3. Day 3 = Cimi; Aztec Miquiztli, death. The deity with a black line about
the mouth is certainly the bald-headed old god N, whom we shall find on
pages 12c, 14b, 17a, 21c, and 37a. His hands are much deformed; perhaps
indicating the bite of a serpent? Of the hieroglyphs, 1, 2 and 4 are
effaced; 3 is surely the sign of the god, differing, it is true, from his
usual hieroglyph, but recurring with a 4 also on pages 21c and 24. This 4
might refer to the four kinds of years, but here, perhaps, to the fourth of
the five Uayeyab days, and would thus agree with the 24th day of Cumku,
which should lie here (in the year 9 Kan), if I have begun the Tonalamatl
correctly.
4. Day 4 = Manik; Aztec Mazatl. The significance is stag or roe, game or
the chase. The first picture on page 5 is one of the forms of F, which
seems to stand here not merely for human sacrifice, but also for war and
the chase, and especially for the act of killing in general. Of the
hieroglyphs, unfortunately only the fourth can be read in full (the sign
_c_), the upper part of the second is the cross _b_ and the lower part the
sign Ahau; the number 11, which is peculiar to the god F, probably stood
before the second sign. Did this god rule the eleventh of the 13 months of
28 days, as Moan ruled the thirteenth?
5. Day 8 = Chuen; Aztec Ozomatli, ape, then probably the constellation of
Ursa Minor, and hence belonging to the god C. The figure is unquestionably
his, and the first hieroglyph is surely his sign. The other three are the
familiar _a_, _o_ and _r_.
6. Day 10 = Ben; Aztec Acatl, the fundamental significance of which is
reed, rush, etc. The connection between this day and the god B pictured
here must be left undecided. Of the hieroglyphs, the first points rather to
the sun-god G, the second, with the numeral 7 as a prefix, is entirely
destroyed, the third is the sign _u_, and the fourth, which is half
obliterated, was _q_.
7. Day 12 = Men; Aztec Quauhtli, eagle. The figure to which the first
hieroglyph with the numeral 11 belongs, is a form of the god F, but has the
nose-ornament of the sun-god G. Hieroglyph 2, which we shall find again on
22c, may refer especially to the eagle; the third is the sign of the day
Caban with a prefixed 3, and the fourth is the sign _o_.
8. Day 16 = Cauac; Aztec Quiahuitl. The meaning in the different languages
points to rain, storm and summer, of which the tortoise and serpent are
special symbols. I shall not venture to decide positively upon the deity
pictured here; perhaps the object in his hand may be a tortoise; Seler,
"Quetzalcouatl-Kukulcan" (1898), p. 403, calls him the young god. In the
hieroglyphs we find the serpent sign Chicchan twice, just as in the first
group on page 4; then follow _a_ and Kan-Imix.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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