Ernst Förstemann

“ Now the Mayas had determined the lunar revolution so exactly that they perceived the incompatibility of the period of 11,960 days with a multiple of lunar revolutions. They found that 405 lunar revolutions amounted approximately to 11,958 days, which is, in fact, the largest number on the second half of page 58. In order not to drop the significant 11,960 altogether, they made use of a very shrewd artifice. They took as the starting-point the day XII Lamat, corresponding to the number 11,960, and set down XI Manik before it and XIII Muluc after it. ”

“ I do not venture to decide whether each of the two figures with its hieroglyphs relates only to a period of 26 days or to the half of the whole, 130 days. I think the latter is more likely to be the case. The sign Imix-Kan, which I am inclined to refer to a sacrificial meal, is common to both groups and connects them. The two gods seem also to have a sign pertaining to a meal in their hands; this may be a cup.
The first deity is D or I, but with a female breast and with a serpent on his head. His signs are 2 and 3. The second god is A with a snail on his head and his signs are 6 and 7. ”

“ The days occur in the same manner as the months. It is true that Kin is only a part of hieroglyph 10, the rest of which is effaced, but the familiar compound of Caban and Muluc appears in 18 and 24 and Cimi is in 17, as we have seen. In sign 13, Ahau is combined with a red number, which must lie between X and XV. But this should not be regarded as forming a calendar date with the 10 Yaxkin near by, for Ahau is never the tenth day of a month. Can 16 be the sign of the twelfth month, Ceh, combined with that for 7200? Hieroglyphs 3 and 8 are effaced and I do not understand 4, 11 and 15. ”

“ The six gods are A, E, C, L, F and D; the second, third fourth and fifth have a bird on their heads. The first and fourth birds are eating, as on pages 11a and 12b, and thus probably represent enemies of the harvest. The first is of a different species from the other two. The four gods in the centre have the copal pouch about their necks. Signs 3 and 4 are the common hieroglyphs for A; 7 that for E, to which o is added as a determinative; 11 is C's hieroglyph with an a added to it, and L is undoubtedly denoted by sign 15; 16 is r (equal to 13 days; it is meant here for the day III Cib) . ”

“ The lightning-beast with flames pouring forth from his forepaws and tail, is plunging down from the rectangle, which primarily designates stars and then the sky in general. This rectangle occurs for the first time here, but will often be met with later. Here it may be a combination of Mars and Venus. Of the four hieroglyphs, 1 is effaced, 2 is a compound of Kan and Kin, 3 a head with Akbal and Kin (D?) with the uplifted arm as a prefix, and 4, corresponding with the picture, is the compound of the rain sign Cauac with the prefix of the storm-god K.
8. ”

“ Of the above the third hieroglyph of each group, i.e., 7, 11, 15, 19 (probably also 3) is always the same and is the sign of D, the moon and night-god. In detail we should expect to find five pictures here, but owing to lack of space only the first of these is given. It represents a deity with a Kan sign in its hand and a serpent on its head, who is probably E, and he is falling down here in exactly the same manner as the four deities on page 15 at the beginning of this section. ”

“ Still further down on the page sits a black god, who may be the same as the god on pages 7a and 16b, with a bird of prey on his head. There are two arrows in his right hand and his left hand holds what may be an atlatl, but it is very much longer than is usually the case; at the same time it can be regarded as a spear.
This page can denote nothing but the end of the world, for which the serpent numbers have prepared the way. Perhaps what looks like a zero above the sign Eb in the stream of water may likewise point to this calamity. ”

“ Hence the days must be not
Imix, Akbal, Manik, Oc, Eb, Cib, Ezanab, Ahau, Kan, Cimi, Lamat, Oc, Ix, Cib, Cauac, Imix, Kan, Cimi, Muluc, Chuen, Ben, but
Cib, Ezanab, Ik, Chicchan, Manik, Chuen, Ben, Men, Cauac, Imix, Akbal, Chicchan, Muluc, Chuen, Ix, Cib, Cauac, Imix, Kan, Cimi, Lamat. Let us now consider the 20 groups, disregarding the first (really zero) which has no figure and no hieroglyphs. ”

“ That the sign for B, who here too plays the most important part, occurs often, is self-evident. It appears in the fourth place, in the 1st, 3d, 4th, and 7th groups, and in the third of the 8th group; in the 6th group it is destroyed. In the 2nd and 5th groups B has neither picture nor sign.
The hieroglyphs of the cardinal points I shall mention in connection with the separate groups. They are especially conspicuous in this section, being sometimes represented in full and sometimes in an abbreviated form as mere prefixes. ”

“ I will offer a suggestion which may serve until a better theory is propounded. Let us assume that each of the five principal planets had in succession regulated its time of revolution by this astronomical starting-point, thus:—sun 365, moon 356, Mercury 115, Venus 584, and Mars 780 days, these numbers added together give exactly 2200. It will scarcely excite surprise that I should set down the lunar year at 356 days (and not at the usual 354 days) for there are 12 × 292⁄3 lunations in a year and we thought we had already found this period on this page, while discussing the number 1,364,360 ”

“ The hieroglyphs—four for each of the five subdivisions—are arranged in the following order:—
Of these 9, 13 and 17-20 are wholly effaced and 14 for the most part. The very first group refers to human sacrifice, for 1 is a head with an axe affixed to it, 2 contains the hand (i) which so often appears as the sign of grasping, especially in representations of the chase; here it has the same superfix as on page 22a, which on pages 4a-10a and 11a, b, appears as prefix. 3 is the head of god H, perhaps given here as a symbol of wounding (serpent god?) ”

“ As on pages 30a and 31c, and again just as on page 69a, B is sitting on the tree of life or sacrificial tree. A branch of this, which he grasps in one hand, ends in a serpent-head, and the root of the tree also represents B's head. Around the god's head are again the familiar dots, probably signifying stars. Of the hieroglyphs, the first is probably f, the second is destroyed, the third may be a variant of a, although it recalls the sign which, I believe, has the meaning of 73 days on pages 46-50; the prefix of 1 also suggests this meaning. ”

“ All else is obliterated. From the third to the seventh row of these five columns it is all extremely simple. The third row consists only of five signs for beginning, the fourth, of five for end, the sixth of B's sign five times and the seventh of the elongated head q four times. But in the fifth, two deities alternate, one is apparently male and the other female; the god is in columns 1, 3 and 5 and the goddess in 2 and 4; the god probably belonging to the days III Chicchan and the goddess to XIII Akbal. ”

“ The third woman with the copal pouch hanging from her neck has nothing in her hand. She is pointing upward with her right hand. Her hair seems to be wound in the shape of an 8 in horizontal position and above her is a sign denoting the union of two parts. The hieroglyphs are entirely destroyed. Does this represent the birth of twins?
The eyes of the fourth woman are closed, she is pointing forward with her hand and there is a bird on her head. Nothing is left of the hieroglyphs. ”

“ Two hieroglyphs, 9 and 10, are again added, both relating to death—9 to god A and 10 to F. Now what especially distinguishes this passage from the preceding one, is the fact that the four days are the so-called regents of the year, Muluc, Ix, Cauac and Kan, above which, perhaps to emphasize this circumstance, there is a particularly elaborate Ahau. Seler ("Einiges mehr über die Monumente von Copan und Quiriguá," p. 210) , however, thinks that this sign is the hieroglyph for the numeral three, which should stand here. ”

“ The 3d sign, which is unusual, is very obscure, but suggests the fish on page 44c or that on page 36b. The 4th sign with the prefix of the north is very indistinct.
10. B is standing in water, his face turned upward while water is pouring from a cloud. The third sign is very complex. The top, left, suggests a serpent, the right a hand, the bottom, left, a Chuen and the element at the bottom, right, may be intended for a bird's head. Exactly the same sign, with the 4th part merely indicated, occurs 65 days later on page 38. The 4th sign is the familiar compound Kin-Akbal. ”