DIRECTIVE SIGNS. 



93 



SIGNS INDICATING THE INITIAL DATE. 



These signs occur only after an initial date itself or after a reckoning from an initial 

 date, and usually in so isolated a way there can be no doubt their purpose is simply 

 declarative or directive *. Besides numerous variants of those given, there are other 

 signs that probably perform the same office, but as their meaning is not so self-evident 

 I have omitted them. 



* The resemblance between the last glyph in the list and the character occurring on plates li. and lii. of 

 the Dresden Codex removes all doubt of the latter being a directive sign. It is employed so curiously in one 

 instance that it is well worth while giving both examples of its use in order to illustrate the peculiarity. 

 The reckonings it follows are from 4 Ahau-8 Cumhu (which, coincidcntly, is the beginning of the 54th great 

 cycle of the Archaic era) to 12 Lamat, in both cases, but with different intervals. The reading on plate li. 

 is this : 



Here the meaning, plainly enough, is: Erom 4 Ahau-8 Cumhu to the 12 Lamat, that is 8 days from the 

 former (or initial) date. The reading on plate lii. is more complicated. There are two 4 Ahau-8 Cumhu 

 dates followed by this reckoning : 



The 12 Lamat is not distinct, as here, but there can be no question of its identity, the reckoning being of 

 exactly the same character as the other. The reading here is ; 4 Ahau-S Cumhu, 4 Ahau-S Cumhu, to tho 

 12 Lamat, that is 8 days, 1 chucn and 5 ahaus from tho 2 former (or initial) dates. The peculiarity here is 

 that the directive sign indicates the reckoning to be from two dutes — the only instance of the kind (hat has 

 come under my observation. 



