Aids to the study of the Maya codices / by Cyrus Thomas.

  • Cyrus Thomas
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Aids to the study of the Maya codices / by Cyrus Thomas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    (machete) in his hand, with arrows or spears, with a scepter, and finally, also, with the body of a snake. Considering the immense variety of this god’s representa- tions and the numerous symbols of power in the various elements which the deity rules, we may well be justified in assuming that there are indications here of one of „ the most important figures in Maya mythology, with one of the principal deities of the people. The most important god of the Mayas was Kukulcan, the creator of the country’s civilization, who had come from the far, unknown east, the Mexican Quet- zalcohuatl, the Gucumatz of the Kiche, the Kukulcan of the Tzendals. All these names mean “ feathered snake,’’ “ bird snake.” Now, in the above mentioned sec- tion of the Dresden manuscript, pp. 29-43, there is found on page 36, middle, the representation of a bird and a snake, the two symbols of the god Kukulcan, which, at the same time, denote his name in the manner of a rebus. That this represen- tation is to be referred to the god with the snake’s tongue is rendered probable on the one hand by the fact that this whole section treats of him and is proved on the other hand by the circumstance that in the same place the same snake is found rep- resented with the head of the god; thus, page 35, middle, and 36, above. In the same way this snake with the god’s head is also found in the Codex Cortesianus, page 10, middle, a passage which is rendered notable also by the fact that in the writing above the picture there is expressly found as a second sign the name hieroglyph of the god. No. 3(5. Cimi (?). Supposed symbols of the god of death. Occurring very frequently in all the codices, but with several variations (see Figs. 383 and 384). These are given chiefly on the authority of Drs. Forste- mann and Schelllias, as I have some doubt in reference to this conclusion, for reasons which will here be given. Fig. 383. The supposed god of death, from the Dresden Codex. Fig. 384. The supposed god of death, from the Troano Codex. As Dr. Schellhas remarks, this is “the most characteristic and most easily recognized deity of the Maya Codices”; but this state- ment will not apply to the symbols, as the variations are such as to render it exceedingly doubtful whether precisely the same idea is embodied in each. Even the two forms here given, both of which are found in all the codices and often together, present variations too marked for us to believe, except upon strong evidence, that they rep- resent the same thing. Nor do the figures of this deity or supposed deity appear to embody throughout the same idea. In fact, they