Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/150

88 former) signifies the "bed of the year." As the vessels are placed on the serpent, and hence cannot represent incense-burners, it is not impossible that they are symbols of the idea expressed in these Maya words.

The character which, according to Landa is the hieroglyph for the letter u, which in Maya signifies "vase" (also "moon"), is common on the vase-figures throughout the work; but on these vessels we notice parts of other characters which together with the one given may be the symbols for Uayeyab. This I admit is a mere supposition, but it does not appear to be a forced one; moreover, the following explanation by Perez may serve to strengthen it: "They called them [the added days] also uayab or uayeb-haab, which may be interpreted in two different ways. The word uayab may be derived from uay which means 'bed' or 'chamber,' presuming the Indians believed the year to rest during those days; or uayab may equally be derived from another signification of uay, viz: 'to be destroyed,' 'wounded,' 'corroded by the caustic juice of plants,' or with ley and other strong liquids."

I think it probable that these are cinerary urns, given as symbolic representations of the idea that the years have closed—are dead—and as the ashes of the dead rest in the urns so the ashes of the years may be said to rest in these vessels. This idea appears to be borne out by the fact that the vessel in the middle division of Plate 28 of the Codex, which appears to correspond to these of the Manuscript, has on it the figure of cross-bones, on the top of which are placed three Kan symbols.

Stephens in his "Yucatan" mentions the fact that it is the custom of the Indians to gather up the bones of the dead and preserve them in baskets, boxes, and other similar vessels. He mentions one case where "they were clean and bright as if polished, with the skull and cross-bones in front, the legs and arms laid on the bottom," &c. It is more than probable that this custom was handed down from ancient times.

What the Kan symbols contained in these vessels signify is a question that puzzles me, and which I have so far been unable to answer satisfactorily. In the Manuscript we see three in both vessels of Plate XXIII; three in the upper and two in the lower division of Plate XXII; also three in the upper and two in the lower division of Plate XXI, but the top one