V. The turtle or tortoise. Its monogram is seen Nos. 73, 74, 75. It is the a of Landa’s alphabet. There is no doubt but that the turtle’s head and not that of the parrot is intended, though some have thought otherwise.
V. Specimens of Texts.
In the selection of the following texts I have been guided principally by the desire to illustrate Mayan palæography as presented on different surfaces, paper, stone, earthenware, etc., and as it is found in the various regions occupied by tribes of Mayan culture and affinity. Some of the examples have not been previously published, and for this reason have a special value.
Fig. 68.—The God of Time brings in the Dead Year. (From the Dresden Codex.)
Fig. [68] I would explain as the god of time bringing in the dead year. It is part of the ceremonies depicted as belonging to the close of the year. That the wolf-headed figure represents time, the Devourer, I infer from its relations in the early pages of the Ferjevary Codex, where it is shown eating a string of days, etc. (in Kingsborough’s Mexican Antiquities).
These ceremonies are represented in the Cod. Troano, pp. 20–23, and the Cod. Dres., pp. 25–28. The recognition of their significance is principally due to Prof. Cyrus Thomas.
The god arrives in the vase of the heavenly waters. In his left hand he holds the rattle, in his right the magic wand, or magician’s staff, caluac, and the medicine bag (Maya chimil, Nahuatl, xiquipilli); around his waist is the broad carrying-band, in the loop of which he has the dying year, kan.
