SYMBOLS OF THE CARDINAL POINTS.
We are now prepared to enter upon the discussion of the symbols of the cardinal points, of which figures have already been given in connection with the quotations from Rosny’s work ([Fig. 1]), but as I shall have occasion to refer to them very frequently I again present them in [Fig. 7].
As it is conceded by all who have discussed this subject, that a and c must be assigned to the east and west or equatorial points, the only dispute being as to which should be referred to the east and which to the west, it follows that the others must be referred to the polar points. As each one of the four areas or compartments contains one of these symbols—the top or upper compartment a, the left-hand b, the bottom c, and the right-hand d—we naturally infer that the other figures in these compartments have some reference to the cardinal points with which they are respectively associated.
I think that Rosny is correct in assuming that this plate places these symbols in their proper positions, and hence that if we can determine one with satisfactory certainty this will determine the rest. If their correct positions are given anywhere it would seem that it would be here, in what is evidently a general calendar table or possibly a calendar wheel.
I have already discussed the question of the assignment of the cardinal symbols to some extent in my former work,[14] and will take for granted that the reader is familiar with what is there stated.
That one of the two characters a and c ([Fig. 7]), denotes the east or sunrise and the other west or sunset, may, I think, be safely assumed from what is given in the work mentioned, and from the evidence presented by Rosny,[15] and Schultz-Sellack.[16] But which, east and which west is the rock on which the deductions have been, so far, split asunder; Rosny and Schultz-Sellack maintaining that a is west and c east, and I that a is east and c west. If we admit that they are correctly placed on this plate it necessitates the admission on my part that I have been incorrect in my reference of two of them. If a is east then I have reversed those denoting north and south; if it is west, then I was correct as to those denoting north and south, but have reversed those indicating east and west.
Without at present stating the result of my re-examination of this subject I shall enter at once upon the discussion, leaving this to appear as we proceed.
It is well known that each of the dominical days or year-bearers (Cuch-haab, as they were termed by the Mayas), Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac, was referred to one of the four cardinal points. Our first step, therefore, is to determine the points to which these days were respectively assigned.
I have given in my former paper[17] my reasons for believing that Cauac was referred to the south, Kan to the east, Muluc to the north, and Ix to the west, from which I quote the following as a basis for further argument:
“Landa, Cogulludo, and Perez tell us that each of the four dominical days was referred by the Indians to one of the four cardinal points. As the statements of these three authorities appear at first sight to conflict with each other, let us see if we can bring them into harmony without resorting to a violent construction of the language used. Perez’ statement is clear and distinct, and as it was made by one thoroughly conversant with the manners and customs of the natives, and also with all the older authorities, it is doubtless correct.
“He says, ‘The Indians made a little wheel in which they placed the initial days of the year. Kan at the east, Muluc at the north, Gix or Hix at the west, and Cauac at the south, to be counted in the same order.’
“The statement of Cogulludo, which agrees substantially with this, is as follows: ‘They fixed the first year at the east, to which they gave the name Cuch-haab; the second at the west, and called it Hiix; the the third at the south, named Cauac, and the fourth, Muluc, at the north.’
“Turning now to Landa’s work (Relac. de las Cosas, §§ XXXIV), we are somewhat surprised to find the following language: ‘The first of these dominical letters is Kan. * * * They placed this on the south, side. * * * The second letter is Muluc, which is placed on the eastern side. * * * The third of these letters is Yx, * * * and it signified the northern side. The fourth letter is Cauac, which is assigned to the-western side.’
“This, as we see, places Kan at the south, Muluc at the east, Ix at the north, and Cauac at the west, conflicting directly with the statements made by Cogulludo and Perez. If we turn now to the description of the four feasts as given by Landa, and heretofore quoted, I think we shall find an explanation of this difference. From his account of the feast at the commencement of the Kan year (the intercalated days of the Cauac year) we learn that first they made an idol called Kan-u-uayeyab, which they bore to the heap of stones on the south side of the Village; next they made a statue of the god Bolon-Zacab, which they placed in the house of the elected chief, or chief chosen for the occasion. This done they returned to the idol on the southern stone heap, where certain religious ceremonies were performed, after which they returned with the idol to the house, where they placed it vis-a-vis with the other, just as we see in the lower division of Plates XX-XXIII of the Manuscript Troano. Here they kept constant vigil until the unlucky days (Uayeyab-haab) had expired and the new Kan year appeared; then they took the statue of Bolon-Zacab to the temple and the other idol to the heap of stones at the east side of the village, where it was to remain during the year, doubtless intended as a constant reminder to the common people of what year was passing.
“Similar transfers were made at the commencement of the other years; at that of Muluc, first to the east, then to the house, and then to its final resting place on the north side; of Ix, first to the north, then to the west; of Cauac, first to the west, then to the south.
“This movement agrees precisely with the order given by Perez; the final resting places of their idols for the year being the cardinal points of the dominical days where he fixes them; that is, Kan at the east, Muluc at the north, Ix at the west, and Cauac at the south. There is, therefore, no real disagreement between these authorities on this point.”
Most of the modern authors who have touched upon this topic, although in some cases apparently at sea, without any fixed opinion on the subject, are disposed to follow Landa’s statement, without comparing it with his account of the supplemental days, and appear to rely upon it rather than upon the statements of Cogulludo and Perez; and hence they refer Kan to the south, Muluc to the east, Ix to the north, and Cauac to the west.
Brasseur, in his Histoire des Nations civilisées du Mexique et de l’Amérique Centrale,[18] assigns Kan to the east, Muluc to the north, Hix to the west, and Cauac to the south. But in his supplement to Études sur le Manuscrit Troano,[19] and in his note to Landa’s Relacion,[20] refers Kan to the south, Muluc to the east, Ix to the north, and Cauac to the west, although afterwards, in the same work, in a note to Perez’ Cronologia, he quotes Cogulludo’s statement without explanation or objection.
Dr. Brinton, in his Myths of the New World,[21] places these dominical days at the same points to which I have assigned them—Kan at the east, &c.—although referring in a note at the same place to the very page of Landa’s Relacion, where they are assigned as given by Rosny. In a subsequent work, Hero Myths, referring to the same passage in Landa, and with Cogulludo’s work before him, he assigns them to the same points as Rosny—Kan to the south, &c.—yet without any reference whatever to his former expressed opinion.
Schultz-Sellack, in an article entitled Die Amerikanischen Gotter der vier Weltrichtungen und ihre Tempel in Palanque, in the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie for 1879,[22] comes to the same conclusion as Rosny.
Rosny’s opinion on this subject has already been quoted.[23]
From these facts it is evident that the assignment of the dominical days to their respective cardinal points has not as yet been satisfactorily determined, but that the tendency at the present day is to follow Landa’s simple statement rather than Cogulludo and Perez. This is caused, I presume, in part, by the fact that certain colors—yellow, red, white, and black—were also referred to the cardinal points, and because it is supposed that among the Maya nations yellow was appropriated to Kan, red to Muluc, white to Ix, and black to Cauac; and as the first appears to be more appropriate to the south, red to the east or sunrise, white to the north or region of snow, and black to the west or sunset, therefore this is the correct assignment.
But there is nothing given to show that this was the reason for the selection or reference of these colors by the inhabitants of Central America.
This brings another factor into the discussion and widens the field of our investigation; and as but little, save the terms applied to or connected with the dominical days, is to be found in regard to the Maya custom in this respect, we are forced to refer to the Mexican custom as the next best evidence. But it is proper to state first that the chief, and, so far as I am aware, the only, authority for the reference of the colors named to the four Maya days, is found in the names applied to them by Landa.[24]
According to this writer, the other names applied to the Bacab of Kan, were Hobnil, Kanil-Bacab, Kan-Pauahtun, and Kan-Xib-Chac; to that of Muluc, Canzienal, Chacal-Bacab, Chac-Pauahtun, and Chac-Xib-Chac; to that of Ix, Zac-Ziui, Zacal-Bacab, Zac-Pauahtun, and Zac-Xib-Chac; and to that of Cauac, Hozen-Ek, Ekel-Bacab, Ek-Pauahtun, and Ek-Xib-Chac. As Kan or Kanil of the first signifies yellow, Chac or Chacal of the second signifies red, Zac or Zacal, of the third white, and Ek or Ekel, of the fourth black, it has been assumed, and, I think, correctly, that these colors were usually referred to these days, or rather to the cardinal points indicated, respectively, by these day symbols. If there is any other authority for this conclusion in the works of the earlier writers, I have so far been unable to find it.
If the figures in our plate are properly and distinctly colored in the original Codex Cortesianus, this might form one aid in settling this point, but, as we shall hereafter see, the colors really afford very little assistance, as they are varied for different purposes.
Rosny gives us no information on this point, hence our discussion must proceed without this knowledge, as we have no opportunity of referring to the original. I may remark that it is the opinion of the artist, Mr. Holmes, from an inspection of the photograph, that the plate was at least partially colored.
M. de Charencey, who has studied with much care the custom of identifying colors with the cardinal points in both the New and Old World, believes that in Mexico and Central America the original system was to refer yellow to the east, black to the north, white to the west, and red to the south.[25]
When we turn to the Mexican system we find the data greatly increased, but, unfortunately, the difficulties and confusion are increased in like proportion. Here we have not only the four dominical days and the four colors, but also the four ages, four elements, and four seasons, all bearing some relation in this system to the four cardinal points. It will be necessary, therefore, for us to carry along with us these several ideas in our attempt to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion on this complicated and mystified subject.
Before referring to the codices I will present the conclusions of the principal authorities who have devoted any attention to this question. Sahagun says, “The names that they gave to the four parts of the earth are these: Vitzlampa, the south; Tlapcopcopa, the east; Mictlampa, the north; Coatlampa, the west. The names of the figures dedicated to these parts are these: Tochtli, the rabbit, was dedicated to Vitzlampi, the south; Acatl, the cane, to the east; Tecpatl, the flint, to the north; Calli, the house, to the west; * * * * and at the end of fifty-two years the count came back to Cetochtliacatl, which is the figure of the reed, dedicated to the east, which they called Tlapcopcopa and Tlavilcopa, nearly towards the fire or the sun. Tecpatl, which is the figure of a flint, was dedicated to Mictlampa, nearly towards hell, because they believed that the dead went towards the north. For which reason, in the superstition which represented the dead as covered with mantas (cloths) and their bodies bound, they made them sit with their faces turned toward the north, or Mictlampa. The fourth figure was the house, and was dedicated to the west, which they called Cioatlampa, which is nearly toward the house of the women, for they held the opinion that the dead women, who are goddesses, live in the west, and that the dead men, who are in the house of the sun, guide him from the east with rejoicings every day, until they arrive at midday, and that the defunct women, whom they regard as goddesses, and call Cioapipiltin, come out from the west to receive him at midday and carry him with rejoicing to the west.”[26]
Veytia’s statement in regard to the same subject is as follows:
“The symbols, then, which were used in the aforesaid monarchies for the numeration of their years were these four: Tecpatl, that signifies flint; Calli, the house; Tochtli, the rabbit; and Acatl, the reed. * * * The material signification of the names are those just given, but the allegories that they wished to set forth by them are the four elements, which they understood to be the origin of all composite matter, and into which all things could be resolved.
“They gave to fire the first place, as the most noble of all, and symbolized it by the flint. * * * By the hieroglyphic of ‘the house’ they represent the element earth, and gave it the second place in their initial characters.
“By the rabbit they symbolized the air, * * * and represented it in various ways, among which was the sign of the holy cross. * * *
“Finally the fourth initial character, which is the reed, which is the proper meaning of the word Acatl, is the hieroglyphic of the element water.”[27]
At page 48: “It is to be noted that most of the old calendars—those of the cycles as well as those of years and months, which they used to form in circles and squares, ran from the right to the left, in the way the orientals write and not as we are accustomed to form such figures.
* * * But they did not maintain this order in the figures that they painted and used as hieroglyphics in them, but placed them some looking to one side and some to the other.”
Gemelli Carreri[28] writes as follows in regard to the Mexican calendar system:
“A snake turned itself round into a circle and in the body of the serpent there were four divisions. The first denoted the south, in that language call’d Uutzlampa, whose hieroglyphick was a rabbit in a blew field, which they called Tochtli. Lower was the part that signify’d the east, called Tlacopa or Tlahuilcopa, denoted by a cane in a red field, call’d Acatl. The hieroglyphick of the north, or Micolampa, was a sword pointed with flint, call’d Tecpatl, in a yellow field. That of the west or Sihuatlampa, was a house in a green field, and called Cagli. * * *
“These four divisions were the beginning of the four terms that made up the age. Between every two on the inside of the snake were twelve small divisions, among which the four first names or figures were successively distributed, giving every one its number to thirteen, which was the number of years that composed an indication; the like was done in the second indication with the same names from one to thirteen, and so in the third and fourth, till they finished the circle of fifty-two years. * * * From what has been said above, there arise several doubts; the first is, why they begin to reckon-their years from the south; the second, why they made use of the four figures, of a rabbit, a cane, a flint, and a house.”
He then goes on to state that the Mexicans believed the sun or light first appeared in the south, and that hell or inferno was in the north; then adds the following:
“Having found this analogy between the age and the year, they would carry the similitude or proportions on further, and, as in the year there are four seasons, so they would adapt the like to the age, and accordingly they appointed Tochtli for its beginning in the south, as it were, the spring and youth of the sun’s age; Acatl for the summer, Tecpatl for the autumn, and Cagli for his old age or winter.
“These figures so disposed were also the hieroglyphicks of the elements, which is the second doubt; for Tochtli was dedicated to Tevacayohua, god of earth; Acatl to Tlalocatetuhtli, god of water; Tecpatl to Chetzahcoatl, god of air; and Cagli to Xiuhtecuhil, god of fire. * * *
“The days Cipactli, Michitzli, Ozomatli, and Cozcaquauhtli are companions to—that is, in all respects follow—the order of the four figures that denote the years of an age, viz, Tochtli, Acatl, Tecpatl, and Cagli, to signify that every year whose symbol is Tochtli will have Cipactli for the first day of the month; that whose symbol or distinctive mark is Acatl will have Michitzli for the first of the month; Tecpatl will have Ozomatli, and Cagli will have Cozcaquauhtli.”
Clavigero[29] agrees with Gemelli in reference to the correspondence of the year symbols with the first days of the years, and inserts the following remark in a note:
“Cav. Boturini says that the year of the rabbet began uniformly with the day of the rabbet, the year of the cane with the day of the cane, &c., and never with the days which we have mentioned; but we ought to give more faith to Siguenza, who was certainly better informed in Mexican antiquity. The system of this gentleman is fantastical and full of contradictions.”
From this statement we infer that Siguenza held the same opinion on this point as Clavigero and Gemelli.
Boturini[30] gives the following arrangement of the “symbols of the four parts or angles of the world,” comparing it with that of Gemelli.
| “Gemelli. | “Boturini. | ||||
| 1. Tochtli | = | South. | 1. Tecpatl | = | South. |
| 2. Acatl | = | East. | 2. Calli | = | East. |
| 3. Tecpatl | = | North. | 3. Tochtli | = | North. |
| 4. Calli | = | West.” | 4. Acatl | = | West.” |
SYMBOLS OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS.
| “Gemelli. | “Boturini. | ||||
| 1. Tochtli | = | Earth. | 1. Tecpatl | = | Fire. |
| 2. Acatl | = | Water. | 2. Calli | = | Earth. |
| 3. Tecpatl | = | Air. | 3. Tochtli | = | Air. |
| 4. Calli | = | Fire.” | 4. Acatl | = | Water.” |
Herrera speaks only of the year symbols and colors, and, although he does not directly connect them, indicates his understanding in regard thereto by the order in which he mentions them:[31]
“They divided the year into four signs, being four figures, the one of a house, another of a rabbit, the third of a cane, the fourth of a flint, and by them they reckoned the year as it passed on, saying, such a thing happened at so many houses or at so many flints of such a wheel or rotation, because their life being as it were an age, contained four weeks of years consisting of thirteen, so that the whole made up fifty-two years. They painted a sun in the middle from which issued four lines or branches in a cross to the circumference of the wheel, and they turned so that they divided it into four parts, and the circumference and each of them moved with its branch of the same color; which were four, Green, Blue, Red, and Yellow; and each of those parts had thirteen subdivisions with the sign of a house, a rabbit, a cane, or a flint.”
From this statement I presume his arrangement would be as follows:
| Calli | — | Green. |
| Tochtli | — | Blue. |
| Acatl | — | Red. |
| Tecpatl | — | Yellow. |
Still, this is at best but a supposition. It is evident that he had before him or referred to a wheel similar to that figured by Duran in his Historia de las Indias, as his description agrees with it in every respect, except as to the arrangement of the colors.
According to Duran[32] “The circle was divided into four parts, each part containing thirteen years, the first part pertaining to the east, the second to the north, the third to the west, and the fourth to the south. The first part, which pertained to the east, was called the thirteen years of the Cane, and in each house of the thirteen was painted a cane, and the number of the corresponding year. * * * The second part applied to the north, in which were other thirteen houses (divisions), called the thirteen houses of the Flint, and there were also painted in each one a flint and the number of the year. * * * The third part, that which appertained to the west, was called the thirteen Houses; there were also painted in this thirteen little houses, and joined to each the number of the year. * * * In the fourth and last part were other thirteen years called the thirteen houses of the Rabbit, and in each of these houses were also likewise painted the head of a rabbit, and joined to it a number.”
The plate or figure accompanying this statement[33] is a wheel in the form shown in [Fig. 8], the quadrant a green, with thirteen figures of the cane in it; b red, with thirteen figures of the flint in it; c yellow with thirteen figures of the house in it, and d blue, with thirteen figures of the rabbit’s head in it, each figure with its appropriate numeral. At the top is the word “Oriente,” at the left “Norte,” at the bottom “Occidente,” and at the right “Sur.”
Although this figure was evidently made by this author or for him, it expresses his understanding of the assignment of the years and arrangement of the colors as ascertained from the data accessible to him.
His arrangement will therefore be as follows:
| Acatl | — | East | — | Green. |
| Tecpatl | — | North | — | Red. |
| Calli | — | West | — | Yellow. |
| Tochtli | — | South | — | Blue. |
We find the same idea frequently expressed in the codices now accessible, as, for example, the Borgian and the Vatican B, though the colors do not often correspond with Duran’s arrangement.
Shultz-Sellack,[34] in his article heretofore quoted, arranges the colors in connection with the dominical days in the Maya system as follows:
| Kan | — | South | — | Yellow. |
| Muluc | — | East | — | Red. |
| Ix | — | North | — | White. |
| Cauac | — | West | — | Black. |
He does not appear to be so clear in reference to the Mexican system, in fact he seems to avoid the question of the assignment of the year symbols. His arrangement, as far as I can understand it, is as follows:
| —? Quetzalcoatl | — | South | — | Wind | — | Yellow. |
| —? Huitzilopuchtli | — | East | — | Fire | — | Red. |
| —? Tezcatlipoca | — | North | — | Water | — | White. |
| —? Tlaloc | — | West | — | Earth | — | Black. |
Orozco y Berra[35] gives his preference to the opinion of Sahagun, which has already been quoted, and which is the same as that held by Torquemada.[36]
The most thorough and extensive discussion of this subject which has so far been made, is by Dr. D. Alfredo Chavero, in the Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico.[37]
According to this author, who had access not only to the older as well as more recent authorities usually referred to, but also to the manuscript of Fabrigat and the Codex Chimalpopoca or Quauhtitlan, the order of the year symbols or year bearers—Tecpatl, Calli, Acatl, and Tochtli—varied “segun les pueblos,” the Toltecs commencing the cycle with Tecpatl, those of Teotihuacan with Calli, those of Tezcuco with Acatl, and the Mexicans with Tochtli.[38] He also shows that the relation and order of the four ages or creations and elements in regard to the cardinal points, are by no means uniform, not only in the Spanish and early authorities, but in the codices and monuments (supposing his interpretation to be correct).
His arrangement, as derived from the leading codices, is as follows:
| Tochtli | — | South | — | Earth. |
| Acatl | — | East | — | Water. |
| Tecpatl | — | North | — | Fire. |
| Calli | — | West | — | Air. |
In order that the various views may be seen at a glance, I give here a tabulated résumé:
MEXICAN SYMBOLS OF THE CARDINAL POINTS.
Veytia.
| 1. Tecpatl | — | Flint | — | Fire. |
| 2. Calli | — | House | — | Earth. |
| 3. Tochtli | — | Rabbit | — | Air. |
| 4. Acatl | — | Cane | — | Water. |
Sahagun.
| 1. Tochtli | — | Rabbit | — | South. |
| 2. Acatl | — | Cane | — | East. “Toward the fire or sun.” |
| 3. Tecpatl | — | Flint | — | North. “Nearly towards hell.” |
| 4. Calli | — | House | — | West. “Towards the house of women.” |
Gemelli.
| 1. Tochtli | — | Rabbit | — | South | — | Blue | — | Earth | — | Cipactli. |
| 2. Acatl | — | Cane | — | East | — | Red | — | Water | — | Michiztli. |
| 3. Tecpatl | — | Flint | — | North | — | Yellow | — | Air | — | Ozomatli. |
| 4. Calli | — | House | — | West | — | Green | — | Fire | — | Cozcaquauhtli. |
Boturini.
| 1. Tecpatl | — | Flint | — | South | — | Fire. |
| 2. Calli | — | House | — | East | — | Earth. |
| 3. Tochtli | — | Rabbit | — | North | — | Air. |
| 4. Acatl | — | Cane | — | West | — | Water. |
Herrera.
| Calli | — | House | — | Green. |
| Tochtli | — | Rabbit | — | Blue. |
| Acatl | — | Cane | — | Red. |
| Tecpatl | — | Flint | — | Yellow. |
Duran.
| 1. Acatl | — | Cane | — | East | — | Green. |
| 2. Tecpatl | — | Flint | — | North | — | Red. |
| 3. Calli | — | House | — | West | — | Yellow. |
| 4. Tochtli | — | Rabbit | — | South | — | Blue. |
Schultz-Sellack.
| 1. | — | ? | — | Quetzalcoatl | — | South | — | Wind | — | Yellow. |
| 2. | — | ? | — | Huitzilopuchtli | — | East | — | Fire | — | Red. |
| 3. | — | ? | — | Tezcatlipoca | — | North | — | Water | — | White. |
| 4. | — | ? | — | Tlaloc | — | West | — | Earth | — | Black. |
Charencey.
| 1. | — | ? | — | East | — | Yellow. |
| 2. | — | ? | — | North | — | Black. |
| 3. | — | ? | — | West | — | White. |
| 4. | — | ? | — | South | — | Red.[39] |
Orozco y Berra.
| 1. Tochtli | — | Rabbit | — | South | — | Air. |
| 2. Acatl | — | Cane | — | East | — | Water. |
| 3. Tecpatl | — | Flint | — | North | — | Fire. |
| 4. Calli | — | House | — | West | — | Earth. |
Chavero.
| 1. Tochtli | — | Rabbit | — | South | — | Earth. |
| 2. Acatl | — | Cane | — | East | — | Water. |
| 3. Tecpatl | — | Flint | — | North | — | Fire. |
| 4. Calli | — | House | — | West | — | Air. |
Judging from the differences shown in these lists, we are forced to the conclusion that no entirely satisfactory result has been reached in reference to the assignment of the different symbols to the cardinal points; still a careful analysis will bring out the fact that there is a strong prevalency of opinion on one or two points among the earlier authorities. In order that this may be seen I present here a list in a different form from the preceding.
REFERENCE OF THE YEARS TO THE CARDINAL POINTS.
| Tochtli | — | Acatl | — | Tecpatl | — | Calli. | ||
| Sahagun | — | South | — | East | — | North | — | West. |
| Gemelli | — | South | — | East | — | North | — | West. |
| Duran | — | South | — | East | — | North | — | West. |
| Orozco y Berra | — | South | — | East | — | North | — | West. |
| Chavero | — | South | — | East | — | North | — | West. |
| Torquemada | — | South | — | East | — | North | — | West. |
| Boturini | — | North | — | West | — | South | — | East. |
REFERENCE OF COLORS TO THE CARDINAL POINTS.
| South | — | East | — | North | — | West. | ||
| Gemelli | — | Blue | — | Red | — | Yellow | — | Green. |
| Duran | — | Blue | — | Green | — | Red | — | Yellow. |
| Charencey[40] | — | Red | — | Yellow | — | Black | — | White. |
| Schultz-Sellack | — | Yellow | — | Red | — | White | — | Black. |
REFERENCE OF ELEMENTS TO THE CARDINAL POINTS.
| South | — | East | — | North | — | West. | ||
| Gemelli | — | Earth | — | Water | — | Air[41] | — | Fire. |
| Boturini | — | Fire | — | Earth | — | Air | — | Water. |
| Schultz-Sellack | — | Air | — | Fire | — | Water | — | Earth. |
| Chavero | — | Earth | — | Water | — | Fire | — | Air. |
REFERENCE OF THE ELEMENTS TO THE YEARS.
| Tochtli | — | Acatl | — | Tecpatl | — | Calli | ||
| Veytia | — | Air | — | Water | — | Fire | — | Earth. |
| Gemelli | — | Earth | — | Water | — | Air | — | Fire. |
| Boturini | — | Air | — | Water | — | Fire | — | Earth. |
| Chavero | — | Earth | — | Water | — | Fire | — | Air. |
| Orozco y Berra | — | Air | — | Water | — | Fire | — | Earth. |
As will be seen from this list, there is entire uniformity in the assignment of the years or year symbols to the cardinal points, with the single exception of Boturini. As this author’s views in regard to the calendar are so radically different from all other authorities as to induce the belief that it applies to some other than the Aztec or true Mexican calendar we will probably be justified in eliminating his opinion from the discussion.
Omitting this author, we have entire uniformity among the authorities named in regard to the reference of the years to the cardinal points, as follows:
Tochtli to the south; Acatl to the east; Tecpatl to the north, and Calli to the west.
The reference of the colors and the elements to the cardinal points is too varied to afford us any assistance in arriving at a conclusion in this respect. In the assignment of the elements to the years we find that, water is referred by all the authorities named to Acatl, and fire by all but one (Gemelli), to Tecpatl.
One thing more must be mentioned before we appeal directly to the codices. As the groups of five days, so often heretofore referred to, were assigned to the cardinal points, it is proper to notice here what is said on this point. So far, I have found it referred to only in the Exposition of the Vatican Codex and by Schultz-Sellack in the article before cited.
As the latter refers to them by numbers only, I give here a list of the Mexican days, with numbers corresponding with the positions they severally hold in their regular order.
Using the numbers only, 1, 5, 9, 13, and 17 will denote the first column; 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18 the second, &c.
Schultz-Sellack states that:
4, 8, 12, 16, 20 were assigned to the south.
1, 5, 9, 13, 17, to the east.
2, 6, 10, 14, 18, to the north.
3, 7, 11, 15, 19, to the west.
But, as he only quotes from the explanation of the Vatican Codex as given by Kingsborough,[42] will present here the statement of this authority:
“Thus they commenced reckoning from the sign of One Cane. For example: One Cane, two, three, &c., proceeding to thirteen; for, in the same way, as we have calculations in our repertories by which to find what sign rules over each of the seven-days of the week, so the natives of that country had thirteen signs for the thirteen days of their week; and this will be better understood by an example. To signify the first day of the world, they painted a figure like the moon, surrounded with splendor, which is emblematical of the deliberation which they say their god held respecting the creation, because the first day after the commencement of time began with the second figure, which was One Cane. Accordingly, completing their reckoning of a cycle at the sign of Two Canes, they counted an Age, which is a period of fifty-two years, because, on account of the bissextile years which necessarily fell in this sign of the Cane, it occurred at the expiration of every period of fifty-two years. Their third sign was a certain figure which we shall presently see, resembling a serpent or viper, by which they intended to signify the poverty and labors which men suffer in this life. Their fourth sign represented an earthquake, which they called Nahuolin, because they say that in that sign, the sun was created. Their fifth sign was Water, for, according to their account, abundance was given to them in that sign. [The five days Cipactli, Acatl, Coatl, Ollin, Atl.] These five signs they placed in the upper part, which they called Tlacpac, that is to say, the east. They placed five other signs at the south, which they named Uitzlan, which means a place of thorns—the first of which was a flower, emblematical of the shortness of life, which passes away quickly, like a blossom or flower. The second was a certain very green herb, in like manner denoting the shortness of life, which is as grass. The third sign was a lizard, to show that the life of man, besides being brief, is destitute, and replete with the ills of nakedness and cold, and with other miseries. The fourth was a certain very cruel species of bird which inhabits that country. The fifth sign was a rabbit, because they say that in this sign their food was created, and accordingly they believed that it presided over drunken revels. [Xochitl, Malinalli, Cuetzpalin, Cozcaquauhtli, Tochtli.] They placed five other signs at the west, which region they called Tetziuatlan. The first was a deer, by which they indicated the diligence of mankind in seeking the necessaries of life for their sustenance. The second sign was a shower of rain falling from the skies, by which they signified pleasure and worldly content. The third sign was an ape, denoting leisure time. The fourth was a house, meaning repose and tranquillity. The fifth was an eagle, the symbol of freedom and dexterity. [Mazatl, Quiahuitl, Ozomatli, Calli, Quauhtli.] At the north, which they call Teutletlapan, which signifies the place of the gods, they placed the other five signs which were wanting to complete the twenty. The first was a tiger, which is a very ferocious animal, and accordingly they considered the echo of the voice as a bad omen and the most unlucky of any, because they say that it has reference to that sign. The second was a skull or death, by which they signified that death commenced with the first existence of mankind. The third sign was a razor or stone knife, by which are meant the wars and dissensions of the world; they call it Tequepatl. The fourth sign is the head of a cane, which signifies the devil, who takes souls to hell. The fifth and last of all the twenty signs was a winged head, by which they represented the wind, indicative of the variety of worldly affairs.” [Ocelotl, Miquiztli, Tecpatl, Itzquintli, Ehecatl.]
According, therefore, to this author the first column was assigned to the East, the second to the North, the third to the West, and the fourth to the South. He also says that the counting of the years began with 1 Cane.[43]
Turning now to Plate 44 of the Fejervary Codex (our [Plate III]), we notice that the symbols of the days of the first column are wedged in between the loops of the upper left-hand corner, and that here we also find the symbol of the year-bearer, Acatl, in the red circle at the outer extremity of the loop. Here, then, according to the expounder of the Vatican Codex, is the east, and this agrees also with all the other authorities except Boturini. As these day symbols are between the red and yellow loops, the next point to be determined is to which of the two they belong.
This is a very important point, the determination of which must have a strong bearing on our decision as to the cardinal points. As it is here that the apparently strongest evidence against my conclusion is to be found, it is necessary that I explain somewhat fully my reasons for deciding against this apparent evidence.
If we take for granted that the day columns relate to the large angular loops, then the column in the upper right-hand corner would seem to belong to the top or red loop and not to the one on the right; and the column in the upper left-hand corner to the left or yellow loop and not to that at the top, and so on. This I concede is a natural inference which it is necessary to outweigh by stronger evidence.
In the first place it is necessary to bear in mind that although the sides of the plate, that is to say the large loops, are spoken of as facing the cardinal points, yet it is possible the artist intended that the corner or round loops should indicate the cardinal points, as here are found the days assigned to these quarters.
Even admitting that the large angular loops indicate the cardinal points, we must suppose the figures of one corner, either those at the right or left, belong respectively to them. As the symbols of the year-bearers Acatl, Tecpatl, Calli, and Tochtli have peculiar marks of distinction, we are justified in believing that this distinction is for the purpose of signifying the quarter to which they belong. Examining carefully the bird on the symbol for Acatl in the upper left-hand corner loop, we find that it can be identified only with that on the tree in the top or red angular loop. It is true the identification in the other cases is not so certain, but in this case there can be very little doubt, as the green top-knot, the peculiar beak, and green feathers are sufficient of themselves to connect the upper left-hand white loop and figures of this corner with the top red loop and figures embraced in it.
Studying the plate carefully and also our scheme of it—[Fig. 6]—we observe that Cipactli is found at the right base of the red loop, Miquitzli at the right base of the yellow loop (the center of the plate being considered the point of observation), Ozomatli at the right base of the blue loop, and Cozcaquauhtli at the right base of the green loop (but in this case it can be determined only by the order, not by the figure). These are the four days, as is well known, on which the Mexican years begin.
I take for granted, therefore, that the year Acatl or Cane applies to the top or red loop. This, I am aware, necessitates commencing the year with 1 Cipactli, thus apparently contradicting the statement of Gemelli that the Tochtli year began with Cipactli. But it must be borne in mind that this author expressly proceeds upon the theory that the counting of the years began in the south with Tochtli. If the count began with 1 Cane, as both the expounder of the Vatican Codex and Duran affirm, Cipactli would be the first day of this year, as it appears evident from the day lists in the Codices that the first year of all the systems commenced with this day. That Acatl was assigned to the east is affirmed by all authorities save Boturini, and this agrees very well with the plate now under consideration. There is one statement made by the expounder of the Vatican Codex which not only enables us to understand his confused explanation, but indicates clearly the kind of painting he had in view, and tends to confirm the opinion here advanced.
He says that “to signify the first day of the world they painted a figure like the moon,” &c. Let us guess this to be Cipactli, as nothing of the kind named is to be found. The next figure was a cane; their third figure was a serpent; their fourth, earthquake (Ollin); their fifth, water. “These five signs they placed in the upper part, which they called Tlacpac, that is to say, the east.” That he does not mean that these days followed each other consecutively in counting time must be admitted. That he saw them placed in this order in some painting may be inferred with positive certainty. It is also apparent that they are the five days of the first column in the arrangement of the Mexican days shown in [Table No. XI], though not in the order there given, which is as follows:
Dragon, Snake, Water, Cane, Movement.
The order in which they are placed by this author is this:
Dragon? Cane, Serpent, Movement, Water.
Which, by referring to page 35, we find to be precisely the same as that of the five days wedged in between the loops in the upper left-hand corner of Plate 44 of the Fejervary Codex; thus agreeing in order and position with this author’s statement. Duran, as we have seen, also places the east at the top. The same thing is true in regard to the calendar wheel from the book of Chilan Balam hereafter shown.
Accordingly, I conclude that the top of this plate—the red loop—will be east; the left-hand or yellow loop, north; the bottom or blue loop, west, and the right-hand or green loop, south. This also brings the year Acatl to the east, Tecpatl to the north, Calli to the west, and Tochtli to the south. As the commencement was afterwards changed to Tochtli, as we are informed by Chavero (and as appears to be the case in the Borgian Codex), it would begin at the south, just as stated by Gemelli and other early writers, who probably refer to the system in vogue at the time of the conquest.
Shultz-Sellack alludes to this plate in his article heretofore quoted, but considers the red loop the south, notwithstanding his assignment of red among the Aztecs to the east. He was led to this conclusion, I presume, by two facts: First, the close proximity of the fourth column of days to this red loop, and second, the figure of the sun at the foot of the tree or cross, the sun of the first creation having made its appearance, according to Mexican mythology, in the south. But it is far more likely that the artist intended here to be true to known phenomena rather than to a tradition which was in contradiction to them. The presence of this figure above the horizon is, I think, one of the strongest possible proofs that this part of the plate denotes the east.
According to Gemelli[44] the south was denoted by a “blue field,” and the symbol Tochtli; east by a red field, and the symbol Acatl; the north by a “yellow field,” and the symbol Tecpatl, and the west by a “green field,” and the symbol Calli. In this plate we have precisely the colors he mentions, red in the east, and yellow in the north, but green is at the south, and blue at the west.
Sahagun remarks[45] that “at the end of fifty-two years the count came back to Cetochtliacatl (one-Rabbit-Cane), which is the figure of the reed dedicated to the east, which they called Tlapcopcopa and Tlavilcopa, nearly towards the fire or sun.”[46]
This language is peculiar and important, and indicates that he had a Mexican painting similar to the plate now under discussion before him, in which the year symbols were at the corners instead of at the sides. On this supposition only can we understand his use of the term “Cetochtli-acatl,” and the expression “nearly towards the fire,” &c. His use of the term “fire” in this connection undoubtedly indicates red. His language is therefore in entire harmony with what we find on this plate.
According to Gemelli and Chavero the element earth was assigned to the south; in this plate, in the right space inclosed by the green loop, we see the great open jaws representing the earth out of which the tree arises. From a careful examination of this figure, so frequently found in this and other Mexican Codices, I am convinced it is used as the symbol of the grave and of the earth. The presence of this symbol and of the figure of death in this space, as also the figures of the gods of death and the under world in the corresponding space of the Cortesian plate, strongly inclined me for a time to believe that this should be considered the north, as in the Aztec superstitions one class of the dead was located in that region; but a more thorough study leads me to the conclusion that these figures are intended to represent the earth and to symbolize the fact that here is to be found the point where the old cycle ends and the new begins. I will refer to this again when I return to the description of the Cortesian plate.
All the authorities, except Boturini, refer the year Tecpatl or Flint to the north, which agrees with the theory I am advancing, and in the lower left-hand corner we find in the red circle the figure of a flint, which according to my arrangement applies to the north, represented by the yellow loop.
How, then, are we to account for the presence of this symbol on the head of the right figure in the red or eastern loop? Veytia says, “They (the Mexicans) gave to fire the first place as the most noble of all (the elements), and symbolized it by the flint.” This I acknowledge presents a difficulty that I am unable to account for only on the supposition that this author has misinterpreted his authorities, for no one so far as I can find gives the “sun” or “age of fire” as the first, the only difference in this respect being as to whether the “sun of water” or the “sun of earth” was first. This difference I am inclined to believe (though without a thorough examination of the subject) arises chiefly from a variation of the cardinal point with which they commence the count, those starting at the south commencing with the element earth, those beginning at the east with water.[47] Not that the authors themselves always indicated these points, but that a proper interpretation of the original authorities would have resulted in this conclusion, supposing a proper adjustment of the different calendar systems of the Nahua nations to have been made. I think it quite probable that the artist who painted this plate, of the Fejervary Codex believed the first “sun” or “age” should be assigned to the east, and that here the flint indicates origin, first creative power or that out of which the first creation issued, an idea which I believe is consonant with Nahua traditions. I may as well state here as elsewhere that notwithstanding the statement made by Gemelli and others that it was the belief or tradition of the Mexicans that the sun first appeared in the south, I am somewhat skeptical on this point.
Such a tradition might be possible in an extreme northern country, but it is impossible to conceive how it would have originated in a tropical region.
The calendar and religious observances were the great and all-absorbing topics of the Nahua nations, and hence it is to these, and especially the first, that we must look for an explanation of their paintings and sculpture, and not so much to the traditions given by the old Spanish authors.
Finally, the assignment of the year symbols to the four points at which we find them was not, as these early authors supposed, because of their significance, but because in forming the circle of the days they fell at these points. This fact is so apparent from the plates of the Codices that it seems to me to forbid any other conclusion.
In the bottom, blue loop, which we call the west, we see two female figures, one of them with cross-bones on her dress. This agrees precisely with the statement of Sahagun heretofore given, to wit, “for they held the opinion that the dead women, who are goddesses, live in the west, and that the dead men, who are in the house of the sun, guide him from the east with rejoicings every day, until they arrive at midday, and that the defunct women, whom they regard as goddesses and call Cioapipiltin, come out from the west to receive him at midday (or south?), and carry him with rejoicing to the west.” Before comparing with the plate of the Cortesian Codex, we call attention to some other plates of the Mexican Codices, in order to see how far our interpretation of the plates of the Fejervary Codex will be borne out.
Turning now to Plates 65 and 66 of the Vatican Codes B[48] (shown in our [Plate IV]), we observe four trees (or crosses) each with an individual clasping the trunk. One of these individuals is red, the other white, with slender red stripes and with the face black, another green, and the other black. On the top of each tree, except the one at the right, is a bird; on the right tree, or rather broad-leaved tropical plant, which is clasped by the black individual, is the figure of the tiger or rabbit. As these are probably intended to represent the seasons (spring, summer, &c.), the ages, or the years, and consequently the cardinal points, let us see with what parts of the plate of the Fejervary Codex they respectively correspond.
By turning back to page 50 the reader will see that the days of the first column, viz, Cipactli, Coatl, &c., or numbers 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 were referred to the east, the second column 2, 6, 8, 12, 16 to the north, &c. Each of the four trees has below it, in a line, five day characters. Below the fourth one are Xochitl, Malinalli, Cuetzpalin, Cozcaquauhtli, and Tochtli, precisely those of the fourth column, and which, in accordance with our interpretation of the Fejervary Codex, are assigned to the south.
Referring to the first or left-hand of these four groups, we observe that the clasping figure is red, and that the days in the line underneath are 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, those of the east, agreeing in all respects with our interpretation of the Fejervary plate.
The days below the second group, with the white and red striped individual, are 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, indicating the north, and those below the third, with the green individual, 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, denoting the west.
So far the agreement with our theory of the other plate is perfect, but in this case we have taken the figures from the left to the right, this being, as we have seen in the Tonalamatl, or table of days, copied from this Codex, the direction in which they are to be read when in a line.
We notice also that the bird over the first tree, although differing in some respects from it, is the same as that in the top or red loop of the other plate, and that over the third tree the same as that in the blue or bottom loop, agreeing also in this respect.
From these facts we understand that the black figure is sometimes at least assigned to the south.
I am fully aware of the difficulties to be met with in attempting to carry out this assignment of colors, in explanation of other plates of this and other Codices, nor do I believe colors can be relied upon. They form some aid in the few plates of general application to the calendar, and where there are reasons, as in the cases given, to suppose the cardinal points will be indicated in some regular order. The same thing is true also in regard to the Manuscript Troano. For example, if we suppose character a of [Fig. 7] to denote the east, b north, c west, and d south, we shall find them arranged in the following different ways:
| c | b | abcd cdab | c | a |
| d | a | d | b | |
| a | d | c | d | |
| c | b | a | b | |
Combine with these colors and other distinctive marks, then vary them in proportion, and we should have an endless variety, just as we see in the Mexican Codices. We can only hope to solve the problem, therefore, by selecting, after careful study, those plates which appear to have the symbols arranged in their normal order.
Turning to plate 43 of the Borgian Codex, we find it impossible to make it agree, either with the plate of the Fejervary Codex or the Vatican Codex. Here we find the days 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 associated with the green figure in the lower left-hand square; 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 with the yellow figure in the lower right-hand square; 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19 with the black figure in the upper right-hand square, and 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 with the red figure in the upper left-hand square. What adds to the difficulty is the fact that the symbol of the Cane accompanies the black figure, thus apparently indicating that this denotes the year Acatl. That these groups are to be taken in the same order as those of Plate 44 of the Fejervary Codex, that is around to the left, opposite the sun’s course, is evident from the days and also from Plate 9 of this (Borgian) Codex, where the twenty days of the month are placed in a circle.
In this latter the order of the four years is indicated by the first days of the years, viz, Cipactli, Miquiztli, Ozomatli, and Cozcaquauhtli placed in blue circles at the corners in the following order:
| Ozomatli. | Miquiztli. |
| Cozcaquauhtli. | Cipactli. |
In the lower right-hand corner of Plate 4, same Codex, is a square with the four quadrants very distinctly colored and arranged thus:
| Yellow. | Green. |
| Blue. | Red. |
and a large red circle in the center, on the body of what is evidently intended as a symbol of Cipactli. As this appears to be a figure of general application, we presume that it commences with Cipactli, the day on which the cycles began. As the four names of the days with which the years began probably show, as arranged in the above square, their respective positions in the calendar wheel, I infer that, in their normal arrangement, Cipactli corresponded with the red, Miquiztli with the green, Ozomatli with the yellow, and Cozcaquauhtli with the blue. This brings the colors in precise accordance with those on the cross in the lower right-hand square of Plate 43; and if we suppose the black figure to correspond with the blue it brings the colors in the same order, but the day groups are shifted around one point to the left. It is probable therefore that this plate, like a number of others in the same Codex, is intended to denote the relation of colors and day groups to each other in some other than the first or normal year, or possibly to the seasons or the four Indications of the cycle.
But be this as it may, I do not think the difficulty in reconciling the arrangement of the colors and days in this Codex will warrant the rejection of our explanation of the plates of the other codices. That Plate 44 of the Fejervary Codex is one of general application must be admitted, as is also the “Table of the Bacabs” from the Cortesian Codex; and if the true assignment to the cardinal points is made anywhere it will certainly be in these. Turning now to the latter, as shown in our [Plate II], where the erased characters are restored, we note the following facts, and then with some general remarks conclude our paper, as we have no intention of entering upon a general discussion of the Mexican Calendar, which would be necessary if we undertook to explain fully even the plates of the codices we have referred to.
As before remarked, the Cortesian plate is arranged upon the same plan as that of the Fejervary Codex, evidently based upon the same theory and intended for the same purpose. In the latter the four year symbols are placed in the outer looped line at the four corners, and so distinguished as to justify us in believing they mark their respective quadrants. In the former we find the four Maya year-bearers, Cauac, Kan, Muluc, Ix, in corresponding positions, each distinguished by the numeral character for 1 (see 31, 1, 11, and 21 in our scheme, [Fig. 2]), the first, or the right, corresponding with the green loop and the year Tochtli; the second, at the top, corresponding with the red loop and the year Acatl; the third, at the left, corresponding with the yellow loop and the year Tecpatl, and the fourth, at the bottom, corresponding with the blue loop and the year Calli. This brings Cauac to the south, Kan to the east, Muluc to the north, and Ix to the west, and the correspondence is complete, except as to the colors, which, as we have seen, cannot possibly be brought into harmony. This view is further sustained by the fact that the god of death is found on the right of each plate, not for the purpose of indicating the supposed abode of the dead, but to mark the point at which the cycles close, which is more fully expressed in the Cortesian plate by piercing or dividing the body of a victim with a flint knife[49] marked with the symbol of Ezanab (the last day of the Ix years) and the symbol of Ymix, with which, in some way not yet understood, the counting of the cycles began.
In the quotation already made from Sahagun we find the following statement: “Tecpatl, which is the figure of a flint, was dedicated to Mictlampa, nearly towards hell, because they believed that the dead went towards the north. For which reason, in the superstition which represented the dead as covered with mantas (cloths) and their bodies bound, they made them sit with their faces turned toward the north or Mictlampa.”
Although he is referring to Mexican customs, yet it is worthy of note that in this Cortesian plate there is a sitting mummied figure, bound with cords, in the left space, which, according to my interpretation, is at the north side.
Since the foregoing was written I have received from Dr. D. G. Brinton a photo lithograph of the “wheel of the Ah-cuch-haab” found in the book of Chilan Balam, which he has kindly allowed me to use. This is shown in [Fig. 9].
In this (smaller circle) we see that Kan is placed at the top of the cross, denominated Lakin, or east; Cauac at the right, Nohol, or south; Muluc at the left, Xaman, or north; and Hiix at the bottom, Chikin, or west.
Although this shows the marks of Spanish or foreign influence, yet it affords corroborative evidence of the correctness of the view advanced. The upper and larger circle is retained only to show that the reading was around to the left, as in the Cortesian plate.
This result of our investigations, I repeat, forces us to the conclusion that a, [Fig. 7], is the symbol for east, as stated in my former work, b of north, c of west, and d of south.
Among the important results growing out of, and deductions to be drawn from, my discovery in regard to these two plates, I may mention the following:
First. That the order in which the groups and characters are to be taken is around to the left, opposite the course of the sun, which tallies with most of the authorities, and in reference to the Maya calendar confirms Perez’s statement, heretofore mentioned.
Second. That the cross, as has been generally supposed, was used among these nations as a symbol of the cardinal points.
Third. It tends to confirm the belief that the bird figures were used to denote the winds. This fact also enables us to give a signification to the birds’ heads on the engraved shells found in the mounds of the United States, a full and interesting account of which is given by Mr. Holmes in a paper published in the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.[50] Take for example the three shells figured on Plate LIX—reproduced in our [Fig. 10]—Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Here is in each case the four-looped circle corresponding with the four loops of the Cortesian and Fejervary plates, also with the looped serpent of the Mexican calendar stone, and the four serpents of Plate 43 of the Borgian Codex. The four bird heads on each shell are pointed toward the left, just as on Plate 44 of the Fejervary Codex, and Plates 65 and 66 of the Vatican Codex B, and doubtless have the same signification in the former as in the latter—the four winds, or winds of the four cardinal points. If this supposition be correct, of which there is scarcely room for a doubt, it not only confirms Mr. Holmes’s suggestions, but also indicates that the mound builders followed the same custom in this respect as the Nahua nations, and renders it quite probable that there was more or less intercourse between the two peoples, which will enable us to account for the presence in the mounds of certain articles, which otherwise appear as anomalies.
Fourth. Another and more important result is the proof it furnishes of an intimate relation of the Maya with the Nahua nations. That all the Central American nations had calendars substantially the same in principle as the Mexican, is well known. This of itself would indicate a common origin not so very remote; but when we see two contiguous or neighboring peoples making use of the same conventional signs of a complicated nature, down even to the most minute details, and those of a character not comprehensible by the commonalty, we have proof at least of a very intimate relation. I cannot attempt in this place to discuss the question of the identity or non-identity of the Maya, Toltec and Aztec nations, nor the relations of one to the other, but follow the usual method, and speak of the three as distinct.
If Leon y Gama is correct in is statement,[51] “No todos comenzaban á contar el circlo por un mismo año; los Toltecos lo empezaban desde Tecpatl; los de Teotihuacan desde Calli; los Mexicanos desde Tochtli; y los Tezcocanos desde Acatl,” and the years began with Cipactli, we are probably justified in concluding that the Fejervary Codex is a Tezcucan manuscript.
Be this as it may, we have in these two plates the evidence of an intimate relation between the Maya and Nahua nations, as that of the Cortesian Codex certainly appertains to the former and the Fejervary as certainly to the latter.
Which was the original and which the copy is a question of still greater importance, as its proper determination may have the effect to overturn certain opinions which have been long entertained and generally conceded as correct. If an examination should prove that the Mayas have borrowed from the Nahuas it would result in proving the calendar and sculptures of the former to be much more recent than has been generally supposed.
It must be admitted that the Mexican or Nahua manuscripts have little or nothing in them that could have been borrowed from the Maya manuscripts or inscriptions; hence, if we find in the latter anything belonging to or found in the former it will indicate that they are borrowed and that the Mexican are the older.
In addition to the close resemblance of these two plates, the following facts bearing upon this question are worthy of notice. In the lower part of Plate 52 of the Dresden Codex we see precisely the same figure as that used by the Mexicans as the symbol of Cipactli.
The chief character of the hieroglyphic, 15 R. (Rau’s scheme), of the Palenque Tablet is a serpent’s head (shown correctly only on the stone in the Smithsonian Museum and in Dr. Rau’s photograph), and nearly the same as the symbol for the same Mexican day. The method of representing a house in the Maya manuscripts is substantially the same as the Mexican symbol for Calli (House). The cross on the Palenque Tablet has so many features in common with those in the blue and red loops of the Fejervary Codex as to induce the belief that they were derived from the same type. We see in that of the Tablet the reptile head as at the base of the cross in the blue loop, the nodes, and probably the bird of that in the red loop, and the two human figures.
What is perhaps still more significant, is the fact that in this plate of the Fejervery Codex, and elsewhere in the same Codex, we see evidences of a transition from pictorial symbols to conventional characters; for example, the yellow heart-shaped symbol in the lower left-hand corner of the Fejervary plate which is there used to denote the day Ocelotl (Tiger). On the other hand we find in the manuscript Troano for example, on plate III, one of the symbols used in the Tonalamatl of the Vatican Codex B and in other Mexican codices to signify water. On Plate XXV* of the same manuscript, under the four symbols of the cardinal points, we see four figures, one a sitting figure similar to the middle one with black head, on the left side of the Cortesian plate; one a spotted dog sitting on what is apparently part of the carapace of a tortoise; one a monkey, and the other a bird with a hooked bill. Is it not possible that we have here an indication of the four days—Dragon, Death, Monkey, Vulture, with which the Mexican years began?
In all the Maya manuscripts we find the custom of using heads as symbols, almost, if not quite, as often as in the Mexican codices. Not only so, but in the former, even in the purely conventional characters, we see evidences of a desire to turn every one possible into the figure of a head, a fact still more apparent in the monumental inscriptions.
Turning to the ruins of Copan as represented by Stephens and others, we find on the altars and elsewhere the same death’s-head with huge incisors so common in Mexico, and on the statues the snake-skin so often repeated on those of Mexico. Here we find the Cipactli as a huge crocodile head,[52] also the monkey’s head used as a hieroglyphic.[53]
The pendant lip or lolling tongue, which ever it be, of the central figure of the Mexican calendar stone is found also in the central figure of the sun tablet of Palenque[54] and a dozen times over in the inscriptions.
The long, elephantine, Tlaloc nose, so often repeated in the Mexican codices, is even more common and more elaborate in the Maya manuscripts and sculptures, and, as we learn from a MS. paper by Mr. Gustav Eisen, lately received by the Smithsonian Institution, has also been found at Copan.
Many more points or items of agreement might be pointed out, but these will suffice to show that one must have borrowed from the other, for it is impossible that isolated civilizations should have produced such identical results in details even down to conventional figures. Again we ask the question, Which was the borrower? We hesitate to accept what seems to be the legitimate conclusion to be drawn from these facts, as it compels us to take issue with the view almost universally held. One thing is apparent, viz, that the Mexican symbols could never have grown out of the Maya hieroglyphics. That the latter might have grown out of the former is not impossible.
If we accept the theory that there was a Toltec nation preceding the advent of the Aztec, which, when broken up and driven out of Mexico, proceeded southward, where probably colonies from the main stock had already been planted, we may be able to solve the enigma.
If this people were, as is generally supposed, the leaders in Mexican and Central American civilization, it is possible that the Aztecs, a more savage and barbarous people, borrowed their civilization from the former, and, having less tendency toward development, retained the original symbols and figures of the former, adding only ornamentation and details, but not advancing to any great extent toward a written language.
Some such supposition as this, I believe, is absolutely necessary to explain the facts mentioned. But even this will compel us to admit that the monuments of Yucatan and Copan are of much more recent date than has generally been supposed, and such I am inclined to believe is the fact. At any rate, I think I may fairly claim, without rendering myself chargeable with egotism, that my discovery in regard to the two plates so frequently mentioned will throw some additional light on this vexed question.
Note.—Since the foregoing was printed, my attention has been called by Dr. Brinton to the fact that the passage quoted from Sahagun (see pages 41 and 54), as given in Bustamente’s edition, from which it was taken, is incorrect in combining Cetochtli and Acatl into one word, when in fact the first is the end of one sentence and the second the commencement of another. I find, by reference to the passage as given in Kingsborough, the evidence of this erroneous reading. The argument on page 54, so far as based upon this incorrect reading, must fall.
[14] Study Manuscript Troano, pp. 69-74.
[15] Les. Doc. Ecrit. l’Antiq. Ameriq.
[16] Zeits. für Ethn., 1879.
[17] Study Manuscript Troano, pp. 68-70.
[18] Vol. III, p. 471.
[19] P. 234.
[20] P. 209.
[21] P. 82.
[22] P. 209.
[23] See also hisDechiff. Ecrit. Hierat., p. 42.
[24] Relacion, p.208.
[25] Des couleurs consideres comme Symboles des Points de l’Horizon chez des Peuples du Noveau Monde, in Actes de la Societe Philologique, tome VI. See also his Recherches sur les Noms des Points de l’Espace, in. Mem. Acad. Nat. Sci. et Arts et Belles Lettres de Caen, 1882.
Since the above was written I have received a copy of his Ages ou Soleils, in which he gives the Mexican custom of assigning the colors as follows: blue to the south, red to the east, yellow to the north, and green to the west.—P. 40.
[26] Hist. Gen. de las Cosas de Nueva Espana, tome 2, p. 256.
[27] Hist. Ant. Mex., vol. 1, p. 42.
[28] Churchill’s Voyages, vol. IV, pp. 491, 492.
[29] Hist. Mex. Cullen’s Transl., I, 292.
[30] Idea de Una Nueva Historia General de la America Septentrional, pp. 54-56.
[31] Hist. Amer. Dec. II, B. 10, Chap. 4. Transl. vol. 3, pp. 221-222.
[32] Historia de las Indias de Nueva Espana, Mexico, 1880. Tom. II., pp 252-253.
[33] Trato. 3º Lam 1ª.
[34] Zeit. für Ethnologie, 1879.
[35] Anales Mus. Mex., I, Entrag. 7, p. 299.
[36] Monarq. Indiana, lib. X, cap. 36.
[37] Tom. 1, Entrag. 7, tom. II, and continued in tom. III.
[38] A fact mentioned by Leon y Gama (Dos Piedras, pt. I, p. 16), and Veytia (Hist. Antiq. Mej., tom. I, p. 58). See, also, Müller, Reisen, tom. III, p. 65, and Boturini, Idea, p. 125.
[39] I see from Charencey’s “Ages ou Soleils,” just received, that he concludes the arrangement by the Mexicans was as follows:
| 1. Tochtli | — | Rabbit | — | Blue | — | Earth | — | South. |
| 2. Acatl | — | Cane | — | Red | — | Water | — | East. |
| 3. Tecpatl | — | Flint | — | Yellow | — | Air | — | North. |
| 4. Calli | — | House | — | Green | — | Fire | — | West. |
[40] See note 39 on page 47.
[41] By “air” in this connection “wind” is really intended.
[42] Kingsborough, vol. VI, pp. 196, 197.
[43] See also Chavero’s statement to the same purpose, Anales Mus. Mes., tom. 11, entrag. 4, p. 244.
[44] l. c. See also the colored wheel in Kingsborough, Mex. Antiq., Vol. IV. Copied from one in Boturini’s collection, the same as Gemelli’s.
[45] l. c.
[46] Y acabados los cincuenta y dos años tornaba la cuenta á cetochliacatl, que es la caña figura dedicada al oriente que llamaban tlapcopcopa, y tlavilcopa, casihacia la lumbre, ó al sol.
[47] See the various views presented by Chavero, Anales Mus. Mex. Tom. II Entrag. 2, and authorities referred to by Bancroft, Native Races, II. p. 504, note 3.
[48] Kingsburough, Mex. Antiq., Vol. III.
[49] Dr. Brinton, “The Maya Chronicles,” p. 53, informs us that “the division of the katuns was on the principle of the Belran system of numeration, as xel u ca katun, ‘thirty years;’ xel u yox katun, ‘fifty years.’ Literally these expressions are, ‘dividing the second katun,’ ‘dividing the third katun,’ xel meaning to cut in pieces, to divide as with a knife.” This appears to be the idea intended in the figure of the Cortesian plate.
[50] P. 281, pl. 69.
[51] Dos Piedras, pt. 1, p. 16.
[52] Travels in Cent. Amer., vol. I, p. 156. Monument N, plate. Mr. Gustav Eisen, in a MS. lately received by and now in possession of the Smithsonian Institution, also mentions another similar head as found at Copan. This, he says, is on the side of an altar similar to that described by Stephens, except that the top wants the hieroglyphics. The sides have human figures similar to the other; on one of these is the head of an “Alligator.”
[53] Ibid., 2d plate to p. 158.
[54] Stephens’ Trav. Cent. Amer. III Frontispiece.
The following errors and inconsistencies have been maintained.
Misspelled words and typographical errors:
| Page | Error |
| [7] | Schultz Sellack should read Schultz-Sellack |
| [9] | occcpy should read occupy |
| [10] | Imix should read Ymix |
| [12] | Chuen should read Chuen |
| [12] | Eb., should read Eb, |
| [16] | tortous should read tortuous |
| 18 | Footnote [marker 1] and [footnote 1] should be numbered 7 |
| [20] | 1. Kan. 1. Lamat. should read 1 Kan. 1 Lamat. |
| [20] | 2 Kan should read 2 Kan. |
| [26] | number.) should read number). |
| [35] | Echecatl should read Ehecatl |
| [36] | Plate 2 should read Plate II |
| [46] | Shultz-Sellack should read Schultz-Sellack |
| [46] | les should read los |
| [50] | Miquitzli should read Miquiztli |
| [52] | Miquitzli should read Miquiztli |
| [54] | Shultz-Sellack should read Schultz-Sellack |
| [63] | Fejervery should read Fejervary |
| [40, fn. 23] | hisDechiff should read his Dechiff |
| [40, fn. 24] | p.208. should read p. 208. |
| [44, fn. 32] | pp should read pp. |
| [54, fn. 46] | casihacia should read casi hacia |
| [56, fn. 48] | Kingsburough should read Kingsborough |
| [59, fn. 49] | Belran should read Beltran |
The following words had inconsistent spelling:
Ben / Been
Bibliotheque / Bibliothèque
Michitzli / Michiztli
Societe / Société
Vitzlampa / Vitzlampi