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THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION 121 
ships of numbers are absolute and the coincidences 
between the recorded numbers and astronomical periods 
are too close and frequent to be dismissed as 
accidental. 
In addition to rational calculations dealing with astron- 
omy one sees in the Mayan manuscripts many arrange- 
ments of the tonalamatl supposed to bring to light good 
and bad days and to forecast events. A section of the 
Dresden Codex showing a condensed tonalamatl is pre- 
sented along with a diagram of its parts. At the top and 
right are seventeen hieroglyphs containing the symbols 
of the four directions, and of at least three of the principal 
gods. At the right is a column of five day signs with the 
number 3 at the head of the column. ‘The tonalamatl is 
divided into five parts of fifty-two days each and each 
part is subdivided into four groups of three days each. 
It begins with 3 Akbal the day sign at the top of the col- 
umn and after the four subdivisions of thirteen days each 
have been counted we arrive at the day 3 Men, the second 
day sign in the column. ‘The count is repeated til the 
260 days have been exhausted and we come back again 
to3 Akbal. In the diagram the red numbers of the codex 
are represented by Roman numerals and the black num- 
bers by Arabic numerals. Since the count in this ex- 
ample begins with 3 and the addition is always 13, or 
exactly one round of numbers the resultant days always 
have the number 3. 
The three pictures of gods give us an inkling into the 
significance of this particular tonalamatl. All of the 
gods carry the kan or maize sign in their hands. The 
first god is the benevolent rain god and the third is 
the benevolent sun god. Between them is seated 
the malevolent goddess of floods with a serpent on her 
head. ‘The maize god is not shown but his hieroglyph is 
given. The tonalamatl probably deals with agriculture 
