Representation of Deities of the Maya ManuscriptsSchellhas, Paul
Religion
Representation of Deities of the Maya Manuscripts
Schellhas, Paul
Manuscripts, Maya; Mayas -- Antiquities
We have here a deity with the features of an old man and wearing a
peculiar head ornament reproduced in Fig. 50, which contains the sign for
the year of 360 days. The god's hieroglyph is Fig. 49, which consists of
the numeral 5 with the sign of the month Zac. Foerstemann has recognized
in god N the god of the five Uayeyab days, which were added as
intercalary days at the end of the original year of 360 days, and were
considered unlucky days. N is, therefore, the god of the end of the year.
Foerstemann has discussed him in detail under this title in a monograph
published in Globus, Vol. 80, No. 12. It is still open to question
whether god N actually occurs in all the places of the Dresden
manuscript, which are mentioned by Foerstemann. He can be recognized
positively on Dr. 17a, 21c (grouped with a woman) and 37a; also on
12c, but in this latter place with pronounced deviations from the usual
representations. The figures in Dr. 23c (first group) and 43a (third
picture) are doubtful, especially since the hieroglyph of the god is
lacking in both instances. The third group in Dr. 21c is equally
dubious. Here a woman is pictured sitting opposite a god. The latter
seems to be god N, yet in the text we find instead of his sign the
hieroglyph given in Fig. 51. It is not impossible that this sign likewise
denotes god N.
God N is found a few times in the Paris manuscript, for example on p. 4,
where he holds K's head in his hands, and on p. 22.
O. A Goddess with the Features of an Old Woman.
[Illustration: Fig. 52]
This goddess occurs only in the Madrid manuscript and is distinguished by
the solitary tooth in the under jaw, as a sign of age, the invariable
characteristic of aged persons in the manuscripts. She is pictured in the
following places: Tro. 5*c, 6*b, and 11*b, c and d, Cort. 10b,
11a, 38a. In Tro. 11* she is represented working at a loom. She does
not appear at all in the Dresden and Paris manuscripts. The figures of
women mentioned under I with the serpent on their heads, are especially
not to be regarded as identical with goddess O, for she never wears the
serpent, but a tuft of hair bound high up on her head and running out in
two locks.
Her hieroglyph is Fig. 52; it is distinguished by the wrinkles of age
about the eye. Owing to the limited number of her pictures, there is
little to be said concerning the significance of this goddess.
P. The Frog-God.
[Illustration: Fig. 53]
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