fOrstemann] 



THE GLYPHS 



441 



the center line of the middle, I am inclined to surmise a combination 

 of the glyphs of those five gods. 



26 to 28. The sign 26 signifies the day Caban, by which sign also 

 the ground and generally the direction downward is often indicated. 

 As in this passage we often see Caban closely combined with glyph 

 27, as on pages 32b to 35b, on page 48 in the middle of the right half, 

 also on page 73 in each of the three divisions, also on pages 38b, 39b, 

 40a, 55a, 56a, 66a, 7la, 7lb, sometimes probably denoting agriculture. 

 Can 27 be the sign Muluc belonging to the north? That would agree 

 very well with the direction downward. Then follows 28, the famil- 

 iar sign Chuen, which we have already seen repeated so many times 

 on pages 46 to 50. It has a prefix, the upper part of which is an 

 uhau, the lower part of a god's face, probably that of the god D, who 

 is usually combined with Ahau ; but D, as Schellhas has already 

 assumed, seems to be a god of the night. Therefore, although there 

 is still great uncertainty regarding this point, I feel strongly inclined 



e f g h i 



Fig. 107. Glyphs from the Maya codices. 



to believe there is a reference here to the long period of 90 days in 

 which Venus is invisible during the time of superior conjunction, 

 that is, it vanishes in night; hence it is dominated by the north. 

 With regard to the composite sign 28 I would suggest a parallel with 

 A and B, 8, on the Cross of Palenque («, figure 107). 



29 to 31. These characters occur close to the end of the great series. 

 They seem to me to denote nothing else than the result of that series; 

 to be sure, 29 is wholly, and 30 almost wdiolly, obliterated ; but I am 

 sure from what remains of 30 that the normal date IV Ahau 8 

 Cumku stood here, as it does in the left-hand lower corner of our 

 page. In 31, as in 18, we see the sign for Xul, " end ", here denoting 

 the end of the great period, which marks the close of the entire compu- 

 tation. 



32,33 (^>, figure 107). The black deity, L, according to Schellhas, 

 and with it the glyph of Venus, with the sign above it which we have 

 already recognized as the sign for division. Thus we also find these 



