96 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 



powers are usually to be identified by death symbols 

 such as a bare bone for the lower jaw, or the per- 

 centage symbol noted abo\^e on the cheek. Death 

 heads of several kinds are frequent in the hieroglyphic 

 inscriptions. 



The Maize God, figured so frequently on the ancient 

 monuments and in the Mayan codices may be the same 

 that in the time of the Conquest was called Yum Kaax, 

 Lord of the Harvest. He is represented as a youth with 

 a leafy headdress that is possibly meant to represent an 

 opening ear of maize. The kan sign, a grain of maize, 

 is constantly associated with him. He appears to be at 

 the mercy of the evil deities when not protected by the 

 good ones. 



Space considerations forbid a further study of Mayan 

 gods. Suffice it to say that several other divinities are 

 shown in the sculptures and codices including a some- 

 what youthful appearing Avar god, as well as a more 

 mature and grotesque war god called Ek Ahau, the 

 Black Captain. There is an old god with a shell 

 attached to his body, a god with the face of a monkey 

 who is associated with the north star, a god in the form 

 of a frog and another in the form of a bat. In the 

 Spanish accounts we can also glean scanty information 

 concerning Ixchel, Goddess of the Rainbow and mate of 

 Itzamna, Ixtubtun patroness of jade carvers, Ixchebel- 

 yax, patroness of the art of weaving and decorating 

 cloth, etc. 



The Mayan Time Counts. The passage of time, 

 seen in finer and finer degree in the course of human 

 life, the succession of summer and winter, the waxing 

 and waning moons, the alternation of day and night, 

 the upward and downward sloping of the sun and the 

 swinging dhl of the stars, is a phenomenon that no 



