Figure 60
Fig. 60is its hieroglyph. It is the symbol of the death-god and the bearer of the lightning. The latter follows quite clearly from the picture in Dr. 40bwhere the god is distinguished by its hieroglyph. This animal is again represented in Dr. 7a, 13con the right, 21bwith its hieroglyph, 29a, 30a(forming a part of 31a, where god B holds the bound dog by the tail), and 39awithout the hieroglyph, 47 (bottom) with a variant of the hieroglyph.
In Dr. 36athe dog bears the Akbal-sign on its forehead. The writing above it contains a variant of the hieroglyph for thedog; this is the third of the rubric. It shows (somewhat difficult of recognition) the Akbal-sign on the forehead of the dog’s head occurring in it, and on the back of the head the Kin-sign, as symbols of the alternation of day and night. The same sign occurs again with adjuncts in Dr. 74 (last line, 2nd sign) and once with thedeath-godin Dr. 8a. The dog as lightning-beast occurs with the Akbal-sign in the eye instead of on the forehead in Codex Tro. 23*a; here again its hieroglyph is an entirely different one (the third of the rubric).
That the dog belongs to the death-god is proved beyond a doubt by the regular recurrence in the writing belonging to the dog, of the hieroglyphs, which relate to this deity, especially ofFig. 5. According to Förstemann his day is Oc.
4. THE VULTURE.
Figure 61
This bird is distinctly pictured as a mythological figure in Dr. 8a. It appears again, in feminine form, together with the dog, in Dr. 13cand also in 19a. In the first passage, its hieroglyph is almost effaced; the hieroglyph is very striking and occurs nowhere else in the whole collection of manuscripts. The body of this animal-deity is striped black and white; in Dr. 38bit is almost entirely black. The same passage displays a second hieroglyph for this figure (Fig. 61); this hieroglyph also occurs with the numeral 4 in Dr. 56b. In Dr. 36bthis bird of prey is pictured fighting with the serpent; its hieroglyph occurs in the second form; the serpent is designated by the Chuen, the gaping jaws of the serpent (first character of the rubric).
Finally it should be mentioned that the head of this bird occurs frequently as a head ornament, thus in Dr. 11a, 11b, 12band 14b. Mention should also be made of the realistic representations of the vulture, eating the eye of a human sacrifice (Dr. 3, Tro. 26*aand 27*a).
According to Förstemann his day is Cib.
5. The Jaguar.
Figure 62
The jaguar is likewise an animal with mythological significance. It is represented in Dr. 8a, where its hieroglyph is the third sign in the writing; it also occurs in Dr. 26 (at the top). It occurs in Tro. 17 (at the end) with a hieroglyph which represents the jaguar’s head and contains the numeral 4 (Fig. 62); again it appears without a hieroglyph on p. 20 (bottom) and on 21 and 22 (bottom).
Its day is Ix, and hence it also relates occasionally as year regent to the Ix years, for example in Dr. 26a.
6. The Tortoise.
Figures 63 to 65
This animal, like the dog, appears as a lightning-beast (see Dr. 40b, middle). Its hieroglyph isFigs. 63, 64. This sign also is connected with the numeral 4, which occurs so often with animals (but not alone with quadrupeds) as to be worthy of attention. The sign of the tortoise without the numeral is seen in Cort. 17a, where the tortoise itself is also represented. It must have reference to the 17th month of the Maya year, for the month Kayab (and apparently also Pop) contains the head of the tortoise (compareFig. 65). It occurs several times in the Cortesianus, thus on pp. 13, 19, 37, 38; on p. 19 with the hieroglyph (on the top of the lower half of the page, 1st line and at the right of the margin). In Dr. 69 (at the top) we see the sign of the tortoise with the Kin-sign as its eye and the numeral 12; under this group B, with a black body, is seated on the serpent; on the same page the sign occurs again; each time, moreover, apparently as a month-hieroglyph.
According to Förstemann the tortoise is the symbol of the summer solstice, as thesnail, which occurs only as a head ornament in the manuscripts and not independently, is the symbol of the winter solstice; both, as the animals of slowest motion, represent the apparent standstill of the sun at the periods specified. This explains why the month Kayab, in which the summer solstice falls, should be represented by the head of a tortoise, which has for its eye the sun-sign Kin (Förstemann, Zur Entzifferung der Mayahandschriften III, Schildkröte und Schnecke in der Mayaliteratur, Dresden 1892).
According to Förstemann its day is Cauac.
Finally theowland theape(or monkey) must be mentioned as animals of mythologic significance, of which we have already spoken in connection with gods A and C. Thescorpionalso seems to have an important mythologic significance, and appears in the manuscripts in connection with figures of gods, as, for example, in Cort. 7aand Tro. 31*a, 33*a, 34*a(god M with a scorpion’s tail). In addition to those discussed in this paper, there are a few animals in the manuscripts, which probably also have a partial mythologic significance, but which have been omitted because they are represented in a naturalistic manner, thus, for example, the deer on Tro. 8, et seq., while idealization (with human bodies, with torches, hieroglyphic character on the head, etc.) should be considered as an unmistakable sign of mythologic meaning.
A mythologic significance also seems to belong to thebeewhich plays so prominent a part of the Codex Troano. Probably the section in question of the Madrid manuscript (1* et seq.) treats of bee-keeping, but incidentally it certainly has to do also with the mythologic conceptions connected with the culture of bees.
Thebatwhich is found as a mythological figure on pottery vessels and inscriptions from the Maya region (compare Seler, Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 1894, p. 577) does not occur in the manuscripts. It is true, however, that hieroglyphic signs, which seem to relate to the head of the bat, occur in isolated cases in the manuscripts.
41-1Seeplatefor representations of the Mythological Animals, 1-6.
41-1Seeplatefor representations of the Mythological Animals, 1-6.
An enumeration of the most important deities in the manuscripts gives the following results, in connection with which it is to be noted that, of course, the numbers cannot be absolutely correct, because one or another of the pictures occasionally remains doubtful. As far as possible, however, only thepositivelydetermined representations have been considered.
The deity occurring most frequently in theDresden manuscriptis god B, who is pictured there 141 times. Following him in point of number in the same manuscript are the death-god A pictured 33 times, god D 19 times, and gods C and E 17 and 14 times respectively.
In theMadrid manuscript, god D, with 84 pictures, is of most frequent occurrence. He is followed by the maize-god E with 76 pictures, god B with 71, god A with 53, C with 38 and M with 37 pictures.
In theParis manuscript, god E’s picture can be verified 8 times, those of C and B 6 times each and that of god A twice; N and K are also frequently represented.
An enumeration of all the pictures in all the manuscripts shows that the following deities occur most frequently and are therefore to be considered the most important:
Furthermore, interesting conclusions can be arrived at, by means of a list of those deities, who occur in the representations of the manuscripts, sounitedorgrouped togetheras to make it evident that they must stand in some relation to one another.Mythologic combinationsof this kind occur among the following deities and mythological animals:
1. In theDresden manuscript: D and C, B and C, dog and vulture, bird and serpent, B and K.
2. In theMadrid manuscript: F and M, B and M, C and M, E and M, A and E, A and D, A and F, B and C, D and C, D and E.
3. In theParis manuscript: N and K, B and K.
The most common of these combinations are those of the deities A and F, M and F, A and E, D and C. These groups are entirely intelligible, consisting of death-god and war-god, god of the travelling merchants and war-god, death-god and maize-god (as adversaries: meaning famine), night-god and deity of the polar star.
I. Gods and II. Mythological AnimalsPlate 1
Transcriber’s NoteThe following errors and inconsistencies have been maintained.Misspelled words and typographical errors:PageError10(40)Footnote 1 missing final period (the footnote has been moved to page 40 in this version of the text)17serpent-and rain-deity should read serpent-and-rain-deity23Sentence ending with “and 13*c)” does not have a period29manuuscripts should read manuscripts32repsented should read represented33pp 215-221 should read pp. 215-22142comma missing following 37b42comma missing following 65cInconsistencies:The placement of punctuation at the end of a word or phrase surrounded by quotation marks is inconsistent, usually it is placed outside the final close quotation mark but occasionally is found inside the mark.
Transcriber’s Note
The following errors and inconsistencies have been maintained.
Misspelled words and typographical errors:
Inconsistencies:
The placement of punctuation at the end of a word or phrase surrounded by quotation marks is inconsistent, usually it is placed outside the final close quotation mark but occasionally is found inside the mark.