PLATE 44 OF THE FEJERVARY CODEX.
As a connecting link between the particular topic now under discussion and the consideration of the symbols of the cardinal points, I wish to refer to one plate of the Fejervary Codex, to wit, Plate 44, a fac-simile of which is presented in [Plate III]:
A little careful inspection of this plate will suffice to convince the reader that it was gotten up upon the same plan and for the same purpose as the “Tableau des Bacab,” or plate copied from the Codex Cortesianus, which is reproduced in our [Plate I].
The sacred tree or cross, which is represented but once in that plate, and that in the central area, is here shown four times—once in each of the four outer spaces opposite the four sides of the inner area.
It is true we do not find here the intermediate ring (or quadrilateral), of clays, but these are not wanting, for the four groups, corresponding with those on the four sides of the quadrilateral, are here found at the four corners wedged in between the colored loops, one group of five at each corner. The chief marked resemblance is to be found in the outer looped line, in which the day characters are connected by rows of dots. But here the lines and loops, although almost precisely in the form, and relation, to each other as in the plate of the Cortesian Codex, are variously and brightly colored, and the rows of dots are inclosed by lateral lines.
Now for the proof that it is designed for the same purpose as the looped line on the other plate. But it is necessary that I present first, in a tabular form, a Mexican calendar ([Table XIV]) similar to the condensed Maya calendar heretofore given.
I also give, immediately following, a list of Mexican days for thirteen months, the number necessary to make the circuit of the plate, just as the list of Maya days heretofore given. In this case I have used the English equivalents of the Mexican words for the benefit of English readers.
Table XIV.—Condensed Mexican calendar.
| Tochtli years. | Acatl years. | Tecpatl years. | Calli years. | Numbers of the months. | ||||||||||||
| 1 14 | 2 15 | 3 16 | 4 17 | 5 18 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | ||||
| Cozcaquauhtli. | Cipactli. | Miquiztli. | Ozomatli. | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 |
| Ollin. | Ehecatl. | Mazatl. | Malinalli. | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| Tecpatl. | Calli. | Tochtli. | Acatl. | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 |
| Quiahuitl. | Cuetzpalin. | Atl. | Ocelotl. | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 |
| Xochitl. | Coatl. | Itzcuintli. | Quauhtli. | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 |
| Cipactli. | Miquiztli. | Ozomatli. | Cozcaquauhtli. | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 |
| Ehecatl. | Mazatl. | Malinalli. | Ollin. | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 |
| Calli. | Tochtli. | Acatl. | Tecpatl. | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 |
| Cuetzpalin. | Atl. | Ocelotl. | Quiahuitl. | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| Coatl. | Itzcuintli. | Quauhtli. | Xochitl. | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
| Miquiztli. | Ozomatli. | Cozcaquauhtli. | Cipactli. | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 |
| Mazatl. | Malinalli. | Ollin. | Ehecatl. | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 |
| Tochtli. | Acatl. | Tecpatl. | Calli. | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 |
| Atl. | Ocelotl. | Quiahuitl. | Cuetzpalin. | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 |
| Itzcuintli. | Quauhtli. | Xochitl. | Coatl. | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| Ozomatli. | Cozcaquauhtli. | Cipactli. | Miquiztli. | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 |
| Malinalli. | Ollin. | Ehecatl. | Mazatl. | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 |
| Acatl. | Tecpatl. | Calli. | Tochtli. | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 |
| Ocelotl. | Quiahuitl. | Cuetzpalin. | Atl. | 6 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 |
| Quauhtli. | Xochitl. | Coatl. | Itzcuintli. | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 13 |
This calendar begins the year Acatl with Cipactli to correspond with what I believe to have been the plan on which the Fejervary plate was made; this, as will be seen, does not agree with what is generally supposed to have been the usual method. The following table of days can be used for either year, but commences as the Acatl years in the preceding calendar.
Table XV.—A List of Mexican Days for Thirteen Months.
[The dark lines indicate the points where the months end.]
Although the Mexican equivalents of these names may be inferred from what has already been given, I will insert the Mexican and English names of the twenty days here, opposite each other.
| Mex. Eng. | Mex. Eng. |
| Cipactli (Dragon). | Ozomatli (Monkey). |
| Ehecatl (Wind). | Malinalli (Grass). |
| Calli (House). | Acatl (Cane). |
| Cuetzpalin (Lizard). | Ocelotl (Tiger). |
| Coatl (Snake). | Quauhtli (Eagle). |
| Miquiztli (Death). | Cozcaquauhtli (Vulture). |
| Mazatl (Deer). | Ollin (Movement). |
| Tochtli (Rabbit). | Tecpatl (Flint). |
| Atl (Water). | Quiahuitl (Rain). |
| Itzcuintli (Dog). | Xochitl (Flower). |
Examining the looped line, [Plate III], we notice at each of the outer and inner bends one of the day symbols. (In the plate of the Cortesian Codex there are two.) We therefore take for granted that this is the first day of the week, or indication of thirteen days, hence we should commence with Cipactli (or Dragon). This we find at the upper right hand corner of the inner square or right base of the large red loop. Judging from the direction of the birds’ heads and other facts heretofore noted, we presume the direction in which we are to move is around toward the left. Counting the day symbol as one, and each of the twelve dots up the red line as one day, we come to the symbol in the upper right-hand corner of the loop as the first day of the next week. This we find is Ocelotl (Tiger), just as we find it to be in the calendar table and list of days. Moving along the upper red line to the corner at the left we find the next character is Mazatl (or Deer), agreeing exactly with the calendar and list. Moving down the left red line to the inner corner we come to the symbol for Xochitl (or Flower), also agreeing with the calendar and list. Proceeding from thence up the white line we reach next the symbol for the day Acatl (Cane) in the red circle surrounded by a yellow line. Here we see a marked distinction between this and the other day symbols we have named, a distinction which applies only to the four at the corners—the four year symbols—Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, and Tochtli.
In order that the reader may compare the names in this looped line with the calendar, I present here a scheme of it similar to that given of the plate from the Cortesian Codex. The explanation given of the other will enable him to make the comparison without further aid.
The numbers in the little circles at the corners and loops replace the days of the original as follows: 1, Cipactli; 2, Ocelotl; 3, Mazatl; 4, Xochitl; 5, Acatl; 6, Miquiztli; 7, Quiahuitl; 8, Malinalli; 9, Coatl; 10, Tecpatl; 14, Ozomatli; 12, Cuetzpalin; 13, Ollin; 14, Itzcuintli; 15, Calli; 16, Cozcaquauhtli; 17, Atl; 18, Echecatl; 19, Quauhtli; 20, Tochtli.
As before stated, the four groups of five day symbols are found wedged in between the loops at the corners.
In the upper left-hand corner we see the following: Cipactli, Acatl, Coatl, Ollin, and Atl (or, to give the English equivalents in the same order, Dragon, Cane, Snake, Movement, and Water), the same as those of column 1 of Tables [XI] and [XII]. In the lower left-hand corner, Ehecatl, Itzcuintli, Tecpatl, Miquiztli, and Ocelotl (Wind, Dog, Flint, Death, and Tiger), the same as column 2; in the lower right-hand corner, Quauhtli, Calli, Ozomatli, Quiahuitl, and Mazatl (Eagle, House, Monkey, Rain, and Deer), the same as column 3; and in the upper right-hand corner, Tochtli, Cozcaquauhtli, Cuetzpalin, Malinalli, and Xochitl (Rabbit, Vulture, Lizard, Grass, Flower), the same as column 4. But the arrangement of the days in the respective columns, as in the “Table of the Bacabs,” varies from that obtained by placing the days of the month in four groups, as heretofore explained.
Turning again to the plate of the Cortesian Codex, as shown in our [Plate 2], I call attention first to the heavy black L-shaped figures. I presume from the number—eighteen—and the fact that they are found in the line of weeks they are symbols of, or denote the months, but am unable to suggest any explanation of their use in this connection. I find nothing to correspond with them in either of the plates of the Mexican Codices referred to.