K5BSTEMANX.] THE MAYA GLYPHS 509 



superscription we find there, always combined with the pictures of 

 the gods belonging to them, the signs of the periods of 144,000, 7,200, 

 360, and 20 days; then, the single day counted off on the subjoined 

 fingers; after that, the principal day Ahau in the eighth place, with 

 the picture of god D, to whom it is dedicated, which is often the case, 

 as for instance, in the Dresden codex, page 9a, on the left. 



Should w^e not expect to find the tonalamatl among the succeeding 

 glyphs on pages 9 to 12 ? I commend this passage to the student for 

 further consideration. In addition, the moon's revolution and the 

 point at which Maya chronology begins are represented. 



(6) First of all, at the top is the sign of a number, ^, which I 

 will leave for the present undetermined. Below it are two glyphs, the 

 probably phallic yax ("vigor", "strength") and the kin ("sun") 

 signs. We are reminded of the month Yaxkin, which corresponds ap- 

 proximately to our November, and consequently can not take its name 

 from the power of the sun, but rather from a particular deity or sacri- 

 fice. This, not the month, was thought of in connection with the sign, 

 as is demonstrated by the following six passages of the Dresden manu- 

 script where it occurs. 



On page 18a is a woman holding the glyph (3'ax placed above kin) 

 in her hand, like an offered sacrifice. The glyphs above the picture 

 are destroyed, but probably contained the same sign once more. On 

 page 18c a woman carries this figure on her back. Such a sign 

 usually indicates a particular deity. The glyphs found above repeat 

 the sign. On page 19c is the same representation as on the preceding 

 page. The woman has a hair ornament of flowers. On page 27b the 

 sign is placed on a vessel, a kind of bowl. This means food offered as 

 a sacrifice. The two remaining examples, on pages 46b on the right 

 and 50c on the right, are placed under different glyphs, most probably 

 denoting gods, at the beginning and end of the great representation 

 which treats of the period of 2,920 days, in which five apparent Venus 

 years (5X584) coincide with 8 solar years. Each time the adjacent 

 sign is the Moan, in which I have surmised the end of the year and the 

 Pleiades. 



Four examples, in which this sign occurs in Codex Troano-Cort- 

 tesianus (Cortesian codex, page 35b, and Troano codex, pages 21a, 

 22*a, and 14*b), owing to the inexactness prevailing in this manu- 

 script, would demand a long discussion without advancing the matter. 



We must now observe the number sign which stands above the 

 glyphs yax and kin, g. For this purpose I will call attention to the 

 example cited above from the Dresden codex, page 27b. The four 

 pages 25 to 28 treat of the last day of the four kinds of years and 

 of the first day of the succeeding years, but still offer a great many 

 enigmas. The numerals scattered through the different parts of the 



