Besides this division of time into years, months, and days, there was another division carried along simultaneously with the first, into twenty-eight periods of thirteen days each,[1101] which may for convenience be termed weeks, although the natives did not apply any name to the period of thirteen days, and perhaps did not regard it as a definite period at all, but used the number thirteen as a sacred number from some superstitious motives;[1102] yet its use produces some curious complications in the calendar, of which it is a most peculiar feature. The name of each day was preceded by a numeral showing its position in the week, and these numerals proceeded regularly from one to thirteen and then began again at one. Thus 1 Kan meant 'Kan, the first day of the week'; 12 Cauac, 'Cauac, the twelfth day of the week,' etc. It is probable also that the days of the month were numbered regularly from 1 to 20, as events are spoken of as occurring on the 18th of Zip, etc., but the numeral relating to the week was the most prominent. The table shows the succession of days and weeks for several months:
| Day of Week. | 1 | Day of Month. | Day of Week. | 2 | Day of Month. | Day of Week. | 3 | Day of Month. | Day of Week. | 4 | Day of Month. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | Uo. | Zip. | Tzoz. | ||||||||
| 1 | Kan | 1 | 8 | Kan | 1 | 2 | Kan | 1 | 9 | Kan | 1 |
| 2 | Chicchán | 2 | 9 | Chicchán | 2 | 3 | Chicchán | 2 | 10 | Chicchán | 2 |
| 3 | Cimi | 3 | 10 | Cimi | 3 | 4 | Cimi | 3 | 11 | Cimi | 3 |
| 4 | Manik | 4 | 11 | Manik | 4 | 5 | Manik | 4 | 12 | Manik | 4 |
| 5 | Lamat | 5 | 12 | Lamat | 5 | 6 | Lamat | 5 | 13 | Lamat | 5 |
| 6 | Muluc | 6 | 13 | Muluc | 6 | 7 | Muluc | 6 | 1 | Muluc | 6 |
| 7 | Oc | 7 | 1 | Oc | 7 | 8 | Oc | 7 | 2 | Oc | 7 |
| 8 | Chuen | 8 | 2 | Chuen | 8 | 9 | Chuen | 8 | 3 | Chuen | 8 |
| 9 | Eb | 9 | 3 | Eb | 9 | 10 | Eb | 9 | 4 | Eb | 9 |
| 10 | Ben | 10 | 4 | Ben | 10 | 11 | Ben | 10 | 5 | Ben | 10 |
| 11 | Ix | 11 | 5 | Ix | 11 | 12 | Ix | 11 | 6 | Ix | 11 |
| 12 | Men | 12 | 6 | Men | 12 | 13 | Men | 12 | 7 | Men | 12 |
| 13 | Cib | 13 | 7 | Cib | 13 | 1 | Cib | 13 | 8 | Cib | 13 |
| 1 | Caban | 14 | 8 | Caban | 14 | 2 | Caban | 14 | 9 | Caban | 14 |
| 2 | Ezanab | 15 | 9 | Ezanab | 15 | 3 | Ezanab | 15 | 10 | Ezanab | 15 |
| 3 | Cauac | 16 | 10 | Cauac | 16 | 4 | Cauac | 16 | 11 | Cauac | 16 |
| 4 | Ahau | 17 | 11 | Ahau | 17 | 5 | Ahau | 17 | 12 | Ahau | 17 |
| 5 | Ymix | 18 | 12 | Ymix | 18 | 6 | Ymix | 18 | 13 | Ymix | 18 |
| 6 | Ik | 19 | 13 | Ik | 19 | 7 | Ik | 19 | 1 | Ik | 19 |
| 7 | Akbal | 20 | 1 | Akbal | 20 | 8 | Akbal | 20 | 2 | Akbal | 20 |
Of the twenty days only four,—Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac—could begin either a month or a year. Whatever the name of the first day of the first month, every month in the year began with the same day, accompanied, however, by a different numeral. The numeral of the first day for the first month being 1, that of the second would be 8, and so on for the other months in the following order: 2, 9, 3, 10, 4, 11, 5, 12, 6, 13, 7, 1, 8, 2, 9, 3. To ascertain the numeral for any month 7 must be added to that of the preceding month, and 13 subtracted from the sum if it be more than 13.
SUCCESSION OF THE YEARS.
By extending the table of days and months over a period of years,—an extension which my space does not permit me to make in these pages,—the reader will observe that by reason of the intercalary days, and of the fact that 28 weeks of 13 days each make only 364 instead of 365 days, if the first year began with the day 1 Kan, the second would begin with 2 Muluc, the third with 3 Ix, the fourth with 4 Cauac, the fifth with 5 Kan, and so on in regular order; therefore the years were named by the day on which they began, 1 Kan, 2 Muluc, 3 Ix, etc., since the year would begin with any one of these combinations only once in 52 years. Thus the four names of the days Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac served as signs for the years, precisely as the signs tochtli, calli, tecpatl, and acatl with their numerals served among the Aztecs. In the circle in which the Mayas are said to have inscribed their calendar, these four signs are located in the east, north, west, and south respectively, and are considered the 'carriers of the years.'
It will be seen that, starting from 1 Kan, although every fifth year began with the day, or sign, Kan, yet the numeral 1 did not occur again in connection with any first day until thirteen years had passed away; so that 1 Kan or Kan alone not only named the year which it began, but also a period of thirteen years, which is spoken of as a 'week of years' or an 'indiction.' The first indiction of thirteen years beginning with 1 Kan, the second began with 1 Muluc, the third with 1 Ix, and the fourth with 1 Cauac.
After the indiction whose sign was 1 Cauac, the next would begin again with 1 Kan; that is 52 years would have elapsed, and this period of 52 years was called a Katun, corresponding with the Aztec cycle, as explained in a preceding chapter.
Thus we see that the four signs Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac served to name certain days of the month; they also named the years of the indiction, since in connection with certain numerals they were the first days of these years; they further named the indictions of the Katun, of which with the numeral 1 they were also the first days; and finally they named, or may have named, the Katun itself which they begun, also in connection with the numeral 1. How the Katuns were actually named we are not informed. The completion of each Katun was regarded by the Mayas as a most critical and important epoch, and was celebrated with most imposing religious ceremonies. Also a monument is said to have been raised, on which a large stone was placed crosswise, also called katun as a memorial of the cycle that had passed. It is unfortunate that some of these monuments cannot be discovered and identified among the ruins. Thus far the Maya calendar is, after a certain amount of study, sufficiently intelligible; and is, except in its system of nomenclature, essentially identical with that of the Nahuas. The calendars of the Quichés, Cakchiquels, Chiapanecs, and the natives of Soconusco, are also the same so far as their details are known. The names of months and days in some of these calendars will be given in this chapter.
THE AHAU KATUNES.
Another division of time not found in the Nahua calendar, was that into the Ahau Katunes. The system according to which this division was made is clear enough if we may accept the statements of Sr Perez; several of which rest on authorities that are unknown to all but himself. According to this writer, the Ahau Katun was a period of 24 years, divided into two parts; the first part of 20 years was enclosed in the native writings by a square and called amaytun, lamayte, or lamaytun; and the second, of the other four years, was placed as a 'pedestal' to the others, and therefore called chek oc katun, or lath oc katun. These four years were considered as intercalary and unfortunate, like the five supplementary days of the year, and were sometimes called a yail haab, 'years of pain.' This Katun of 24 years was called Ahau from its first day, and the natives began to reckon from 13 Ahau Katun, because it began on the day 13 Ahau, on which day some great event probably took place in their history. The day Ahau at which these periods began was the second day of such years as began with Cauac; and 13 Ahau, the first day of the first period, was the second of the year 12 Cauac; 2 Ahau was the second day of the year 1 Cauac, etc. If we construct a table of the years from 12 Cauac in regular order, we shall find that if the first period was 13 Ahau Katun because it began with 13 Ahau, the second, 24 years later, was 11 Ahau Katun, beginning with 11 Ahau; the third was 9 Ahau Katun, etc. That is, the Ahau Katunes, instead of being numbered 1, 2, 3, etc., in regular order was preceded by the numerals 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2. 13 of these Ahau Katunes, making 312 years, constituted a great cycle, and we are told that it was by means of the Ahau Katunes and great cycles of 312 years that historical events were generally recorded.