364 AIDS TO THE STUDY OF THE MAYA CODICES. 



twenty-two times in iliat s.'rli,,i, ,,f iln- srr.uid i.art. I'lati's I* to X*. 

 relating to bees. He also .ipiirars l<. fak.'aii arii\c |,,'iit in tlieinaim- 

 facture of idols, engages in painting, aids in tlic rnl1\nT' nr gather- 

 ing of cacao, engages in predatory excursions, and acts in various 

 other relations. In the left comi^artment of Plate XXIV*a he bears 

 on his head the head of a bird. In the remarkable double plate 

 (41-42) of the Cortesian Codex he is twice figured, in the central area 

 and at the east (top), and in each case is accompanied by a female 

 deity. In the latter case both god and goddess are bearing in their 

 hands the Kan or corn symbol. In Maya mythology Zamua was 

 given a spouse named IxKan-Leox, which signifies the yellow frond 

 or silk of maize. 



ity uhicli he names " the 

 ;ill tlie codices, but most 

 111' ( 'cirtesian manuscript. 



387. 



Fig. 387. The god with tace crossed by lines. 



This is introduced here on the authority of Dr. Schellhas. although 

 I have considerable doubt as to the correctness of his conclusion. 



He remarks in regard to it as follows: 



Another characteristic and easily recognized deity, wlaich, it is tme, is compara- 

 tively rare in the Dresden manuscript, but occurs -with extraordinary frequency in 

 other codices, and whose sign it is not hai'd to find, is the god wiiose face is crossed 

 [surrounded] by peculiar parallel Unes, representations of whom are given in the 

 Cortesian Codex (p. 11, below) and Dresden Codex (p. 13, middle). The deity is al- 

 ways male and is found in the Dresden Codex five times, Cortesian Codex eighteen 

 times. Manuscript Troano twenty times, and Codex Peresianus five times. 



The sign of this god, as was the case with the others and as seems to be the gen- 

 eral rule, consists merely of a representation of the god's head, combined with a 

 sign which probably represents an affix. The sign is found wherever the deity is 

 represented and is an exact rendering of the god's head, so that there can be no 

 doubt as to its being the name hieroglyph. True variations are not found, the hiero- 

 glyph beins pcrfortly nlikn in nil tlic inaniisrripts. 



Tlie natuii' '■! tliis lU-iiy is imi i',imI\ ilci.riiiined, though it occurs in the Codices 

 Troano ami ( 'mti ^iaiius widi cxtiaMi ilinai\ Inijuency, so that it would be seen that 

 these two uiauuscripts, which e\ i(U-all\ Ijeloug together, treat principally of this 

 deity. No analogous deity is found in Aztec picture writing. * * * To all ap- 

 pearances we have here a momentous figiire of Maya mythology, of which, unfor- 

 tunately, we know nothing. 



It is true that this symbol is found in almost every instance where 

 the figure of the god appears — in fact, with fewer exceptions than 



