FrtRSTEMANN] THREE INSCRTPTTONR OF PALENQUE 587 



It is ven' remarkable that the inscriptions I and II correspond 

 with regard to the following point: In I, on the right and oji the left 

 of the lower part of the cross, there are two glyphs, each combined 

 with the numeral 5; in II the middle part presents the same signs, 

 although less synnnetrically. One glyph in each of these two series 

 of four glyphs contains the sign of the fifteenth day, Ezanab; the 

 others are indistinct. But in a period of 20 years, each period of 5 

 years begins with one of the days Lamat, Ben, Ezanab, and Akbal, 

 and to this the glyphs seem to refer. 



The date VIII 7; 3, 17, is worthy of notice; this occurs in I at O 1 

 and 2 ; in II it even occurs twice, N and O 5 and E 1 and 2. 



In reference to the prominence of the day 17 (Ahau), already men- 

 tioned, it should be remembered that the beginning of Maya chro- 

 nology is to be sought, as a rule, in the day IV 17 ; 8, 18, in the year 

 9 Ix, whilst sometimes the day I 17 ; 18, 17 in the year 3 Kan, wdiich 

 day is 2,200 days before the day first named, is also regarded as a 

 starting point. In the last part of the Dresden manuscript the day 

 VIII 17 seems to be important; this day divides a tonalamatl, begin- 

 ning with IV 17, in the ratio of 8 : 5, that is, in the ratio of the appar- 

 ent Venus year to the solar year. If we examine our three inscrip- 

 tions with respect to this day, we find the normal date IV 17; 8, 18 

 actually in I, D 3 and E 4, and in III, P 2 and O 3. The day I 

 17, but in a different position in the year, appears in I, A 16, and in 



II, B 8 and D U ; the day VIII 17 occurs in II, N 15. The day II 17, 

 too, occurs in II, C 8; V 17, in I, U 10; XI 17, in II, C 13; XII 17, 

 in III, Q 2 ; and XIII 17, in III, G 2. The other 19 days only occur 

 singly. 



In my treatise mentioned above, I remarked, at the end, concerning 

 inscription I, that in it these two glyphs (6, figure 113) occur nine 

 times, apparently indissolubly united. 



The passages where they occur are F 7 E 8, S 1 T 1, T 7 S 8, T 15 8 

 16, U 6 V 6, V 11, U 12, U 16 V 16, W 3 X 3, W 17 X 17. In II we 

 find this combination only twice, O 2 N 3 and E 3 and 4, once also in 



III, namely, at M 2 N 2. They are even found in the Temple of 

 Inscriptions (see Maudslay, plate lxii, T U 9). With this abundance 

 of examples, it is hoped that further light will soon break on the 

 meaning of these glyphs. 



Inscriptions II and III, but not I, also correspond with regard to 

 the preceding sign, e. We find it in II, C 9 and M 10; in III, P 13. 

 It consists of a hiMid grasping an object in such a way that it is, held 

 between the thumb and four fingers. When the separate places 

 Avhere it occurs are compared with each other, tlie object can not 

 well be anything but a fish, and fish have a meaning of no slight 

 importance in the manuscripts of Maya literature. Does this glyph 

 refer directly to fisliing? In I lie next four examples we see an agree- 



