MORLEY] INTRODUCTION TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEROGLYPHS 51 



20, p) are again identical in each case. Tlie signs for the next month, 

 Mac, however, are entirely dissimilar, the form commonly found in 

 the inscriptions (fig. 19, w) bearing absolutely no resemblance to that 

 shown in figure 20, q, r, the only form for this month in the codices. 

 The very unusual variant (fig. 19, x), from Stela 25 at Piedras Negras 

 is perhaps a trifle nearer the form found in the codices. The flat- 

 tened oval in the main part of the variant is somewhat like the upper 

 part of the glyph in figure 20, q. The essential element of the glyph for 

 the month Mac, so far as the inscriptions are concerned, is the element 

 ^Q^ (*) found as the superfix in both w and x, figure 19. The sign 



* for the month Kankin (figs. 19, y, 2, and 20, s, t) and the signs 

 for the month Muan (figs. 19, a' , h', and 20, u, v) show only a gen- 

 eral similarity. The signs for the last three months of the year, Pax 

 (figs. 19, c', and 20, w), Kayab (figs. 19, d'-f, and 20, x, y), and Cumhu 

 (figs. 19, g', h', and 20, z, a', h') in the inscriptions and codices, 

 respectively, are practically identical. The closing division of the 

 year, the five days of the xma kaba kin, called XJayeb, is represented 

 by essentially the same glyph in both the inscriptions and the 

 codices. Compare figure 19, i', with figure 20, c'. 



It will be seen from the foregoing comparison that on the whole the 

 glyphs for the months in the inscriptions are similar to the corre- 

 sponding forms in the codices, and that such variations as are found 

 may readily be accounted for by the fact that the codices and the 

 inscriptions probably not only emanate from different parts of the 

 Maya territory but also date from chfferent periods. 



The student who wishes to decipher Maya writing is strongly urged 

 to memorize the signs for the days and months given in figures 16, 

 17, 19, and 20, since his progress will depend largely on his ability to 

 recognize these glyphs when he encounters them in the texts. 



The Calendar Round, or 18980-day Period 



Before taking up the study of the Calendar Round let us briefly 

 summarize the principal points ascertained in the preceding pages 

 concerning the Maya method of counting time. In the first place 

 we learned from the tonalamatl (pi. 5) three things: (1) The nmnber 

 of differently named days; (2) the names of these days; (3) the order 

 in which they invariably followed one another. And in the second 

 place we learned in the discussion of the Maya year, or haab, just 

 concluded, four other things: (1) The length of the year; (2) the 

 number, length, and names of the several periods into which it was 

 divided ; (3) the order in which these periods invariably followed one 

 another; (4) the positions of the days in these periods. 



The proper combination of these two, the tonalamatl, or "round of 

 days," and the haab, or year of umals, and the xma kaba kin, formed 

 the Calendar Round, to which the tonalamatl contributed the names 



