Chapter VI: Part 6

The second sign with an emphasized 6 as a prefix (cf. the same sign with the 6 on page 48, bottom, left, below the gods), has the usual Ben-Ik superfix, perhaps to denote that a lunar month has now elapsed, for this passage extends from the 20th to the 40th day of the Tonalamatl. The rest of the hieroglyph is unintelligible. In the 4th place we see a vessel with Imix, probably denoting pulque.

3. B is sitting in water, the hatchet raised in his right hand and his face turned upward.

The 3d hieroglyph is again Imix and the 4th a compound of Ik and Muluc:--wind and clouds.

4. B is seated on a reproduction of his own head or D's, beating a drum with his hand.

The 3d hieroglyph denotes the serpent-god H with the number 3 as a prefix. The 4th hieroglyph is a Chuen with the sign for the south prefixed,--at any rate the upper part of that sign.

5. B is standing in the pouring rain and looking backward.

The 3d sign here is a Caban apparently in a vessel. Following this in 4 is the hieroglyph which I have proposed to interpret as the sign for _beginning_ (Globus, Vol. LXVI, page 79). This sign occurs again in groups 7, 12, 15, 17 and 19, and must therefore be connected with the principal idea embodied in this Tonalamatl.

6. B with folded arms is sitting in a house.

Aside from the usual leaflike prefix, the third sign is composed of two parts. The upper part looks like a plaited mat and suggests that the word for the first month of the year (Pop) is expressed by mat. The lower part is the sign, which occurs frequently especially on pages 25-28, and which very much resembles the familiar sign for a year of 360 days. We shall meet it again in the continuation of this Tonalamatl on pages 36 and 38. The three passages refer to the 74th, 139th, and 204th days of the Tonalamatl, and hence are 65 days apart.

The 4th sign is the cross _b_, with possibly the sign of the east as a prefix.

7. B is seated on the cross _b_, which is here undoubtedly meant for an astronomical sign. He holds a Kan sign in his hand and there is an Ahau sign on his back.

The naked crouching personage, pointing upward, should have especial mention here. The same figure recurs above as a prefix to the 4th hieroglyph. We have already seen it in the 39th hieroglyph on page 24, and shall meet it with especial frequency in the second part of the Manuscript. It is placed sometimes, as in this case, _before_ a sign, sometimes _after_ a sign and again two of these figures are placed back to back as on page 22c, and one of them is even placed upside down before another sign, where it seemed to me to be a sign for Mercury ("Zur Entzifferung VII," p. 11). This figure is represented independently only on the right of page 58. In the passage under present consideration this personage appears again on page 38. The two figures are connected one with the 85th and the other with the 215th day, and are, therefore, divided by exactly half a Tonalamatl or 130 days. Here we find it as a prefix of the supposed sign for _beginning_ of which mention was made in discussing the 5th group. The 3d sign is the same astronomical one, which we saw below under B. It might refer to the Moan and to the change of the year, and thus indicate that a Mercury revolution was coincident here with the beginning of the solar year.

8. B is walking in the rain, both arms are stretched upward, and the pouch hangs from his neck. At the left top there is a black spot suggesting those which usually occur beside the sun and moon.

The 3rd sign is Manik, with a prefix. The 4th is an indistinct head, which may be C's, with an Imix sign as a prefix.

9. B is walking with the pouch hanging from his neck, and the hatchet in his hand.

The 3d sign, which is unusual, is very obscure, but suggests the fish on page 44c or that on page 36b. The 4th sign with the prefix of the north is very indistinct.

10. B is standing in _water_, his face turned upward while water is pouring from a cloud. The third sign is very complex. The top, left, suggests a serpent, the right a hand, the bottom, left, a Chuen and the element at the bottom, right, may be intended for a bird's head. Exactly the same sign, with the 4th part merely indicated, occurs 65 days later on page 38. The 4th sign is the familiar compound Kin-Akbal.

11. B is sitting in a tent, on the roof of which there is a vessel containing food of some kind.

The third sign, which is very complex, is indistinct. The 4th sign likewise consists of four parts, the left, bottom, part is probably the vessel, above it is a spiral (which usually means serpent or time). The right, bottom, is again the sign resembling the year-sign which was spoken of in discussing group 6. The component at the right, top, is indistinct.

12. B is sitting here on no less than four astronomical signs, he has the hatchet in his hand and the design on his back may be a shield or the elaborately ornamented sun-glyph Kin.

The third sign (denoting _beginning_?) has already been discussed in connection with group 7, which is 65 days earlier. The fourth is the sign of the year of 360 days or the month Pax with the Ben-Ik as a prefix. These signs are here suggestive of the beginning and end of the year.

13. _Above_ B are astronomical signs (Jupiter and Mercury?) and also the sun and moon. The rain is pouring down upon the god, and a fish is placed beside him. He seems to have the same chisel in his hand which we saw him using on page 41b in connection with the beginning of the year. This again would correspond to the date indicated in the preceding picture. The shield (?) also is the same here as in the preceding group.

The third sign ought to represent the fish; the drawing seems to have been unsuccessful and the sign looks more like a bird and also resembles the third sign in the ninth group on page 36. The fourth sign is a Kin-Akbal.

14. B is seated on the elongated head _q_, which has an ordinary prefix. He is pointing upward with his right hand and the left looks as if opened to receive something.

The third hieroglyph contains a _q_ like the one under the god, the fourth is an indistinct head (C's?) with an unintelligible prefix.

15. B is standing in water while rain is again pouring down upon him. He holds the hatchet raised in his left hand, while the fingers of the right are extended upward in an unusual manner. This is repeated in the third hieroglyph.

The third hieroglyph, however, is the same as the third in the tenth group 65 days earlier, only here the hand is more distinct, while the element below it is vague. The fourth sign is again the one denoting beginning. Compare the fifth group (130 days earlier).

16. B with arms folded is sitting in a house with the Cauac sign below.

The third and fourth hieroglyphs contain the sign resembling that for the year, which was mentioned in discussing the sixth group (130 days earlier). In the third a Kin is prefixed to this sign, while the superfix of the fourth is what I take to be a mat, which also occurred in the sixth group. The prefix is a figure suggesting the serpent-deity, which we have already met with in the tenth and fifteenth groups.

17. B, holding the hatchet, is seated on a Moan head, and the third sign is probably intended to represent the same Moan head, in front of which we find the same crouching person met with in the seventh group, 130 days earlier.

The fourth hieroglyph is again the sign for beginning, which we have already often met with, as, for example, 65 days earlier in the twelfth group.

18. B is sitting in the pouring rain under astronomical signs (Mars and Mercury?) to which those of the sun and moon are added. The god's face is upturned and he holds the hatchet in his hand.

The third hieroglyph may be the vulture head, to which a part of the unintelligible second hieroglyph may also refer. This second sign stands in the place of B's hieroglyph, which is wanting here.

The fourth sign contains the enigmatical numeral 8, which we found on pages 36b and 37b, and has the Imix sign as a prefix, as in the first of these two passages. The same compound appears on pages 67a-68a.

19. B is seated here on his own head, as in the fourth group he is sitting on D's. His hands are empty.

The second sign is again the vulture head instead of B's hieroglyph. The third is probably the head of the lightning beast, and the fourth is again the sign supposed to denote beginning.

20. B is sitting in water and holding in his hands a vessel with a Kan sign upon it.

The water (with Imix prefixed) is denoted by the third sign, while the fourth represents a head (with what is probably a hand pointing to the right above it), which I should prefer to consider the grain-deity E.

In conclusion I would call attention to the remarkable fact that every four pictures, which are separated from each other by four of the other pictures, _i.e._, after every 65 days, correspond in certain respects with one another, _viz_:--

1. Pictures 1, 6, 11 and 16. In all, and _only_ in these, B is sitting in a house or tent, in 6 and 16 with his arms folded.

2. Pictures 2, 7, 12 and 17. In the first three the god is seated on astronomical signs and in the fourth on the Moan head, which I think refers to the Pleiades.

3. Pictures 3, 8, 13 and 18. Here in the last two B is sitting _beneath_ astronomical signs. In all four pictures water, clouds and rain are represented.

4. Pictures 4, 9, 14 and 19. In the first and fourth the god is seated on D's head and on his own, and in the third on the elongated head _q_.

5. Pictures 5, 10, 15 and 20. Like the third of these five classes, these pictures are likewise distinguished by water, clouds and rain.

Now the first set of pictures is between the week days XIII and IX, the second between IX and VII, the third between VII and I, the fourth between I and XI, the fifth between XI and XIII, while the month days are quite different. Hence the conjecture is but natural that the pictures and week days bear some relation to one another, though that relation is still shrouded in obscurity.

Pages 40c--41c.

I 10 XI 10 VIII 10 V 10 II 3 V 9 I
Ahau
Eb
Kan
Cib
Lamat.

This is a Tonalamatl of the most ordinary kind, in which an unsuccessful attempt has been made to divide the subdivisions into equal parts.

In the groups of four hieroglyphs each, which belong to each of the six parts, the sign _f_ always occupies the first place, and B the third. Let us now examine the six parts separately.

1. B is sitting in a boat and rowing (as on the top of the same page). Around his head there is again the suggestion of what may denote the starry sky, and in this picture his nose-peg is unusually large.

The second sign is an Imix, but it might also denote the thirteenth month Mac and therefore the Tonalamatl (13 × 20). The fourth sign is a fish forming a connecting link between the water represented below and the rest of the group.

2. B is seated on the Caban sign and his arms are apparently resting on an altar standing in front of him, on which fire is burning, indicated by the Ik sign, while the moon is placed below the altar.

The Caban sign below is repeated in the second hieroglyph, combined here as usual with a sign which may be Muluc.

The fourth sign is a head. I think the scribe meant to set down an 8 before it, but as there was not sufficient space for the heavy line _after_ the three small circles, he indicated it by a black dot _below_ the circles. Now, if we call the head D's, which of course cannot be asserted positively, this would be day VIII Ahau, and this, in fact, is twenty days from the beginning day I Ahau, as it is meant to be in this passage. There is no representation of food; can this have been a fast day?

3. B is seated on four astronomical signs. He wears the gala mantle and holds a serpent in his hand.

The second sign is _b_, and at the same time one of the astronomical signs. The fourth is the iguana prepared as food, recognizable by the spines on its back, as on page 25b. It is drawn in precisely the same curious fashion in Cort. 8 and 12c; hence it is represented in the picture by the serpent.

4. B is falling down from above headfirst. I believe that the numerous footprints below him are only intended to represent swift motion. The descent from above may only be intended here to bring the god into closer relationship with the head of the bird of prey in the fourth sign. That this head is again as usual joined to Kan, may refer merely to the fact that it was the Maya custom to eat bread with animal food. Compare page 27b. The second sign might be the abbreviation for the south.

5. B is seated on a mat with his hand extended as if to receive something. He is wet with water.

The second sign contains the mat, with what may be the sign below it, and the leaf-shaped prefix probably denoting the plant from which the mat is plaited. The very same combination is given on page 35c and a similar one on 38c. The fourth sign has the prefix of the west followed by two Kans, as if on this day (V Akbal) it had been the custom to eat tortillas without meat.

6. B is standing holding the hatchet. The fourth sign must denote venison, the fourth article of animal food. The second seems to represent the day Eb, with which the remaining 52 days begin, and if the prefixed 9 indicates nothing more than that the ninth day of the month is here meant, it is further evidence that the "Dresdensis" began the days with Kan and not with Imix.

In the discussion of this Tonalamatl I have omitted the mention of a very peculiar feature, which as yet does not admit of explanation. I refer to the numbers below the pictures. With the first picture we find 6 + 20, with the second 20, with the third 19 + 20, with the fourth 6 + 20, with the fifth 19 + 20, and with the sixth 6 + 20, _i.e._, with the exception of the second, 26 or 39, two multiples of 13. Now the question arises, should not one of these multiples have been set down with the second picture? There was no space left for a prefixed 19. Therefore the idea suggests itself that what we took to be an altar with the sign Ik above it, is intended for nothing else than this 19, and Ik is the 19th day, if we count from Kan as the starting-point.

Pages 42c--45c.

This is a Tonalamatl consisting of 4 × 65 days. If written out in the usual way it would run as follows:--

XIII 17 IV 8 XII 8 VII 8 II 8 X 8 V 8 XIII
Akbal
Lamat
Ben
Ezanab.

Since, however, the subdivisions are divided and the individual month days also are given for all the parts of the whole Tonalamatl, the representation follows the order which we have already found on pages 31b-35b and 33c-39c. In this place, as in the two former ones, I will reproduce in four lines what is set down in the Manuscript in one single line extending over all four pages.

XIII Akbal (17) IV Ahau (8) XII Lamat (8) VII Cib (8)
II Kan (8) X Eb (8) V Ahau (8)
XIII Lamat (17) IV Chicchan (8) XII Ben (8) VII Imix (8)
II Muluc (8) X Caban (8) V Chicchan(8)
XIII Ben (17) IV Oc (8) XII Ezanab (8) VII Cimi (8)
II Ix (8) X Ik (8) V Oc (8)
XIII Ezanab (17) IV Men (8) XII Akbal (8) VII Chuen (8)
II Cauac (8) X Manik (8) V Men (8)

Thus the days Chicchan, Lamat, Oc, Ben, Men, Ezanab, Ahau, and Akbal are repeated here twice, and the others occur but once. The 4 (17 + 48) strongly recalls the 4 (19 + 46) on pages 31b-35b. The repetition of six times eight days in each quarter of the Tonalamatl is closely connected with the fact that there are six Chuen signs on each page, two of which, however, are omitted on page 44. From this it follows, as we have already found on pages 25-28, that Chuen really denotes 8 days and that the count of the days in the "Dresdensis" begins with Kan. But the numbers 12, 15, 16 and 17 are entirely unexplained. They show no recognizable order and always stand near the bundle of Chuen signs. They recall the numbers on pages 25-28, which are equally irregular and unintelligible, and upon which, it is probable, light will break at the same time as it does upon these now under consideration.

We come now to the purport of this passage, which seems to be a further amplification of the contents of pages 29c-30c. The meaning is simply as follows:--every 65 days the god B discards a cardinal point and the deity presiding over it and installs another.

From this point of view let us now examine the four pictures.

1. Page 42. B is represented here as a warrior with the front of his body painted red. He is aiming a blow with his hatchet at a person sunk down before him, who, from the ornament above his head, seems to be the grain-deity E, the ruler of Kan and of the east, although the contents of this passage really demand a deity of the south, a ruler of Cauac. In a very similar way on page 27, E occurs with the completed Cauac years, instead of with the Kan years just beginning. Behind B's head is the sign of the discarded cardinal point, the south, while below it is a vessel with food, clearly a piece of venison with Kan.

2. Page 43 deals not with the removal of the old cardinal point, but with the introduction of the new one. Here B is rowing in a boat, as in other passages (29c), and Muluc, the north, has certainly a close relation to water. We see here two kinds of food, while none is represented on page 45. The same bird's head, which we find at the bottom of the corresponding page 28, is placed in front of the canoe, and on 29c it is combined with the representation of rowing a boat. On the left is the picture of a vessel with Kan and the iguana. There is something resembling a net between the boat and the bird.

3. Page 44 likewise refers to the introduction of the new cardinal point, west, which is represented on page 26 by the tiger Ix. The two hieroglyphs in the middle of this passage must surely refer to an animal; the lower is the skeleton of an animal, which we so often find as the sign of the lightning-dog, but also as that of the month Kankin, and the upper I take to be a rather vague picture of the day Oc, which certainly denotes the dog. Below these two signs the fish is represented as the fourth species of animal food.

The picture belonging to these hieroglyphs is very remarkable. B stands opposite a seated personage wearing an animal's snout, which somewhat resembles that of the wind-beast on pages 44b and 45b and also the nose of the storm-god K, who occurs on the corresponding pages 25 and 26 both with the coming and the departing Ix years, as he does here with the coming years. In the picture before us, the two personages seem to be throwing something resembling a rope at each other, as if these ropes were to be tied together. Is this meant to suggest the casting of lots by means of the knotting of cords, as it is represented on page 2? Or of hunting with snares?

Page 45 refers to the displacement of the Ix period by the Cauac period, _i.e._, of the west by the south. The end of the former is represented here. The lightning-beast, which occurred in the preceding period, here lies on his back and B sits astride his body brandishing in each hand a burning torch as an appropriate symbol of the south. On pages 29a and 30c we already saw the god riding on the lightning-dog.

Finally the six interesting hieroglyphs set down in a vertical row on the left of each of the four pages are still to be examined. I will give here in the following table what I think is a correct interpretation of them:--

Page 42. 43. 44. 45.
South (1) East (7) North (13) West (9).
It ends (2) (8) (14) (20)
B (3) (9) (15) (21)
the time of the Cauac (4), Kan (10), Muluc (16), Ix (22),
while Kan (5), Muluc (11), Ix (17), Cauac (23)
begins (6) (12) (18) (24).

If that which is actually set down in the Manuscript be compared with this, it will be seen that in 11 of the 24 places the Manuscript corresponds to my hypothesis:--1, 7 and 19 are the familiar signs for the three cardinal points, 8 and 20 are the sign Xul = end, which I have already frequently mentioned, 9 and 21 are the sign for B, 11 is Muluc, 23 is Cauac, where the scribe has added to the correct Kin-Cauac the sign for the year, as if the Cauac _years_ were treated of here as on pages 26 and 27. Finally the two agree in 12 and 18, where the Manuscript has the compound Kan-Imix to denote beginning, _i.e._, the two days beginning the series of twenty days, one of them according to this Manuscript, and the other according to the method resembling that used by the Aztecs.

The other cases have the correct signs, but set down in the wrong place, thus B is changed from 3 to 2, from 15 to 16, the north from 13 to 14, the Xul from 2 to 3, 14 to 15, the E (Kan) from 5 to 4 and 6 and Cauac from 4 to 5, _i.e._, pushed along every time to the next place. This is all in favor of my theory. As one series began at the top, the scribe incorrectly placed the sign for beginning in the thirteenth place.

Strange to say in the tenth place we have the very general sign _a_ in place of Kan. In the 4th, 17th and 22nd, and probably also in the half destroyed 6th sign, the scribe thoughtlessly put down a sign for E, which is proper only with Kan and should come after 5 or 10. Finally in the 24th place he put a sign for A, as if it were the intention that this passage should end exactly like its parallel on page 28. For, as a matter of fact, the two principal sections of the first part of the Dresdensis do end in a very similar way.

* * * * *

PART II.

Pages 46--74.

The first glance at the form and contents of the second part of the Manuscript shows that it is very different from the first. The pages are no longer divided into the usual three parts and there are fewer pictures. The Tonalamatls, which form the principal contents of the first part, disappear wholly, and with them both the vertical columns of day-signs and the horizontal lines of numerals alternating between red and black. On the other hand, the large number series as well as the high numbers significantly increase and we note the appearance of the large vertical columns of hieroglyphs, which were impossible in the triple division of the earlier pages. We also find a large number of hieroglyphs which did not occur in the first part. The contents are essentially astronomical.

And yet the two parts are so closely connected with one another that the idea of two independent Manuscripts must be dismissed. Especially the front side of the second part as far as page 60 is nothing more than an amplification of page 24. The contents of pages 61-74 are of a more independent nature, but special attention should be called to the relation of 31a-32a to 62-63.

Pages 46--50.

The entire contents of these pages must be represented as a unit, for what is in the main true of page 24 is also true of these pages, namely that they treat exclusively of the period of 2920 days, in which five Venus years of 584 days each are brought into accord with eight solar or terrestrial years of 365 days each. Each page is a direct continuation of the preceding one. Each period of 2920 days is taken 13 times, the result being 37,960 days, which are equal to 146 Tonalamatls.

I will give here first a reproduction, as it were, of the left side of the five pages, omitting for greater clearness a few indifferent matters, which are intended only to fill the blank spaces, viz:--

1. The twenty hands pointing to the right, with a knife placed over them, in the middle of the pages, which mean nothing more than that these parts of the Venus year are to be read from left to right.

2. The Venus hieroglyph three lines below, repeated twenty times with the sign of the knife, to denote the _division_ of the Venus revolution.

3. The _Akbal_ sign occurring further down, four times on each page, except on pages 46 and 47. This is the last of the day-signs, again counting forward from the day Kan, and means only that henceforth the _close_ of the four periods of the Venus year is indicated below, as the beginning is indicated above.

4. The sixteen Venus signs also occurring below, except on page 48. This sign likewise occurs in a very similar form on Altar R of Copan.

With these omissions, the left side of these pages presents the following appearance:--

Page 46.

III Cib II Cimi V Cib XIII Kan
XI Cib X Cimi XIII Cib VIII Kan
VI Cib V Cimi VIII Cib III Kan
I Cib XIII Cimi III Cib XI Kan
IX Cib VIII Cimi XI Cib VI Kan
IV Cib III Cimi VI Cib I Kan
XII Cib XI Cimi I Cib IX Kan
VII Cib VI Cimi IX Cib IV Kan
II Cib I Cimi IV Cib XII Kan
X Cib IX Cimi XII Cib VII Kan
V Cib IV Cimi VII Cib II Kan
XIII Cib XII Cimi II Cib X Kan
VIII Cib VII Cimi X Cib V Kan

4 Yaxkin 14 Zac 19 Zec 7 Xul
North. West South East
Gods.
236 326 576 584
9[1] Zac 19[1] Muan 4 Yax 12 Yax
Gods
East North West South
19 Kayab 4 Zotz 14 Pax 2 Kayab
236 90 250 8

Page 47.

II Ahau I Oc IV Ahau XII Lamat
X Ahau IX Oc XII Ahau VII Lamat
V Ahau IV Oc VII Ahau II Lamat
XIII Ahau XII Oc II Ahau X Lamat
VIII Ahau VII Oc X Ahau V Lamat
III Ahau II Oc V Ahau XIII Lamat
XI Ahau X Oc XIII Ahau VIII Lamat
VI Ahau V Oc VIII Ahau III Lamat
I Ahau XIII Oc III Ahau XI Lamat
IX Ahau VIII Oc XI Ahau VI Lamat
IV Ahau III Oc VI Ahau I Lamat
XII Ahau XI Oc I Ahau IX Lamat
VII Ahau VI Oc IX Ahau IV Lamat

3 Cumhu 8 Zotz 18 Pax 6 Kayab
North West South East
Gods.
820 910 1160 1168
3 Zotz 13 Mol 18 Uo 6 Zip
Gods
East North West South
13 Yax 3 Pax 8 Chen 16 Chen
236 90 250 8

Page 48.

I Kan XIII Ix III Kan XI Eb
IX Kan VIII Ix XI Kan VI Eb
IV Kan III Ix VI Kan I Eb
XII Kan XI Ix I Kan IX Eb
VII Kan VI Ix IX Kan IV Eb
II Kan I Ix IV Kan XII Eb
X Kan IX Ix XII Kan VII Eb
V Kan IV Ix VII Kan II Eb
XIII Kan XII Ix II Kan X Eb
VIII Kan VII Ix X Kan V Eb
III Kan II Ix V Kan XIII Eb
XI Kan X Ix XIII Kan VIII Eb
VI Kan V Ix XIII Kan III Eb

17 Yax 7 Pax 12 Chen 0 Yax[2]
North West South East
Gods
1404 1494 1744 1752
2 Pax 7 Pop 17 Mac 5 Kankin
Gods
East North West South
7 Zip 17 Yaxkin 2 Uo 10 Uo
236 90 250 8

Page 49.

XIII Lamat XII Ezanab II Lamat X Cib
VIII Lamat VII Ezanab X Lamat V Cib
III Lamat II Ezanab V Lamat XIII Cib
XI Lamat X Ezanab XIII Lamat VII Cib
VI Lamat V Ezanab VIII Lamat III Cib
I Lamat XIII Ezanab III Lamat XI Cib
IX Lamat VIII Ezanab XI Lamat VI Cib
IV Lamat III Ezanab VI Lamat I Cib
XII Lamat XI Ezanab I Lamat IX Cib
VII Lamat VI Ezanab IX Lamat IV Cib
II Lamat I Ezanab IV Lamat XII Cib
X Lamat IX Ezanab XII Lamat VII Cib
V Lamat IV Ezanab VII Lamat II Cib

11 Zip 1 Mol 6 Uo 14 Uo
North West South East
Gods
1988 2078 2328 2336
16 Yaxkin 6 Ceh 11 Xul 19 Xul
Gods
East North West South
6 Kankin 16 Cumhu 1 Mac 9 Mac
236 90 250 8

Page 50.

XII Eb XI Ik I Eb IX Ahau
VII Eb VI Ik IX Eb IV Ahau
II Eb I Ik IV Eb XII Ahau
X Eb IX Ik XII Eb VII Ahau
V Eb IV Ik VII Eb II Ahau
XIII Eb XII Ik II Eb X Ahau
VIII Eb VII Ik X Eb V Ahau
III Eb II Ik V Eb XIII Ahau
XI Eb X Ik XIII Eb VIII Ahau
VI Eb V Ik VIII Eb III Ahau
I Eb XIII Ik III Eb XI Ahau
IX Eb VIII Ik XI Eb VI Ahau
IV Eb III Ik VI Eb I Ahau

10 Kankin 20 Cumhu[3] 5 Mac 13 Mac
North West South East
Gods
2572 2662 2912 2920
15 Cumhu 0 Zec[4] 10 Kayab 18 Kayab
Gods
East North West South
20 Xul 10 Zac 15 Zec 3 Xul
236 90 250 8

Let us first examine the numbers which are regularly repeated in the lowest line:--236, 90, 250, and 8, and we shall find that the 584 days of the apparent Venus revolution are divided into these four periods.

The number 236 denotes the time of the western elongation, when Venus is the morning star, 90 the time of the invisibility of the planet, during its superior conjunction, 250 that of its eastern elongation, when Venus is the evening star, and 8 the time of its invisibility during inferior conjunction. The disproportion between 236 and 250 is somewhat striking. These periods which need not of course be exactly equal are usually computed at 243 days. The short period of eight days is only calculated for very sharp eyes; we actually find in the Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico II, 341 (Mex. 1882), that the Aztecs calculated only eight days for the invisibility of Venus, and this period is also mentioned in the Anales de Quauhtitlan. The repetition of the cardinal points in the 15th and 20th lines of the extract given above refer to these periods; in the upper line to their beginning and in the lower to their close. Hence in the lower line the cardinal points must advance one place and the gods belonging to them in the 16th and 19th lines must follow the same course.

The numbers in the 17th line indicate to which day of the period of 2920 days the position has advanced.

But now we see that the indication of days in the lines 1-13, the indication of months in lines 14, 18 and 21, and the numbers in line 17 are separated from those directly to the right of them by a number of days equal to the numbers given in the lowest line.

From this it follows that each day of the thirteen top lines is joined to each of the month dates placed just below them, forming a complete calendar date. Therefore from the III Cib on the left upper corner of page 46 a III Cib 4 Yaxkin, a III Cib 8 Zac, a III Cib 19 Kayab must be formed.

All the 4 × 13 × 5 = 260 day indications combined with three month indications each, show therefore that this whole passage is a huge abbreviation for 780 calendar dates and that the whole refers to 3 × 37,960 days = 113,880 days. But 37,960 which we already found on page 24, is equal to 146 × 260, 104 × 365, 65 × 584, 13 × 2920. I am inclined to think that I also found 113,880 on page 24.

But the 3 × 37,960 = 113,880 days do not form the entire period treated of here. For the three periods begin and end with the days:--

I Ahau 13 Mac (10 Muluc),
I Ahau 18 Kayab (3 Kan),
I Ahau 3 Xul (4 Cauac).

Hence these three dates, the second of which was found on page 24, prove that the three periods of 37,960 are not consecutive, but that there is an interval between them. Now between the first and second of the three dates the interval is 19 years + 85 days = 7020 days, and between the second and third, the interval is 26 years + 130 days = 9620 days. If these two periods be added to the 113,880 days, the sum is the whole period treated of here, viz:-- 130,520 = 502 × 260 days.

But a truly surprising result is obtained, if, as must often be the case with series, we begin not with the upper of the three dates, but with the lower.

From I Ahau 3 Xul (4 Cauac) to I Ahau 18 Kayab (3 Kan) there is a lapse of 9360 days or 12 apparent Mars years of 780 days, such as we shall find as the principal subject of page 59. 9360, however, equals 25 × 365 + 235 days. We shall meet with this 235 again as a difference on page 63.

But from I Ahau 18 Kayab (3 Kan) to I Ahau 13 Mac (10 Muluc) there are 11,960 days, _i.e._, the 104 Mercury years, which we found on page 24, and which we shall find again as the principal period on pages 51-58. But this is equal to 32 years + 280 or 33 years - 85 days. Now if 113,880, 9360, 11,960 are added together, we have for the entire period under discussion here, 135,200 days, and this is equal to 2 × 260 × 260 days. Thus the Mayas seem actually to have had an idea of a second power.

Finally I would call attention to a singular double connection between the numbers occurring here:--

37,960 - 11,960 = 26,000 = 100 Tonalamatls,
11,960 - 9,360 = 2600 = 10 Tonalamatls.

But if we subtract 2 × 11,960 = 23,920 from 37,960, the remainder is 14,040, _i.e._, an extraordinary number which often occurs and is equal to 54 × 260, 39 × 360 and 18 × 780.

In short, a Mars and a Mercury-lunar period are inserted in the two spaces between the three solar-Venus periods.

Now, let us try to gain a clearer understanding of this subject by approaching from another side.

As we have seen, the beginning of the middle one of the three equal periods of 37,960 days, is the date I Ahau 18 Kayab (3 Kan). Now, however, page 24 furnished us with a day number for this date, 1,364,360, and from this the beginnings of the other two periods may be computed in the following way:--

I Ahau 3 Xul (4 Cauac) = 1,317,040,
I Ahau 18 Kayab (3 Kan) = 1,364,360,
I Ahau 13 Mac (10 Muluc) = 1,414,280.

Between the first number and the second there are 47,320 days = 2^3 × 5 × 7 × 13^2, and between the second and third 49,920 days = 2^8 × 3 × 5 × 13 days.

But, according to what has been stated above, 47,320 = 37,960 + 9360, and 49,920 = 37,960 + 11,960.

The whole period is therefore divided as follows:--

It begins with a Venus-solar-Tonalamatl-period followed by 12 Mars years, then the great period again followed by 8 × 13 = 104 Mercury years, and lastly, apparently about the present time, comes the third great period, which, as already stated, ends 135,200 days after the first date.

The case assumes a different aspect, if we insert between the three dates the other two from page 24:--

1,317,040 = I Ahau,
1,352,400 = I Ahau,
1,364,360 = I Ahau,
1,366,560 = IV Ahau,
1,414,280 = I Ahau.

Here we have again, as examination of page 24 showed, the difference 11,960 between the second and third numbers, while there is no longer any connection with the periods of 37,960 days.

Of the left halves of the pages we have now examined all except the twenty hieroglyphs of the gods. I shall mention them according to the upper place in line 16; the lower in line 19, where the hieroglyphs move forward only one place, is only referred to when the two signs differ. They offer many problems still unsolved.

The first sign on page 46 is an unknown sign, which, however, is repeated several times on the right side of the pages; the second is probably an Ahau (_i.e._, D) with a prefix suggesting the snail, the symbol of birth; the third is a head also occurring elsewhere, which I have not yet determined; the fourth is A; compare page 24, hieroglyph 25.

Page 47. The first sign is probably K; compare the third picture on page 7a with its hieroglyph; the second is C's hieroglyph with an Akbal appropriate to it; the third sign is Moan with the 13 belonging to it; the fourth sign is N's with a prefixed 4; the year-sign in the lower series is replaced by Zac, which agrees equally well; compare page 24, hieroglyph 21.

Page 48. The first sign is Kin with the Ben-Ik superfix, perhaps denoting G; the second is a figure similar to the year-sign with a prefixed 6. This same sign in the line below has a 6, but is very different in other respects; the third is an Akbal with superfix and prefix, perhaps denoting D; the fourth is a head which might easily be F's; compare page 24, hieroglyph 22.

Page 49. The first sign is B's; the second, A's; the 3d, K's; compare page 24, hieroglyph 38; the fourth is H's with a prefixed 1; compare page 24, hieroglyphs 23 and perhaps 37.

Page 50. The first sign is E's; compare page 24, hieroglyph 38; the second is L, the black deity; compare page 24, hieroglyph 32; the third is an unknown hieroglyph with a prefixed 7, which also occurs on page 5a and 19b; the fourth is the bat-god; compare page 24, hieroglyph 24.

I find it impossible to discover any relation between these hieroglyphs and the periods and I have as little success with the hieroglyphs apparently belonging to the same cardinal point. Perhaps we should follow Seler here (Quetzalcoatl and Kukulcan, p. 403), who thinks these passages suggest constellations with which Venus is in conjunction; this question, owing to the retrogression of the planet, raises increased difficulties. It is curious that the fourth of these signs on page 46 is like the fourteenth on page 49 (A), and perhaps the two following refer to the same god K; the first two are separated by 1494 days and the latter by 1508 days.

We come now to the _right_ half of the pages. Interpretation is rendered impossible by the destruction of the top part. For we do not even know whether the upper hieroglyphs occupied three or four rows each, the latter being the case at least in part, and there may have been a superscription over the day signs in the left half.

These upper signs are always followed by a picture, then three rows of hieroglyphs, then a second picture and next two rows of hieroglyphs and lastly a third picture.

Let us first examine the pictures:--

At the top of pages 46-49 there is on each page a deity, who with his right arm extended is offering or receiving something. He is seated on astronomical signs; on page 46 B's head accompanies these signs. On pages 46 and 48 the deity is undoubtedly the old woman with tiger claws, who usually pours streams of water from a jug (compare pages 39, 43 and 74). I cannot identify the personage on pages 47 and 49. The object in the deity's hand seems invariably to be a cup of foaming pulque. On page 49 another object is placed above the cup, which I am unable to determine. The fifth, page 50, differs from the other four and forms the connecting link, as it were, between the upper row of pictures and the middle and lower ones. Here, too, a personage is represented sitting on astronomical signs and exhibiting symptoms of violent anger toward a second person opposite him holding the cup in his hands. Both personages are painted as warriors.

The middle pictures on all the pages represent a warrior in a half-kneeling, half-crouching posture, holding spears or a shield in the right hand and brandishing a hatchet in the left. The shield on page 46 is doubtless a representation of the sun-glyph; and on 47 the Venus sign is combined with the head ornament. The hieroglyphs of these deities occupy the first place in the middle line of the three lines above the pictures.

The five lower pictures represent a creature lying on the ground, pierced by arrows and spears. On page 47 it is a jaguar; at any rate it is the same animal found on pages 29a, 30c and 45c; a very similar creature pierced by arrows is given in the Cod. Vat. B.; compare also the pictures in Seler's "Venus-periode," page 371. On the other four pages this creature is in human guise. On page 50 where, differing from the other four pages, this figure is represented lying with the head to the right, it is plainly shedding tears. Seler takes this figure to be E on page 48 and the tortoise on page 49. The varying periods of time occupied by the revolution of the planets is plainly conceived of as contest. But who is the victor in this contest? The planet with the longer or with the shorter period of revolution? Owing to obliteration only a small part of the hieroglyphs of the top section is legible.

On page 46 we see the Venus sign and E's hieroglyph; on page 47 the sign _c_, which occurs frequently on these pages, and is probably always connected with Moan (the Pleiades and thus with the year). The numeral 1, prefixed to an obliterated sign on page 47, is still legible, and we find it repeated on the lower part of the same page. There is rather more to be seen on page 48:--first the elongated head _q_ with the Ben-Ik superfix, then the sign _a_, beside it that for the west with a prefix, in the line below an Ahau, next, an Akbal sign with the prefix of the north, and lastly a Moan sign.

On page 49 we see sign _c_ again occupying the first place, then o with Ben-Ik, and in the lower line the year sign with that for 20 or the moon as a superfix, and to the right of it the head with the Akbal eye, probably denoting D.

This top part of the page is best preserved on page 50. In the third line from the bottom we see the Venus sign and beside it the Moan sign, below, a Cauac, then a Kin with the Ben-Ik superfix, then a Kan-Imix. Finally, in the first place in the lowest row there is a Kin sign and in the second place a sign resembling the year-sign, both having the same superfix, the next sign is again _c_ and the last is a half-effaced sign, of which only a Muluc is distinguishable.

Our knowledge of the middle section of these pages is somewhat more definite. There are twelve hieroglyphs on each page, which I will number in the following order:--

1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12.

Unquestionably these 5 × 12 signs refer to a Venus year, more exactly to the _beginning_ of it, the period of the east. The first sign, which is a hand pointing to the right, merely refers here, as on the left side, to the direction in which this is to be read; the second sign is always the sign for the east, and the sixth invariably that for Venus.

Notice should be taken of the fact that the signs of the Moan and screech-owl or death-bird are recurrent, that of the Moan appearing on page 46, sign 7; 48, 3; 49, 11; 50, 11; and that of the death-bird on page 47, sign 3; 48, 11, 49, 3, 50, 3 and 7, _i.e._, only in places 3, 7 and 11, which indicates that the 12 signs are divided each time into three times four.

It is further to be noted that the five gods, who are represented on page 24 by hieroglyphs 36-40, always recur in the ninth place in the order of the pages:--the god represented on page 24 by sign 36 is the 8th on page 49; the 38th on the same page is the 11th on page 46 and the 12th on page 50; the 39th is the 12th on page 47, and the 40th may be the 5th on page 49, though this is hardly possible. On page 49 the 9th hieroglyph seems to be the 39th on page 24 joined to the sign for the month Kayab.

Of the twenty gods on the left side of these pages, I have already remarked that E, who on page 24 occupies the 38th place, and the 11th on page 46, also occurs as the 9th on page 48 and the 12th on page 50.

It is doubtless of special significance that the sign of the first of the twenty deities on the left side of page 46 is repeated on the right as the tenth sign on all the pages (on page 47 also in the eleventh place where it has a prefixed 3). It seems as if this sign, which is otherwise quite unfamiliar, might be connected with the sun and regarded as a contrast to the Venus sign in the sixth place.

Also the 9th deity of the left side, the 1st of page 48, reappears in the 4th place on page 49; the 10th deity, the 2nd on page 48, in the 12th on page 49; the 15th deity, the 3d on page 49, in the 9th on page 46 and the 8th on page 49 (as already stated); the 18th, the 2nd on page 50, in the 5th on page 46.

The 2nd of these deities is suggested by the 8th on page 47, perhaps also by the 5th on page 50; the 3d and 13th seem to be A and to recur in the 3d place on page 46.

On the other hand C, the god who, as I believe I have proved, is connected with the day-sign Chuen, does not appear on the left side. Now the 4th sign on page 46 contains a Chuen, which in the 12th sign on page 48 is probably combined with a Muluc, in the 12th on page 49 with Yax and a prefixed 6, and in the 4th sign on page 50 with C's sign, _i.e._, as a rule Chuen stands in the 4th place in a line.

As the gods E and K already mentioned also appear on pages 25-28 in connection with the change of the year, so we find the tiger on the top of page 26, and I believe this animal occurs again in the 7th sign on page 47.

Of the day-signs I take the 4th on page 47 to be Kan, the 7th on page 48 to be Caban, and the next sign, the 8th on page 48, to be Muluc. Now if we take into consideration the fact, that of the three periods of the month signs on the left side of these pages, the 18th (the middle) line is the most important, owing to its ending, 18 Kayab, alone, if for no other reason; furthermore, that in this middle period the second Venus year always ends with a Kan year and the third with a Muluc year, one is naturally led to suppose that the illegible sign 12 on page 46 is an Ix (for thus the first Venus year ends) and that the days Cauac and Kan might have been found among the obliterated day-signs on pages 49 and 50.

I shall examine the remaining signs in the order of the pages.

Sign 8 on page 46 is the same compound of Yax and Kin having as a superfix the sign assumed by me to be the numeral 18, which occurs again in the lower group on page 50 and also on page 27.

In the number 11 prefixed to the fifth sign on page 47, the 1 seems to be indistinct and may not belong here. If we correctly assume that this number is 10, then the sign is the same as the 34th on page 24, to the discussion of which I beg to refer my readers.

Sign 8 on page 47 is an indistinct compound, the first part of which I supposed above to be the sign of the second deity on page 46.

I cannot explain 4 and 5 on page 48.

As yet I do not understand sign 5 on page 49, which we seem to have met before on page 22c.

Sign 7 on page 49 is the moon, which is very curious here.

I would like to call special attention to signs 5 to 8 on page 50. I interpret the passage thus:--At the time of the summer solstice after the reappearance of the Pleiades, the change of the Venus year takes place (this time). I have already discussed the Venus sign in the sixth place and the screech-owl so closely connected with the Moan (Pleiades) in the seventh place. Sign 5 connects the sun (Kin) with the Ahau (lord) and the cross-hatching on the left of it, which I have assigned to the tortoise and thus to the summer solstice (Zur Entzifferung III, 3). Sign 8 is recognized as very appropriate to the change of year; compare the first sign of the middle section on pages 25-28. All this points to the day 18 Kayab, of one of the Kan years, if, as I stated above, we base our computation on the middle series of dates.

Now we have yet to examine the eight signs of the lower group, which we will do in the following order:--

1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8.

Regarding the beginnings of these groups, I will venture a bold surmise, which will, I hope, be improved upon by some one else. It concerns the first sign of four of these five groups, which seem to me to refer to the end of the Venus year, as those above refer to the beginning. This sign has the following form:--

I see in this the term of 73 days, which is the fifth part of the 365 days of the solar year and the eighth part of the 584 days of the Venus year:--