Vestiges of the Mayas: or, Facts Tending to Prove That Communications and Intimate Relations Must Have Existed, in Very Remote Times, Between the Inhabitants of Mayab and Those of Asia and AfricaLe Plongeon, Augustus
History
Vestiges of the Mayas: or, Facts Tending to Prove That Communications and Intimate Relations Must Have Existed, in Very Remote Times, Between the Inhabitants of Mayab and Those of Asia and Africa
The common people in Mayab, as in Egypt, were indeed little troubled by
their garments. These consisted merely of a simple girdle tied round the
loins, the ends falling before and behind to the middle of the thighs.
Sometimes they also used the short trowsers; and, when at work, wrapped
a piece of cloth round their loins, long enough to cover their legs to
the knees. This costume was completed by wearing a square cloth, tied on
one of the shoulders by two of its corners. It served as cloak. To-day
the natives of Yucatan wear the same dress, with but slight
modifications. While the aborigines of the _Tierra de Guerra_, who still
preserve the customs of their forefathers, untainted by foreign
admixture, use the same garments, of their own manufacture, that we see
represented in the bas-reliefs of Chichen and Uxmal, and in the mural
paintings of _Mayab_ and Egypt.
Divination by the inspection of the entrails of victims, and the study
of omens were considered by the Egyptians as important branches of
learning. The soothsayers formed a respected order of the priesthood.
From the mural paintings at Chichen, and from the works of the
chroniclers, we learn that the Mayas also had several manners of
consulting fate. One of the modes was by the inspection of the entrails
of victims; another by the manner of the cracking of the shell of a
turtle or armadillo by the action of fire, as among the Chinese. (In the
_Hong-fan_ or “the great and sublime doctrine,” one of the books of the
_Chou-king_, the ceremonies of _Pou_ and _Chi_ are described at length).
The Mayas had also their astrologers and prophets. Several prophecies,
purporting to have been made by their priests, concerning the preaching
of the Gospel among the people of Mayab, have reached us, preserved in
the works of Landa, Lizana, and Cogolludo. There we also read that, even
at the time of the Spanish conquest, they came from all parts of the
country, and congregated at the shrine of _Kinich-kakmo_, the deified
daughter of CAN, to listen to the oracles delivered by her through the
mouths of her priests and consult her on future events. By the
examination of the mural paintings, we know that _animal magnetism_ was
understood and practiced by the priests, who, themselves, seem to have
consulted clairvoyants.
The learned priests of Egypt are said to have made considerable progress
in astronomical sciences.
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