616 PICTURE-WRITING OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 
and feasts. &, Guesa, a human figure in an humble attitude, the hands folded, and a 
halo about the head. It is supposed to represent the unfortunate youth selected as the 
victim of the sacrifice made every twenty Chibchan years to the god of the harvest. 
The characters b and f below, markedly resemble one given by Pipart 
(a), with the same signification. It referred to the preparation of the 
ground for sowing. 
Wiener (/) gives the 
following summary of 
prominent Peruvian 
symbols: 
In the conventional sys- 
tem of the Peruvians a bird 
indicates velocity, a lion 
strength, the lion and the 
bird united in one figure 
strength and velocity to- 
gether, and, deductively, 
power. The meander indi- 
eates fertility and the pyra- 
mid with degrees or steps in- 
dicates defense. A bird com- 
bined with the meander in- 
Fig. 980,—Chibeha symbols. dicates rapid production. A 
rectangular oblong figure (the mouth) indicates speech and discourse. A circle with 
a depression almost in the form of a heart means a female child, a circle with a small 
blade or stalk a male child. The circle with two stalks is the symbol of a man— 
the worker. The circle with four stalks means a married couple, marriage, ete. 
Fig. 981 is presented to show another collection of engraved sym- 
bols, some of which with different execution resemble some found in 
North America. It is a bronze 
tablet found in Syria in the 
collection of M. Péretié, and is 
described by Maj. Claude R. Con- 
der, R. F. (a): 
It measures 44 inches in height by 34 
in width. The design is supposed to 
represent the fate of the soul according 
to Assyrian or Phenician belief. The 
tabletis divided into four compartments 
horizontally,the lowest being the largest 
and highest the most narrow. In the 
top compartment various astronomical 
symbols occur, many of which, as M. 
Cannean points out, occur on other 
Assyrian monuments. On the extreme 
i Eda) 
' be 
b> a ur 
‘se-\uus) the crescent, next the winged solar disk, 
then an eight-rayed star in a circle. 
The remaining symbols are less easily 
explained, but the last is called by M. 
wl 
DATFINSES SA — | Cannean a “cidaris” or Persian tiara, 
<8 pp para while another appears to approach most 
UWP UU Lt) SUC aS nearly to the Trisul, or symbol of 
Fi@, 981.—Syrian symbols. “fire,” the emblem of the Indian Siva. 
right are the seven stars, next to these ~ 
