AIDS TO THE STUDY OF THE MAYA CODICES. 

 SYMBOLS OP DEITIES. 



Elrhitdh. The symbol or hieroglyph of the deity named " Ekchu- 

 Ijv the llayas and considered the patron and protector of ped- 

 or traveling niereliants (Fig. 380). 



Fig. 380. The god Ekchuah. after the Troano and Cortesian Codices. 



The .signification of the name of this deity is "The Black Cala- 

 basli. " The form and the shading of the symbol render it more than 

 probable that it is a conventional representation of a divided or 

 halved black calabash or gourd, cut for the purpose of forming it 

 into a cup or dipi^er, which, in tliis form, is considered a symbol of 

 this deity. 



The evidence' iipon which this determination is based is that the 

 symbol constantly accompanies the red mouthed, black deity. It is 

 found, with a single exception, only in the Manuscript Troauo, and 

 chiefly in Plates II to V, relating to the traveling merchants. The 

 single exception alluded to is on Plate 15 of the Cortesian Codex; 

 here the god bears upon his back the traveling pack, indicating the 

 vocation of which he is the special guardian. 



It occurs unconnected with the figure of the deity only on Plates 

 IX*, XIV*, XV*, and XXV* of the :\r,nnis.rii,t Troano. In the 

 last the figure of the god is in the same ilixisiou. hut in the adjoining 

 compartment. In Plate XV* it apparently refers to the idol the 

 priest is carving, which is probably a black one intended to represent 

 this god. Landa,' speaking of the artists carving idols from wood, 

 says : 



They took also that which they used for scarifying their ears and drawing blood 

 from them, and also the insti-uments which they needed for sculpturing their blaek 

 divinities. 



Its appearance in Plate XIV* is apparently in connection with the 



