal,

who was defeated, and whose people in their turn rose against him, a

circumstance which ended in the abandonment of the city of Uxmal. Once

more were the Tutul Xius forced to go on pilgrimage, and this time

they founded the city of Mani, a mere shadow of the splendour of

Uxmal and Chichen.

Hunac Eel

If the aristocracy of the Cocomes was composed of weaklings, its

ruler was made of sterner stuff. Hunac Eel, who exercised royal sway

over this people, and held in subjection the lesser principalities of

Yucatan, was not only a tyrant of harsh and vindictive temperament,

but a statesman of judgment and experience, who courted the assistance

of the neighbouring Nahua, whom he employed in his campaign against the

new assailant of his absolutism, the ruler of Chichen-Itza. Mustering

a mighty host of his vassals, Hunac Eel marched against the devoted

city whose prince had dared to challenge his supremacy, and succeeded

in inflicting a crushing defeat upon its inhabitants. But apparently

the state was permitted to remain under the sovereignty of its

native princes. The revolt, however, merely smouldered, and in the

kingdom of Mayapan itself, the territory of the Cocomes, the fires of

revolution began to blaze. This state of things continued for nearly

a century. Then the crash came. The enemies of the Cocomes effected a

junction. The people of Chichen-Itza joined hands with the Tutul Xius,

who had sought refuge in the central highlands of Yucatan and those

city-states which clustered around the mother-city of Mayapan. A fierce

concerted attack was made, beneath which the power of the Cocomes

crumpled up completely. Not one stone was left standing upon another

by the exasperated allies, who thus avenged the helotage of nearly

300 years. To this event the date 1436 is assigned, but, like most

dates in Maya history, considerable uncertainty must be attached to it.

The Last of the Cocomes

Only a remnant of the Cocomes survived. They had been absent in

Nahua territory, attempting to raise fresh troops for the defence of

Mayapan. These the victors spared, and they finally settled in Zotuta,

in the centre of Yucatan, a region of almost impenetrable forest.

It would not appear that the city of Chichen-Itza, the prince

of which was ever the head and front of the rebellion against the

Cocomes, profited in any way from the fall of the suzerain power. On

the contrary, tradition has it that the town was abandoned by its

inhabitants, and left to crumble into the ruinous state in which the

Spaniards found it on their entrance into the country. The probability

is that its people quitted it because of the repeated attacks made

upon it by the Cocomes, who saw in it the chief obstacle to their

universal sway; and this is supported by tradition, which tells that a

prince of Chichen-Itza, worn out with conflict and internecine strife,

left it to seek the cradle of the Maya race in the land of the setting

sun. Indeed, it is further stated that this prince founded the city

of Peten-Itza, on the lake of Peten, in Guatemala.

The Maya Peoples of Guatemala

When the Maya peoples of Guatemala, the Kiches and the Kakchiquels,

first made their way into that territory, they probably found there

a race of Maya origin of a type more advanced and possessed of more

ancient traditions than themselves. By their connection with this

folk they greatly benefited in the direction of artistic achievement

as well as in the industrial arts. Concerning these people we have

a large body of tradition in the Popol Vuh, a native chronicle, the

contents of which will be fully dealt with in the chapter relating

to the Maya myths and legendary matter. We cannot deal with it as a

veritable historical document, but there is little doubt that a basis

of fact exists behind the tradition it contains. The difference between

the language of these people and that of their brethren in Yucatan was,

as has been said, one of dialect only, and a like slight distinction

is found in their mythology, caused, doubtless, by the incidence of

local conditions, and resulting in part from the difference between a

level and comparatively waterless land and one of a semi-mountainous

character covered with thick forests. We shall note further differences

when we come to examine the art and architecture of the Maya race,

and to compare those of its two most distinctive branches.

The Maya Tulan

It was to the city of Tulan, probably in Tabasco, that the Maya

of Guatemala referred as being the starting-point of all their

migrations. We must not confound this place with the Tollan of the

Mexican traditions. It is possible that the name may in both cases

be derived from a root meaning a place from which a tribe set forth,

a starting-place, but geographical connection there is none. From here

Nima-Kiche, the great Kiche, started on his migration to the mountains,

accompanied by his three brothers. Tulan, says the Popol Vuh, had been

a place of misfortune to man, for he had suffered much from cold and

hunger, and, as at the building of Babel, his speech was so confounded

that the first four Kiches and their wives were unable to comprehend

one another. Of course this is a native myth created to account for the

difference in dialect between the various branches of the Maya folk,

and can scarcely have any foundation in fact, as the change in dialect

would be a very gradual process. The brothers, we are told, divided

the land so that one received the districts of Mames and Pocomams,

another Verapaz, and the third Chiapas, while Nima-Kiche obtained

the country of the Kiches, Kakchiquels, and Tzutuhils. It would be

extremely difficult to say whether or not this tradition rests on any

veritable historical basis. If so, it refers to a period anterior to

the Nahua irruption, for the districts alluded to as occupied by these

tribes were not so divided among them at the coming of the Spaniards.

Doubtful Dynasties

As with the earlier dynasties of Egypt, considerable doubt surrounds

the history of the early Kiche monarchs. Indeed, a period of such

uncertainty occurs that even the number of kings who reigned is

lost in the hopeless confusion of varying estimates. From this chaos

emerge the facts that the Kiche monarchs held the supreme power among

the peoples of Guatemala, that they were the contemporaries of the

rulers of Mexico city, and that they were often elected from among the

princes of the subject states. Acxopil, the successor of Nima-Kiche,

invested his second son with the government of the Kakchiquels, and

placed his youngest son over the Tzutuhils, whilst to his eldest

son he left the throne of the Kiches. Icutemal, his eldest son,

on succeeding his father, gifted the kingdom of Kakchiquel to his

eldest son, displacing his own brother and thus mortally affronting

him. The struggle which ensued lasted for generations, embittered

the relations between these two branches of the Maya in Guatemala,

and undermined their joint strength. Nahua mercenaries were employed

in the struggle on both sides, and these introduced many of the

uglinesses of Nahua life into Maya existence.

The Coming of the Spaniards

This condition of things lasted up to the time of the coming of the

Spaniards. The Kakchiquels dated the commencement of a new chronology

from the episode of the defeat of Cay Hun-Apu by them in 1492. They

may have saved themselves the trouble; for the time was at hand when

the calendars of their race were to be closed, and its records written

in another script by another people. One by one, and chiefly by reason

of their insane policy of allying themselves with the invader against

their own kin, the old kingdoms of Guatemala fell as spoil to the

daring Conquistadores, and their people passed beneath the yoke of

Spain--bondsmen who were to beget countless generations of slaves.

The Riddle of Ancient Maya Writing

What may possibly be the most valuable sources of Maya history

are, alas! sealed to us at present. We allude to the native Maya

manuscripts and inscriptions, the writing of which cannot be deciphered

by present-day scholars. Some of the old Spanish friars who lived in

the times which directly succeeded the settlement of the country by

the white man were able to read and even to write this script, but

unfortunately they regarded it either as an invention of the Father

of Evil or, as it was a native system, as a thing of no value. In

a few generations all knowledge of how to decipher it was totally

lost, and it remains to the modern world almost as a sealed book,

although science has lavished all its wonderful machinery of logic

and deduction upon it, and men of unquestioned ability have dedicated

their lives to the problem of unravelling what must be regarded as

one of the greatest and most mysterious riddles of which mankind ever

attempted the solution.

The romance of the discovery of the key to the Egyptian hieroglyphic

system of writing is well known. For centuries the symbols displayed

upon the temples and monuments of the Nile country were so many

meaningless pictures and signs to the learned folk of Europe, until

the discovery of the Rosetta stone a hundred years ago made their

elucidation possible. This stone bore the same inscription in Greek,

demotic, and hieroglyphics, and so the discovery of the "alphabet" of

the hidden script became a comparatively easy task. But Central America

has no Rosetta stone, nor is it possible that such an aid to research

can ever be found. Indeed, such "keys" as have been discovered or

brought forward by scientists have proved for the most part unavailing.

The Maya Manuscripts

The principal Maya manuscripts which have escaped the ravages of time

are the codices in the libraries of Dresden, Paris, and Madrid. These

are known as the Codex Perezianus, preserved in the Bibliothèque

Nationale at Paris, the Dresden Codex, long regarded as an Aztec

manuscript, and the Troano Codex, so called from one of its owners,

Señor Tro y Ortolano, found at Madrid in 1865. These manuscripts deal

principally with Maya mythology, but as they cannot be deciphered

with any degree of accuracy they do not greatly assist our knowledge

of the subject.

The System of the Writing

The "Tablet of the Cross" gives a good idea of the general appearance

of the writing system of the ancient peoples of Central America. The

style varies somewhat in most of the manuscripts and inscriptions,

but it is generally admitted that all of the systems employed sprang

originally from one common source. The square figures which appear

as a tangle of faces and objects are said to be "calculiform," or

pebble-shaped, a not inappropriate description, and it is known from

ancient Spanish manuscripts that they were read from top to bottom,

and two columns at a time. The Maya tongue, like all native American

languages, was one which, in order to express an idea, gathered a

whole phrase into a single word, and it has been thought that the

several symbols or parts in each square or sketch go to make up such

a compound expression.

The first key (so called) to the hieroglyphs of Central America

was that of Bishop Landa, who about 1575 attempted to set down the

Maya alphabet from native sources. He was highly unpopular with the

natives, whose literary treasures he had almost completely destroyed,

and who in revenge deliberately misled him as to the true significance

of the various symbols.

The first real step toward reading the Maya writing was made in

1876 by Léon de Rosny, a French student of American antiquities, who

succeeded in interpreting the signs which denote the four cardinal

points. As has been the case in so many discoveries of importance,

the significance of these signs was simultaneously discovered by

Professor Cyrus Thomas in America. In two of these four signs was

found the symbol which meant "sun," almost, as de Rosny acknowledged,

as a matter of course. However, the Maya word for "sun" (kin) also

denotes "day," and it was later proved that this sign was also used

with the latter meaning. The discovery of the sign stimulated further

research to a great degree, and from the material now at their disposal

Drs. Förstemann and Schellhas of Berlin were successful in discovering

the sign for the moon and that for the Maya month of twenty days.

Clever Elucidations

In 1887 Dr. Seler discovered the sign for night (akbal), and in 1894

Förstemann unriddled the symbols for "beginning" and "end." These

are two heads, the first of which has the sign akbal, just mentioned,

for an eye. Now akbal means, as well as "night," "the beginning of the

month," and below the face which contains it can be seen footsteps, or

spots which resemble their outline, signifying a forward movement. The

sign in the second head means "seventh," which in Maya also signifies

"the end." From the frequent contrast of these terms there can be

little doubt that their meaning is as stated.

"Union" is denoted by the sting of a rattlesnake, the coils of that

reptile signifying to the Maya the idea of tying together. In contrast

to this sign is the figure next to it, which represents a knife,

and means "division" or "cutting." An important "letter" is the

hand, which often occurs in both manuscripts and inscriptions. It is

drawn sometimes in the act of grasping, with the thumb bent forward,

and sometimes as pointing in a certain direction. The first seems

to denote a tying together or joining, like the rattlesnake symbol,

and the second Förstemann believes to represent a lapse of time. That

it may represent futurity occurs as a more likely conjecture to the

present writer.

The figure denoting the spring equinox was traced because of

its obvious representation of a cloud from which three streams of

water are falling upon the earth. The square at the top represents

heaven. The obsidian knife underneath denotes a division or period

of time cut off, as it were, from other periods of the year. That

the sign means "spring" is verified by its position among the other

signs of the seasons.

The sign for "week" was discovered by reason of its almost constant

accompaniment of the sign for the number thirteen, the number of days

in the Maya sacred week. The symbol of the bird's feather indicates the

plural, and when affixed to certain signs signifies that the object

indicated is multiplied. A bird's feather, when one thinks of it,

is one of the most fitting symbols provided by nature to designate

the plural, if the number of shoots on both sides of the stem are

taken as meaning "many" or "two."

Water is depicted by the figure of a serpent, which reptile typifies

the undulating nature of the element. The sign entitled "the

sacrificial victim" is of deep human interest. The first portion of

the symbol is the death-bird, and the second shows a crouching and

beaten captive, ready to be immolated to one of the terrible Maya

deities whose sanguinary religion demanded human sacrifice. The

drawing which means "the day of the new year," in the month Ceh,

was unriddled by the following means: The sign in the upper left-hand

corner denotes the word "sun" or "day," that in the upper right-hand

corner is the sign for "year." In the lower right-hand corner is the

sign for "division," and in the lower left-hand the sign for the Maya

month Ceh, already known from the native calendars.

From its accompaniment of a figure known to be a deity of the four

cardinal points, whence all American tribes believed the wind to come,

the symbol entitled "wind" has been determined.

Methods of Study

The method employed by those engaged in the elucidation of these

hieroglyphs is typical of modern science. The various signs and symbols

are literally "worn out" by a process of indefatigable examination. For

hours the student sits staring at a symbol, drinking in every detail,

however infinitesimal, until the drawing and all its parts are wholly

and separately photographed upon the tablets of his memory. He then

compares the several portions of the symbol with similar portions in

other signs the value of which is known. From these he may obtain a

clue to the meaning of the whole. Thus proceeding from the known to

the unknown, he advances logically toward a complete elucidation of all

the hieroglyphs depicted in the various manuscripts and inscriptions.

The method by which Dr. Seler discovered the hieroglyphs or

symbols relating to the various gods of the Maya was both simple

and ingenious. He says: "The way in which this was accomplished is

strikingly simple. It amounts essentially to that which in ordinary

life we call 'memory of persons,' and follows almost naturally

from a careful study of the manuscripts. For, by frequently looking

tentatively at the representations, one learns by degrees to recognise

promptly similar and familiar figures of gods by the characteristic

impression they make as a whole or by certain details, and the same

is true of the accompanying hieroglyphs."

The Maya Numeral System

If Bishop Landa was badly hoaxed regarding the alphabet of the Maya,

he was successful in discovering and handing down their numeral system,

which was on a very much higher basis than that of many civilised

peoples, being, for example, more practical and more fully evolved

than that of ancient Rome. This system employed four signs altogether,

the point for unity, a horizontal stroke for the number 5, and two

signs for 20 and 0. Yet from these simple elements the Maya produced a

method of computation which is perhaps as ingenious as anything which

has ever been accomplished in the history of mathematics. In the Maya

arithmetical system, as in ours, it is the position of the sign that

gives it its value. The figures were placed in a vertical line, and

one of them was employed as a decimal multiplier. The lowest figure

of the column had the arithmetical value which it represented. The

figures which appeared in the second, fourth, and each following

place had twenty times the value of the preceding figures, while

figures in the third place had eighteen times the value of those in

the second place. This system admits of computation up to millions,

and is one of the surest signs of Maya culture.

Much controversy has raged round the exact nature of the Maya

hieroglyphs. Were they understood by the Indians themselves as

representing ideas or merely pictures, or did they convey a given sound

to the reader, as does our alphabet? To some extent controversy upon

the point is futile, as those of the Spanish clergy who were able to

learn the writing from the native Maya have confirmed its phonetic

character, so that in reality each symbol must have conveyed a sound

or sounds to the reader, not merely an idea or a picture. Recent

research has amply proved this, so that the full elucidation of the

long and painful puzzle on which so much learning and patience have

been lavished may perhaps be at hand.

Mythology of the Maya

The Maya pantheon, although it bears a strong resemblance to that of

the Nahua, differs from it in so many respects that it is easy to

observe that at one period it must have been absolutely free from

all Nahua influence. We may, then, provisionally accept the theory

that at some relatively distant period the mythologies of the Nahua

and Maya were influenced from one common centre, if they were not

originally identical, but that later the inclusion in the cognate

but divided systems of local deities and the superimposition of the

deities and rites of immigrant peoples had caused such differentiation

as to render somewhat vague the original likeness between them. In

the Mexican mythology we have as a key-note the custom of human

sacrifice. It has often been stated as exhibiting the superior status

in civilisation of the Maya that their religion was free from the

revolting practices which characterised the Nahua faith. This,

however, is totally erroneous. Although the Maya were not nearly

so prone to the practice of human sacrifice as were the Nahua, they

frequently engaged in it, and the pictures which have been drawn of

their bloodless offerings must not lead us to believe that they never

indulged in this rite. It is known, for example, that they sacrificed

maidens to the water-god at the period of the spring florescence,

by casting them into a deep pool, where they were drowned.

Quetzalcoatl among the Maya

One of the most obvious of the mythological relationships between

the Maya and Nahua is exhibited in the Maya cult of the god

Quetzalcoatl. It seems to have been a general belief in Mexico

that Quetzalcoatl was a god foreign to the soil; or at least

relatively aboriginal to his rival Tezcatlipoca, if not to the

Nahua themselves. It is amusing to see it stated by authorities of

the highest standing that his worship was free from bloodshed. But

it does not appear whether the sanguinary rites connected with the

name of Quetzalcoatl in Mexico were undertaken by his priests of

their own accord or at the instigation and pressure of the pontiff of

Huitzilopochtli, under whose jurisdiction they were. The designation by

which Quetzalcoatl was known to the Maya was Kukulcan, which signifies

"Feathered Serpent," and is exactly translated by his Mexican name. In

Guatemala he was called Gucumatz, which word is also identical in

Kiche with his other native appellations. But the Kukulcan of the

Maya appears to be dissimilar from Quetzalcoatl in several of his

attributes. The difference in climate would probably account for most

of these. In Mexico Quetzalcoatl, as we have seen, was not only the

Man of the Sun, but the original wind-god of the country. The Kukulcan

of the Maya has more the attributes of a thunder-god. In the tropical

climate of Yucatan and Guatemala the sun at midday appears to draw the

clouds around it in serpentine shapes. From these emanate thunder and

lightning and the fertilising rain, so that Kukulcan would appear to

have appealed to the Maya more as a god of the sky who wielded the

thunderbolts than a god of the atmosphere proper like Quetzalcoatl,

though several of the stelæ in Yucatan represent Kukulcan as he is

portrayed in Mexico, with wind issuing from his mouth.

An Alphabet of Gods

The principal sources of our knowledge of the Maya deities are the

Dresden, Madrid, and Paris codices alluded to previously, all of

which contain many pictorial representations of the various members

of the Maya pantheon. Of the very names of some of these gods we are

so ignorant, and so difficult is the process of affixing to them the

traditional names which are left to us as those of the Maya gods,

that Dr. Paul Schellhas, a German student of Maya antiquities, has

proposed that the figures of deities appearing in the Maya codices

or manuscripts should be provisionally indicated by the letters of

the alphabet. The figures of gods which thus occur are fifteen in

number, and therefore take the letters of the alphabet from A to P,

the letter J being omitted.

Difficulties of Comparison

Unluckily the accounts of Spanish authors concerning Maya mythology

do not agree with the representations of the gods delineated in

the codices. That the three codices have a mythology in common is

certain. Again, great difficulty is found in comparing the deities of

the codices with those represented by the carved and stucco bas-reliefs

of the Maya region. It will thus be seen that very considerable

difficulties beset the student in this mythological sphere. So few data

have yet been collected regarding the Maya mythology that to dogmatise

upon any subject connected with it would indeed be rash. But much

has been accomplished in the past few decades, and evidence is slowly

but surely accumulating from which sound conclusions can be drawn.

The Conflict between Light and Darkness

We witness in the Maya mythology a dualism almost as complete as that

of ancient Persia--the conflict between light and darkness. Opposing

each other we behold on the one hand the deities of the sun, the

gods of warmth and light, of civilisation and the joy of life,

and on the other the deities of darksome death, of night, gloom,

and fear. From these primal conceptions of light and darkness all

the mythologic forms of the Maya are evolved. When we catch the first

recorded glimpses of Maya belief we recognise that at the period when

it came under the purview of Europeans the gods of darkness were in

the ascendant and a deep pessimism had spread over Maya thought and

theology. Its joyful side was subordinated to the worship of gloomy

beings, the deities of death and hell, and if the cult of light

was attended with such touching fidelity it was because the benign

agencies who were worshipped in connection with it had promised not

to desert mankind altogether, but to return at some future indefinite

period and resume their sway of radiance and peace.

The Calendar

Like that of the Nahua, the Maya mythology was based almost entirely

upon the calendar, which in its astronomic significance and duration

was identical with that of the Mexicans. The ritual year of twenty

"weeks" of thirteen days each was divided into four quarters, each

of these being under the auspices of a different quarter of the

heavens. Each "week" was under the supervision of a particular deity,

as will be seen when we come to deal separately with the various gods.

Traditional Knowledge of the Gods

The heavenly bodies had important representation in the Maya

pantheon. In Yucatan the sun-god was known as Kinich-ahau (Lord of

the Face of the Sun). He was identified with the Fire-bird, or Arara,

and was thus called Kinich-Kakmo (Fire-bird; lit. Sun-bird). He was

also the presiding genius of the north.

Itzamna, one of the most important of the Maya deities, was a

moon-god, the father of gods and men. In him was typified the

decay and recurrence of life in nature. His name was derived from

the words he was supposed to have given to men regarding himself:

"Itz en caan, itz en muyal" ("I am the dew of the heaven, I am the

dew of the clouds"). He was tutelar deity of the west.

Chac, the rain-god, is the possessor of an elongated nose, not unlike

the proboscis of a tapir, which of course is the spout whence comes the

rain which he blows over the earth. He is one of the best represented

gods on both manuscripts and monuments, and presides over the east. The

black god Ekchuah was the god of merchants and cacao-planters. He is

represented in the manuscripts several times.

Ix ch'el was the goddess of medicine, and Ix chebel yax was identified

by the priest Hernandez with the Virgin Mary. There were also several

deities, or rather genii, called Bacabs, who were the upholders

of the heavens in the four quarters of the sky. The names of these

were Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac, representing the east, north, west,

and south. Their symbolic colours were yellow, white, black, and red

respectively. They corresponded in some degree to the four variants of

the Mexican rain-god Tlaloc, for many of the American races believed

that rain, the fertiliser of the soil, emanated from the four points of

the compass. We shall find still other deities when we come to discuss

the Popol Vuh, the saga-book of the Kiche, but it is difficult to say

how far these were connected with the deities of the Maya of Yucatan,

concerning whom we have little traditional knowledge, and it is better

to deal with them separately, pointing out resemblances where these

appear to exist.

Maya Polytheism

On the whole the Maya do not seem to have been burdened with an

extensive pantheon, as were the Nahua, and their polytheism appears

to have been of a limited character. Although they possessed a number

of divinities, these were in a great measure only different forms of

one and the same divine power--probably localised forms of it. The

various Maya tribes worshipped similar gods under different names. They

recognised divine unity in the god Hunabku, who was invisible and

supreme, but he does not bulk largely in their mythology, any more than

does the universal All-Father in other early faiths. The sun is the

great deity in Maya religion, and the myths which tell of the origin

of the Maya people are purely solar. As the sun comes from the east,

so the hero-gods who bring with them culture and enlightenment have

an oriental origin. As Votan, as Kabil, the "Red Hand" who initiates

the people into the arts of writing and architecture, these gods are

civilising men of the sun as surely as is Quetzalcoatl.

The Bat-God

A sinister figure, the prince of the Maya legions of darkness, is

the bat-god, Zotzilaha Chimalman, who dwelt in the "House of Bats,"

a gruesome cavern on the way to the abodes of darkness and death. He

is undoubtedly a relic of cave-worship pure and simple. "The Maya,"

says an old chronicler, "have an immoderate fear of death, and they

seem to have given it a figure peculiarly repulsive." We shall find

this deity alluded to in the Popol Vuh, under the name Camazotz,

in close proximity to the Lords of Death and Hell, attempting to

bar the journey of the hero-gods across these dreary realms. He

is frequently met with on the Copan reliefs, and a Maya clan, the

Ah-zotzils, were called by his name. They were of Kakchiquel origin,

and he was probably their totem.

Modern Research

We must now turn to the question of what modern research has done to

elucidate the character of the various Maya deities. We have already

seen that they have been provisionally named by the letters of the

alphabet until such proof is forthcoming as will identify them with

the traditional gods of the Maya, and we will now briefly examine

what is known concerning them under their temporary designations.

God A

In the Dresden and other codices god A is represented as a figure

with exposed vertebræ and skull-like countenance, with the marks of

corruption on his body, and displaying every sign of mortality. On

his head he wears a snail-symbol, the Aztec sign of birth, perhaps to

typify the connection between birth and death. He also wears a pair of

cross-bones. The hieroglyph which accompanies his figure represents a

corpse's head with closed eyes, a skull, and a sacrificial knife. His

symbol is that for the calendar day Cimi, which means death. He

presides over the west, the home of the dead, the region toward

which they invariably depart with the setting sun. That he is a

death-god there can be no doubt, but of his name we are ignorant. He

is probably identical with the Aztec god of death and hell, Mictlan,

and is perhaps one of those Lords of Death and Hell who invite the

heroes to the celebrated game of ball in the Kiche Popol Vuh, and

hold them prisoners in their gloomy realm.

God B is the deity who appears most frequently in the manuscripts. He

has a long, truncated nose, like that of a tapir, and we find in

him every sign of a god of the elements. He walks the waters, wields

fiery torches, and seats himself on the cruciform tree of the four

winds which appears so frequently in American myth. He is evidently a

culture-god or hero, as he is seen planting maize, carrying tools, and

going on a journey, a fact which establishes his solar connection. He

is, in fact, Kukulcan or Quetzalcoatl, and on examining him we feel

that at least there can be no doubt concerning his identity.

Concerning god C matter is lacking, but he is evidently a god of the

pole-star, as in one of the codices he is surrounded by planetary

signs and wears a nimbus of rays.

God D is almost certainly a moon-god. He is represented as an aged

man, with sunken cheeks and wrinkled forehead on which hangs the

sign for night. His hieroglyph is surrounded by dots, to represent a

starry sky, and is followed by the number 20, to show the duration

of the moon. Like most moon deities he is connected with birth,

for occasionally he wears the snail, symbol of parturition, on his

head. It is probable that he is Itzamna, one of the greatest of Maya

gods, who was regarded as the universal life-giver, and was probably

of very ancient origin.

The Maize-God

God E is another deity whom we have no difficulty in identifying. He

wears the leafed ear of maize as his head-dress. In fact, his head has

been evolved out of the conventional drawings of the ear of maize, so

we may say at once without any difficulty that he is a maize-god pure

and simple, and a parallel with the Aztec maize-god Centeotl. Brinton

calls this god Ghanan, and Schellhas thinks he may be identical with

a deity Yum Kaax, whose name means "Lord of the Harvest Fields."

A close resemblance can be noticed between gods F and A, and it is

thought that the latter resembles the Aztec Xipe, the god of human

sacrifice. He is adorned with the same black lines running over the

face and body, typifying gaping death-wounds.

The Sun-God

In G we may be sure that we have found a sun-god par excellence. His

hieroglyph is the sun-sign, kin. But we must be careful not to

confound him with deities like Quetzalcoatl or Kukulcan. He is, like

the Mexican Totec, the sun itself, and not the Man of the Sun, the

civilising agent, who leaves his bright abode to dwell with man and

introduce him to the arts of cultured existence. He is the luminary

himself, whose only acceptable food is human blood, and who must be

fed full with this terrible fare or perish, dragging the world of men

with him into a fathomless abyss of gloom. We need not be surprised,

therefore, to see god G occasionally wearing the symbols of death.

God H would seem to have some relationship to the serpent, but what

it may be is obscure, and no certain identification can be made.

I is a water-goddess, an old woman with wrinkled brown body and

claw-like feet, wearing on her head a grisly snake twisted into

a knot, to typify the serpent-like nature of water. She holds in

her hands an earthenware pot from which water flows. We cannot say

that she resembles the Mexican water-goddess, Chalchihuitlicue,

wife of Tlaloc, who was in most respects a deity of a beneficent

character. I seems a personification of water in its more dreadful

aspect of floods and water-spouts, as it must inevitably have appeared

to the people of the more torrid regions of Central America, and that

she was regarded as an agent of death is shown from her occasionally

wearing the cross-bones of the death-god.

"The God with the Ornamented Nose"

God K is scientifically known as "the god with the ornamented nose,"

and is probably closely related to god B. Concerning him no two

authorities are at one, some regarding him as a storm-god, whose

proboscis, like that of Kukulcan, is intended to represent the blast of

the tempest. But we observe certain stellar signs in connection with

K which would go to prove that he is, indeed, one of the Quetzalcoatl

group. His features are constantly to be met with on the gateways and

corners of the ruined shrines of Central America, and have led many

"antiquarians" to believe in the existence of an elephant-headed god,

whereas his trunk-like snout is merely a funnel through which he

emitted the gales over which he had dominion, as a careful study of

the pinturas shows, the wind being depicted issuing from the snout

in question. At the same time, the snout may have been modelled on

that of the tapir. "If the rain-god Chac is distinguished in the Maya

manuscript by a peculiarly long nose curving over the mouth, and if

in the other forms of the rain-god, to which, as it seems, the name

of Balon Zacab belongs, the nose widens out and sends out shoots,

I believe that the tapir which was employed identically with Chac,

the Maya rain-god, furnished the model," says Dr. Seler. Is K, then,

the same as Chac? Chac bears every sign of affinity with the Mexican

rain-god Tlaloc, whose face was evolved from the coils of two snakes,

and also some resemblance to the snouted features of B and K. But,

again, the Mexican pictures of Quetzalcoatl are not at all like

those of Tlaloc, so that there can be no affinity between Tlaloc and

K. Therefore if the Mexican Tlaloc and the Maya Chac be identical,

and Tlaloc differs from Quetzalcoatl, who in turn is identical with

B and K, it is clear that Chac has nothing to do with K.

The Old Black God

God L Dr. Schellhas has designated "the Old Black God," from the

circumstance that he is depicted as an old man with sunken face

and toothless gums, the upper, or sometimes the lower, part of his

features being covered with black paint. He is represented in the

Dresden MS. only. Professor Cyrus Thomas, of New York, thinks that

he is the god Ekchuah, who is traditionally described as black, but

Schellhas fits this designation to god M. The more probable theory

is that of Förstemann, who sees in L the god Votan, who is identical

with the Aztec earth-god, Tepeyollotl. Both deities have similar face

markings, and their dark hue is perhaps symbolical of the subterranean

places where they were supposed to dwell.

The Travellers' God

God M is a veritable black god, with reddish lips. On his head he

bears a roped package resembling the loads carried by the Maya porter

class, and he is found in violent opposition with F, the enemy of

all who wander into the unknown wastes. A god of this description

has been handed down by tradition under the name of Ekchuah, and his

blackness is probably symbolical of the black or deeply bronzed skin

of the porter class among the natives of Central America, who are

constantly exposed to the sun. He would appear to be a parallel to

the Aztec Yacatecutli, god of travelling merchants or chapmen.

The God of Unlucky Days

God N is identified by Schellhas with the demon Uayayab, who presided

over the five unlucky days which it will be recollected came at

the end of the Mexican and Maya year. He was known to the Maya as

"He by whom the year is poisoned." After modelling his image in clay

they carried it out of their villages, so that his baneful influence

might not dwell therein.

Goddess O is represented as an old woman engaged in the avocation

of spinning, and is probably a goddess of the domestic virtues,

the tutelar of married females.

The Frog-God

God P is shown with the body and fins of a frog on a blue background,

evidently intended to represent water. Like all other frog-gods

he is, of course, a deity of water, probably in its agricultural

significance. We find him sowing seed and making furrows, and

when we remember the important part played by frog deities in the

agriculture of Anahuac we should have no difficulty in classing him

with these. Seler asserts his identity with Kukulcan, but no reason

except the circumstance of his being a rain-god can be advanced to

establish the identity. He wears the year-sign on his head, probably

with a seasonal reference.

Maya Architecture

It was in the wonderful architectural system which it developed

without outside aid that the Maya people most individually expressed

itself. As has been said, those buildings which still remain, and

which have excited the admiration of generations of archæologists, are

principally confined to examples of ecclesiastical and governmental

architecture, the dwellings of the common people consisting merely

of the flimsiest of wattle-and-daub structures, which would fall to

pieces shortly after they were abandoned.

Buried in dense forests or mouldering on the sun-exposed plains

of Yucatan, Honduras, and Guatemala, the cities which boasted these

edifices are for the most part situated away from modern trade routes,

and are not a little difficult to come at. It is in Yucatan, the old

home of the Cocomes and Tutul Xius, that the most perfect specimens

of Maya architecture are to be found, especially as regards its later

development, and here, too, it may be witnessed in its decadent phase.

Methods of Building

The Maya buildings were almost always erected upon a mound or ku,

either natural or artificial, generally the latter. In this we discover

affinities with the Mexican teocalli type. Often these kus stood alone,

without any superincumbent building save a small altar to prove their

relation to the temple type of Anahuac. The typical Maya temple was

built on a series of earth terraces arranged in exact parallel order,

the buildings themselves forming the sides of a square. The mounds

are generally concealed by plaster or faced with stone, the variety

employed being usually a hard sandstone, of which the Maya had a good

supply in the quarries of Chiapas and Honduras. Moderate in weight,

the difficulty of transport was easily overcome, whilst large blocks

could be readily quarried. It will thus be seen that the Maya had

no substantial difficulties to surmount in connection with building

the large edifices and temples they raised, except, perhaps, the

lack of metal tools to shape and carve and quarry the stone which

they used. And although they exhibit considerable ingenuity in such

architectural methods as they employed, they were still surprisingly

ignorant of some of the first essentials and principles of the art.

No Knowledge of the Arch

For example, they were totally ignorant of the principles upon which

the arch is constructed. This difficulty they overcame by making

each course of masonry overhang the one beneath it, after the method

employed by a boy with a box of bricks, who finds that he can only

make "doorways" by this means, or by the simple expedient--also

employed by the Maya--of placing a slab horizontally upon two

upright pillars. In consequence it will readily be seen that the

superimposition of a second story upon such an insecure foundation

was scarcely to be thought of, and that such support for the roof as

towered above the doorway would necessarily require to be of the most

substantial description. Indeed, this portion of the building often

appears to be more than half the size of the rest of the edifice. This

space gave the Maya builders a splendid chance for mural decoration,

and it must be said they readily seized it and made the most of it,

ornamental façades being perhaps the most typical features in the

relics of Maya architecture.

Pyramidal Structures

But the Maya possessed another type of building which permitted of

their raising more than one story. This was the pyramidal type, of

which many examples remain. The first story was built in the usual

manner, and the second was raised by increasing the height of the

mound at the back of the building until it was upon a level with the

roof--another device well known to the boy with the box of bricks. In

the centre of the space thus made another story could be erected,

which was entered by a staircase outside the building. Hampered by

their inability to build to any appreciable height, the Maya architects

made up for the deficiency by constructing edifices of considerable

length and breadth, the squat appearance of which is counterbalanced

by the beautiful mural decoration of the sides and façade.

Definiteness of Design

He would be a merely superficial observer who would form the conclusion

that these specimens of an architecture spontaneously evolved were

put together without survey, design, or previous calculation. That

as much thought entered into their construction as is lavished upon

his work by a modern architect is proved by the manner in which the

carved stones fit into one another. It would be absurd to suppose

that these tremendous façades bristling with scores of intricate

designs could have been first placed in position and subsequently

laden with the bas-reliefs they exhibit. It is plain that they were

previously worked apart and separately from one entire design. Thus

we see that the highest capabilities of the architect were essential

in a measure to the erection of these imposing structures.

Architectural Districts

Although the mason-craft of the Maya peoples was essentially similar

in all the regions populated by its various tribes and offshoots,

there existed in the several localities occupied by them certain

differences in construction and ornamentation which would almost

justify us in dividing them into separate architectural spheres. In

Chiapas, for example, we find the bas-relief predominant, whether

in stone or stucco. In Honduras we find a stiffness of design which

implies an older type of architecture, along with caryatides and

memorial pillars of human shape. In Guatemala, again, we find traces

of the employment of wood. As the civilisation of the Maya cannot

be well comprehended without some knowledge of their architecture,

and as that art was unquestionably their national forte and the thing

which most sharply distinguished them from the semi-savage peoples

that surrounded them, it will be well to consider it for a space as

regards its better-known individual examples.

Fascination of the Subject

He would indeed be dull of imagination and of spirit who could enter

into the consideration of such a subject as this without experiencing

some thrill from the mystery which surrounds it. Although familiarised

with the study of the Maya antiquities by reason of many years of

close acquaintance with it, the author cannot approach the theme

without a feeling of the most intense awe. We are considering the

memorials of a race isolated for countless thousands of years from

the rest of humanity--a race which by itself evolved a civilisation

in every respect capable of comparison with those of ancient Egypt or

Assyria. In these impenetrable forests and sun-baked plains mighty

works were raised which tell of a culture of a lofty type. We are

aware that the people who reared them entered into religious and

perhaps philosophical considerations their interpretations of which

place them upon a level with the most enlightened races of antiquity;

but we have only stepped upon the margin of Maya history. What dread

secrets, what scenes of orgic splendour have those carven walls

witnessed? What solemn priestly conclave, what magnificence of rite,

what marvels of initiation, have these forest temples known? These

things we shall never learn. They are hidden from us in a gloom as

palpable as that of the tree-encircled depths in which we find these

shattered works of a once powerful hierarchy.

Mysterious Palenque

One of the most famous of these ancient centres of priestly domination

is Palenque, situated in the modern state of Chiapas. This city

was first brought into notice by Don José Calderon in 1774, when he

discovered no less than eighteen palaces, twenty great buildings, and

a hundred and sixty houses, which proves that in his day the primeval

forest had not made such inroads upon the remaining buildings as it

has during the past few generations. There is good evidence besides

this that Palenque was standing at the time of Cortés' conquest of

Yucatan. And here it will be well at once to dispel any conception the

reader may have formed concerning the vast antiquity of these cities

and the structures they contain. The very oldest of them cannot be of

a date anterior to the thirteenth century, and few Americanists of

repute would admit such an antiquity for them. There may be remains

of a fragmentary nature here and there in Central America which

are relatively more ancient. But no temple or edifice which remains

standing can claim a greater antiquity.

Palenque is built in the form of an amphitheatre, and nestles on the

lowest slopes of the Cordilleras. Standing on the central pyramid,

the eye is met by a ring of ruined palaces and temples raised upon

artificial terraces. Of these the principal and most imposing is the

Palace, a pile reared upon a single platform, forming an irregular

quadrilateral, with a double gallery on the east, north, and west

sides, surrounding an inner structure with a similar gallery and

two courtyards. It is evident that there was little system or plan

observed in the construction of this edifice, an unusual circumstance

in Maya architecture. The dwelling apartments were situated on the

southern side of the structure, and here there is absolute confusion,

for buildings of all sorts and sizes jostle each other, and are reared

on different levels.

Our interest is perhaps at first excited by three subterraneous

apartments down a flight of gloomy steps. Here are to be found three

great stone tables, the edges of which are fretted with sculptured

symbols. That these were altars admits of little doubt, although

some visitors have not hesitated to call them dining-tables! These

constitute only one of the many puzzles in this building of 228 feet

frontage, with a depth of 180 feet, which at the same time is only

about 25 feet high!

On the north side of the Palace pyramid the façade of the Palace has

crumbled into complete ruin, but some evidences of an entrance are

still noticeable. There were probably fourteen doorways in all in the

frontage, with a width of about 9 feet each, the piers of which were

covered with figures in bas-relief. The inside of the galleries is

also covered at intervals with similar designs, or medallions, many

of which are probably representations of priests or priestesses who

once dwelt within the classic shades and practised strange rites in

the worship of gods long since forgotten. One of these is of a woman

with delicate features and high-bred countenance, and the frame or rim

surrounding it is decorated in a manner recalling the Louis XV style.

The east gallery is 114 feet long, the north 185 feet, and the west 102

feet, so that, as remarked above, a lack of symmetry is apparent. The

great court is reached by a Mayan arch which leads on to a staircase,

on each side of which grotesque human figures of the Maya type are

sculptured. Whom they are intended to portray or what rite they are

engaged in it would indeed be difficult to say. That they are priests

may be hazarded, for they appear to be dressed in the ecclesiastical

maxtli (girdle), and one seems to be decorated with the beads seen

in the pictures of the death-god. Moreover, they are mitred.

The courtyard is exceedingly irregular in shape. To the south side

is a small building which has assisted our knowledge of Maya mural

decoration; especially valuable is the handsome frieze with which

it is adorned, on which we observe the rather familiar feathered

serpent (Kukulcan or Quetzalcoatl). Everywhere we notice the flat

Maya head--a racial type, perhaps brought about by deformation of the

cranium in youth. One of the most important parts of the Palace from

an architectural point of view is the east front of the inner wing,

which is perhaps the best preserved, and exhibits the most luxurious

ornamentation. Two roofed galleries supported by six pillars covered

with bas-reliefs are reached by a staircase on which hieroglyphic

signs still remain. The reliefs in cement are still faintly to be

discerned on the pillars, and must have been of great beauty. They

represent mythological characters in various attitudes. Above, seven

enormous heads frown on the explorer in grim menace. The effect of the

entire façade is rich in the extreme, even in ruin, and from it we can

obtain a faint idea of the splendours of this wonderful civilisation.

An Architectural Curiosity

One of the few towers to be seen among the ruins of Maya architecture

stands at Palenque. It is square in shape and three stories in height,

with sloping roof, and is not unlike the belfry of some little English

village church.

The building we have been describing, although traditionally known

as a "palace," was undoubtedly a great monastery or ecclesiastical

habitation. Indeed, the entire city of Palenque was solely a

priestly centre, a place of pilgrimage. The bas-reliefs with their

representations of priests and acolytes prove this, as does the

absence of warlike or monarchical subjects.

The Temple of Inscriptions

The Temple of Inscriptions, perched on an eminence some 40 feet

high, is the largest edifice in Palenque. It has a façade 74 feet

long by 25 feet deep, composed of a great gallery which runs along

the entire front of the fane. The building has been named from the

inscriptions with which certain flagstones in the central apartment

are covered. Three other temples occupy a piece of rising ground

close by. These are the Temple of the Sun, closely akin in type to

many Japanese temple buildings; the Temple of the Cross, in which

a wonderful altar-piece was discovered; and the Temple of the Cross

No. II. In the Temple of the Cross the inscribed altar gave its name

to the building. In the central slab is a cross of the American

pattern, its roots springing from the hideous head of the goddess

Chicomecohuatl, the Earth-mother, or her Maya equivalent. Its branches

stretch to where on the right and left stand two figures, evidently

those of a priest and acolyte, performing some mysterious rite. On

the apex of the tree is placed the sacred turkey, or "Emerald Fowl,"

to which offerings of maize paste are made. The whole is surrounded

by inscriptions. (See illustration facing p. 160.)

Aké and Itzamal

Thirty miles east of Merida lies Aké, the colossal and primeval

ruins of which speak of early Maya occupation. Here are pyramids,

tennis-courts, and gigantic pillars which once supported immense

galleries, all in a state of advanced ruin. Chief among these is the

great pyramid and gallery, a mighty staircase rising toward lofty

pillars, and somewhat reminiscent of Stonehenge. For what purpose it

was constructed is quite unknown.

The House of Darkness

One ruin, tradition calls "The House of Darkness." Here no light

enters save that which filters in by the open doorway. The vaulted roof

is lost in a lofty gloom. So truly have the huge blocks of which the

building is composed been laid that not even a needle could be inserted

between them. The whole is coated with a hard plaster or cement.

The Palace of Owls

The Knuc (Palace of Owls), where a beautiful frieze of diamond-shaped

stones intermingling with spheres may be observed, is noteworthy. All

here is undoubtedly of the first Yucatec era, the time when the Maya

first overran the country.

At Itzamal the chief object of interest is the great pyramid of

Kinich-Kakmo (The Sun's Face with Fiery Rays), the base of which

covers an area of nearly 650 square feet. To this shrine thousands

were wont to come in times of panic or famine, and from the summit,

where was housed the glittering idol, the smoke of sacrifice ascended

to the cloudless sky, whilst a multitude of white-robed priests and

augurs chanted and prophesied. To the south of this mighty pile stand

the ruins of the Ppapp-Hol-Chac (The House of Heads and Lightnings),

the abode of the chief priest.

Itzamna's Fane

At Itzamal, too, stood one of the chief temples of the great god

Itzamna, the legendary founder of the Maya Empire. Standing on a

lofty pyramid, four roads radiated from it, leading to Tabasco,

Guatemala, and Chiapas; and here they brought the halt, the maimed,

and the blind, aye, even the dead, for succour and resurrection,

such faith had they in the mighty power of Kab-ul (The Miraculous

Hand), as they designated the deity. The fourth road ran to the

sacred isle of Cozumel, where first the men of Spain found the Maya

cross, and supposed it to prove that St. Thomas had discovered the

American continent in early times, and had converted the natives to

a Christianity which had become debased.

Bearded Gods

To the west arose another pyramid, on the summit of which was built the

palace of Hunpictok (The Commander-in-chief of Eight Thousand Flints),

in allusion, probably, to the god of lightning, Hurakan, whose gigantic

face, once dominating the basement wall, has now disappeared. This face

possessed huge mustachios, appendages unknown to the Maya race; and,

indeed, we are struck with the frequency with which Mexican and Mayan

gods and heroes are adorned with beards and other hirsute ornaments

both on the monuments and in the manuscripts. Was the original

governing class a bearded race? It is scarcely probable. Whence,

then, the ever-recurring beard and moustache? These may have been

developed in the priestly class by constant ceremonial shaving,

which often produces a thin beard in the Mongolians--as witness the

modern Japanese, who in imitating a custom of the West often succeed

in producing quite respectable beards.

A Colossal Head

Not far away is to be found a gigantic head, probably that of the

god Itzamna. It is 13 feet in height, and the features were formed

by first roughly tracing them in rubble, and afterwards coating the

whole with plaster. The figure is surrounded by spirals, symbols of

wind or speech. On the opposite side of the pyramid alluded to above

is found a wonderful bas-relief representing a tiger couchant, with

a human head of the Maya type, probably depicting one of the early

ancestors of the Maya, Balam-Quitze (Tiger with the Sweet Smile),

of whom we read in the Popol Vuh.

Chichen-Itza

At Chichen-Itza, in Yucatan, the chief wonder is the gigantic

pyramid-temple known as El Castillo. It is reached by a steep flight

of steps, and from it the vast ruins of Chichen radiate in a circular

manner. To the east is the market-place, to the north a mighty

temple, and a tennis-court, perhaps the best example of its kind in

Yucatan, whilst to the west stand the Nunnery and the Chichan-Chob,

or prison. Concerning Chichen-Itza Cogolludo tells the following story:

"A king of Chichen called Canek fell desperately in love with a young

princess, who, whether she did not return his affection or whether she

was compelled to obey a parental mandate, married a more powerful

Yucatec cacique. The discarded lover, unable to bear his loss,

and moved by love and despair, armed his dependents and suddenly

fell upon his successful rival. Then the gaiety of the feast was

exchanged for the din of war, and amidst the confusion the Chichen

prince disappeared, carrying off the beautiful bride. But conscious

that his power was less than his rival's, and fearing his vengeance,

he fled the country with most of his vassals." It is a historical

fact that the inhabitants of Chichen abandoned their city, but whether

for the reason given in this story or not cannot be discovered.

The Nunnery

The Nunnery at Chichen is a building of great beauty of outline and

decoration, the frieze above the doorway and the fretted ornamentation

of the upper story exciting the admiration of most writers on the

subject. Here dwelt the sacred women, the chief of whom, like their

male prototypes, were dedicated to Kukulcan and regarded with much

reverence. The base of the building is occupied by eight large figures,

and over the door is the representation of a priest with a panache,

whilst a row of gigantic heads crowns the north façade. Here, too, are

figures of the wind-god, with projecting lips, which many generations

of antiquarians took for heads of elephants with waving trunks! The

entire building is one of the gems of Central American architecture,

and delights the eye of archæologist and artist alike. In El Castillo

are found wonderful bas-reliefs depicting bearded men, evidently the

priests of Quetzalcoatl, himself bearded, and to the practised eye

one of these would appear to be wearing a false hirsute appendage, as

kings were wont to do in ancient Egypt. Were these beards artificial

and symbolical?

The "Writing in the Dark"

The Akab-sib (Writing in the Dark) is a bas-relief found on the lintel

of an inner door at the extremity of the building. It represents a

figure seated before a vase, with outstretched forefinger, and whence

it got its traditional appellation it would be hard to say, unless

the person represented is supposed to be in the act of writing. The

figure is surrounded by inscriptions. At Chichen were found a statue of

Tlaloc, the god of rain or moisture, and immense torsos representing

Kukulcan. There also was a terrible well into which men were cast in

time of drought as a propitiation to the rain-god.

Kabah

At Kabah there is a marvellous frontage which strikingly recalls

that of a North American Indian totem-house in its fantastic wealth

of detail. The ruins are scattered over a large area, and must all

have been at one time painted in brilliant colours. Here two horses'

heads in stone were unearthed, showing that the natives had copied

faithfully the steeds of the conquering Spaniards. Nothing is known of

the history of Kabah, but its neighbour, Uxmal, fifteen miles distant,

is much more famous.

Uxmal

The imposing pile of the Casa del Gobernador (Governor's Palace, so

called) at Uxmal is perhaps the best known and described of all the

aboriginal buildings of Central America. It occupies three successive

colossal terraces, and its frieze runs in a line of 325 feet, and

is divided into panels, each of which frames a gigantic head of

priest or deity. The striking thing concerning this edifice is that

although it has been abandoned for over three hundred years it is

still almost as fresh architecturally as when it left the builder's

hands. Here and there a lintel has fallen, or stones have been removed

in a spirit of vandalism to assist in the erection of a neighbouring

hacienda, but on the whole we possess in it the most unspoiled piece

of Yucatec building in existence. On the side of the palace where

stands the main entrance, directly over the gateway, is the most

wonderful fretwork and ornamentation, carried out in high relief,

above which soar three eagles in hewn stone, surmounted by a plumed

human head. In the plinth are three heads, which in type recall the

Roman, surrounded by inscriptions. A clear proof of the comparative

lateness of the period in which Uxmal was built is found in the

circumstance that all the lintels over the doorways are of wood,

of which much still exists in a good state of preservation. Many of

the joists of the roofs were also of timber, and were fitted into

the stonework by means of specially carved ends.

The Dwarf's House

There is also a nunnery which forcibly recalls that at Chichen, and is

quite as elaborate and flamboyant in its architectural design. But the

real mystery at Uxmal is the Casa del Adivino (The Prophet's House),

also locally known as "The Dwarf's House." It consists of two portions,

one of which is on the summit of an artificial pyramid, whilst the

other, a small but beautifully finished chapel, is situated lower down

facing the town. The loftier building is reached by an exceedingly

steep staircase, and bears every evidence of having been used as a

sanctuary, for here were discovered cacao and copal, recently burnt,

by Cogolludo as late as 1656, which is good evidence that the Yucatecs

did not all at once abandon their ancient faith at the promptings of

the Spanish fathers.

The Legend of the Dwarf

In his Travels in Yucatan Stephens has a legend relating to this house

which may well be given in his own words: "An old woman," he says,

"lived alone in her hut, rarely leaving her chimney-corner. She was

much distressed at having no children, and in her grief one day took an

egg, wrapped it up carefully in cotton cloth, and put it in a corner of

her hut. She looked every day in great anxiety, but no change in the

egg was observable. One morning, however, she found the shell broken,

and a lovely tiny creature was stretching out its arms to her. The

old woman was in raptures. She took it to her heart, gave it a nurse,

and was so careful of it that at the end of a year the baby walked

and talked as well as a grown-up man. But he stopped growing. The good

old woman in her joy and delight exclaimed that the baby should be a

great chief. One day she told him to go to the king's palace and engage

him in a trial of strength. The dwarf begged hard not to be sent on

such an enterprise. But the old woman insisted on his going, and he

was obliged to obey. When ushered into the presence of the sovereign

he threw down his gauntlet. The latter smiled, and asked him to lift

a stone of three arobes (75 lb.). The child returned crying to his

mother, who sent him back, saying, 'If the king can lift the stone, you

can lift it too.' The king did take it up, but so did the dwarf. His

strength was tried in many other ways, but all the king did was as

easily done by the dwarf. Wroth at being outdone by so puny a creature,

the prince told the dwarf that unless he built a palace loftier than

any in the city he should die. The affrighted dwarf returned to the

old woman, who bade him not to despair, and the next morning they

both awoke in the palace which is still standing. The king saw the

palace with amazement. He instantly sent for the dwarf, and desired

him to collect two bundles of cogoiol (a kind of hard wood), with

one of which he would strike the dwarf on the head, and consent to be

struck in return by his tiny adversary. The latter again returned to

his mother moaning and lamenting. But the old woman cheered him up,

and, placing a tortilla on his head, sent him back to the king. The

trial took place in the presence of all the state grandees. The king

broke the whole of his bundle on the dwarf's head without hurting him

in the least, seeing which he wished to save his own head from the

impending ordeal; but his word had been passed before his assembled

court, and he could not well refuse. The dwarf struck, and at the

second blow the king's skull was broken to pieces. The spectators

immediately proclaimed the victorious dwarf their sovereign. After

this the old woman disappeared. But in the village of Mani, fifty

miles distant, is a deep well leading to a subterraneous passage which

extends as far as Merida. In this passage is an old woman sitting

on the bank of a river shaded by a great tree, having a serpent by

her side. She sells water in small quantities, accepting no money,

for she must have human beings, innocent babies, which are devoured

by the serpent. This old woman is the dwarf's mother."

The interpretation of this myth is by no means difficult. The old

woman is undoubtedly the rain-goddess, the dwarf the Man of the Sun

who emerges from the cosmic egg. In Yucatan dwarfs were sacred to the

sun-god, and were occasionally sacrificed to him, for reasons which

appear obscure.

The Mound of Sacrifice

Another building at Uxmal the associations of which render it of more

than passing interest is the Pyramid of Sacrifice, an edifice built

on the plan of the Mexican teocalli. Indeed, it is probably of Aztec

origin, and may even have been erected by the mercenaries who during

the fifteenth century swarmed from Mexico into Yucatan and Guatemala

to take service with the rival chieftains who carried on civil war

in those states. Beside this is another mound which was crowned

by a very beautiful temple, now in an advanced state of ruin. The

"Pigeon House" is an ornate pile with pinnacles pierced by large

openings which probably served as dovecotes. The entire architecture

of Uxmal displays a type more primitive than that met elsewhere in

Yucatan. There is documentary evidence to prove that so late as 1673

the Indians still worshipped in the ruins of Uxmal, where they burnt

copal, and performed "other detestable sacrifices." So that even a

hundred and fifty years of Spanish rule had not sufficed to wean the

natives from the worship of the older gods to whom their fathers had

for generations bowed down. This would also seem conclusive evidence

that the ruins of Uxmal at least were the work of the existing race.

The Phantom City

In his Travels in Central America Stephens recounts a fascinating

story told him by a priest of Santa Cruz del Quiche, to the effect

that four days' journey from that place a great Indian city was to be

seen, densely populated, and preserving the ancient civilisation of

the natives. He had, indeed, beheld it from the summit of a cliff,

shining in glorious whiteness many leagues away. This was perhaps

Lorillard City, discovered by Suarez, and afterwards by Charnay. In

general type Lorillard closely resembles Palenque. Here was found a

wonderfully executed stone idol, which Charnay thought represented a

different racial type from that seen in the other Central American

cities. The chief finds of interest in this ancient city were the

intricate bas-reliefs, one over the central door of a temple, probably

a symbolic representation of Quetzalcoatl, who holds the rain-cross,

in both hands, and is seen vis-à-vis with an acolyte, also holding the

symbol, though it is possible that the individual represented may have

been the high-priest of Quetzalcoatl or Kukulcan. Another bas-relief

represents a priest sacrificing to Kukulcan by passing a rope of

maguey fibre over his tongue for the purpose of drawing blood--an

instance of the substitution in sacrifice of the part for the whole.

The Horse-God

At Peten-Itza, Cortés left his horse, which had fallen sick, to the

care of the Indians. The animal died under their mismanagement and

because of the food offered it, and the terrified natives, fancying

it a divine being, raised an image of it, and called it Izimin Chac

(Thunder and Lightning), because they had seen its rider discharge a

firearm, and they imagined that the flash and the report had proceeded

from the creature. The sight of the idol aroused such wrath in the

zealous bosom of a certain Spanish monk that he broke it with a

huge stone--and, but for the interference of the cacique, would have

suffered death for his temerity. Peten was a city "filled with idols,"

as was Tayasal, close at hand, where in the seventeenth century no

less than nine new temples were built, which goes to prove that the

native religion was by no means extinct. One of these new temples,

according to Villagutierre, had a Spanish balcony of hewn stone! In

the Temple of the Sun at Tikal, an adjoining city, is a wonderful

altar panel, representing an unknown deity, and here also are many of

those marvellously carved idols of which Stephens gives such capital

illustrations in his fascinating book.

Copan

Copan, one of the most interesting of these wondrous city-centres,

the name of which has, indeed, become almost a household word, is in

the same district as the towns just described, and abounds chiefly in

monolithic images. It yielded after a desperate struggle to Hernandez

de Chaves, one of Alvarado's lieutenants, in 1530. The monolithic

images so abundantly represented here are evolved from the stelæ and

the bas-relief, and are not statues in the proper sense of the term,

as they are not completely cut away from the stone background out

of which they were carved. An altar found at Copan exhibits real

skill in sculpture, the head-dresses, ornaments, and expressions of

the eight figures carved on its sides being elaborate in the extreme

and exceedingly lifelike. Here again we notice a fresh racial type,

which goes to prove that one race alone cannot have been responsible

for these marvellous ruined cities and all that they contain and

signify. We have to imagine a shifting of races and a fluctuation

of peoples in Central America such as we know took place in Europe

and Asia before we can rightly understand the ethnological problems

of the civilised sphere of the New World, and any theory which does

not take due account of such conditions is doomed to failure.

Mitla

We now come to the last of these stupendous remnants of a vanished

civilisation--Mitla, by no means the least of the works of civilised

man in Central America. At the period of the conquest the city

occupied a wide area, but at the present time only six palaces and

three ruined pyramids are left standing. The great palace is a vast

edifice in the shape of the letter T, and measures 130 feet in its

greater dimension, with an apartment of a like size. Six monolithic

columns which supported the roof still stand in gigantic isolation,

but the roof itself has long fallen in. A dark passage leads to the

inner court, and the walls of this are covered with mosaic work

in panels which recalls somewhat the pattern known as the "Greek

fret." The lintels over the doorways are of huge blocks of stone

nearly eighteen feet long. Of this building Viollet-le-Duc says:

"The monuments of Greece and Rome in their best time can alone compare

with the splendour of this great edifice."

A Place of Sepulture

The ruins at Mitla bear no resemblance to those of Mexico or Yucatan,

either as regards architecture or ornamentation, for whereas the

Yucatec buildings possess overlapping walls, the palaces of Mitla

consist of perpendicular walls intended to support flat roofs. Of

these structures the second and fourth palaces alone are in such a

state of preservation as to permit of general description. The second

palace shows by its sculptured lintel and two inner columns that the

same arrangement was observed in its construction as in the great

palace just described. The fourth palace has on its southern façade

oblong panels and interesting caryatides or pillars in the shape of

human figures. These palaces consisted of four upper apartments,

finely sculptured, and a like number of rooms on the lower story,

which was occupied by the high-priest, and to which the king came

to mourn on the demise of a relative. Here, too, the priests were

entombed, and in an adjoining room the idols were kept. Into a huge

underground chamber the bodies of eminent warriors and sacrificial

victims were cast. Attempts have been made to identify Mitla with

Mictlan, the Mexican Hades, and there is every reason to suppose

that the identification is correct. It must be borne in mind that

Mictlan was as much a place of the dead as a place of punishment,

as was the Greek Hades, and therefore might reasonably signify a

place of sepulture, such as Mitla undoubtedly was. The following

passages from the old historians of Mitla, Torquemada and Burgoa,

throw much light on this aspect of the city, and besides are full of

the most intense interest and curious information, so that they may

be given in extenso. But before passing on to them we should for a

moment glance at Seler's suggestion that the American race imagined

that their ancestors had originally issued from the underworld through

certain caverns into the light of day, and that this was the reason

why Mitla was not only a burial-place but a sanctuary.

An Old Description of Mitla

Of Mitla Father Torquemada writes:

"When some monks of my order, the Franciscan, passed, preaching

and shriving, 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 had 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 thick and broad that we

were assured there were few like 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 Maggiore in Rome, very skilfully 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 person [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 about 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 surpassed, as I have not found this

kind of architecture described either among 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 looks

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 on 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 smallest 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

mould. 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 has been preserved until the present day.

Human Sacrifice at Mitla

"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 was 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 four chambers above ground and four below. The

latter were 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 cotton 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 coloured 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 murmurs he began to converse with these images,

these depositories of infernal spirits, and continued in this sort

of prayer with hideous grimaces and writhings, uttering inarticulate

sounds, which filled all present with fear and terror, till he came

out of that diabolical trance and 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 assistants 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 might offer it to the idols by holding it to their mouths,

among other ceremonies; and the body was thrown into the burial-place

of their 'blessed,' as they called them. And if after the sacrifice

he felt inclined to detain those who begged any favour he sent them

word by the subordinate priests not to leave their houses till their

gods were appeased, and he commanded them to do penance 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 hither richly dressed in their best attire, feathers, jewels,

golden necklaces, and precious stones, placing a shield in the left

hand 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.

Living Sacrifices

"The last (underground) chamber had a second door at the rear, which

led to a dark and gruesome 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 those Indians that, in the belief of the

happy life which awaited them, many who were oppressed by diseases

or hardships begged this infamous priest to accept them as living

sacrifices and allow them to enter through that portal and roam about

in the dark interior of the mountain, to seek the feasting-places of

their forefathers. And when any one obtained this favour the servants

of the high-priest led him thither with special ceremonies, and after

they 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.

The Cavern of Death

"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 thirty

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 firebrands, 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 odour 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.

Palace of the High-Priest

"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 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 three chambers had

doors in the rear, through which even the kings entered. For this

purpose they had alleys and passage-ways on the outside above and

below, by which people could enter and go out when they came to see

the high-priest....

"The second chamber above ground was that of the priests and the

assistants of the high-priest. 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.

Furniture of the Temples

"All the rooms were clean, and well furnished with mats. It was not

the custom to sleep on bedsteads, however great a lord might be. They

used very tastefully 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, &c., 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 prepared from the agave; for since the common people

were forbidden the use of intoxicating drinks, there was always an

abundance of these on hand."