2b—c.
These two sections have something in common. First, 2b (as also 2d) is divided into but two parts and 2c into only three parts. Second, in 2b and 2c the scribe intended to draw the hieroglyphs for 10 days each, instead of 5 each, but only drew the outlines of the second five, since they could not be used for these Tonalamatls. Third, the persons represented here are all engaged in the same occupation, each holding in his hands an object which looks like a frame for a net or web, and also a large needle with an eye through which a thread has been passed.
A very similar representation is found in the Codex Troano 34a, 33a and 23*c, and also in the Sahagun Manuscript of the Bibliotheca Laurentiana at Florence. This can hardly mean anything else than the knotting of cords, which was the only method of casting lots current among the Mayas; compare Seler, "Altmexikanische Studien II" (1899), p. 31, and "Zauberei im alten Mexiko" (1900), p. 90, by the same author. This clearly indicates the use of these Tonalamatls in soothsaying.
Fourth and last, each of the five hieroglyph groups of 2b and 2c begin with the same sign, which must, therefore, denote the casting of lots.
The Tonalamatl 2b runs thus:—
| XI | 34 | VI | 18 | XI |
| Oc | ||||
| Ik | ||||
| Ix | ||||
| Cimi | ||||
| Ezanab. | ||||
The pictures are of three persons. At the left two sit facing one another and at the right is the god A. Of the first two, the one at the left is probably feminine, but with an old face. I am inclined here, in spite of the sex, to recall the bald-headed old god (N, according to Schellhas), whom I am inclined to consider, for the present, the representative of the 5 Uayeyab days at the end of the year. This would account for the sign resembling an 8 lying on its side, which appears on the god's head and which usually represents the change of the year (compare pages 38a, 41b, 52b, 68a and 72c). I cannot explain the person sitting facing this god further, than that from his hieroglyph he is either H or allied to H.
Of the 8 hieroglyphs
| 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | |
| 3 | 4 | 7 | 8 | . |