iT.iiSTEMANN.l DAY GODS OF THE MAYAS 567 



Aghiial, " lordsliip *\ is dcrhiMl in the T/ental. Tii the Kiclic-Cak- 

 chikol it is eaUcd outright hy the name of the _<>(k1 I!iin-ahi)ii. " the 

 one lord of power ", in Zapotee Lat), or Loo, " the eye '\ which means 

 tlie eye of the day, the snn, as the Mayas have the god name Kin-ich- 

 ahau, '" lord of the eye of the day ". And the Aztec Xochitl, 

 " flower ", is also explained by the xochitonal of the dialect of Mez- 

 titlan, '" the flower of the day, the sun " (Brinton, Calendar, page 34). 



The glyph displays a face which differs from the other heads, 

 inasmuch as it is seen from in front, and its eye forms the symbol of 

 the moon, while an akbal (night) is placed on the forehead. The; 

 god belonging here is doubtless the old god D, to whose glyph 

 the sign Ahau is usually added as a determinative. The close rela- 

 tion of this god to the sun is probably the reason why there no longer 

 seems to be a vacant place for the sun god proper, which in all prob- 

 ability he originally occupied, as we shall see directly. The question 

 now arises, Is the close relation of god D to the moon among the 

 Mayas an innovation or is it the most ancient relation? The moon 

 is the nearer, the sun the more remote, lord of time and of the whole 

 chronology. 



18. Imix, y. In the course of time the meaning of Imix has under- 

 gone two changes which have rendered the interpretation very cliffi 

 cult. It may be assumed that among the Mayas, mex, or meex, means 

 the beard, which doubtless suggests primarily the sun's beard (u mex 

 kin), that is, the sun's rays (Brinton, Calendar, page 23). This is 

 very appropriate to the day, which was placed at the head of the day 

 series by the Aztecs and by various Maya races. Mex, however, is 

 also the name of the cuttlefish, from whose head extend eight or ten 

 raylike arms (un pescado que tiene muchos brazos), and it may be the 

 oldest hieroglyphic designation of the day. 



But the little-known cuttlefish, when the original connection was 

 forgotten, was replaced by another aquatic creature. Among the 

 Zapotecs the day was called Chiylla, '' water lizard ". In the Nahuatl 

 it was Cipactli, which is applied to an undefined aquatic creature. 

 The Aztec glyph is an alligator. Secondarily, the j)rocess wiiich Brin- 

 ton calls ikonomatic began at this point. Instead of Mex, the Mayas 

 used Imix as the designation of this day; the Tzentals used Imox. or 

 Mox. The Kiches and Cakchikels have Imox, or Moxin, which in 

 their hinguage, according to Ximenes, also denotes the swordfish, 

 and this facilitates the transition of the meaning. Im signifies udder 

 or the female breast, while ix is a frequent prefix or suffix, denot- 

 ing the feminine gender. Here it should be observed that milk is 

 denoted by cab-in, " honey of the breast "\ Then, in this connection, 

 we are reminded that the intoxicating pulque was obtained from 

 honey, and that numerous |)ul(]ue gods occui- among (he Aztecs and 

 Mayas. The gathering of honey was a prominent industry, as is 



