Commentary on the Maya Manuscript in the Royal Public Library of Dresden

by Ernst Wilhelm Förstemann

The eyes of the fourth woman are closed, she is pointing forward with her hand and there is a bird on her head. Nothing is left of the hieroglyphs.

Finally, the fifth is distinguished by a large nose-peg, which, as on 12b, resembles a flower. Her hand is extended forward. The fourth of the hieroglyphs above her is her sign. There

is nothing to be said regarding the three others. Are these five women engaged here in presenting their thankofferings and prayers of thanksgiving for the birth which has taken place?

Pages 19a—21a.

XI	13	XI	13	XI	13	XI	13	XI	13	XI
Ahau
Chicchan
Oc
Men
Ahau.

Instead of Men the Manuscript has incorrectly Eb. Ahau in the fifth place is superfluous, since we have here a Tonalamatl divided into four equal parts.

The hieroglyphs are so nearly obliterated that we can no longer distinguish a common sign. There were in all six signs for the first picture, of which the first two are above the day-signs, while the figures from the second to the fifth have only four signs each, as follows:—

1	2	5	7	8	11	12	15	16	19	20
3	4	6	9	10	13	14	17	18	21	22	.

All that can be distinguished here is that the 4th and 13th have the same cross b and that 6 and 10 probably contain the same head.

Each of the five pictures contains a woman sitting. In the first representation she sits opposite a male figure, who bends down to her with his bird-head, which we have already seen on page 13c. In the other four pictures the woman is holding the figure of a god on her lap. I do not recognize the god in the first picture on page 20. In the second and third pictures he is related to A or the Moan and the first figure on page 21 may represent the god D. These can only be new-born children represented by the gods under whose signs they were born. It should also be noted that the second woman on page 20 has a serpent on her head and the third a bird. The bird's head resembles that on page 16c.