NUMERAL SYMBOLS IN THE CODICES

Before closing this paper ^{I will, for tlie benelil of those}

who

have recentlytaken

up

thestudyof th(>

Maya

manuscrii)ts and inscrip- tions, refer to

some

symbols found ^{in the codices} which ))roba})lyrep- re.sent luunbei-s.

The

study of the.se

may.

if followed up by further investigation in the light of

Mr Goodman's

disi'overies, lead to fruit- ful results in attempts at intei'pretation of the cotlices.

Ix

THE DUESDEN CoDEX

The

katun symbol in tiie ordinary form

shown

at n. figure Id, is

very frequently used in this codex, sometimes, as already shown, as one of the counters in a numeral series connectiiiir dates, as for

THOMAS]

NUMERAL SYMBOLS

IN

THE CODICES 813

example, on plates 61 aud 69. These, which have been heretofore alluded to, are precisely of the

form

found in the inscriptions.

The

seriesasgiven on plate69 is 15 katuns, 9 ahaus, ^4-chuens, -t daj's, the days havino- a special

symbol

not joined to that of the chuens.

The

precedingdateis 1

Ahau

S

Camhu,

and that which follows 9

Kan

^1-2 Kayab.

The

reckoning in this case reaches, as has been shown, the day and day

number

(9 Kiin),but the 7th dayof

Cumhu

^{instead of the}

12th of Kayab. Nevertheless, there can be no question that this is a seriespreciselyafter the

form

of ^tho.segiven in the inscriptions.

In thesetwo series are alsoseen theahau and chuen symbols of the usual forms, the days, as has been stated, usually having a separate symbol, generally theso-called kin symbol, as the lowercharacter in thesymbol of the

month

Yaxkin.

The

ordinary numerals foundat the side or topof these symbolsarc frequently'replaced by oneor

more

littleball orcup-shape characters, suchas are

shown

in figure 21. Others of like

form

attached to other periodsymbols are

shown

atA3, B3,and Al, figure16. In thelatter, ordinary numeralsare also present.

The

first (figure 21) ^is

from

the

upper

divisionof plate73,and theothersare

from

plate69.

Are

these characters numerals^ If so, what isthe value of each?

As

they can not together represent in any instance

more

than 20, andas

many

^as three are found in

some

instancesattached to one svmbol, it is evident that, ^{^^° -} ~^~

'

, • T ^{Glvph from}

it they are

number

characters, each

must

indicate 1, 2, piate 73, 3, i, 5, or 6, not more.

As

^{the latter three have also Dresden co-}

. dex.

ordinary numerals attached, but odd luimbers, it

may

be

inferredthat thevalue is 2,1,or6. There is,however,otherevidence bearing on this question, which is seen in the

symbol shown

at A3, figure 16. This is certainly the equivalent of the "calendar

round"

symbol

of the inscriptions, andas the largest

number

of full calendar rounds in the time series immediately below ^is 5, the value of each of these little characters

would seem

to be 2.

As

a chuen symliol in the

same

connection ^is followed 1)V the

symbol

for day in the abstract sense, each having these little characters attached, the evi- dence in fa\'or of the theory that they are numerals isveiy strong.

In the middle of thelower half of plate 70 a katun

symbol

^is followed bj-an ahau symbol, each havingthese little characters attached with- out other numerals.

So

^far, however, I have been unable to connect dates by

means

of these counters, if they be such: but this is not decisive, as there are not sufficientrecogiiiz(Hl data in any case for a fairtest.

On

^plate 71, second column, near the top, is a face glyph usedas an ahau symbol; as positiveproof that ^{it is} such, ithas inserted in it

a small ahau

symbol

of the usual type. There are several other characters in thiscodex which appear to beused as

number

syml)ols.

814 MAYAN CALENDAR SYSTEMS

[eth.an-n.19 as tlio bird hcud witli 10 j)rutixed. cL'iiter of plate 70; the Imix-like character with 19 prefixed, lower left-handcornerof plate 71.

In regard to this character, which ^is contained in

two

groups

—

^one

on plate 51,

shown

at Ao, platexliv, the other on plate 52,

shown

at 04,^plate XLIV,asgiven in thecodex,

Mr Goodman's

figurescontaining supposed I'estorations

—

^he

^remarks

^{as follows (p. 93):}

Thereseiublance Ijetwceuthelastglyphiuthelistandthe character occurring(in plates 51 and o2 of the Dresden codex removes all doubt of the latter being a directive sign. Iti.semployed so curiously in one instance that it is wellworth while giving both examples of its use in orderto illustrate thepeculiarity. The reck<iningsitfollowsarefrom4Ahau8

Cumhu

(which,coincidently, isthebeginning of the 54th great cycle of the Archaic era) to 12 Lamat in both cases, butwith different intervals. Thereadingonplate liisthis: [See plateXMva].

Here the meaning, plainly enough, is: From4 Ahau8

Cumhu

to the 12Lamat;

thatis, 8 days from the former (or initial)date. The reading onplate52ismore complicated. There are two 4 Ahau-8

Cumhu

dates followed by this reckoning:

[Seeplate xliv//].

The12Lamatisnotdistinct, as here, ^l)ut therecan benoquestionofitsidentity, thereckoning beingofexactly the same c'haracter astheother. Thereadinghere

is: 4Ahau8 Cumhu,4Ahau8Cumhu,tothe12Lamat;thatis,8days, 1 chuen,and 5ahausfromthe2 former (or initial) dates. Thepeculiarityhere isthatthedirec- tive sign indicates the reckoning to be from two dates

—

^{the only instance of the}

kindthathascomeunder

my

observation.

In regardto the

group

on plate51 (our plate xlia) ^it

may

be safely

assumed

thatthe

upper

dateis4

Ahau

8

Cumhu.

and^{it is}true that count- ing S days

from

this date l)rings the reckoning to 12 Lamat, Imt the longseriesimmediately Itelowseemstobe intendedtoconnect thelatter date withthe 12

Lamat

which is below^this long seriesprecisely as in theprecedingcase,the series here ascending to the left.

The

assumpr

tion,therefore, thatthe

Imix

.symbolisa directive signisverydoubtful;

moreover, the

Lamat symbol

precedes it.

Forstemann

suggests that

it signifies an ahau-katun

=

^8.7()<t days.

Mr Goodman's

interpretation of thi;

group

on phite 52 (our plate XT.iv). willscarcely standthe testof careful examination. In the ^tii'st place, theassumption that12

Lamat

stands at the headof the

group

is

not warranted.

The renmant

of the obliterated glyphgives nocolor to it. nor isthereanythinginthearrangement of theseriesin thedivi- sion tosuggest^it. Moreover,the

two

dates

—

^each4

Ahau

⁸

(\nnhu —

do not pertain to the column, but tothe

two

longseriesatthe right

imme-

ediately under them. This is evident

from

in.spection. but positive proof is found in the fact that, if

we

use the black numerals of the series, the 4

Ahau

8

Cumhu

overthe right

column

connects with the 12

Lamat

below. ;in(l

when we

use the red counters

we

reach, in the .same.series, the 1

Akb:d

below.

Using

the red counters in the left

colmnn

and counting

from

the 4

Ahau

8

Cumhu

^al)ove.

we

reach 7

Lamat

^below.

The

black numerals of this colunm,wiiicli. as they stand, dill'eronly K.tdays

from

those oftherightcolunm. reatii Kzanab,

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THOMAS]

NUMERAL SYMBOLS

IN

THE CODICES 815