17. Kayab. The main element was recognized by Schellhas as the head of a turtle. In Landa’s alphabet this has the value a or ak. It is applied as a rebus to recall the first syllable of the name.
18. Cum ku. The glyph in one case combines kan and cum, with prefixes of cauac and cib. Dr. Förstemann fancifully explains it as portraying “from one point two flashes of lightning or sun’s rays striking the maize field.” Rather, we have here the rebus cum kan, recalling the name, and the cauac sign, which is repeated in a number of the month signs.
7. The Hieroglyphs of the Deities.
I have already mentioned that in the texts the gods are severally represented by their signs or monograms. The credit of defining these in a clear and satisfactory manner is due almost entirely to Dr. Schellhas, and I shall here present the results of his careful studies, retaining his alphabetic nomenclature, which has in some degree been accepted by Dr. Förstemann and others.
A. The god of Death.
His signs are clearly established and vary but little, Nos. 1–4. Two of them are usually written. The prefix to 1 and 3 has been already referred to (see p. 84). The bean (or flint) appears as a prefix in No. 2, as a subfix in No. 3. Frequently associated with his monogram is No. 5, which Seler explains as the sign of the owl. No. 6, from Cod. Dres., p. 50, with a skull for a head-dress, may be a priest of this divinity; No. 7, from Dres., p. 22, may also be a priest or a companion.
B. Itzamna, or “the god with the snake-like tongue.”