MORLEY] INTEODUCTION TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEROGLYPHS 61 



commences with that event, supposed to have occurred in 5509 B. C. 

 The Jews reckoned the same event as having taken place in 3761 

 B. C. and begin the counting of time from this point. A more f amihar 

 chronology, having for its starting point the Creation of the World, is 

 that of Archbishop Usher, in the Old Testament, which assigns this 

 event to the year 4004 B. C. 



In common with these other civilized peoples of antiquity the 

 ancient Maya had realized in the development of their chronological 

 system the need for a fixed starting point, from which all subsequent 

 events could be reckoned, and for this purpose they selected one of 

 the dates of their Calendar Round. This was a certain date, 4 Ahau 

 8 Cumhu,^ that is, a day named 4 Ahau, which occupied the 9th posi- 

 tion in the month Cumhu, the next to last division of the Maya year 

 (see Table III). 



While the nature of the event which took place on this date ^ is un- 

 known, its selection as the point from which tune was subsequently 

 reckoned alone indicates that it must have been of exceedingly great 

 importance to the native mind. In attempting to approximate its 

 real character, however, w^e are not without some assistance from the 

 codices and the inscriptions. For instance, it is clear that all Maya 

 dates which it is possible to regard as contemporaneous ^ refer to a time 

 fully 3,000 years later than the starting pomt (4 Ahau 8 Cumhu) from 

 which each is reckoned. In other words, Maya history is a blank 

 for more than 3,000 years after the initial date of the Maya chrono- 

 logical system, during which time no events were recorded. 



This interesting condition strongly suggests that the starting 

 point of Maya chronology was not an actual historical event, as the 

 founding of Rome, the death of Alexander, the birth of Christ, or 

 the flight of Mohammed from Mecca, but that on the contrary it was 

 a purely hypothetical occurrence, as the Creation of the World or the 

 birth of the gods; and further, that the date 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu was 

 not chosen as the starting point until long after the time it desig- 

 nates. This, or some similar assumption, is necessary to account 

 satisfactorily for the observed facts: 



1. That, as stated, after the starting point of Maya chronology there 

 is a silence of more than 3,000 years, unbroken by a single contem- 

 poraneous record, and 



1 All Initial Series now known, with the exception of two, have the date 4 Ahau 8 Cumliu as their com- 

 mon pomt of departure. The two exceptions, the Initial Series on the east side of Stela C at Quirigua 

 and the one on the tablet in the Temple of the Cross at Palenque, proceed from the date 4 Ahau 8 Zotz— 

 more than 5,000 years in advance of the starting point just named. The writer has no suggestions to offer 

 in explanation of these two dates other than that he believes they refer to some mythological event. For 

 instance, Ln the belief of the Maya the gods may have been bom on the day 4 Ahau 8 Zotz, and 5,000 

 years later approximately on 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu the world, including mankind, may have been created. 



2 Some writers have called the date 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, the normal date, probably because it is the stand- 

 ard date from wLich practically all Maya calculations proceed. The writer has not followed this practice, 

 however. 



3 That is, dates which signified present time when they were recorded. 



