448 ANNUAL REPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 193 3 



may amount to 2 days) with the Venus dates associated with the 

 great Toltec ruler Quetzalcoatl, who died or was sacrificed on April 

 5, 1208, and who was converted in the God of Venus when the 

 planet made her first appearance 8 days later. This earlier phenom- 

 enon was also in a year 1 Reed, but the day of the apotheosis was 1 

 Reed instead of 1 Crocodile. 



Another astronomical date in connection with which Quetzalcoatl 

 is pictured in the Vienna codex as coming down from heaven bear- 

 ing the Venus staff is the day 5 Reed in the year 5 Rabbit. This 

 date finds its sharpest correspondence on June 26, 1446, the inferior 

 conjunction of Venus and the sun having fallen 4 days earlier on 

 the summer solstice. 



A third date at which coincidence is found is the day 7 Reed in 

 the year 7 Reed, which is recorded 14 times in the Vienna codex 

 and several additional times in the Zouche codex. This works out 

 to the Maya date 11-13-19-11-13, 7 Ben 1 Yax, April 6, 1240, 

 Gregorian calendar. The inferior conjunction of Venus comes 4 

 days earlier, so this date, like the preceding one, coincides with 

 the heliacal rising of the planet. 



More satisfactory for our purposes are the statements made in 

 the Zouche codex in connection with the sacrifice of Nine Flower, 

 Flaming Arrow, the brother of Eight Deer. The passage extends 

 from page 52 to page 69 in the Zouche codex. First, on page 

 52, we see Nine Flower carrying the Venus staff, next Eight Deer 

 and his companion at arms. Four Jaguar, make offerings at the 

 altar on the day 13 Crocodile in the year 7 House. On the very 

 next day Eight Deer has his nose pierced for the jade button of 

 high office. Two men are pictured, then a second sacrificial scene 

 of Eight Deer and his companion, next comes the capture of five 

 towns indicated by a spear thrust into a place name. The days give 

 the time of capture in the same year, the first two following close 

 after the events already mentioned. At the left side of page 59 we 

 see Eight Deer wearing the button in his nose and above him a 

 Venus staff planted beside a temple: the days 1 Crocodile and 9 

 Wmd are beneath the picture. As we shall see in table 2, when 

 all the dates are arranged in order, the day 1 Crocodile coincides 

 with the heliacal rising of Venus, while the day 9 Wind is perhaps 

 intended for the autumnal equinox. Next follows a long succession 

 of chieftains making obeisance to Eight Deer (pp. 54r-68) ; at the 

 end there are several who may be rather threatening. Finally, on 

 page 68 there is another date, namely the day 4 Wind in the year 

 8 Rabbit. Again we see the planted Venus staff and Eight Deer 

 in arms; four other men assist him, each a day ahead of the other. 



