Proceeding now to consider other divinities of the beneficent class, I begin with—
Representations of Xaman Ek, the Pole Star.—This is the “god C, of the ornamented face,” of Dr. Schellhas’ list, who suggests its identity with the pole star. The very characteristic face recurs extremely frequently, especially in Codices Troano, Cortesianus, and Peresianus. We have evidently to do with an important divinity, and, as Dr. Schellhas says, “one of the most remarkable and difficult figures in the manuscripts.” That it is the personification of a star he argues, (1) from the ring of rays with which it is surrounded, Cod. Cort., p. 10; (2) from its appearance in the “constellation band;” (3) from its surmounting in certain pictures the “tree of life;” and that it is the North Star is shown by its presence in the hieroglyph of that quarter and its association with the sign for north.
There is another, and, to me, decisive argument, which at once confirms Dr. Schellhas’ opinion, and explains why the north star is represented by this peculiar, decorated face.
The term for “north” in Maya is xaman, whence xaman ek, north star. The only other word in the language which at all resembles this is xamach, the flat, decorated plate or dish (Nahuatl, comalli) on which tortillas, etc., are served. In the rebus-writing the decorations on the rim of this dish were conventionally transferred to the face of the deity, so as to distinguish it by recalling the familiar utensil. For a similar reason it is also called “the shield star,” chimal ek (like chimal ik, north wind); but as this is a foreign word (from the Nahuatl, chimalli, shield), it was doubtless later and local. I shall refer to this peculiar edging or border as the “pottery decoration,” and we shall find it elsewhere.
That the figure is associated at times with all four quarters of the world, and also with the supreme number 13 (see above, p. [24]), are not at all against the identification, as Dr. Schellhas seems to think, but in favor of it; for at night, all four directions are recognized by the position of the pole; and its immovable relation to the other celestial bodies seems to indicate that it belongs above the highest.
The North Star is especially spoken of as “the guide of merchants.” Its representation is associated with symbols of peace and plenty (removing the contents of a tall vase, C. Cortes., p. 40; seated under a canopy, ibid., p. 29). In front of his forehead is attached a small vase, the contents of which are trickling into his mouth (?).
Fig. 19.—The North Star God.
He is especially prominent in the earlier pages of the Cod. Peres., where his presence seems to have been practically overlooked by previous writers; and it is true that the drawings are nearly erased. Close inspection will show, however, that he is portrayed on both sides of the long column of figures which runs up the middle of page 3. On the left, he is seated on the “Tree of Life,” as in Cod. Troanus, p. 17, a (which is growing from the vase of the rains, precisely as in Cod. Tro., 14, b, where the star-god is sailing in the vase itself). On the right of the column he is shown in the darkness of night (on a black background), holding in his hand the kan symbol of fortune and food. A similar contrast is on page 7, where on the right of the column he is seen above the fish, and on the left, in the dark, again with the kan symbol. On the intermediate page he is seated opposite the figure of Kin ich Ahau, which is head downward, signifying that when the sun is absent the pole star rules the sky.
