THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION 118 
and consist of abbreviated pictures of the thing intended 
or of some object connected with it. Often a head 
stands for the entire body. The following list practi- 
cally exhausts our knowledge of Mayan hieroglyphs:— 
1. The 20 day signs which occur in variant forms in the 
inscriptions and codices. 
2. The 19 month signs. 
3. The face signs for numbers from zero to 19. 
4. The “‘period glyphs’’ which represent 1, 20, 360, 
7,200, and 144,000 days. 
5. The symbols for the four directions and possibly for 
the four colors associated with them. 
6. The hieroglyphs of several gods mostly from the 
codices. 
7. The symbols of the sun, moon, Venus, North Star, 
and perhaps other heavenly bodies. 
8. A few more or less realistic hieroglyphs representing 
natural objects. 
Of this brief list many signs connected with the cal- 
endar are given by. Landa and other signs have been 
worked out by means of the mathematical calculations 
in the codices and inscriptions which are capable of proof. 
We may expect to find in the Mayan inscriptions some 
hieroglyphs that give the names of individuals, cities, 
and political divisions and others that represent feasts, 
sacrifices, tribute, and common objects of trade as well 
as signs referring to birth, death, establishment, conquest, 
destruction, and other fundamentals of individual and 
social existence. These signs taken with directive signs 
and dates would make possible records of considerable 
accuracy. ‘There seems to be no possibility of purely 
literary inscriptions. While progress will necessarily be 
slow there is no reason for despair and without doubt the 
greater portion of Mayan inscriptions will finally be de- 
ciphered. 
