Page:Stone of the Sun.djvu/61

{|
 * 7th || circle— || (j) || Flames or feathers from the inner border of the serpent bodies.
 * || || (k) || Groups of four little bars in the body of the serpents.
 * || || (l) || The serpents themselves, with their parts; scales or divisions of the body; numeral dots and tyings of the tails.
 * || || (m) || Date inscribed in rectangular frame.
 * colspan="2"| Margin of the relief. || (n) || Glyphs—técpatl and iztpapálotl—of the projection of the relief.
 * || || (o) || Numerals distributed in various parts of the relief.
 * 7th || circle— || (p) || Heads of the serpents with the plumage decoration.
 * }
 * colspan="2"| Margin of the relief. || (n) || Glyphs—técpatl and iztpapálotl—of the projection of the relief.
 * || || (o) || Numerals distributed in various parts of the relief.
 * 7th || circle— || (p) || Heads of the serpents with the plumage decoration.
 * }
 * 7th || circle— || (p) || Heads of the serpents with the plumage decoration.
 * }
 * }

These glyphs may be grouped as follows:

a) All have seen the image of the sun in this central face. It is Tonatiuh or Xiuhtecuhtli (“Lord of the Day”) under the especial form of the Huehuetéotl. It is an old sun, a huehuetiliztli, which represents the entire Indian century. The sign which adorns the forehead constitutes one of the enigmas of the monument and has given rise to the most divergent opinions: among others that it is the phonetic of the word Mexico, an unsustainable supposition. Its importance is, beyond doubt, capital. It has been claimed that the two numerals that accompany it express Ome ácatl, symbol of the correction of the calendar. No thesis is apparently more substantial, more interesting, more plausible. There is none which we ourselves would more desire to see fully confirmed. If established, it would corroborate the hypothesis that the monolith was Aztec work, since the transfer of the initial of the year from Ce tochtli to Ome ácatl, which is the essence of the correciton, was realized in the year 1091 (as Chimalpahin and Gama claim), or in 1143 (which is what Orozco y Berra says), or in 1455 (according to the assertion of Don Alfredo Chavero); under all three suppositions it was the work of the Mexicans. If then the stone of the museum bears inscribed upon the most visible portion of the relief, the sign of this most important operation, there is no doubt that the monument belongs completely to Mexican civilization.

Also it has been claimed that Ome ácatl was a second name for the sun, the reason why many of his representations show that sign.