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Read Ebook: Commentary on the Maya Manuscript in the Royal Public Library of Dresden by F Rstemann Ernst Wilhelm Parker A M Alberta M Translator Wesselhoeft Selma Translator
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Translator: Selma Wesselhoeft A. M. Parker
PAPERS
OF THE
PEABODY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
COMMENTARY ON THE MAYA MANUSCRIPT IN THE ROYAL PUBLIC LIBRARY OF DRESDEN
DR. ERNST F?RSTEMANN
TRANSLATED BY MISS SELMA WESSELHOEFT AND MISS A. M. PARKER
Translation revised by the Author
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. PUBLISHED BY THE MUSEUM OCTOBER, 1906
NOTE
In pursuance of the plan of publishing translations of valuable contributions to the study of the Maya hieroglyphs, the Museum Committee on Central American Research has the pleasure of offering the following translation of Dr. Ernst F?rstemann's important Commentary on the Maya Manuscript in the Royal Library of Dresden, generally known as the Dresden Codex.
The translation by Miss Selma Wesselhoeft and Miss A. M. Parker was made under the direction of Mr. Charles P. Bowditch of the Museum Committee.
In the original German edition, published in 1901, Dr. F?rstemann used the Arabic numerals to designate the days, but in this translation, with the consent of the author who has kindly revised the translation, Mr. Bowditch has substituted the corresponding Maya names of the days, in uniformity with the general use of students in this country. It is needless to call attention to the importance of this paper by Dr. F?rstemann whose long-continued study of the intricate system of hieroglyphic writing by the ancient Mayas makes all he writes of great value to students engaged in this most interesting research.
F. W. PUTNAME.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, October, 1906.
PREFACE
Some of those who examine this book will say, that it is too early for a commentary on the "Dresdensis," since Maya research is yet in its infancy, and this opinion is certainly justified inasmuch as a final explanation of that remarkable monument is, of course, impossible at the present time. On the other hand the accounts of the numerous investigations and discoveries which have been made thus far are so isolated and so scattered in the shape of a hundred short magazine articles, that it is certainly desirable to have what we know and what we have still to learn gathered together under one head. This book is intended, therefore, to give an idea of the state of our knowledge in this department of research at this time, when the nineteenth century is passing into the twentieth, with the definite expectation that this work will soon be far outstripped and will possess an historical value only.
The contents of the following pages are of very little value, unless the student can compare them with an edition of the manuscript. My first edition was published in 1880 at Leipsic and the second at Dresden in 1892. The edition in Lord Kingsborough's "Mexican Antiquities" is still of practical use.
And since in this work I must premise a knowledge of the elements of the subject, I would recommend, as additional aids to the comprehension of the following pages, my "Erl?uterungen zur Mayahandschrift der K?niglichen ?ffentlichen Bibliothek zu Dresden" , and also Brinton, "A Primer of Mayan Hieroglyphics" . I would also mention the very valuable work by Paul Schellhas, "Die G?ttergestalten der Mayahandschriften" , which I follow in the designation of the various gods by letters of the alphabet.
It need hardly be pointed out, that the numerous pioneer articles by Edward Seler offer abundant instruction to the student in this field as well as in that of Aztec remains.
I wish to express heartfelt thanks to Mrs. Zelia Nuttall and Mr. Charles P. Bowditch, who have aided my work in various ways and have thus rendered possible the publication of this book.
E. F?RSTEMANN.
CHARLOTTENBURG.
FIRST PART.
Pages 1-45.
Page 1.
As the first page is almost entirely effaced by abrasion, we know very little of its contents. Like the second, however, it was doubtless divided into four parts. The two pages have this also in common, that, for lack of space, their contents are not expressed in full, but abbreviated as much as possible.
The top section of page 1 may have been filled with a sort of frontispiece, perhaps a face with a few signs around it.
Page 2.
This first Tonalamatl has the following form:--
The hieroglyphs and the figures show that preparations for a human sacrifice are treated of here and that the subject is, therefore, closely connected with page 3a, where the sacrifice itself is represented.
There are but two pictures of persons, which refer, therefore, only to the first or to the first two subdivisions and which, for lack of space, are wanting for the others. On the left walks the person doomed to sacrifice, his arms are bound on his back, his head is barely visible and his eyes are apparently torn out. There is an object in front of his breast resembling a wreath. Behind this figure crouches a second, who holds an object in his hand which probably represents a rattle. The parallel passage in Cod. Tro. 2b shows the bound prisoner with an axe behind him. Then follows in Tro. 3b the prisoner without a head and behind him the black god with gory lance.
The hieroglyphs--four for each of the five subdivisions--are arranged in the following order:--
These two sections have something in common. First, 2b 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.
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:--
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 , 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 . 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
The three groups of four hieroglyphs each are arranged as follows:--
The hieroglyphs are
Of these 1, 6 and 8 are one of the signs of A, 7 another, and 4 may be a third, recalling the Moan, which, as on page 14c, rests on a hand held beneath it. 2 and 5 seem to signify a carpet or other fabric , on the one hand suggesting the occupation of the figures in 2b and 2c, and on the other the checkered hieroglyph, which is so common in the Palenque inscriptions. Finally 3 is the woman pictured beneath.
Page 3.
This picture is surrounded by four gods, who, however, differ very much from the other four in the second sacrificial scene, page 34a. At the right above is K, who, I think, is the storm-god; the figure at the left above is almost entirely destroyed, and its hieroglyph wholly; I prefer to consider it a rain deity, so that these two gods shall signify the productive season. The two gods below may refer to the blessing upon the harvest and chase resulting from the season and the sacrifice. For, at the left below, we see the maize deity E, holding a dish of fruit, while her head-ornament contains a second head. At the right below sits the serpent deity H and in front of him is an animal with the noose still around its neck, with which it was caught.
The hieroglyphs are in the following order:--
Of these, 1-5 are wholly effaced and also the most essential part of 6.
Of these hieroglyphs four clearly belong to each of the four deities, for 15, 18, and 22 certainly belong to the picture. From this it seems to follow that Hieroglyphs 5 to 12 refer to the sacrifice itself. As a matter of fact 9 and 11, which are directly above the sacrifice, also refer particularly to that part of the representation.
but Cyrus Thomas, "Aids," p. 294, has
Either reading is dubious. The scribe divided the lower half of page 3 into two parts, and drew in each the outline of five days; but then he saw that, to continue his work, he needed a long surface extending from left to right, and he therefore omitted filling in these two sections.
Pages 4a--10a.
We have here a normal Tonalamatl, which, however, was evidently meant by the author to serve a very special purpose, since he divided the first section of 52 days into no less than 20 parts of 2, 3 or 4 days. I give the following arrangement here, remarking, at the same time, that in one doubtful case I deviate from my former plan:--
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