Page:Mexican Archæology.djvu/326

266 codex gives the days commencing the year as ben, eznab, akbal and lamat, as do the monuments. The ben-years here seem to correspond to the kan-years of later times, and so on. The Tro.-Cor. (Fig. 59) seems to picture, in the upper register, the ceremonies (including the dance on stilts in the muluc-year) which were corrective of ill-luck, while the lower register shows the year-god and the maize-god, the latter either flourishing, or the prey of birds and beasts, according to the fortune predicted for the year. For the 1x-years the Bacab was Zaczini, and the presiding god Itzamna; the ceremonies began at the north entrance and concluded at the west. Maladies of the eyes, plagues of locusts, wars and changes of dynasties were feared, and the year was considered bad for the food-crop but good for cotton. Ceremonies were performed to Kinich Ahau Itzamna to avert these evils. Cauac years were the most unpropitious of all, for the presiding deity was Uacmitun Ahau, the death-god. The Bacab was Hozanek, and the ceremonies began in the west and terminated in the south. Many deaths were expected, together with plagues of birds and ants, to avert which four idols were made, Chichac-chob, Ekbalam-chac, Ahkan-uolcab and Ahbuluk-balam, and the ceremonies in their honour included a dance round a large fire, across which, when reduced to glowing ashes, the worshippers ran with bare feet.

The principal ceremonies connected with the months were as follows (for the signs, see Fig. 54, p. 250): —

Pop. The year began, according to lame on July 16th. The priests and men of rank fasted for at least thirteen days in preparation, and the commoners employed themselves in cleaning their houses and renewing and repainting all utensils. Chacs or assistant priests were elected for the ceremonies, and the temple court was purified with incense, the Chacs holding cords to form a square, a proceeding which, ceremonially, was