MORI.EY] INTRODUCTION" TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEROGLYPHS 235 



This shows that the date 6 Aliau 13 Muan closed Katun 14, as glyphs 

 F9-F10 declare. This may also be verified by changing " the end of 

 Katun 14" recorded in F9-F10 into its corresponding Initial-series 

 value, 9.14.0.0.0, and solving for the terminal date. The day reached 

 by these calculations mil be 6 Ahau 13 Muan, as above. This text, in 

 so far as it has been deciphered, therefore reads: 



9.12.2.0.16 5Cibl4Yaxkin A1-A4, B7 



The inscription just deciphered is worthy of special note for several 

 reasons. In the first place, all its dates and numbers are not only 

 exceedingly clear, thus facilitating their identification, but also miusu- 

 ally regular, the numbers being counted forward from the dates next 

 preceding them to reach the dates next following them in every case ; 

 all these features make this text particularly well adapted for study 

 by the beginner. In the second place, this inscription shows the 

 three principal methods employed by the Maya in recording dates, 

 that is. Initial-series dating, Secondary-series dating, and Period-end- 

 ing dating, all combined in the same text, the example of each one 

 being, moreover, unusually good. Finally, the Initial Series of this 

 inscription records identically the same date as Stela 1 at Piedras 

 Negras, namely, 9.12.2.0.16 5 Cib 14 Yaxkin. Compare plate 23 

 with plate 17. Indeed, these two monuments. Stelae 1 and 3, stand 

 in front of the same building. All things considered, the inscription 

 on Stela 3 at Piedras Negras is one of the most satisfactory texts 

 that has been found in the whole Maya territory. 



Another example showing the use of these three methods of dating 

 in one and the same text is the inscription on Stela E at Quirigua, 

 illustrated in plate 24 and figure 82.^ This text begins with the Initial 

 Series on the west side. The introducing glyph appears in A1-B3 

 and is followed by the Initial-series number 9.14.13^4.17 in A4-A6. 

 Reducing this niunber to units of the first order, remembering the 

 correction in the tun coefficient in A5 noted below, and applying the 

 rules previously given for solving Initial Series, the terminal date 



1 For the full text of this inscription, see Maudslay, 1889-1902: ii, pis. 28-32. 



2 The student will note that 12, not 13, tuns are recorded in A5. As explained elsewhere (see pp . 247, 248 ) , 

 this is an error on the part of the ancient scribe who engraved this inscription. The correct tun coefficient 

 is 13, as used above. 



