Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/51

Rh the number 365, and were called "nameless days" (though in reality named as other days), and were considered unlucky.

If the year began with Kan, the last day of the eighteenth month—Cumhu—would, as a matter of course, be Akbal, the last of the twenty. The five intercalated days were named in regular order following the last of Cumhu, and in this case would be Kan, Chicchan, Cimi, Manik, and Lamat. The next—Muluc—would begin the new year. Muluc being the first day of the month, Lamat would necessarily be the last—the five added days at the end of the year would be Muluc, Oc, Ohuen, Eb, and Ben, making Ix the first of the following year. Ix being the first, Ben would be the last of Cumhu, and the added days being Ix, Men, Cib, Caban, and Ezanab, Cauac would be the first of the next year, the added days would dose with Akbal, and the following year commence with Kan. It will be seen from this, that the year always commenced with one of the four days, Kan, Muluc, Ix, Cauac, following each other regularly in the order given.

If these were all the peculiarities of the system, the Maya calendar would be comparatively simple and easily understood.

But another method of numbering the days was introduced, doubtless long after the calendar had assumed a regular form, and probably by the priests, for the. purpose of complicating it and rendering it as far as possible unintelligible to the people. This was to limit the number to thirteen, or, in other words, to divide the year into periods of thirteen days. I have followed other modern authors in calling this period a week, though it appears the Mayas gave it no name, nor in fact do they seem to have considered it a period, but simply a method of numbering the days and years, As there were twenty names of days to be used, the introduction of this system of thirteen numerals, as the one chiefly adopted in giving dates, necessarily greatly complicated the calendar, and, together with the intercalation of the five days at the end of the year, produced some singular results.

To illustrate this I give first a list of days for one month (Table No. I) numbered according to this system, following it with a table (No. II) numbered in the same way for an entire year—something after the manner of our common counting-house calendar.