Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/223

Rh see vessels of different kinds, on which are Kan symbols of a reddish or orange color. As heretofore stated, we find over one of the groups (left side of Plate IX*), a character accompanied by the numeral five, which I have supposed denotes the Maya word ppecuah, pecuah, or pacach, "a tortilla of maize." That these symbols could have no legitimate signification, if interpreted by any of the meanings of Kan found in the lexicon, is apparent to any one. The fact that they are in vessels—in one case a vase with the usual vase mark, in another a kind of platter, &c.—indicates that they are offerings that can be appropriately presented in vessels of this kind.

In the lower division of Plate XXI we observe a bird in the act of eating one of. these Kan characters. Although this is probably a symbolic representation relating to time, still the figure itself is intended as a representation of that which is used as the symbol—a bird eating something, doubtless corn or bread.

On Plate XXVIII, second and fourth divisions, we notice, as I have previously stated, the figure of a deity, which probably signifies the earth, looking up in a supplicating manner, bearing in his hands, or in the hands of the little figures he holds, Kan symbols. As there is good reason for believing these are symbolic representations of the parched earth pleading for rain, it is more than probable that the Kan characters here denote corn or maize. This supposition is rendered almost certain by the fact that the one in the right hand of the lower figure presents a little opening blade or leaf, showing that it has been planted and is sprouting; in the other hand is the bread symbol.

The two combined, or the Kan singly, are of frequent occurrence in the hands of the priests in the Manuscript, where apparently engaged in religious ceremonies. The kans in the baskets carried by females (lower divisions of Plates XIX* and XX*) I have already alluded to; there can be scarcely any doubt that here they signify corn or bread, more likely the former. I think it quite likely that here, and where not in the written portion, these figures have more the character of pictographs than hieroglyphics, as they are both tolerably fair representations of a grain of maize.