selkr] 



THE VASE OF CHAMA 



659 



The sun god is represented in Maya manuscrijjts as bearded, and so, 

 frequently, in Mexican picture writings, is the god Qiietzalcoatl, who, 

 although usually called the wind god, can not deny kinship with the 

 sun god of the Maya tribes. 



The Mayas styled the sunbeams u mex khi (" beard of the sun "').« 

 I give in a. figure 134, two pictures of Quetzalcoatl, and below them 

 four pictures of the sun god from the Dresden manuscript, which may 

 safely be designated as Kinich Ahau. The beard surrounding the 

 entire chin is unmistakable. The last two i)ictures particularly aorec 

 with /, i:)late xlviii, of the Chama vase in the shape of the beard, 

 indeed I might almost say in the features, especially in the shape of 

 the nose, which in the drawings of the Dresden manuscript is usually 

 stereotyped and characteristic for the individual gods. The person- 





,1 e f 



Fig. 13i. Figures from codices showing beard, and glyphs from vase. 



ages at the left of the pictui-e, on the other hand, have beards corre- 

 sponding more nearly to the natural sparse growth of Indians. In 

 this connection I will not omit to draw attention to the fact that 

 among the antiquities from the Kekchi territory, the region about 

 Coban, in the possession of the Royal JMnsenm of Ethnology, there 

 are various small clay masks and heads with plaiidy developed 

 mustaches. 



" Mexkin rayos del sol (Perez's dictionary). 



