At present, however, attention will be limited to a review and discussion of the inscriptions and the Dresden Codex in the light of this additional material and recent discoveries related to it. Since one of the aims will be to test Mr. Goodman's interpretations, his work will be used in the analysis of inscriptional symbols and time systems.
THOMAS] THE MAYA YEAR 703 Each month consisted of 20 days, each day having its particiihir
Akbal, for Ik years, though t)y position on the second day of the month,. i.s niuuberedt the first, exactly as it is in Akbal year in our tal)le 1. Another point necessary to determine absolute sy.steni is to kncnv which of the Dominican days was placed first in the beginning of the .. fifty-two years. i)eriod — in other words, what was the initial da}'.
THOMAS] USE OF TABLE 1 707 Suppose we wish to know in whiit yeiir the date fi Ahau 3 Zotz
34;nothing" or nothing; and that a certain prefix to month symbols, usually in the form of a double circle, thus Tf, was used to denote 20, meaning, when thus used, the 20th day of the month. 20 units of third order make one of the fourth order, 20 units of the fourth order make one of the fifth order, and 20 units of the fifth order make one of the sixth order.
NUMERAL SYMBOLS 711
712 MAVAN CALENDAR SYSTEMS
THOMAS] DAY SYMBOLS 713 The forms of the day symbols usuallj' found in the inscriptions are
This symbol indicates 860 da^'s. which must be multiplied ])y the number-usually on the side-in the oljtain .. the whole number of days indicated. The name ahauas used here must not be confused with the day name Ahau.^ The use of the same name for two different purposes is unfortunate and confusing.
THOMAS] NUMERAL SYSTEMS 715
Theahau is a yeariod of .3 (50 days—the sum of the days in the eighteen regular months—anil doubtless derives its name from the fact that it always begins. It will be observed at the .. the same sj-mbol appears in the other columns of figure 8 copied from .
THOMAS] PLATE 24, DRESDEN CODEX 721 The remainder, 8 ahaus and 2 chuens, equals 2,920 days, and is pre-
The date here is therefore 1 Ahau, the 13th day of Tzee, the .".tli month of the year 13 Lamat, according to the supposed initial date. Because our last date was 1 Ahau, the 13th day of Tzec, the 5th month of the year 13 Lamat, our count must now be from this date.
I'LATE 69, DRESDEN CODEX 723 These exiimples tire svifficiciit to prove beyond any roasonahle doiilit
As will be seen by reference to page 723, where the series are given, the ahaus of the red series are counted as (nothing), when according to Mr. Goodman's theory they should be 20. By Table 1 we find that on the i7tli day of Stii Montii this year is 7 Ix.
PLATK 62, DKESDKN CUDEX 725
The date is before Akbal 13, the first day of the fourteenth month – Kankin – of the. Our next example consists of the two series, the same plate from the Dresden codex, placed in the folds of the left serpent as follows (with Goodman's names as before):
THOMAS PLATK 02, DRESDEN CODEX 727
It is true tiiat, with tin' intei])retatioii given by the date sign.s and chuens and days, the reckoning l)ack\vard or forward would not reach 1 Ahau S ('hen. Tn the second ])lace, the month symbol of this last date cannot be interpreted with absolute certainty Chen; because as shown in the picture it could be Yax, Zac or Ceh, apparently Zac. 'The niunerals attached to the higher periods are clear and distinct, but the month symbol of the first date, which is upside down, is as nuich as I'o as Zip, if we judge by Mr. Goodman's monthly numbers.. the sign to the left of the chuen sym))ol should be ] luid the number of ahaus should be !t instead of lo.
I'LATE ')!, DRESDEN CODEX T2V)
THOMAS] PLATE 69, DRESDEN CDDEX 731 the time symbols to those of the inscriptions already tigured and those
T have been somewhat long in these series as they are the only ones with two legible dates in the codex, which indicate the insymbols of the higher time periods. The intermediate dates and time periods as he gives them are as follows: i Ahau, S — (unidentifiable month), 16 days, 5 chuens.
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 733
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 735
Granting that th(>y are numerical symbols, it is certain that they do not denote a value higher than 20. they almost certainly do not exceed. It is also certain that \ho that is attached to the Ahau day symbol does not exceed 13 .and that the one attached to the chuen symbol does not exceed 18.
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 737
738 MAYAN CALENDAR SYSTEMS
The number of chains as well as days in the fifth series of the right sheet is uncertain. Ho. gives Zip as the month in the date that follows the seventh row of this sheet.
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 741
However, the slight change of Averj, as shown by 1, which Mr. Goodman failed to find, which is merely adding days to the time of rest, will suffice to bring the series into harmony with the theory, and at the same time to is verified. his determination of tlic. face the nimKM'als attached to the terminal date of the initial series- S Ahau. Assuming this, it follows that the yjrecession dates, 8 Ahau 18Tzecand 1 Ahau 18Zotz (preceding the first in real time by exactly one month), fall nuist in his forty-third great great cycle; and since foi-mer (8 Ahau 18 Tzcc) is the final date of the initial series, therefore this initial series returns to 4 Ahau 8 Zotz, the beginning of the day of the great fifty-third cj'de.
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 743 Tzec — which the inscription requires — is 9 Ahau 8 Tzec, which
1 use 20 Mol, as I believe that 20 is the true interpretation of the symbol of unusual numbers, and is indeed that adopted by Hy ]Mr Goodman in his calculation, though not expressed. Mr. Goodman, who begins counting the days of the month with 20, transferring the last days of the columns in our table1 to the first place, as shown in table 4.
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 745
Although tlie iuunl)erino - days of the month and days . not altered in this transfer, makes ehanj^e in two imiiorant resju'cts. Regarding these (> statements), we can confirm that the reason given for the placement of "Ik na čelo dni" is completely insufficient, because it is not.
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 747
If the former intended to be imdcr- stood, by proposing an "old year" of 360, that this nmnberof days was at an early period in the history of the Maviin people iictually. Asdtiles are found in the oldest inscriptions tuid in the Dresden codex, the oldest or one of the oldest codices, and these data undoubtedly show a year of 365 days, and therefore ii in four-year series there is no representation for believe that there are allusions, (>itlier in the inscriptions or ('odices.
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 749
Six incomprehensible facts; thi'iitluToisa reckoningof2-1-7-11X-,sncci'i'ded . with four directives.", to 9 Ik\H)Zac. ofthemare is a bisextile character and his coadjntor who I believe are busy. in Palenqueta marked a different number of calendar rounds. fifteen, if it is intended to indicate the length of the settlement; if we express an additional period, it is uncertain how much. Sul) pulling from this 2S7. remaining days of 3'^ear 2 Akbal, after 1 Ahau IS Zotz. and dividing tiic remainder by 365, we get 35 years and isi) days, or 9 nionties.
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 751 suggestion, thereforo, that the reckoning is to 1)0 from 1 Ahau 1<S Zotz
Another fact to be considered in deciding whether the evidence in the last count is satisfactory is that, since I may fall on the 5th, 10th, 15th, or 20th of the month, and any one of the months may be chosen can be, there are 72 (4X18) changes trying to bring it into line with the preceding date. If it could be connected with another date by a subsequent Tuimeral series, the evidence would then ))C entirely accepted, but it is not appealed' to l)e the case. If we follow the same rule as in the two preceding series, and subtract the 4th (297,942 days) from the 5th, and from the remainder the 1st series of figures, the one month decreases as before, and counts from the last preceding date.
THOMASJ TABLET OF THE CROSS 753
Th(> next nuniei'al series (2nd middle space) is found in the second and third symbols of column R, immediately behind the shoulders of the right priest. THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 755Neither of the two dates preceded the first set of the right panel.
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE CROSS 755 Neither of the two dates preeedinw the tirst series of the right slab,
Xul 10 Akbal we reach 2 Caban 10 Xul in the 3'ear 10 Lauiat
Some indications of different lines of series are found in the overlapping of calculations in the inscription of the left slal) already given. 1 luive already alluded to the ([relationship between the left and riylit slal)s, directly, or by means of the characterei-s in the middle space.
K WALL OF THE SANCTUARY
At any rate, it is certain that the first numerical series in the middle space of the last tablet — 537 days — measures exactly the lap (> of time from. Akhal (I Xtd to IM Aliau 18 Kaiddn of the Sun Tablet: and that2.3 Kfi days, the second series in the middle space of the Tablet of the Cross,.
TEMPLE OF THE FOLIATED CROSS INSCRI
N THE BACK WALL OF THE SANCTUARY
Instead of the 20 days given by Goodman, I have in any case substituted (i days, as I interpret simt)ol in the inscription. The direct connection l)et\veen the series of left and right sl:i))s is thei-eforc not jii'ovcd.
THOMAS] TABLET OF THE FOLIATED CROSS 769 Kaviib; second, S Ahau 13 Uo will not connect with the following date;
The two ))art dates are some distance a})art.the .\iiau on B3 and Cunihuat. The initial string in this case appears to consist of a single symbol .. denoting 13 cj'cles, immediately followed by 6Ahau18 Kayab.
STEL^ E AND F
However, some help can be obtained from. this single inscription in determining the meaning of time and numerical symbols. I am inclined to believe that these numbers, which (with the exception of l)at) seem immaterial to the determination of periods of time or the order of units, are used as symbols of the names assigned to those periods.
GLYPHS FROM STELA J, COPAN
THOMAS] COPAN INSCRIPTIONS STELA J 779
We know the bouquet sign for 6 (the same as above the Zak symbol) and they mix with the character for 5; butthelat- terhasa ])equiliar in toj), and we do not know how it can change its value. The character can be a sum of 20, as it has the general appearance of the wing sign for that number with the qualifier to the left of it. Tliird glyi>h—The key factor here is a 260-day mark which we encounter elsewhere.
THOMAS] COPAN INSCRIPTIONS STELA J 783
That, if we tell in nine series how many ahaus have to be added(>d), the inunl)ers are 1,2, 3, etc. should get, it is very clear; .. but if a haus were real periods in Mayan chronology, and not just third-order units as we have stated, why are they not numbered? in this inscription in the order in which they appear in the katun?. It . We can easily see that the sequence !> etc. arose from counting the day numbers 1-13 in parts of four, as in these sequences in the Cortesian codex, the counting being poor; as, for example, counting up from the bottom of any of the other columns in Table 3, or through the periods of 3t)0 days, as mentioned elsewhere and as claimed by 'Sir Goodman.
THOMAS] COPAN INSCKII'TION ALTAR K 785 By reference to his coinment on the ahiius of thi.s inscription, as
ALTAR K
The order of the series, notwithstanding Mr. Goodman's opinion to the contrary, seems to indicate that the county is forward to 1 Ahau 8Chen. 1 passed Stela P, as I believe that Mr. Goodman's interpretation of the initial series (the only part that I noticed for him) is largely guesswork, and as there are no recognizable minor series.
ALTAR Q
The date 12 Ahau 13 Zotz is, as we find from his chart, the first day of the sixth katun, the sixth cycle of his fifty-fifth great cycle. This is related, since Kan can defeat him on the twelfth day of the montii luit not the thirteenth.
IN^SORIPTION AT PIEDEAS NEGRAS 789
Yax in the thirty-eighth year of the annual calendar; this is the date we find in the glyphs E'2 and F2 of the inscription. It is simply impossible that the identity of the dates Now. it is true that the -iB-.oO series of plates of the Dresden codex, of which Hit are in reality sectional, or 3 complete, have Ahau .. as initial days, but the initial days of the three series are not all. In the inscription at the bottom there are two sj-mbolas of the usual type, one shows 1 katun, the other 13 ahaus=ll,880 days, while the. This is related to 4 Ahau 8 Gumhu.. first day of the fifty-fourth major cycle, according to the counters given here. The preset numbers have the regular shape and are clearly distinguishable. ))ut .. the order in which the glyphs come is very ambiguous (see comments below). Compared with those of the Maya calendar already })een given, those of Tzental were 1, Tzun, 2, Batzul, 3, Si.sac, etc.; those of Quiche,. The uniformity of the month gly{)hs is universal. i)oth in the Dresden Codex, and in the inscriptions, which Mr. Goodman did not hesitate to apply to all the names. The difficulty in this, in fact, does not lie exactly the same .. eah'iular system is connected with the coming of the Spaniards, at least in some of the districts. One somewhat surprising result of Mr. Goodman's theory regarding the Mayan time system is the conclusion drawn by him with reference to the time span over which the history of the Mayan people is. has extended Although we cannot affirm to the tribes Wiiat the inscriptions of the various disti'icts are properly to be attributed, we may say with certainty that they are Isians, and that those of Palenciue are in what is or w'as the country of the Tzental and Choi tribes ; those of Menche (or Lorillard City) in the country of I^acandon: those of Copan and Quirioua in thehaititato of Quiche and Cakchicpie] or perhaps of the Choi people; and those at Tikal, formerly occupied ))y tril)es Itza. The next step is to determine the age of the records, for, as appears from what has been shown, we cannot entirely rely on history as it appears from the early Spanish writers, and we can trust tradition only so far as it agrees with the monuments and connections . guistic evidence. Those previously mentioned are exactly in the form found in the inscriptions. The special feature here is that the direction sign indicates counting from two dates - the only example. The series attached to the redloop on ])lat(> 2-1, ifwe consid(>r the(> red syndx). This series is (>xplained in my Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices (Si.xth Ann. That these discoveries have created a new line of inquiry into the meaning of the codices and inscriptions will be admitted. Believing that the progress then being made might profitably lead to the study of the codices in bad connection with Dr. Forstemann's discoveries, I have added some suggestions in connection therewith in the hope that other workers in this field may induce him to pursue the subject. THOMAS] WORKING TABLES 819MK GOODMAN'S SYSTEM OF MAYAN CHRONOLOGY
Ahau 8 Cumhu
INITIAL SERIES
THOMAS] IDENTITY OF SYSTEMS AND CHARACTERS 807 a sameness and uniformity at variance with the idea of anj' difference
THOMAS] IDENTITY OF SYSTEMS AND CHARACTERS 809
THOMAS] IDENTITY OF SYSTEMS AND CHAEACTERS 811
NUMERAL SYMBOLS IN THE CODICES
THOMAS] NUMERAL SYMBOLS IN THE CODICES 815 but thf diiv immlier is and not 3. as it should ))e; a dot over the
THOMAS] NUMERAL SYMBOLS 817 In Other Codices
