August 26, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



121 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 Does There Really Exist a Phonetic Key to the Maya Hiero- 

 glyphic Writing ? 



In No. 494 of this journal Professor Cyrus Thouias attempts to 

 give a key for the interpretation of the Maya hieroglyphic writing, 

 taking as a guide and starting-point Bisliop Landa's well-laiown 

 alphabet. It is not for tlie first time that in this way an interpre- 

 tation of the IVIaya Codes has been attempted; liut as yet most 



(Fig. 6) is seen in Dresden 16 " and Troano 17 *b. Landas o (Fig 

 7) seems to exhibit the characteristic elements of the hieroglypl: 

 of tlie great red macaw, mo, as seen in Dresden 16" (Fig. 8) 

 Landa's first u (Fig. 9) is a well-known hieroglyphic element, ex 

 hihiting on the Copan steles the forms shown in Fig. 10, and un 

 doubtedly conveying the idea of a face, uich, perhaps of a bird 

 Tlie same hieroglyphic element frequently occurs on the neck of 

 tlie food dishes and drinking cups (Fig. 11), probably on account 

 of the face with which the Indians used to ornament that part. 



scientists were of the opinion that these attempts failed to give a 

 satisfactory result. 



The hieroglyphs given as letter symbols by Bishop Landa with- 

 out doubt possessed a certain phonetic value. For instance, 

 Landa's first a (Fig. 1) is the head of the turtle, aac. represented 

 by a quite similar hieroglyph (Fig. 3) in Codex Cortez, 17 ». 

 Landa's cii (Fig. 3) is the same hieroglypli as that of the day cauac, 

 and conveys the ideas of the cloud and of heavy things, as, for in- 

 stance, a stone. It is an essential element of the hieroglyph (Fig. 

 4) which expresses the idea of carrying a load on the back, cucli. 

 Landa's ku (Fig. 5) is the hieroglyph of the bird named "quetzal " 

 by the Aztecs and kukul by the Mayas. The sign of this bird 



Landa's second m (Fig. 13) and hieroglyphic element, which is 

 also seen in the sign of the day cib, occurs on the jars filled with 

 spirit-liquor (Fig. 13).- It appears to be a modification of a 

 similar design on the Aztec drinking cups (Fig. 14). The latter 

 refers to the onie took symbol, that is, the semi-lunar curved and 

 hook-nosed ornament of the Totoohtin, the wine gods (Fig. 15). 

 This element therefore, seems to convey the idea of drinking, 

 uuk. At last, the sign of aspiration given by Professor Thomas 

 (Fig. 16) is certainly not a '-Spanish fabrication," but it is Brasseur 

 de Bourbourg's fabrication, since it is not seen in Landa's text. 

 It has been added to the text by Brasseur de Bourbourg's wholly 

 arbitrary decision. See the photographic reproduction of the 



