Commentary on the Maya Manuscript in the Royal Public Library of Dresden/2

Page 16a.

There are no red numerals, hence the Tonalamatl seems to apply to any one of the initial week days.

Two women are portrayed, both of whom are stretching a hand forward and upward. There are 8 hieroglyphs of which, however, the top row is almost entirely obliterated; 3 and 7 in the lower row are just alike, being the usual sign for woman.

There is a decided contrast between the two figures, which might suggest barrenness and fruitfulness. Observation of their physical differences would give us that idea. Furthermore, the first carries on her back an unfamiliar head, perhaps A's, while the second has the Ahau, Imix and Kan signs, from which plants seem to be sprouting. The first is represented in the fourth hieroglyph by the sign c, which is closely allied to the death deities, while the second woman is denoted by hieroglyph 8 which is the sign of the deity E, the grain-god.

Pages 16a—17a.

In the following I will group together all the pages from page 16-23 as follows:—First, I shall discuss the top thirds, then the middle and lastly the lower thirds. The sense, however, often seems to require that the first third should connect with the second, and the second with the third; but I find it impossible to determine exactly the intended order.

On pages 16a-17a, we find for the first time in this manuscript not a Tonalamatl, but in its stead all the twenty days arranged in four columns, each of which ends with one of the regents of the year:—

This seems to establish the fact that the day of its birth was of importance to a new-born child.

Between each column and the next there is a picture and above each picture four hieroglyphs, which, however, are mostly destroyed, so that much of the meaning of this passage is lost to us.

The first is an old man walking, who beyond doubt is N, the Uayeyab god, with a staff in his hand and the signs Imix and Kan on his back. He is looking upward and is also pointing upward with his right hand. Of his hieroglyphs only enough of the fourth is visible to enable us to recognize in it the regular sign of N, 5 Zac. The second picture is again an old man walking with a stick, he is baldheaded and hence is probably also N, as on page 12c. His hieroglyph might be the fourth of those written above him, the other three are entirely unrecognizable. He has a carrying-frame on his back, but it is uncertain whether he is carrying anything upon it.

The third figure is a woman who is pointing upward with one hand and with the other holding the bundle on her back, which I am unable to explain (does it refer to the 14th Uinal—the end of pregnancy?) and from which rises an object resembling a flame. Her sign is in the fourth place and q is in the third. 1 and 2 are not legible and perhaps may be supplemented by the third picture on page 19c. Finally, the fourth figure is F, who is sitting and has a Cimi sign on his back. His monogram is the second of the hieroglyphs above him, the third is very appropriately b and the other two are not very clear to me.

The first two pictures might designate a male birth, the first indicating wealth and the second poverty, the third might denote a female birth and the fourth a still birth. But who can positively assert this!

Pages 18a—19a.

This is a Tonalamatl of five parts with 20 hieroglyphs, which unfortunately are so much injured that no signs comprehending the whole can be distinguished.

There are five women in a sitting attitude.

The first woman corresponds exactly to the third figure on page 15b. She is sitting on a bench, the same implement is in her hand and there is also a serpent on her head, for which reason she likewise reminds us of H. The third hieroglyph is hers, and the 4th sign is an Ahau.

The second woman holds in her hand the Kin sign; above it is the Yax sign and above this a little cross between two dots (the numeral 18?). Compare pages 18c, 19c and 27b, and in the second part, 46b and 50c. I shall venture no opinion regarding the hieroglyphs.

The third woman with the copal pouch hanging from her neck has nothing in her hand. She is pointing upward with her right hand. Her hair seems to be wound in the shape of an 8 in horizontal position and above her is a sign denoting the union of two parts. The hieroglyphs are entirely destroyed. Does this represent the birth of twins?

The eyes of the fourth woman are closed, she is pointing forward with her hand and there is a bird on her head. Nothing is left of the hieroglyphs.

Finally, the fifth is distinguished by a large nose-peg, which, as on 12b, resembles a flower. Her hand is extended forward. The fourth of the hieroglyphs above her is her sign. There is nothing to be said regarding the three others. Are these five women engaged here in presenting their thankofferings and prayers of thanksgiving for the birth which has taken place?

Pages 19a—21a.

Instead of Men the Manuscript has incorrectly Eb. Ahau in the fifth place is superfluous, since we have here a Tonalamatl divided into four equal parts.

The hieroglyphs are so nearly obliterated that we can no longer distinguish a common sign. There were in all six signs for the first picture, of which the first two are above the day-signs, while the figures from the second to the fifth have only four signs each, as follows:—

All that can be distinguished here is that the 4th and 13th have the same cross b and that 6 and 10 probably contain the same head.

Each of the five pictures contains a woman sitting. In the first representation she sits opposite a male figure, who bends down to her with his bird-head, which we have already seen on page 13c. In the other four pictures the woman is holding the figure of a god on her lap. I do not recognize the god in the first picture on page 20. In the second and third pictures he is related to A or the Moan and the first figure on page 21 may represent the god D. These can only be new-born children represented by the gods under whose signs they were born. It should also be noted that the second woman on page 20 has a serpent on her head and the third a bird. The bird's head resembles that on page 16c.

Pages 21a—22a.

The Cimi and Eb of the second column have changed places in the Manuscript. Instead of the X there is an erroneous 2 and there is no initial VII.

We have here a Tonalamatl consisting of 10 × 26 days, and the 26 days are subdivided into six parts. I have just assumed that the 2 is wrong and the initial VII is wanting over the first column, yet the 2 followed by the laterally elongated head q might here, perhaps, be explained in some manner as the sign of the day VII Oc.

Apart from this sign which occupies an entirely exceptional position, we have here 24 hieroglyphs, i.e., 4 for each of the six groups.

The fourth sign in the first five groups is in each case a Chuen combined with the cross b and the suffix, which seems to be a knife, and also with a numeral, which, however, is not recognizable in the first group; in the second it is a 3, in the third a 7, in the fourth a 5 and in the fifth a 3. What can these numbers mean? 3 + 7 + 5 + 3 = 18, and Chuen with the meaning of 20 (especially in the inscriptions) would be 18 × 20 = 360.

In the fourth place of the sixth group there is a compound character, the main part of which (top, right) seems to be the sign for the thirteenth month, Mac, and which may also, as we shall see on page 24, denote the entire Tonalamatl. It is again compounded with a Chuen, an uplifted arm and a kind of suffix, and hence might denote the end of a Tonalamatl.

The remaining 18 signs are in the main destroyed. In the second of the fourth group we recognize the lock of hair denoting a woman, in the third of the second group the superfix suggesting the south, which we find above the Cimi sign, for example on page 13b. Lastly, the other third signs are in the third group Imix-Kan, in the fourth group the head q, in the fifth the bird c and in the sixth a Manik sign with prefix and superfix resembling the sign i; in a few places (24, 39a, 53a, 56b, 58b, 61a, 61c, 68c) the prefix might have the meaning of 20.

Since the intention was to close this section on the next page, the space had to be used as economically as possible, and instead of the six pictures to be expected, there is only one and that is the first. It is a woman in whom I observe nothing characteristic except that she has a kind of cloak, which has fallen down over the lower part of her body, and who therefore remains unexplained.

Pages 22a—23a.

The Tonalamatl is no doubt to be read in this way after the correction of a few inaccuracies in the Manuscript.

The 20 days, all of which occur again here as on pages 16a-17a, should be read from the right top to the left bottom, since they form but one series.

As a matter of fact Ezanab is distant 19 days from the future Caban, but 39 days distant from the desired weekday of the same name (see my "Erläuterungen," p. 24). Thus we have here a period of 20 × 39 days = 780, i.e., a three-fold Tonalamatl. The three Tonalamatls represented on the pages between the preceding passage (pages 16a-17a), where all the 20 days appear, and this, are of three different kinds (5 × 52, 4 × 65, and 10 × 26). This in itself is very remarkable. Furthermore a fourth kind of Tonalamatl seems to be introduced here, which embraces, as it were, these three Tonalamatls.

The hieroglyphs, which are mostly destroyed, were arranged in groups of four for each subdivision, in the following order:—

Of the above the third hieroglyph of each group, i.e., 7, 11, 15, 19 (probably also 3) is always the same and is the sign of D, the moon and night-god. In detail we should expect to find five pictures here, but owing to lack of space only the first of these is given. It represents a deity with a Kan sign in its hand and a serpent on its head, who is probably E, and he is falling down here in exactly the same manner as the four deities on page 15 at the beginning of this section.

Now, which were the other four deities? Signs 8, 12, 20 refer to A, H and C. 16 is the laterally elongated head q, to which Seler is inclined to refer the day Men, and Schellhas an undetermined deity I. On account of its frequency this sign must have besides a more general significance. In addition, however, we have in 14 and 18 the signs of F and B. 6 is uncertain, 10 is probably C, and the top row is entirely illegible. If to these deities is added the D repeated five times in the third row, it will be seen that all the important gods are grouped together here on the last page of this section.

Pages 16b—17b.

I will now attempt (for it cannot be more than an attempt) to separate into three parts, according to their contents, the middle and lowest thirds of pages 16 to 23. The first part, 16b to 18b and 16c to 20c, contains six Tonalamatls with pictures of women, each of whom carries on her back the figure or symbol of a deity. This deity can hardly be any other than the one to which the horoscope of the child especially refers.

The first of these Tonalamatls, on pages 16b-17b, runs as follows:—

The red numerals are wanting and were probably forgotten.

The hieroglyphs stand thus:—

Of these 3, 7, 11 and 15 are the sign for women, 2, 6, 10 and 14 are likewise all the same sign, which is repeated in the same places on pages 17c to 18c. I do not understand its meaning; it may have reference merely to the carrying-frame. Instead of the four women, whom we should expect to find here, only the first two are portrayed. The first carries B, whose sign is the first hieroglyph, while the fourth hieroglyph is the sign q.

The second woman carries A to whom hieroglyphs 5 and 8 refer. The third woman would have carried D, which is plainly proved by hieroglyphs 9 and 12, and the fourth, F, as follows from sign 13 and probably also from 16 (q).

Pages 17b—18b.

Here again there are no red numerals.

The 24 hieroglyphs of the six divisions stand thus:—

Again, six women should be portrayed here, but there are only four; the second and third are wanting. The signs for the women are given in 3, 7, 11, 15, 19 and 23, but in 15 and 19 the prefix is different from that of the rest. As from here on the women repeatedly carry a bird, the signs for this are 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 and 22, which are the symbol of a rising bird, as in the sign of the 15th Uinal (Moan), which in my opinion generally coincides with the 13th month of 28 days.

The women pictured here have nothing in their hands, which they hold stretched forward, as is usually the case in this section. The first woman carries a vulture on her head. Compare 8a. In regard to it see also Schellhas, "Göttergestalten," p. 31. The hieroglyph of the vulture, which we find repeated on page 17c, 24, 37b, 46, 50, 65, is here hieroglyph 1, usually regarded as the sign of the bat deity, and near it in 4 is q.

The second woman would have carried the black deity L (hieroglyph 5), to which q is added in 8.

The third would have had the dog, i.e., the lightning dog, which we find in hieroglyph 9 and in the month sign Kankin; an a is added to them in 12.

The fourth woman carries A, as is proved by his signs in 13 and 16.

The fifth carries nothing; according to the hieroglyphs 17 and 20 she ought to carry D.

Lastly the sixth carries the Moan as is proved by signs 21 and 24.

Pages 16c—17c.

This is a Tonalamatl of 4 × 65 days. The Muluc at the bottom is, therefore, superfluous. I have been obliged to correct the 12 in the last column of the Manuscript by changing it into a 10. The red numerals are again wanting.

This passage admirably continues the one in the preceding Tonalamatl containing the women carrying birds, and is also divided into six parts.

The hieroglyphs stand thus:—

Signs 3, 7, 11, 14, 19 and 23 (14 and 15 have changed places) denote women. Of the six women only the first three are here portrayed.

The first carries the Moan with which signs 1, 2 and 4 agree perfectly. The second and third carry two birds, which may be parrots of a different species. They are very seldom represented elsewhere and hence their hieroglyphs, 5 and 9, with the added determinative 10 are unfamiliar. In 8 and 12 the well-known determinatives a and c are added.

Judging by sign 13 the fourth woman would have carried the same vulture, which we see in the middle section of this page; 15 and 16 are again signs c and q.

The fifth woman would have carried an unknown bird of prey, the signs of which are 17 and 18, and 18=10; 20 is again q, but with a superfix different from that in 16.

Finally the sixth woman, like the third in 17b, seems to have carried the dog, as is proved by sign 21, but in 22 the symbol of a bird is again added. This passage ends in 24 with the well-known Imix-Kan.

Pages 17c—18c.

Here we again find the regular red numerals (Roman in my transcription of the text), which were wanting in the last three Tonalamatls. That they were not added until after the black script and drawings were completed, is evident in several passages of our Manuscript and also in this one, where they have been faintly indicated in black by the scribe (or corrector). The absence of red numbers in the passages 17b-18b and 16c-17c is an evidence that I was right in proceeding directly from the former to the latter.

Of the 12 hieroglyphs, 2, 6 and 10 have again the form which we found on pages 16b-17b, and which seems to refer to a carrying-frame; compare, however, the explanation of pages 25-28 below. The women themselves are designated by hieroglyphs 3, 8 and 12. The first woman carries the god A and hieroglyphs 1 and 4 are his regular signs. The second woman has on her back a Kin sign, above that a Yax, and this combination overtopped by a cross between two dots also forms hieroglyph 5; compare the upper section of the same page. That this hieroglyph is nothing else than a designation of god D follows from hieroglyph 7. Finally the fourth woman carries a figure, which has a Moan sign for a head and to which hieroglyphs 9 and 11 certainly refer.

Pages 18c—19c.

The first woman carries the god A, who is denoted by hieroglyphs 4 and 1, though somewhat irregularly by the latter. 2 is the carrying-frame and 3 the woman herself.

The second woman has again the Yax-Kin sign on her back as in the preceding Tonalamatl, and hieroglyph 5 is also a combination of these signs, but here in 7 we find, not the sign of D, but that of E, to which also the Imix-Kan in 8 corresponds. 6 is again the carrying-frame, though, as is also the case in 2, more indistinctly drawn than in the earlier Tonalamatls.

Pages 19c—20c.

This is a Tonalamatl divided into five parts, to which 20 hieroglyphs belong. The hieroglyphs are in the following order:—

At places 2, 7 (6 and 7 have changed places), 10, 14 and 18 we find again the sign which we think means a carrying-frame, while signs 3, 6, 11, 15 and 19 are those of the five women.

The first carries a figure with a Moan head and agreeing with this is the second death-god F in hieroglyph 1 and his determinative in 4.

The second woman, who is seated, carries the same object regarding which I am still uncertain, which is carried by the standing woman on page 17a. This object is denoted by hieroglyph 5 (w). Its determinative is probably 8. It may perhaps be a step in the right direction to point out that this sign suggests the god K.

The third, like the first, has a figure with a Moan head, with which a female form of A in 12 and hieroglyph 9 accord.

The fourth woman carries the maize deity E. 13 is his sign and the food hieroglyphs, Imix-Kan in 16, agree with it.

The fifth woman seems to carry the somewhat indistinct form of D, if this may be inferred from the Ahau of the 17th sign. 20 is the universal sign a.

This ends the six Tonalamatls, which are represented in what I have called the section of the burden-bearing women. Five other Tonalamatls follow, which again suggest the idea of conception, which we met once before on pages 13c-14c.

Page 19b.

The most frequent sign in the five Tonalamatls, which I have grouped together, is the cross b, which plays the most important part in all the Tonalamatls, excepting the third, which differs from the rest also in other respects. It is essentially the sign for union, referring in the case of the stars to their conjunction and here to sexual union.

In this Tonalamatl we see the cross in hieroglyphs 1 and 5, the sign for woman in 2 and 6, and their determinatives in 3 and 7.

The first woman has a deity facing her who is devoid of all characteristic marks, and sign 4 is also nothing but the universal a.

The second woman whose eyes are closed, sits facing A, whose hieroglyph is in 8.

Pages 19b—20b.

The arrangement of this Tonalamatl is very similar to that of the preceding.

Hieroglyphs 1 and 5 are again the cross, and 2 and 6 the signs for woman.

The first picture is wanting; hieroglyph 3 with the number 7 as a prefix denotes a deity with whom I am not familiar. The same sign is found on page 50, left, middle; in 4 the usual head q is added.

Beside the woman in the second group—not facing her—is the serpent deity H, again, as on pages 11c and 12b, with the nose-peg resembling a flower. His sign is 7 to which in 8 the familiar Ahau is again added.

Page 20b.

The hieroglyphs stand thus:—

The subject now passes into the province of astronomy. This is already proved by sign 1, which represents the clouds, between which the sun or moon is usually pictured; the sun is probably omitted here merely owing to limited space. Sign 3 suggests the storm-god K (compare pages 7a and 47 left) to which in 2 the Ahau might be appropriately added, inasmuch as it rules the year here under consideration as on pages 25b to 26c. On account of the Ben-Ik sign I see in 4 one of the months of 28 days as a more exact determination of time. Below the Ben-Ik a head is represented with eyes apparently closed, and this head is repeated in 6 and 10, though, probably for lack of space, without the Ben-Ik. In each of the three places a sign is used as an affix which might readily be the year sign, contracted laterally.

The two similar hieroglyphs 5 and 9, which have the following form, are especially worthy of consideration:—



The part on the right recalls by its trisection the sign r, which I regard as the week of 13 days and, in fact, the interval between the two hieroglyphs is 13 days. On the left is the inverted figure of a person in a squatting attitude, the head surrounded by stars as on pages 57b and 58b and a sign on the back which may be a suggestion of the sun-glyph. In this figure, which occurs also in the Tro-Cort. and in the inscriptions, I see the planet Mercury and I believe that that planet's retrogression (which lasts 17-18 days) or disappearance into the light of the sun during this week, is the subject of this passage. 7 and 8 are the sign for D with the usual Ahau, and 11 and 12 are the hieroglyphs of the death-god A.

Instead of three pictures there is only one here, viz:—a woman with nose-peg, sitting on a mat and apparently waiting for something. We also find figures sitting on mats elsewhere, for example on pages 7b and 68b.

Page 21b.

This is also a Tonalamatl of 10 parts (10 × 26). The first column should be read first from top to bottom and then the second. The days are exactly the same as on page 21a, and here too Cimi and Eb have changed places.

The hieroglyphs run thus:—

The signs forming the hieroglyphs into groups are, in addition to the cross in 2, 6, 10 and 14, the heads in 1, 5, 9 and 13 with an Akbal sign (indistinct in 9) which, by the lock of hair in 5, 9 and 13, refer to a woman. This lock of hair is replaced by a hand in 1.

Sign 3, with which m in 4 is associated as a determinative, shows that the first group ought to have a picture of the black god L grouped with a female figure.

The second group is the only one with a picture. On the right there is a female figure, which, judging by the headdress, we have already met on page 19a. Opposite her sits the dog which we saw on page 13c. Here (in sign 7), as on page 13c, the hieroglyph of the dog is combined with a Cimi sign, and this hieroglyph is repeated in 8 with the sign c, which is so closely allied to Cimi.

For the third group the god A should have been represented with the woman, as is proved by sign 11 so peculiarly combined with r as a superfix. To this hieroglyph a is added, doubtless referring to the good days, as if merely to fill space.

The hieroglyphs of the fourth group do not, I think, convey a clear idea as to which deity belongs here. His sign is 15, which is compounded of Manik and Chuen with a superfix, nor does the Cimi added in 16 shed light on the subject. As for 15 we have already found it on page 13c with the prefixed 4, which I find prefixed in this way in at least 12 different signs.

Pages 21c—22c.

This is a Tonalamatl of five parts in which the red numerals are wanting.

The hieroglyphs are in the following order:—

Among these are hieroglyphs which are common to all the groups:—the cross in 1, 5 and 9 and the woman in 3, 7 and 15. In 13 this cross is replaced by another sign, perhaps that for the year of 360 days, and in 12 the sign for woman is replaced by the universal a.

Each of the three pictures contains a woman facing a deity. I will consider first the second picture in which H is the deity, as is proved by hieroglyph 6 to which an Imix is added in 8, with the uplifted arm prefixed as in 10c and 13a.

Between the first and third pictures there is some confusion. The first is D, for while his type inclines more to that of N, the other old god of the Maya Olympus, comparison with 23c clearly shows that D is intended here. But the year-sign on his head also suggests in some measure the Uayeyab god N and moreover this sign does not belong to D and only occurs again with him on page 23c. Further, there is no hieroglyph at all for D and instead we find in 2, 5 Zac, the regular sign of N. Also sign 4 fits N better than it does D. Furthermore this passage relates to the day Ik, which might very well be the last day of the year.

On the other hand the third picture contains, unquestionably, the figure of N. I look for his sign in the 11th hieroglyph, which is the head of an old man with a prefixed 4, referring to the four different forms of N in the Kan, Muluc, Ix and Cauac years. The Ahau in 12, however, does not fit N, but D.

This confusion can only be adjusted by transferring D from the first group to the third and also, perhaps, the sign of the woman in 3, which applies to all the three groups, and by transferring to the first group N and the 11th sign of the third group.

The fourth group has no picture. It should have, as hieroglyph 14 shows, the god F, who represents death by violence in human sacrifice and the chase. The hieroglyph Cimi in the 16th place is a suitable sign for this deity.

Pages 22c—23c.

The hieroglyphs are arranged in the following order:—

This Tonalamatl, the fifth and last of this section, presents much that is irregular and puzzling.

It can hardly be said that there are comprehensive hieroglyphs here, forming the heading of the six groups. The sign for woman occurs only in 2, 8 and 24, and the cross b only in 14 and 18, but it is sufficient to make it clear that here, too, connection with a woman is the principal theme. Let us pass, therefore, directly to the single groups.

The first group contains A and a woman. The god, however, is not facing the woman but sits beside her. The Cimi sign in 1, the familiar c in 3 and the unknown sign in 4 (=6) hardly explain this particular proceeding.

The second group contains two persons who sit facing each other, but the representation is so obscure and peculiar that it is difficult to determine which is the male figure and which the female. The hair of the person sitting on the right stands up in a manner not found elsewhere. It forms a figure similar to that which is issuing from the mouth of the dog on pages 13c and 21b. The Cimi sign in 5 and the sign c in 7 are familiar, but the infrequent 6=4 remains a puzzle.

Uncertainty regarding the third group is increased by the fact that there is no picture belonging to it. The well-known signs, 10 (Cimi) and 12 (q) afford no explanation, nor does the head with the uplifted arm in 11, which we find with the same hieroglyph on pages 8a and 36a. The most puzzling is the 9th sign, which is composed of two crouching persons leaning back to back, and who also appear in the astronomical sections of the Manuscript on page 68a, not merely in the form of a hieroglyph, but also carried out in a picture. In my article on the Maya chronology published in the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie of the year 1891, I attempted to explain this Janus picture as meaning the change of the year, but that interpretation would make no sense here.

The fourth group contains the woman opposite D, who is clad in the gala mantle and has on his head a bird and apparently the sign for a year, and is designated by the Ahau in 16, while Imix-Kan in 13, b in 14 and a in 15 are rather meaningless.

The fifth group represents the woman united with A, who is designated by the Cimi sign in 17. 18 with its b and 19 with its q display little that is characteristic, r in 20, which I think is the sign for the week of 13 days, invites further study. The sixth picture, which is the last, is very peculiar; it represents three women sitting side by side denoting perhaps the virgins who still remain. Sign 21 as Imix-Kan, 23 as a and 24 as sign of femininity supply nothing in the way of explanation. As 6, 9 and 20 are the characteristic signs in the preceding groups, so here the characteristic sign is 22—an open hand holding the day Ben—which perhaps designates these virgins by referring to the house in which they are held fast by the hand. Cf. Tro. 23* d.

Now of the entire woman section closing with page 23 only the two Tonalamatls on pages 22b-23b remain. These Tonalamatls again display very many peculiarities and seem to be but loosely connected with the five Tonalamatls last discussed.

Page 22b.

This is a regular Tonalamatl, in which the 52 days are divided into four equal parts.

The hieroglyphs are in the following order:—

An Ahau is added here as the 17th sign, which is very unusual.

We find elements here forming the hieroglyphs into groups in three different ways.

1. The signs 1, 5, 9 and 13 designate the four cardinal points as they so often stand together in this Manuscript in the order of East, North, West and South, i.e., in the sequence of the annual and not of the diurnal course of the sun.

2. The hieroglyphs 2, 6, 10 and 14 are all alike and are the head with the Akbal eye, which in 6 is closed.

3. The three persons pictured here all carry a Kan sign in their hands, probably as the offering they have received. Similarly we found the Kan sign held in the hand twice on page 16b.

The first picture is B; his sign is the third with the q in 4 as a determinative, which has above it a Ben-Ik sign.

The second figure is a goddess with a serpent as head-ornament, though we find in the 7th sign, not her hieroglyph, but merely the one generally used to denote a woman. 8 is the usual a, which in my opinion is the sign for the good days, to which also the Kan sign refers in the hands of the three personages.

The third picture is that of the sun-god G; his hieroglyph is the 11th, to which in 12 is added the sign q, the sign for the bad days, with a superfix.

The fourth picture is wanting. According to the 15th hieroglyph it should be the maize deity E. My theory that 16 is the sign for the week of 13 days is supported by the fact that the division into 4 × 13 days is the prevailing one.

Page 23b.

This is a Tonalamatl of 4 × 65 days divided as evenly as possible into 5 × 12 + 5. The 5th day added after the 16th must be a mistake (suggested by the 5th day of the last section) for it is usually the first of the days, which is repeated superfluously.

The hieroglyphs are:—

Contrary to practice the first section has six hieroglyphs, and the other five but four each.

As the characteristic hieroglyph we find in 1, 7, 11, 15, 19 and 23 a sign, the meaning of which is still undetermined and which we shall meet again on page 60, where it may refer to darkness.

The groups have in common, furthermore, the head without an underjaw and the hair gathered up in a tuft in 4, 10, 14, 22 and 25 (in 18 perhaps represented by q, the evil days). We shall find this sign on pages 25, 28, 30-35, 42-44 and 65-69, repeated a number of times in many instances. I consider it the sign for fast-days. It appears also in the Tro-Cort. Associated with this sign here as in other passages are the four sacrifices derived from the animal kingdom:—a haunch of venison, a bird, an iguana and a fish. The fish is beyond doubt denoted by 3, the mammal by 21 and the bird by 13, and I believe, therefore, that the iguana with its spiny back is denoted by 9. We find the four animals, though in a different order, also on pages 29b-30b, 30b-31b and 40c-41c, as well as in Cort. 3-6 and 8, for example. They seem to have a certain reference also to the four cardinal points.

Only the first of the six groups has a picture (I?). This represents a woman with a serpent in her hair, holding in her hand a dish containing a fish. The woman is denoted by the fifth hieroglyph and the fish by the third. The 6th sign is an Ahau, which is not quite intelligible here. Sign 2=5 Zac is very remarkable; it is the hieroglyph of the Uayeyab days and of their god N. If this Ahau refers, as it often does, to the god D, it suggests the relation between D and N, which follows from page 21c.

According to the 8th sign, the second group might refer to the serpent deity H, and the 9th sign would not improperly denote the iguana.

In the same way sign 12 in the third group probably denotes the storm-god K, with whom the bird in 13 accords very well.

In the fourth group both the animal and the sign of fasting, belonging to it, are wanting, while 16 and 17 as well as the unlucky day in 18 clearly refer to the death-deity A.

The fifth passage belongs, as sign 20 shows, to the maize deity E and to this is added the haunch of venison in 21.

In the sixth group we recognize Imix-Kan, the sign for food derived from the vegetable kingdom. It stands beside the grain-deity E of the fifth group. I do not understand the vulture-head in 26.

The five deities specified here may be compared with those on page 24, which are denoted by hieroglyphs 21-25 of the second column, though the agreement is not perfect.

This ends the first great section of the Manuscript, in which Tonalamatls are represented in uninterrupted succession. We come now to a page which stands quite alone, being the first which treats of astronomy and which ends the front of the first part of the Manuscript.

Page 24.

In my article "Zur Entzifferung IV" I discussed this remarkable page in detail and in what follows I shall conform to that treatise, though omitting many things which since then have become the established possession of science, and shall endeavor to shed a still clearer light upon other points.

This page presents in brief the subject which is more fully treated of on the front of the second part of the Manuscript (pages 46-60).

The first problem it presents is to find periods in which the solar year (365 days) is brought into accord with the apparent Venus year (584 days). This takes place in a term of 2920 days = 8 × 365 = 5 × 584. Sequent to this is the still higher aim of bringing the Tonalamatl (260) into harmony with this period, which is accomplished in 37,960 days (= 146 × 260 = 104 × 365 = 65 × 584).

The revolution of the moon (28), the ritual year (364 = 28 × 13) and the apparent revolution of Mercury (115) come in question as secondary matters.

I will now give an approximate reproduction of the page:—

First let me observe that I have restored the four large numbers at the top, which are almost entirely effaced, as follows:—

And furthermore, at the right, bottom, I have substituted the third month for the second of the Manuscript, which proceeding will be justified later on.

The least difficult portion of the contents of this page is the first series consisting of 16 members, each being a multiple of 2920. It begins with the date I Ahau (which is always concealed in these series), regularly stops at the month day Ahau (since 2920 = 146 × 20), but necessarily advances in the week days by 8 days each (since 2920 = 224 × 13 + 8), until 37,960 is reached, when the day I Ahau again appears (since 37,960 = 146 × 260).

According to my method of filling in the numbers, the top row of the page consists only of multiples of 37,960.

On the other hand, the four numbers of the second row from the top are more difficult. They are, it is true, all divisible without remainder by 260, but otherwise they seem to be without rule, and they give one somewhat the impression of a subsidiary computation such as one might jot down on a slip of paper in the course of some important mathematical work.

Nevertheless, the following remarkable results are obtained when the first and third and the second and fourth numbers are combined by addition or subtraction:—

1) 185,120 + 33,280 = 218,400, which is just 600 years of 13 × 28 = 364 days, 280 Mars years of 780 days, 840 Tonalamatls of 260 days or 7800 months of 28 days.

2) 185,120 - 33,280 = 151,840, i.e., precisely the highest number of the top row, = 416 solar years of 365 days each or 260 Venus years of 584 days each, i.e., the product of the days of the Tonalamatl multiplied by the Venus years. We shall again find the 151,840 on page 51, and Seler ("Quetzalcoatl and Kukulcan," p. 400) finds this same period on a relief of Chichen Itza.

3) 68,900 + 9100 = 78,000, i.e., 100 Mars years or 300 Tonalamatls. The half of this number, or 39,000, we shall find again on pages 69-73 by computation; also the whole 78,000.

4) 68,900 - 9100 = 59,800, i.e., 520 Mercury years of 115 days, or 230 Tonalamatls, or five times the period of 11,960 days, in which these two periods are united. By computation again we find the 59,800 on page 58. This period of 11,960 days is, however, to the period of 37,960 in the proportion of 23:73, i.e., 23 × 520:73 × 520. 23 is the fifth part of the apparent Mercury year, as 73 is of the solar year.

Let us now turn to the numbers, which form the bottom of my transcription, but only the left hand lower corner in the Manuscript. Here, in the latter, we find the following (with the correction already mentioned of the second to the third month):—

The first thing to be done is to arrange and fill out these numbers to suit our purpose.

The 2200 is clearly nothing more than the difference between the two high numbers. We can therefore dispense with it.

Further, we find by the usual computation, that the second number belongs to the first date and the third to the second. Hence the number corresponding to the third date is wanting from lack of space. This number can be calculated from that date; it is 1,352,400. It would suit this date equally well if the number were higher or lower by 18,980 or a multiple of 18,980; but it will be seen directly that it agrees with the other two numbers only at the value given above.

Now, if we add to this passage the years in which the dates must lie, they are in the case of the date on the left, the year 9 Ix, in the case of the middle date, the year 3 Kan, and of that on the right hand, the year 10 Kan.

Then if we arrange the three numbers with the dates and years belonging to them, according to the value of the first, this part of the page will run as follows:—

Let us now consider the properties of the three numbers individually.

1) 1,352,400 = 28 × 48,300 and = 115 × 11,760, hence it is divisible by the month days of the year of 364 days and by the Mercury year. At all events this is the least important of the three numbers.

2) 1,364,360. This looks as if it referred particularly to the moon and to Mercury; to the latter since it is equal to 115 × 11,864, and to the former if we assume that the lunar revolution has been fixed at 29⅔ days, in which case this number is exactly equal to 46,000 such lunations. If this last number be again divided by 115, the number of days required for a revolution of Mercury, the quotient is 400, which is a round number in the vigesimal system and which was therefore denoted by a single word, by Bák in the Maya (according to Stoll) and by Huna in the Cakchiquel (according to Seler). 1,364,360, therefore, is a Huna of lunar revolutions multiplied by the number of days in the Mercury period. Later on we shall find the lunar revolution fixed at 29⅔ days.

3) 1,366,560. This is the most comprehensive number of the entire Manuscript, for it is divisible into each of the following periods:—Those of the Señores de la noche or Lords of the Cycle (9 × 151,840; this is, however, the first number of the top row), the Tonalamatls (260 × 5256), the old official years (360 × 3796), the solar years (365 × 3744), the Venus years (584 × 2340), the Mars years (780 × 1752), the Venus-solar periods (2920 × 468), the solar year-Tonalamatls (18,980 × 72), the Venus, solar, Tonalamatl periods (37,960 × 36), and the periods which are generally designated Ahau-Katuns (113,880 × 12).

We have next to consider the intervals which elapse between the three dates.

1) From 1,352,400 to 1,364,360 is 11,960 days, which period we have already found once on this page by computation. 11,960, however, is equal to 104 × 115 and 46 × 260, i.e., the Mercury revolution and the Tonalamatl combined. 11,960 is again equal to 32 × 365 + 280, and from the year 10 Kan to 3 Kan it is actually 32 years, and from the date 18 Zip to 18 Kayab it is, in fact, 280 days. The day I Ahau must be common to both dates.

2) From 1,364,360 to 1,366,560 is 2200 days, as the Manuscript expressly states. 2200, however, is equal to 8 × 260+120, and the distance from the day I Ahau to IV Ahau is in fact exactly 120 days. Further 2200=6 × 365+10; from the year 3 Kan to 9 Ix it is 6 years and from the date 18 Kayab to 8 Cumhu it is 10 days.

3) From these two statements the third follows. The distance from 1,352,400 to 1,366,560 is 14,160. This contains first the 14040, in which both the Tonalamatl and the old official year of 360 days meet, and second 120, which is again the interval between I Ahau and IV Ahau. But 14,160 is also equal to 38 × 365 + 290, and the interval between 10 Kan and 9 Ix is of course 38 years, and from 18 Zip to 8 Cumhu it is 290 days.

The numbers with which we have had to do here will again occupy our attention further on, especially the 2920 and the 37,960 on pages 46-50, the 11,960 and 115 on pages 51-58, and the 14,040 on page 73.

That these computations are not confined to the Dresden Manuscript is proved by the cross of Palenque, where we find in signs A B 16 precisely the date I Ahau 18 Zotz, a Tonalamatl before 18 Kayab, in D 1 C 2 exactly the difference 2200 and in D 3 C 4 the date IV Ahau 8 Cumhu. This is in favor of the theory that our Manuscript did not originate far from Palenque.

Now, the question finally arises as to what may, strictly speaking, be considered the significance of these numbers, dates and differences.

In the first place, I would recall the fact that the dates of the monuments of Copan and Quirigua, which doubtless refer to present time, are in the neighborhood of 1,400,000. The high numbers of our Manuscript, so far as they are in question here, form first a group, which extends from about 1,200,000 to 1,280,000, and then there is a blank, and next a large group extending from about 1,350,000 to 1,480,000, then another blank and lastly a group extending from about 1,520,000 to 1,580,000. If we assume that our Manuscript belonged to about the same date as these inscriptions, then the three numbers discussed here would extend over a past period lying about 160-170 years back, when a new period of importance had begun probably dating from the immigration of the Aztecs into Mexico, which they placed in the first half of the 14th century (see "Weltall," Vol. 5. pp. 374-377). Now, however, the number 1,366,560 contains the statement that 3744 years ago (each year having 365 days) an event must have occurred, which can hardly be anything other (according to the belief of the Mayas) than the creation of mankind. Hence all the historical dates of the Mayas were computed from this starting-point. But how did this event come to have the date IV Ahau 8 Cumhu?

In my opinion this date is to be regarded only as the result of the far more important date I Ahau 18 Kayab, lying 2200 days earlier. Day 17, Ahau, belongs, without doubt, to the chief of the gods, and as the first week day it must have been especially sacred. The prophecies of the Tonalamatl preferably begin with the Ahau and with the I. The series on the page under discussion, constructed with the difference 2920 as a basis, begins with I Ahau, and the three series on pages 46-50 also have the same day as the zero point of departure. I Ahau is therefore the starting-point of the astronomical computations as IV Ahau is of the historical.

Now, however, all the periods of 260 days end each time with I Ahau. Why is precisely this day chosen here, which is the 18th day of the month Kayab, therefore in the year 3 Kan, and lying 2200 days earlier than the historical date?

Day 18 Kayab is our June 18th. In my treatise "Schildkröte und Schnecke in der Mayaliteratur" (1892), I have sought to prove that the tortoise served as symbol of the summer solstice, that the sign of Kayab was the head of a tortoise, and that probably the 18th of June was regarded as the longest day. The middle one of the three series on pages 46-50 begins with exactly this date, I Ahau 18 Kayab.

But whence come the 2200 days? I will offer a suggestion which may serve until a better theory is propounded. Let us assume that each of the five principal planets had in succession regulated its time of revolution by this astronomical starting-point, thus:—sun 365, moon 356, Mercury 115, Venus 584, and Mars 780 days, these numbers added together give exactly 2200. It will scarcely excite surprise that I should set down the lunar year at 356 days (and not at the usual 354 days) for there are 12 × 29⅔ lunations in a year and we thought we had already found this period on this page, while discussing the number 1,364,360; also on pages 51-58, in addition to the half lunar year of 177 days, we shall find one of 178 days. Were the planets therefore created 2200 days before the appearance of mankind? Jupiter and Saturn, of course, with their 397 and 380 days are probably not considered here, because their periods of revolution so nearly correspond to that of the sun, and on pages 51-60 they are also treated as of secondary importance.

I confess I am quite unable to discover what may have happened 11,960 days before the creation of the stars—possibly the birth of one of the principal deities. Perhaps one of my fellow-students may succeed in finding an answer in one of the creation myths.

We come now to the 40 hieroglyphs on the left half of the page. These are intended simply to familiarize the reader with those signs which are of importance in the calendrical-astronomical portions of the Manuscript. Since no phonetic system of writing existed, we cannot, of course, expect that the scribe should have explained these signs.

Signs 1-4, which are mostly destroyed, can hardly denote anything other than the four quarters of the globe, at least we can still recognize in 4 the sign for the east, which has also the fourth place in pages 46-50. They stand thus together five times in the middle of the left side of pages 46-50, which pertain to this subject. 5 to 9 are the sign for Venus repeated 5 times, probably denoting the four parts of its revolution as on pages 46-50 and also the revolution as a whole. In connection with this first appearance of the Venus sign, I would mention that the same hieroglyph also occurs in the Tro-Cort., e.g., Cort. 25c, though this Manuscript contains little else that is astronomical, yet it also has the rectangular heavenly shields.

10. This is a well-known form of the Moan sign. In the Globus, Volume LXV, 1894, I sought to make it appear probable that the Moan also denoted the Pleiades, with whose disappearance and reappearance the beginning of the years seems to be connected. Likewise on page 50, where the 2920-period ends, the Venus and Moan signs appear at the top on the right-hand side.

11 and 12 are the same sign, being that of the 13th Uinal (Mac), with which 260 days of the year end, and hence this sign is also used as the sign of the Tonalamatl. The repetition seems to show, that not until the 73 Tonalamatls of the period of 18,980 days are doubled—thus obtaining the number 37,960 of such importance here—are the sun and Venus periods brought into unison (with the whole system).

13. The Kin sign (sun, day) with the superfix, which in all probability expresses conjunction, union, and which, in my opinion, we also see on page 51, combined with Kin and Imix, as the sign for 18,980 days, is used here after the two Tonalamatls to denote the doubling of this period.

14-18. If the preceding signs led us to the Venus-solar period and to the continuation of this subject on pages 46-50, these five hieroglyphs bring us to the Mercury-lunar period and later, on pages 51-58, which are devoted to the same period, we shall find a parallel especially on the last page. First comes 14, which, as has been acknowledged, is the sign for 20 × 360 = 7200 days. 15, a hand holding a rectangle divided by a cross into four parts, is, I believe, the sign for the period of 20 days augmented to 21 by the 1 in front of it. The much more distinct form of sign 16 on the middle of page 58 and also at the top of page 53, should be compared with the sign as given here. The top part is the familiar Ben-Ik sign denoting the 10th and 19th days, and the bottom is the sign of the 14th division of 20 days, which make up the year. Now, however, the 10th day, when it becomes the 19th of the next 20 days, is distant from the first 29 days. The prefix consists of two parts:—First two small circles joined by a zigzag line, which I think denotes the division of a day into halves; the sign would then equal 29½ days, i.e., very nearly the true lunar month. Second, of two vertical lines, which might denote a doubling. The whole would then be equal to 2 × 29½ = 59. I admit that this interpretation is very artificial and I should be very glad if a better explanation could be found. On the other hand the 17th hieroglyph becomes quite clear when it is compared with the parallel passage on page 58; it is 13 × 360 = 4680 days, a third of the remarkable period of 14,040 days.

Thus we have

which is exactly the lunar-Mercury period.

The sign Xul = conclusion, end, is fittingly added in 18 to the end of this period, as also on page 58. This sign is very common on pages 61 and 62 at the end of the long periods.

From signs 19 and 20 we see that the four parts of the Venus year are also about to be treated of here, that is, the periods of 236, 90, 250 and 8 days respectively, which are discussed on pages 46-50. For 19 is the sign for Venus, and 20 is a hand with a knife as a superfix, which divides the Venus revolution. This hand appears 20 times in like manner on the pages mentioned above.

Signs 21-25 represent five gods, who in all probability are N, F, H, the bat-god and A. These are the same signs which are repeated twice on the left-hand side of pages 46-50, both times at the beginning and end of the period of 236 days, that is, the period during which Venus is the morning star and which is under the dominion of the east. The fact that there is a 4 with N has reference to the four forms which this Uayeyab god assumes. Now we ought to expect a similar treatment of the periods of the planet, which are under the rule of the south, west and north, but there is no room for this. Instead, we find in 26, 27 and 28 three different signs plainly belonging together, the first of which is the day Caban, i.e., the earth; the second may be Muluc denoting rain and water; the third is Chuen (the ape) which fittingly denotes the north, for Chuen denotes the little bear, as I have proved in my treatise on the day-signs of the Mayas. The Chuen sign in 28 also has a prefix, which probably refers to the night-god D. I find exactly the same combination in signs 8 A and 8 B of the inscription on the Cross of Palenque, but I must leave to others the task of connecting 26 and 27 likewise with the north, which is very evident in 27 (Muluc).

Sign 29 is entirely effaced. Nevertheless, I am positive that it represented the day IV Ahau, the beginning of Maya chronology, for 30 may still be identified as 8 Cumhu belonging to IV Ahau, and sign 31 is the same sign as 18, i.e., the sign Xul = the end, and denoting here the end of the long period.

The comprehensive hieroglyphs, 29-31, stand here in the wrong place. A more suitable position for them would be before 19 or just after 35. For they are intended to specify the periods during which Venus is in the west and south, i.e., the time during which it is the evening star and the period of its inferior conjunction.

Sign 32 is the black deity, L according to Schellhas, here denoting the west, and 33 is the Venus sign with the prefix denoting division. In the same way we find these two signs together on page 46 at the right in the middle series, where presumably the four Venus periods are specified in close succession. The black deity is also found on page 50 in the middle of the page in the beginning, at the end of a period of 250 days. On page 24 it has as a prefix the sign Imix with three rows of dots proceeding from it. Imix, however, among the Mayas and Aztecs (as Cipactli), under some circumstances often, and under others always, denotes the first of the 20 days. Hence this sign may mean:—here begins the Venus period of 250 days.

34-35. The sign for the south still remains to be found. Sign 35 is again the Venus hieroglyph. In 34 we should expect to find one of the five gods of the south, which are found on pages 46-50, e.g., the Moan, who is represented on page 47 as the regent of this cardinal point. But there is no figure of a god here, and in place of it we find set down here, as on page 47, middle, right-hand, an actual date as the beginning of this short southern period of only eight days. It is the date 10 Zip (third month), the month sign of which does indeed suggest a hieroglyph of the Moan. Now, if we recall that in hieroglyph 21 the god N is designated in exactly the same way by an actual date, viz:—4 Zac (11th month), then we see that the interval between 4 Zac and 10 Zip of the second year following, is exactly 236 + 90 + 250 = 576 days, and this corresponds exactly to the interval of time from the beginning of the period when Venus is in the east to the beginning of the period when she is in the south. If we knew in what years the morning star made its first appearance on February 4th and disappeared as the evening star on the 3d of September, we should make some progress in the comprehension of this subject, but not much, since these events fall approximately on the same dates after each period of 8 years.

36-40. The last five of the 40 signs appear in the same order again on pages 46-50, one sign on each page, in the middle group of the right-hand half of the page at the beginning of the third line, but with this difference, that on page 24 each sign has the same prefix, which is wanting on pages 46-50, where a similar hieroglyph always follows. From their position on pages 46-50 it follows that these are hieroglyphs of five gods, each of whom belongs to a whole Venus year of 584 days. I am not very sure in regard to these gods. I prefer to call 36 K, 37 F, 38 E and 40 A. Sign 39 with the person crouching, I am obliged to leave entirely unsettled. We shall find this hieroglyph again, e.g., on pages 47 and 49 right, middle. Let it suffice that in these five signs we have a repetition of the Venus-solar period of 2920 days, with which we will end the discussion of this page. Only F and A have already been met with among the five gods denoted by hieroglyphs 21-25.