B1 = 3 × 360 = 1,080
A1 = 2 × 20 = 40
A1 = 0 × 1 = 0
-----
1,120
[Illustration: CALENDAR-ROUND DATES ON ALTAR 5, TIKAL]
{241}
Counting this number forward from 4 Ahau 13 Yax, the nearest date to it in
the text, the terminal date reached will be found to be 6 Ahau 18 Zac, the
date which, we have seen, was recorded in A3b B3. It is clear, therefore,
that this text records the fact that 3.2.0 has been counted forward from
the date 4 Ahau 13 Yax and the date 6 Ahau 18 Zac has been reached, but
there is nothing given by means of which the position of either of these
dates in the Long Count can be determined; consequently either of these
dates will be found recurring like any other Calendar-round date, at
intervals of every 52 years. In such cases the first assumption to be made
is that one of the dates recorded the close of a hotun, or at least of a
tun, in Cycle 9 of the Long Count. The reasons for this assumption are
quite obvious.
[Illustration: FIG. 83. Calendar-round dates: _A_, Altar M, Quirigua; _B_,
Altar Z, Copan.]
The overwhelming majority of Maya dates fall in Cycle 9, and nearly all
inscriptions have at least one date which closed some hotun or tun of that
cycle. Referring to Goodman's Tables, in which the tun endings of Cycle 9
are given, the student will find that the date 4 Ahau 13 Yax occurred as a
tun ending in Cycle 9, at 9.15.0.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax, in which position it
closed not only a hotun but also a katun. Hence, it is probable, although
the fact is not actually recorded, that the Initial-series value of the
date 4 Ahau 13 Yax in this text is 9.15.0.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax, and if this is
so the Initial-series value of the date 6 Ahau 18 Zac will be:
9.15.0.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax
3.2.0
9.15.3.2.0 6 Ahau 18 Zac
{242} In the case of this particular text the Initial-series value
9.15.0.0.0 might have been assigned to the date 4 Ahau 13 Yax on the ground
that this Initial-series value appears on two other monuments at Quirigua,
namely, Stelæ E and F, with this same date.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account