54 . THE AECHAIO MAYA INSCRIPTIONS. 



year count until the magic 73 is reached — 120x73 = 8,760 days, or 24 years — a 

 circumstance which leaves no doubt in my mind that twenty-four years constituted a 

 notable period also in their chronology. 



The fact that Ik is the end of the initial week, and therefore likely to have had a 

 terminal character ascribed to it, suggested that its symbol might be intended to 

 represent one stone laid crosswise on another, a device by which the Mayas are said to 

 have marked the completion of a katun ; but a study of the symbol as it appears in 

 the codices led me to a quite different conclusion. I became satisfied that the Ik sign 

 of the inscriptions was nothing but a cursive form of the older character of the 

 codices. 



I desire to say a word here as to the comparative trustworthiness of the inscriptions 

 and the codices in respect to the radical form of the glyphs. While the particular 

 copies of the codices that have been preserved are probably of a later date than any of 

 the inscriptions, I believe that their glyphs are of a more primitive character — that is, 

 that they are copies of formulas which have come down from time immemorial, the 

 ancient style of writing being adhered to in them with a scrupulousness not observed 

 in the inscriptions. This is evident from the numerous instances of glyphs whose 

 original design is plainly discernible in the codices, while in the inscriptions it is 

 almost unintelligible or entirely lost. Therefore, I regard the codices as the better 

 authority in respect to the primitive character of the glyphs. 



In the codices, it will be seen, the symbols for Ik and Kan are substantially the 

 same, the only real difference being that in Kan there is a divided inclosure at the top 

 and that the bent bar is dropped down so that the two pendants touch the bottom of 

 the glyph. The bent bar at once suggests the double right-angle sign for 4, and the 

 pendants are identical with those attached to the numeric eye, where each has the 

 value of 1. Now, if this surmise is correct, as I believe it to be, in Ik the numbers 

 must be simply added — 4 + 2 = 6; while in Kan they must be multiplied — 4x2 = 8. 

 Assuming this to be the true explanation of the bent bar and pendants, it follows that 

 the divided inclosure at the top of Kan must be simply a sign for multiplication. If 

 it be so, the sign should hold good in other places. Let us see if it does. Two other 

 day symbols have this same divided inclosure — those for Ix and Chuen. The former, 

 in addition, has three small circles that have the value of 3 each (as we discover from 

 their use in the numeric eye and ear) ; but the value is doubled here by the surrounding 

 dots, so that each circle represents 6 ; hence, in one sense, the sign holds good here, 

 as 6x3 = 18, the numerative value of this particular day — though the same result 

 might be reached by addition, while a serial multiplication of the factors would 

 produce 216. Chuen has the divided inclosure and three curves (which, singly, stand 

 for 5), although the lower one — to give symmetry to the glyph, undoubtedly — is 

 usually conventionalized into something most unlike a curve. Here, again, the sign 

 holds good, in the same sense — 5x3=15, which is the numerative value of Chuen. 



