In Plate LXIII of Stephens (vol. ii) is a small figure of Cukulcan which he calls “Bas Relief on Tablet.” Waldeck gives a much larger drawing (incorrect, however, in many details), in which the figure, the “Beau Relief,” is seen to wear bracelets high up on the arm. This was a distinguishing sign of Quetzalcoatl (see Bancroft’s Native Races, vol. iii, pp. 249 and 250), and this figure probably is a representation of the Maya divinity. He is on a stool with tigers for supports. The tiger belongs to the attributes which he had in common with Tlaloc, and we see again the intimate connection of these divinities—a connection often pointed out by Brasseur de Bourbourg.
This is the third proper name which has been deciphered. All of them have been pure picture-writing, except in so far as their rebus character may make them in a sense phonetic.
[XI.]
COMPARISON OF THE SIGNS OF THE MAYA MONTHS (LANDA) WITH THE TABLETS.
We have a set of signs for Maya months and days handed down to us by Landa along with his phonetic alphabet. A priori these are more likely to represent the primitive forms as carved in stone than are the alphabetic hieroglyphs, which may well have been invented by the Spaniards to assist the natives to memorize religious formulæ.[4]
Brasseur de Bourbourg has analyzed the signs for the day and month in his publication on the MS. Troano, and the strongest arguments which can be given for their phonetic origin are given by him.
I have made a set of MS. copies of these signs and included them in my card-catalogue, and have carefully compared them with the tablets XXIV and LVI. My results are as follows:
Plate XXIV (our [Fig. 60]).
No. 42 is the Maya month Pop, beginning July 16.
No. 54 is Zip??, beginning August 25.
No. 47 is Tzoz??, beginning September 14.