Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices Part 15

There can be no doubt that Landa's _A_, an exact copy of which is given in the margin, in both varieties, _c_ and _d_, is nothing more nor less than this symbol; for, in addition to the very close general resemblance, we see in it the eye and the dot indicating the nostril. This fact is important, as it gives us some clew to the method adopted by Landa in forming his alphabet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 5]

_Uech._ Symbol or head of the armadillo of Yucatan. Appears but once or twice and in the Ma.n.u.script Troano only. (See Study of the Ma.n.u.script Troano, by Cyrus Thomas, pp. 98 and 145).

[Ill.u.s.tration][TN-10]

_Che._ Wood. (See Study of the Ma.n.u.script Troano, by Cyrus Thomas, p.

144).

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 7]

_Cab._ Earth, soil; also honey. (See Study of the Ma.n.u.script Troano, by Cyrus Thomas, p. 150.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 8]

_Piz._ Stone or stone heap. (See Study of the Ma.n.u.script Troano, by Cyrus Thomas, p. 144). The Maya name of the thing indicated is uncertain, though I am inclined to believe _Piz_, as given in the work alluded to, is correct.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 9]

_U._ The left symbol of this figure appears to stand for vase, and is also used to indicate a p.r.o.noun or article when joined to another symbol, as here shown. (See op. cit., p. 145.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 10]

_Xicim._ The ear. Rosny, Vocabulaire hieratique, No. 185.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 11]

_Hau._ The quarter of a deer. Usually represented as an offering to the G.o.ds; in all the ma.n.u.scripts.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 12]

_Ikilcab._ The bee. Although the figure bears a much stronger resemblance to a beetle than to a bee, there can be no longer any doubt that Bra.s.seur's supposition that it represents a bee is correct.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 13]

Honey in the comb. (See Study of the Ma.n.u.script Troano, by Cyrus Thomas, Fig. 20); in the Ma.n.u.script Troano only, and always in red.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 14]

_Xamach or Chimix._ A vessel. This symbol, found in all the codices, is apparently explained by its use in the upper division of Plate 27, Cortesian Codex, where it stands over each of four vessels or jars of the form represented in Fig. 374.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 374. Jar from the Cortesian Codex.]

This conclusion is greatly strengthened by the fact that the only other symbols in this connection are those of the cardinal points, one to each vessel. These figures are probably intended to denote here the four sacred vessels or amphorae of the Bacab, though not surmounted, as Bra.s.seur supposed, by human or animal figures.

The symbol appears to be used also in the ordinary sense, or at least to signify other vessels than the sacred four, if we may judge by its frequent repet.i.tion in Plate XIV, Ma.n.u.script Troano. But it is worthy of notice that here also, in both the middle and lower divisions, four of the symbols are connected with the cardinal point symbols; there is also in the former the figure of a vessel.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Hieroglyph]

If this identification be correct it is important, as it has a strong bearing on the question of phoneticism. It will be observed that, although the right hand member resembles closely the symbol of the day Ymix, there are some differences, as may be seen by comparison. In the former the little figure at the top is divided as in Kan, and on each side of it there is a large dot, usually, and apparently by intention, circular or hollow. These differences are permanent in the different codices.

In the upper division of Plates X and XI, Ma.n.u.script Troano, where this symbol appears in connection with each of the four cardinal symbols, that relating to the east presents this remarkable variation:

[Ill.u.s.tration: Hieroglyph]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 15 _a_ _b_]

(?) A conventional figure of sprouting maize, never inserted in the text, but frequently in the Ma.n.u.script Troano and in the Peresian Codex made a part of the head gear of figures of deities, in which case the Kan symbol is generally omitted.

The Kan symbol in this connection cannot be intended, as Dr. Sch.e.l.lhas supposes, to indicate the field or milpa in which the corn is growing, but the grain from which the plant is springing. (On this subject see Study of the Ma.n.u.script Troano, by Cyrus Thomas, pp. 105 and 107.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 16]

(?) Symbol of a worm which gnawed the roots of the growing agave or maguey; appears but once, on Plate XXIX_c_ of the Ma.n.u.script Troano.

The animal head and teeth show the erroneous idea the natives had of the gnawing apparatus of insects. The worm is shown on the next page in Fig.

375.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 375. Worm and plant from Ma.n.u.script Troano.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 376. Figure of a woman from the Dresden Codex.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 17]

_Chuplal._ Woman or female. This symbol is found in the Dresden and Troano Codices, but most frequently in the former. The appendage at the right is sometimes wanting, and occasionally that at the left, but when this is the case some other prefix is generally subst.i.tuted.

If we examine carefully Plates 16-20 of the Dresden Codex, where this symbol is most frequently repeated, and compare it with the heads of the females there figured, it soon becomes apparent that the scrolls with the heavy black dot are intended to denote the locks of hair and that the symbol as a whole is, as usual, a modified or conventional form of the head (see Fig. 376).

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 18 _a_ _b_ _c_]

_Otoch._ A house or dwelling, or _Tabay;_ a hut or hunting lodge. The symbol marked _a_ is found in the Cortesian Codex on Plate 29; that marked _b_, on Plates 29, 32, and 34, same codex, and on Plates XVI*

and XXII* of the Ma.n.u.script Troano. The one marked _c_ is the usual form in the latter, as on Plates V*, VII*, and X*. It is also on Plate 38 of the Dresden Codex.

The relation of these symbols to the conventional figures of houses or huts inserted at the points where they are found, together with the form, which shows an attempt to represent the thatched or leaf covered roof, leaves no doubt that they are used for the purpose indicated.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 19 _a_ _b_]

_Buk_ (?). There are good and, it is believed, satisfactory reasons for concluding that these symbols are intended to denote the action of whirling a stick to produce fire or rolling a pestle in grinding paint. The first, marked _a_, is found only on Plate XIX of the Ma.n.u.script Troano, and the second, on Plates 5 and 6 of the Dresden Codex.

A copy of part of Plate XIX of the Ma.n.u.script Troano is introduced here (see Fig. 377) to show the relation of the figures to the characters. If this interpretation be correct, we see here an evident attempt on the part of the aboriginal artist to indicate by the symbol the action necessary in the work to be performed. It is probably a conventional sign, and not a phonetic character.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 377.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. 20]

(?) In all probability one of the symbols used to denote the act of walking or taking steps. Found but seldom in this particular form, though each portion occurs frequently alone or in other combinations.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 378. Copy of lower division of Plate 65, Dresden Codex.]