Chapter X: Cukulcan or Quetzalcoatl

The character 2021 occurs many times in Plate LVI (Fig. 48), and occasionally elsewhere. The personage represented is distinguished by having a protruding tongue, and was therefore at once suspected to be QUETZALCOATL. (See BANCROFT'S _Native Races_, vol. iii, p. 280.) The protruding tongue is probably a reference to his introduction of the sacrificial acts performed by wounding that member.

The rest of the sign I suppose to be the rebus of his name, "Snake-plumage"; the part cross-hatched being "snake," the feather-like ornament at the upper left-hand corner being "plumage." It is necessary, however, to prove this before accepting the theory. To do this I had recourse to Plates I and IV (Figs. 49, 50), my dictionary of synonyms.

This _cross-hatching_ occurs in Plate I. In the six tassels below the waist, where the cross-hatching _might_ indicate the serpent skin, notice the ends of the tassels; these are in a scroll-like form, and as if rolled or coiled tip. In Plate IV they are the same, naturally. So far there is but little light.

In Plate IV, just above each wrist, is a sign composed of ellipse and bars; a little above each of these signs, among coils which may be serpent coils, and on the horizontal line through the top of the necklace pendant, are two surfaces cross-hatched all over. What do these mean? Referring to Plate I, we find, in exactly the same relative situation, the forked tongue and the rattles of the crotalus. These are, then, synonyms, and the _guess_ is confirmed. The cross-hatching means serpent-skin. Is this _always_ so? We must examine other plates to decide.

The same ornament is found in Plates IX, XIV, XVI, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXXV (of STEPHENS'), but its situation does not allow us to gain any additional light.

In Plate XII (STEPHENS') none of the ornaments below the belt will help us. At the level of the mouth are four patches of it. Take the upper right-hand one of these. Immediately to its right is a serpent's head; below the curve and above the frog's (?) head are the rattles. Here is another confirmation. In Plate XVIII I refer the cross-hatching to the jaw of the crocodile. In Plate XXII I have numbered the _chiffres_ as follows:

4201 4202 4203 4204.
4211 4212 4213 4214.
* * * *
* * * *
* * * *
4311 4312 4313 4314.

4204 has the cross-hatching at its top, and to its left in 4203 is the serpent's head. The same is true in 4233-4. In 4264 we have the same symbol that we are trying to interpret; it is in its perfect form here and in No. 1865 of the Palenque series. In the caryatides of Plate XXIV (Fig. 60) the cross-hatching is included in the spots of the leopard's skin; in the ornaments at the base, in and near the masks which, they are supporting, it is again serpent skin. Take the lower mask; its jaws, forked-tongue, and teeth prove it to be a serpent-mask, as well as the ornament just above it. In Plate LX (Fig. 59) it is to be noticed that the leopard spots are not cross-hatched, but that this ornament is given at the lower end of the leopard robe, which ends moreover in a crotalus tongue marked with the sign of the jaw (near the top of this ornament) and of the rattles (near the bottom). This again confirms the theory of the rebus meaning of the cross-hatching. In Plate XXIV (Fig. 60) the cross-hatching on the leopard spots probably is meant to _add_ the serpent attribute to the leopard symbol, and not simply to denote the latter.

Thus an examination of the _whole_ of the material available, shows that the preceding half of the hieroglyph 2021 and its congeners is nothing but the _rebus_ for QUETZALCOATL, or rather for CUKULCAN, the Maya name for this god. BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG, as quoted in BANCROFT'S _Native Races_, vol. ii, p. 699, foot note, says CUKULCAN, comes from _kuk_ or _kukul_, a bird, which appears to be the same as the _quetzal_, and from _can_, serpent; so that CUKULCAN in Maya is the same as QUETZALCOATL in Aztec. It is to be noticed how checks on the accuracy of any deciphering of hieroglyphs occur at every point, if we will only use them.

The Maya equivalents of HUITZILOPOCHTLI and TLALOC are undoubtedly buried in the _chiffres_ already deciphered, but we have no means of getting their names in Maya from the rebus of the _chiffres_.

In the cases of these two gods we got the _chiffre_, and the rebus is still to seek. In the case of _Quetzalcoatl_ or CUKULCAN, the rebus was the means of getting the name; and if the names of this divinity had not been equivalent in the two tongues, our results would have led us to the (almost absurd) conclusion that a god of certain attributes was called by his Aztec name in the Maya nations.

Thus every correct conclusion confirms every former one and is a basis for subsequent progress. The results of this analysis are that the Maya god CUKULCAN is named in each one of the following _chiffres_, viz: Nos. 1009, 265, 2090, 2073, 2021, 3085, 2045, 3073, 3070, 3032, 1865, 265, 268?, 4291? 73?? I give the numbers in the order in which they are arranged in the card-catalogue. There is, of course, a reason for this order.

BANCROFT, vol. iii, p. 268, says of QUETZALCOATL that "his symbols were the bird, the serpent, the cross, and the flint, representing the clouds, the lightning, the four winds, and the thunderbolt."

We shall find all of his titles except one, the bird, in what follows. We must notice here that in the _chiffre_ 2021 and its congeners the bird appears directly over the head of CUKULCAN. It is plainly shown in the heliotype which accompanies Professor RAU'S work on the Palenque cross, though not so well in our Fig. 48.

In what has gone before, we have seen that the characters 2021, 2045, 2073, 3073, 3085, 265, etc., present the portrait and the rebus of CUKULCAN. It will not be forgotten that in the examination of the question as to the order in which the stone inscriptions were read we found a number of _pairs_ in Plate LVI, Fig. 48; the characters 2021, etc., being one member of each. The other members of the pairs in the Plate LVI were 2020, 2044, 2072, 3072, 3084, etc. 264-265 is another example of the same pair elsewhere.

I hoped to find that the name CUKULCAN, or 2021, was associated in these pairs with some adjective or verb, and therefore examined the other members of the pair.

In a case like this the card-catalogue is of great assistance; for example, I wish to examine here the _chiffres_ Nos. 2020, 2044, 2072, 3072, 3084, etc. In the catalogue their cards occur in the same compartment, arranged so that two cards that are exactly alike are contiguous. We can often know that two _chiffres_ are alike when one is in a far better state of preservation than the other. Hence we may select for study that one in which the lines and figures are best preserved; or from several characters known to be alike, and of which no one is entirely perfect, we may construct with accuracy the type upon which they were founded. In this case the hieroglyph 2020 is well preserved (see the right-hand side of Plate LVI, Fig. 48, the upper left-hand glyph). It consists of a _human hand_, with the symbol of the _sun_ in it; above this is a sign similar to that of the Maya day _Ymix_; above this again, in miniature, is the rebus "snake plumage" or _Cukulcan_; and to the left of the hieroglyph are some curved lines not yet understood. No. 2003 of the same plate is also well preserved. It has the hand as in 2020, the rebus also, and the sign for _Ymix_ is slightly different, being modified with a sign like the top of a cross, the symbol of the _four winds_. The symbol _Ymix_ may be seen, by a reference to Plate XXVII (lower half) of the MS. _Troano_, to relate to the _rain_. The figure of that plate is pouring rain upon the earth from the orifices represented by _Ymix_. The cross of the _four winds_ is still more plain in Nos. 2072, 3084, and 3072.

The part of this symbol 2020 and its synonyms which consists of curved lines occupying the left hand one-third of the whole _chiffre_ occurs only in this set of characters, and thus I cannot say _certainly_ what this particular part of the hieroglyph means; but if the reader will glance back over the last one hundred lines he will find that these _chiffres_ contain the _rebus_ CUKULCAN, the sign of a _human hand_, of the _sun_, of the _rain_, and of the _four winds_.

In BANCROFT'S _Native Races_, vol. iii, chapter vii, we find that the titles of QUETZALCOATL (CUKULCAN) were the _air_, the _rattlesnake_, the _rumbler_ (in allusion to thunder), the _strong hand_, the lord of the _four winds_. The bird symbol exists in 2021, etc. Now in 2020 and its congeners we have found every one of these titles, save only that relating to the _thunder_. And we have found a meaning for every part of the hieroglyph 2020 save only one, viz, the left-hand one-third, consisting of concentric half ellipses or circles. It may be said to be quite _probable_ that the unexplained part of the sign (2020) corresponds to the unused title, "the rumbler." But it is not rigorously proved, although very probable. The thunder would be well represented by repeating the sign for sky or heaven. This much seems to me certain. The sign is but another summing up of the attributes and titles of CUKULCAN. 2021 gave his portrait, his bird symbol, made allusion to his institution of the sacrifice of wounding the tongue, and spelled out his name in rebus characters. 2020 repeats his name as a rebus and adds the titles of lord of the four winds, of the sun, of rain, of the strong hand, etc. It is his biography, as it were.

In this connection, a passing reference to the characters 1810, etc., 1820, etc., 1830, etc., 1840, etc., 1850, etc., of the left-hand side of Plate LVI should be made. Among these, all the titles named above are to be found. These are suitable subjects for future study.

We now see _why_ the pair 2020, 2021 occurs so many times in Plate LVI, and again as 264, 265, etc. The right-hand half of this tablet has much to say of CUKULCAN, and whenever his name is mentioned a brief list of his titles accompanies it. Although it is disappointing to find _both_ members of this well-marked pair to be proper names, yet it is gratifying to see that the theory of pairs, on which the proof of the order in which the tablets are to be read must rest, has received such unexpected confirmation.

To conclude the search for the hieroglyphs of CUKULCAN'S name, it will be necessary to collect all those faces with "_round_ beards" (see BANCROFT'S _Native Races_, vol. iii, p. 250). TLALOC was also bearded, but all the historians refer to QUETZALCOATL as above cited. I refer hieroglyphs Nos. 658, 651?, 650?, and 249? to this category.

Perhaps also the sign No. 153 is the sign of QUETZALCOATL, as something very similar to it is given as his sign in the _Codex Telleriano Remensis_, KINGSBOROUGH, vol. i, Plates I, II, and V (Plate I the best), where he wears it at his waist.

In Plate LXIII of STEPHENS (vol. ii) is a small figure of CUKULCAN which, he calls "Bas Relief on Tablet." WALDECK gives a much larger drawing (incorrect, however, in many details), in which the figure, the "Beau Relief," is seen to wear bracelets high up on the arm. This was a distinguishing sign of QUETZALCOATL (see BANCROFT'S _Native Races_, vol. iii, pp. 249 and 250), and this figure probably is a representation of the Maya divinity. He is on a stool with tigers for supports. The tiger belongs to the attributes which he had in common with TLALOC, and we see again the intimate connection of these divinities--a connection often pointed out by BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG.

This is the third proper name which has been deciphered. All of them have been pure picture-writing, except in so far as their rebus character may make them in a sense phonetic.