Book of Chilam Balm Mayan

Chilam Balam: Title Page
Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Next
THE BOOK OF CHILAM BALAM OF CHUMAYEL

BY RALPH L. ROYS
Washington D.C.; Carnegie Institution [1933]
Scanned at sacred-texts.com, June 2003. J.B. Hare, redactor. This text is in the public domain because it was not renewed at the US Copyright Office in a timely manner. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose provided this notice of attribution is left intact.
Next: Preface
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Docume...rchive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc00.htm2/28/2007 3:13:40 PM
Chilam Balam: Preface
Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Previous Next
p. xi
PREFACE
Among the various avenues of approach to the investigation of Maya civilization, the study of the native literature of Yucatan is, next to the actual archological exploration of the remains, one of the most promising, for it contains much of what the Indians remembered of their old culture after the Spanish Conquest. The Books of Chilam Balam form the most important part of this native Maya literature. Written in the Maya language, they reflect more closely the thought of these Indians than any other records that have come down to us. Not only do they contain a wealth of historical and ethnological information invaluable to the student of the pre-Columbian career of the Maya, but they also furnish a record of the reactions of the native mind to the European culture and of the manner in which the latter was adapted to suit its new environment. It is hardly necessary to dwell upon the value of these old texts to the linguistic student. The translation of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel depends primarily upon the reading given to the badly punctuated and often misspelled Maya text, and such a reading is based upon an extensive comparison with other similar texts. The difficulties of translation are not to be underestimated, but they can be greatly lessened by such a comparison. That I have been able to avail myself of the assistance afforded by the manuscripts of the Berendt Linguistic Collection, so often referred to in these pages, is due to the collaboration of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and to the kindness of Dr. Horace H. F. Jayne, Director, who has supplied me with the necessary photostats. Professor Alfred M. Tozzer, whose previous extensive survey of Maya literature was the indispensable preliminary to the present work, has given cordial assistance; both he and the Peabody Museum of American Archology and Ethnology have cooperated generously with the loan of material necessary to the work. Mr. Frans Blom, Director, and the Department of Middle American Research of the Tulane University of Louisiana have kindly loaned photographs of Sixteenth Century Maya documents in their collection, which have proved most valuable in the study of the present text. Dr. Sylvanus G. Morley has spent much time and thought in going over my manuscript and has offered many valuable suggestions as well as searching out and obtaining related material in Mexico and Yucatan. Mr. Thomas R. Johnson has undertaken the tedious task of copying the drawings in the Chumayel manuscript. Mr. Juan Martnez Hernndez has again, as in the past, come to my aid in the elucidation of obscure phrases and badly written
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc01.htm (1 of 2)2/28/2007 3:13:40 PM
Chilam Balam: Preface
p. xii
passages in the Maya text. Linguistic data furnished by Dr. Manuel J. Andrade and ethnological analogies suggested by Dr. Robert Redfield will be found acknowledged elsewhere in this book. The manner of editing the Maya text is that suggested by Professor Otis J. Todd, who has assisted me in adapting the methods of classical scholars to this newer field of endeavor. For a number of the textfigures, Alice P. Roys has made copies from photographs and other reproductions. To Librarian John Ridington and Assistant Librarian Dorothy Jefferd, I am indebted for the many facilities afforded by the Library of the University of British Columbia. Throughout the preparation of this work, Dr. Alfred V. Kidder has given generously of his time and attention to the practical problems involved in the task. To all these I wish to make grateful acknowledgment at this time. RALPH L. ROYS March 30, 1932
Next: Contents
Chilam Balam: Contents
p. xiii
CONTENTS
PAGE
Preface Introduction Translation Chapter I. The ritual of the four world-quarters Chapter IL The rise of Hunac Ceel to power Chapter III. A prophecy for Katun 11 Ahau Chapter IV. The building of the mounds Chapter V. Memoranda concerning the history of Yucatan Chapter VI. Notes on the calendar Chapter VII. The armorial bearings of Yucatan Chapter VIII. Notes on astronomy Chapter IX. The interrogation of the chiefs Chapter X. The creation of the world Chapter X1. The rituals of the angels Chapter XII. A song of the Itz Chapter XIII. The creation of the uinal Chapter XIV. A history of the Spanish Conquest Chapter XV. The prophecy of Chilam Balam and the story of Antonio Martinez Chapter XVI. A chapter of questions and answers Chapter XVII. An incantation Chapter XVIII. A series of katun-prophecies
xi 3 63 63 66 77 79 80 84 86 86 88 98 107 114 116 119 120 125 131 132
Chilam Balam: Contents
Chapter XIX. The first chronicle Chapter XX. The second chronicle Chapter XXI. The third chronicle Chapter XXII. A book of katun-prophecies 1. Frontispiece 2. Historical introduction to the katun-prophecies 3. The katun-prophecies Chapter XXIII. The last judgment Chapter XXIV. Prophecies of a new religion Appendix A. The four world-quarters Appendix B. The sacrificial cenote at Chichen Itz Appendix C. The Hunac Ceel episode Appendix D. The Maya prophecies Appendix E. Traditions of caste and chieftainship among the Maya Appendix F. Toltec military orders in Yucatan Appendix G. The Americanization of Christianity Appendix H. Chronological summary Bibliography
135 139 140 144 144 145 147 163 164 170 173 177 182 188 196 201 204 207
Next: Plate 1
Chilam Balam: Plate 1
p. xiv
PLATE 1
Click to view
Click to view
Click to view
c a and b, Puma and squirrel from the frieze of the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itz. c, The four trees and birds set at the cardinal points to commemorate the previous destruction of the world. Sculptured panel of the Temple of the Wall Panels at Chichen Itz. (After Ruppert.)
Next: List of Illustrations
Chilam Balam: List of Illustrations
p. xiii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES Plate 1. a and b, Puma and squirrel from the frieze of the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itz. c, The four trees and birds set at the cardinal points to commemorate the previous destruction of the world. Sculptured panel of the Temple of the Wall Panels at Chichen Itz. (After Ruppert.) Plate 2. Map of northern Yucatan according to the Book of Chilam. Balam of Chumayel TEXT-FIGURES FIG. 1. a, Ah Muzencab, the Maya bee god. (After Lothrop.) b, A bee. (Codex Tro-Cortesianus, p. 83.) 2. Chac-xib-chac, the God Impersonator at Chichen Itz. Fresco, Temple of the Warriors. Drawing by Ann Axtell Morris 3. Mexican warrior occupying the jaguar-seat. Fresco, Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itz. (After Ann Axtell Morris.) 4. The drum and rattle of the katun resound. Fresco at Santa Rita, British Honduras. (After Gann.) 5. The Maya months, or uinals. (Chumayel MS.) 6. The armorial bearings of Yucatan. (Chumayel MS.) 7. Diagram showing the course of the sun in the heavens. (Chumayel MS.) 8. Diagram representing an eclipse of the sun. (Chumayel MS.) 9. Diagram explaining the cause of solar and lunar eclipses. (Chumayel MS.) 10. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 11. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 12. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 13. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 14. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 15. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 16. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 63 PAGE
xiv 230-31
68
69 78 85 86 87 87 88 89 89 89 89 89 90 90
17. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 18. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 19. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 20. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 21. "The chiefs of the towns shall be seized because they are lacking in understanding." (Chumayel MS.) 22. The examining head-chief, or halach-uinic. (Chumayel MS.) 23. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 24. Lahun Chaan, associated with the planet Venus. (Dresden Codex, p. 47) 25. The names and symbols of God. (Chumayel MS.) 26. Death is. ruler over all. (Chumayel MS.) 27. A map of northern Yucatan. (Chumayel MS.) 28. The katun wheel. (Chumayel MS.) 29. The lords of the thirteen katuns. (Chumayel MS.) 30. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 31. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 32. The seven planets. (Chumayel MS.) 33. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 34. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 35. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 36. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 37. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 38. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 39. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 40. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.)
p. xvi
90 91 91 91 92 93 99 100 113 113 125 132 144 148 150 150 151 152 153 155 158 159 160 161
41. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.)
161
42. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 43. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) 44. Human sacrifice scene. Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itz. (Restored by Ann Axtell Morris.) 45. Typical Itz priest. Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itz. (Drawing by Ann Axtell Morris.) 46. Typical Itz sorcerer. Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itz. (Drawing by Ann Axtell Morris.) 47. Temple of the Warriors frescos: a, coyote-fox; b, eagle. (After Ann Axtell Morris.) 48. Jaguar. Relief-carving at Chichen Itz
162 162 180 181 183 198 200
Next: Introduction
Chilam Balam: Introduction
p. 3

INTRODUCTION
The Books of Chilam Balam are the sacred books of the Maya of Yucatan and were named after their last and greatest prophet. Chilam, or chilan, was his title which means that he was the mouth-piece or interpreter of the gods. Balam means jaguar, but it is also a common family name in Yucatan, so the title of the present work could well be translated as the Book of the Prophet Balam. During a large part of the colonial period, and even down into the Nineteenth Century, many of the towns and villages of northern Yucatan possessed Books of Chilam Balam, and this designation was supplemented by the name of the town to which the book belonged. Thus the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel is named for a village in the District of Tekax, a short distance northwest of the well-known town of Teabo. This Prophet Balam lived during the last decades of the Fifteenth Century and probably the first of the Sixteenth Century 1 and foretold the coming of strangers from the east who would establish a new religion. The prompt fulfilment of this prediction so enhanced his reputation as a seer that in later times he was considered the authority for many other prophecies which had been uttered long before his time. Inasmuch as prophecies were the most prominent feature of many of the older books of this sort, it was natural to name them after the famous soothsayer. The Books of Chilam Balam were written in the Maya language but in the European script which the early missionaries adapted to express such sounds as were not found in Spanish. Each book is a small library in itself and contains a considerable variety of subject material. Besides the prophecies we find brief chronicles, fragmentary historical narratives, rituals, native catechisms, mythological accounts of the creation of the world, almanacs and medical treatises. Many such passages were no doubt originally transcribed from older hieroglyphic manuscripts, some of which were still in existence in northern Yucatan as late as the close of the Seventeenth Century 2. As time went on, more and more European material was added to the native Maya lore. In some of the books not only do we find the ritual of a religion which is a
p. 4
mixture of the old faith with Christianity, but there are also translations into Maya of Spanish religious tracts and astrological treatises, as well as notes of events which occurred during the colonial period. In two of these books we even find part of a Spanish romance translated into Maya. 1 The ability of the Maya to write their own language in European script was due to the educational policy of the Spanish missionaries. Although at first they rather admired the Maya for having a graphic system of their own, they were determined to destroy the old manuscripts and eradicate all knowledge of the glyphs from the minds of their converts. The Indians had a great reverence for their hieroglyphic writing which was permeated with the symbols of their old religion, and the friars felt that if they could wipe out this knowledge and substitute for it the European system of writing, it would be an effective means for the complete Christianization of the native population. This should be the easier, since the knowledge of hieroglyphic writing was confined to the priesthood and certain members of the nobility. Diego de Landa, afterward bishop of Yucatan, burned twenty-seven hieroglyphic manuscripts at the famous auto de fe in Mani in 1562, and although many of the Spaniards severely criticized him for this, there is little doubt that other missionaries followed his example whenever they had the opportunity. The chiefs and former priests were ordered to send their sons to the schools established by the Franciscan friars, where they were taught to read and write their own language in European letters. Although some of the more promising pupils were taught Spanish, there does not seem to have been any general policy of attempting to impose the language of the conquerors upon the Indians. In the first place such a scheme was plainly impracticable owing to the comparatively small number of Spaniards in Yucatan and, besides, many of the missionaries frankly admitted that they preferred the local officials of the villages in their charge not to know Spanish. 2 This was probably in order that the latter should not complain too frequently of ecclesiastical discipline to the lay officials, who were sometimes at odds with the Franciscans. From a purely educational point of view the schools were a success, for after a time every village had its town clerk who could read and write, as well as many members of the more important native families; but the Spanish settlers complained in the latter part of the Sixteenth Century that many native schoolmasters and choir-masters were still practising idolatry in secret and that idols had even been found in the schoolfile:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc05.htm (1 of 9)2/28/2007 3:13:42 PM
houses. 3 If such persons as these were not completely reformed, it is hardly surprising to find the successors of the former prophets and priests, the herb-doctors and sorcerers of colonial times, making use of this new and more convenient graphic system of the white man in the pursuit of their ancient
p. 5
professions. After Landa's famous bonfire at Mani, it is needless to say that the surviving hieroglyphic manuscripts were kept concealed, although now and then one of them came to the notice of the Franciscans. Seventy years after the Conquest, Aguilar wrote that "in these they painted in colors the count of their years, the wars, epidemics, hurricanes inundations, famines and other events." 1 It is remarkable that not a single one of these books is known to have survived in Yucatan at the present time, for as late as the close of the Seventeenth Century Avendao was quite familiar with them. In his account of the visit he made to the heathen Itz at Tayasal he writes: "At the instant that we landed and I saw the said column and mask, 2 I came to recognize it since I had already read about it in their old papers and had seen it in their Anahts, which they use, which are books of barks of trees, polished and covered with lime, in which by painted figures and characters they have foretold their future events." 3 This was Avendao's first visit to any of the heathen Maya, and he could only have seen such hieroglyphic books as still survived in northern Yucatan. A comparison of these descriptions with the existing Books of Chilam Balam shows plainly that many portions of the latter are simply transcriptions of the old hieroglyphic manuscripts into European script. Aguilar mentions one of these early transcriptions which was written in a copy-book and contained an account of the creation of the world. He confiscated this book from a choir-master of the town of Sucopo. 4 As time went on, the transcriptions gradually took the place of the older hieroglyphic books. Fewer people were now able to read the glyphs, and much as the clergy condemned the Books of Chilam Balam, they were not considered such prima facie evidence of the crime of idolatry as was anything written in hieroglyphics. Aguilar also tells us how in their assemblies the Indians read the fables and histories contained in the books. Some of the contents were chanted to the accompaniment of a drum; old songs were sung; 5 and the dramatic representations, the names of which we find listed in the Motul dictionary, were enacted. 6 Cogolludo later wrote of such meetings that "God knows what goes on there, and at the very least many of them end up in drunkenness." 7 None of the Books of Chilam Balam that have come down to us were compiled earlier than the last part of the Seventeenth Century, and most of them date from the Eighteenth Century. The older ones were probably worn out by constant use. Nevertheless we have Maya legal documents covering almost
p. 6
every decade from the year 1557 down to the present time, and a comparison of the language of these with that of the Books of Chilam Balam shows that many passages of the latter were copied verbatim from Sixteenth and early Seventeenth Century originals. At the present time we have photographic reproductions of the Books of Chilam Balam of Chumayel, Tizimin, Kaua, Ixil, Tekax and Nah as well as copious extracts copied from the Mani and Oxkutzcab manuscripts. The latter were made by Dr. Hermann Berendt and are now in the Berendt Linguistic Collection of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. This scholar also made copies of the Chumayel and Tizimin manuscripts about sixty years ago, when they were in better condition than when the present photographs were made. Consequently a complete transcription and translation of the texts can only be made with the aid of these copies. Tozzer gives the names of four others known by reputation only: the Books of Chilam Balam of Nabula, Tihosuco, Tixcocob and Hocab. 1 Genet and Chelbatz give a brief description of a Book of Chilam Balam of Telchac. 2 Of these books the Chumayel, Tizimin and Mani manuscripts have the greatest value for the study of Maya civilization, although the others are not lacking in interest. The Chumayel was a small quarto volume which appears to have originally consisted of fifty-eight numbered leaves. There are only 107 written pages in the University of Pennsylvania reproduction. Three leaves, numbers 1, 50 and 55, are missing, and there are breaks in the text at these places. The other pages seem to have been blank. The writer has seen only the leather cover, in which a hole had been burned; the book itself had disappeared. A number of the leaves are either torn or have crumbled away along the edges, and some of the pages are badly water-stained in places. Nevertheless the manuscript is very legible on the whole. Although it dates only from the year 1782, the language suggests the Seventeenth Century much more than it does the Eighteenth. The book contains comparatively little of the intrusive European material which predominates in other Books of Chilam Balam written at so late a date. The drawings which illustrate the volume are quite European in character, although many of the ideas which they represent are purely Maya. Brinton was the first to make a translation of any considerable portion of the Chumayel. Using the Berendt copy of the text, he translated the three chronicles found in Chapters XIX, XX and XXI of the present work. 3 Martinez Hernandez has published his own Spanish translations
of these chronicles, also the story of the Last Judgment in Chapter XXIII and the first part of the creation narrative in Chapter X. 4 Tozzer has translated the prophecy of Chilam Balam in Chapter XXIV and the chronicle in Chapter XX. 5 The writer
p. 7
has published translations of Chapters II, IX and XIII, 1 and the entire manuscript has been freely rendered into Spanish poetical prose by Mediz Bolio. 2 We know from internal evidence that the Chilam Balam of Chumayel was compiled by Don Juan Josef Hoil of that town, as we find his name signed to a notation written in the same hand as the rest of the book and dated 1782. 3 Only a few interpolations added at later dates are written in different hands. Subsequently the book passed into the possession either of a certain unnamed priest or of his secretary, Justo Balam, who inscribed two baptismal records on one of the blank pages in 1832 and 1833. 4 In 1838 Pedro de Alcantara Briceo of San Antonio made a record on the same page that he had purchased the book "in his poverty" for the price of one peso, probably from a priest, although the writing is very indistinct. It is possible that the priest was Don Diego Hoil, the son of the writer. On another blank page 5 the same Pedro Briceo noted that he made a loan of the book. The date here is badly written, but it is probably 1858. Some time during the next ten years it was acquired by Don Audomaro Molina, how or where, we do not know; but the latter stated to Sr. Martinez Hernandez in 1910 6 that he had given it to Bishop Crescencio Carrillo y Ancona. It was already in the Bishop's possession when Dr. Berendt copied it in 1868, and he permitted Teobert Maler to make the first photographs of it in 1887. When Bishop Carrillo died in 1897, the book passed into the hands of Don Ricardo Figueroa, and through the efforts of Sr. Molina it was loaned in 1910 to George B. Gordon, Director of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, who photographed it the same year. In 1913 the Museum published & handsome facsimile reproduction from which the present translation is made. The original was returned to Figueroa, in whose house Dr. S. G. Morley saw it in 1913. After Figueroa's death the manuscript was removed in 1915 to the Cepeda Library in Merida, but when Dr. Morley visited the Library in 1918 it had disappeared and its whereabouts is still unknown. As Dr. Morley has already noted, "In view of its doubtful fate, it is nothing short of providential that two photographic copies of it exist, the one made by Maler in 1887, a copy of which is in the Gates collection, and the other made by Gordon in 1910." 7 The attempt has been made to learn something about Don Juan Josef Hoil, the compiler of the manuscript, from the surviving members of the Hoil family of Chumayel, and although he has not been completely identified, the results of the inquiry are not without interest. The writer is indebted to Sr. Martinez Hernandez of Merida for the following information. There appears to have been but one Hoil family in Chumayel. The present generation consists of Miguel, care-taker at Uxmal; Alejandro, a brakeman on
p. 8
the Ferrocarriles Unidos de Yucatan; Transito and Valentina, all of whom were born at the village of Xul. After much consultation with the various members of the family, Miguel Hoil reported on February 28, 1928, that their father was Epitacio Hoil, who married Cristina Parra and had a brother, Maximo. The grandfather was Juan Jos Hoil, married to Felipa Mendoza. He could hardly be the Don Juan Josef Hoil who signed the manuscript in 1782, however. The great-grandfather was Damaso Hoil, the natural son of a Doa Guadelupe Hoil, and married to Narcisa Guemes. From his time down to that of Epitacio the family seems to have lived at Tekax. Doa Guadelupe was the sister of Don Diego Hoil, curate of San Cristbal. This is a suburb of Merida and was an important Indian parish, which indicates that Don Diego was a man of some learning and considerable importance. This would take us back to about the time when the manuscript was written, but unfortunately our information ceases at this point. It seems likely that the Don Juan Josef Hoil who wrote the Chilam Balam of Chumayel was the father of Don Diego, the curate, and of Doa Guadelupe. A search of the records of the parish of San Cristbal might be rewarded with the confirmation of Don Diego's parentage. If Doa Guadelupe's natural son, Damaso, was brought up in her father's home at Chumayel, it would be most natural that Damaso should give his own son the name of his maternal grandfather. As to the manuscript itself, the most probable conclusion from the information which we have is that after Don Juan Josef Hoil's death it passed into the hands of Don Diego and that he was the priest who sold the book to Diego Briceo in 1838. Needless to say, the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel is difficult to translate, although the spelling is better on the whole than that of some of the other manuscripts. As Professor Tozzer has noted, many words are separated arbitrarily into syllables, the same word sometimes being divided in several different ways on the same page. 1 Some passages are logically arranged in paragraphs, which is a great help, but many are not. There is little division of the text into sentences, and a capital letter rarely begins either a sentence or a proper name. Consequently it is necessary to establish a critical text before attempting a formal translation. The greatest difficulty of all is found in the numerous obsolete words and phrases which occur. It has already been noted that the Chumayel
is a compilation made from various earlier works, many of which were probably copied from still older books. This would account for an occasional corrupt text, which can often be rectified from parallel passages or similar stereotyped phrases occurring in the other writings. The meaning of obsolete words and phrases can be learned in three ways. They may be found in the older dictionaries which were written at a time when they were still in use; a more
p. 9
modern Maya expression or even a Spanish word is sometimes substituted in a parallel passage in another manuscript; and when other means fail, the use of the same word or expression in a number of different contexts will cast considerable light upon the meaning. Sometimes the Maya writer of a manuscript will even explain the significance of an obscure term which he thinks his readers might not understand. For an explanation of the many proper names found in the Chumayel, especially those of deities, we are obliged to rely largely on the Spanish source material such as Landa, the Relaciones de Yucatan, Cogolludo, Aguilar and Lizana. This information may be supplemented by the reports of such modern ethnological investigators as Tozzer, Redfield, Thompson and Gann. Many unfamiliar words not found in any Maya dictionary have turned out to be plant-names. These will be found in the Maya medical literature, and a great many of them have been identified by the botanists. 1 It has been suggested that a modern Maya Indian should be of great assistance in translating these old books, but none of the few efforts which have been made along this line of inquiry have had much success. The vocabulary of the average Indian is limited. Many words are now used with a changed meaning, and he is entirely too ready to resort to a typical Volksetymologie to explain any word which has now passed out of current use. This is evident from the explanations made by natives to the botanists in the case of plant-names composed of obsolete words. The errors of such native derivations are amply demonstrated by the Sixteenth Century Motul dictionary, in which many of these old words are found. Up to the present a little has been done in this respect with the native Maya priests, or h-menob, some of whom can still recite a number of the old incantations. Such men would be likely to rely more on tradition than on their own improvised etymology. Dr. Redfield's elucidation of the puzzling name of Ah Muzencab, the bee-god, from the explanation of one of these native sorcerers is an example of the results which may be looked for from this line of inquiry. Needless to say, it is difficult to persuade these native priests to explain their rituals. Doubts have been expressed in the past as to whether it was possible to translate some of the passages in the Book of Chilam Balam. of Chumayel. Such scepticism was not unreasonable in view of the limited amount of related material accessible to the student at the time. In more recent years, however, additional manuscripts have been collected, and photographs or photostats have been made of nearly all the Maya writings known to be in existence. The archological evidence uncovered in the course of the past few years and the reports of modern ethnologists have furnished explanations for a number of the obscure statements found in the Books of Chilam Balam. In view of these facts a translation of these books seems feasible at the present time; but there is little doubt that further search among the archives of Spain
p. 10
will bring to light additional reports on the natives of Yucatan, possibly some of the lost source material known to have been written by the early Spanish missionaries. Also the discovery of more Maya manuscripts and the results of further archological and ethnological investigations should furnish an answer to many of the problems as yet unsolved. Another source of information should be the thorough study of the more closely related languages of the Maya stock. It seems likely that at least some of the obsolete words in the Books of Chilam Balam will be more fully explained by similar terms which have survived in the other languages.
PREFATORY NOTE TO THE MAYA TEXT

Like the other Books of Chilam Balam, the Chumayel manuscript is written in the European script which the Sixteenth Century Spanish missionaries adapted to the Maya language of Yucatan. It differs only in a few particulars from ordinary Spanish script. The letters d, f, g, q and r are not employed in writing Maya words, as the sounds which they represent do not occur in Maya. Some Maya writers substituted ij for ii, but neither the Spanish nor the English sound of j appears to be indicated. C is pronounced somewhat like the English k. The other letters have approximately the same sound as in Spanish except for the following, which represent sounds which do not occur in Spanish, viz. pp, th, , ch and k. The writer is indebted to Dr. M. J. Andrade for the following description: "These sounds are very familiar to those who have studied the Indian languages of North America, where they are at present represented respectively by the phonetic symbols p', t', ts', tc' and k'. They are the so-called glottalized or fortis sounds. It is difficult to convey an idea of the acoustic effect of these sounds to those who have never heard them. Roughly speaking, it may be said that Maya pp and th are emphatic articulations of Maya p and t, and that a similar correspondence exists between the series , ch, k, and tz, ch, c. A careful enunciation of the ksound, however, does not affect our ears as a mere emphatic articulation of the Maya c, but that is also the case in other Indian languages in which this sound occurs. In Maya these fortis sounds are not articulated as energetically as in many North American languages, particularly
in those of the Pacific coast. On the whole they may best be compared with the corresponding sounds of the Dakota Sioux, although with many Maya speakers they are so weak that the untrained ear can not distinguish them from the unemphatic sounds." 1 In writing the double vowels, Maya writers are frequently inconsistent, although the compiler of the Chumayel is less so than most of them. They sometimes write them with a single vowel. Of these Dr. Andrade states that the sound is-"two moras long with a fall in pitch on the second half if it is a double vowel. In current usage there is no articulation of two separate vowels, but a continuous vocalic sound. This throws light, I think, on the discrepancy found in the manuscripts. If
p. 11
this phoneme was even in earlier times a single vocalic sound with double quantity, we can readily see that the use of two letters for its orthography was somewhat artificial, and in this, as in all artificial spelling, individuals are more likely to make mistakes." We find in the use of certain letters an inconsistency that is somewhat similar to that found in many of the Spanish manuscripts of the colonial period. Since a consistent notation is desirable in the present edition of the Maya text, the writer has followed that of Pio Perez for which there is precedent among both Maya writers and the Spanish authors of Maya grammars, vocabularies and dictionaries. It is the notation of Beltran, except that he writes p for pp, and of the Motul dictionary, except for the latter's frequent use of instead of z. The following tabulation will explain the present writer's method of avoiding the inconsistencies which occur in most Maya manuscripts. Present edition i (vowel) ii (double vowel) y (semivowel) u (vowel and semivowel) c z pp Variants occurring in Maya MSS. i, y ii, ij t, i, ll (rare) u, v c, qu (before e and i, rare) z, , s pp, p
Only one abbreviation is generally used in the Maya manuscripts: this is the character y, which stands for yetel, a word having the double meaning of "with" and "and." A few manuscripts, chiefly legal documents, substitute for this another abbreviation, yt, and only rarely is the word yetel written out in full. In the present rendition of the Maya text the writer has followed Brinton's example and transcribed this abbreviation just as it is found in the Chumayel manuscript instead of writing out the word in full. The text of the Books of Chilam Balam is not divided into sentences, and many portions are not separated into paragraphs. Words are frequently wrongly divided into syllables, and proper names rarely begin with capital letters. Inasmuch as an excellent photographic reproduction of the original manuscript of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel has been published by the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and is accessible to the student, it has been considered advisable in the present edition to divide the Maya text into such chapters, paragraphs, sentences and words as are called for by the meaning of the subject-matter, and to begin sentences and proper names with capital letters. The method of determining which words are proper names has been discussed elsewhere. The text is often divided into short phrases by colons or dashes. Such punctuation is sometimes inconsistent and even occurs in the middle of a proper name, but it frequently corresponds somewhat to the meaning of the text. For this peculiar system of punctuation, the Maya student is referred to the published reproduction of the manuscript. We now come to the mistakes found in the manuscript. Juan Josef Hoil was on the whole an unusually careful copyist, and the writer is inclined to
p. 12
ascribe most of the errors to his sources. As Professor Tozzer has already noted, 1 these texts are probably copies of copies and have been garbled somewhat in passing from hand to hand. In the Chumayel manuscript a garbled phrase is often accompanied by a vacant space, indicating that the copyist was not able to read all the words of his source at that point. In these cases it is often possible to correct the text from a parallel passage in another manuscript. In the case of such a correction, however, the reader is referred to a foot-note in which the corrected word or phrase is given as it is actually written in the manuscript. Sometimes a passage is obscure because of the omission of a word or phrase. When the latter is supplied from another source, it is enclosed in diamond brackets and its source indicated in a foot-note. In some cases where a parallel passage radically alters the meaning of the text, the alternative reading is given in a foot-note. In transcribing the photographic reproduction of this lost manuscript, the Berendt copy of the original has been used constantly for comparison. This has been especially helpful in deciphering badly written and faded portions of the text, and is indispensable where the edge of a page has crumbled away after the Berendt copy was made. Missing words supplied from this copy are placed in diamond brackets, and the source is indicated in a foot-note. Misspelled words constitute another difficulty. Many errors are due to a habit of the Maya writer who often employs the letter for z and then occasionally omits the cedilla. Such an omission may completely change the meaning of the word. Another error sometimes found is when the Maya writer has omitted the bar from the p (pp) and ch. Often these mistakes in orthography can be corrected from a parallel passage, but occasionally the meaning of the context must be depended upon in the case of an obvious mistake or a slip of the pen. Corrections of orthography are referred to a foot-note in which the word is given as it stands in the manuscript. It is needless to say that a critical text can be established with much more assurance for those portions of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel for which parallel passages can be found in other manuscripts. Such corresponding passages are not absolutely the same. The phraseology differs slightly. Some contain a certain amount of material omitted by others, and an archaic word or phrase in one may be replaced in another by a more modern expression or sometimes even by a Spanish word. Nevertheless the language is sufficiently similar to indicate that they are drawn from a single original source. Where the Chumayel narrative is not duplicated elsewhere, we are frequently aided by comparison with other texts of the same general character. This is because the Books of Chilam Balam abound in certain stereotyped phrases often employed in similar contexts. When a portion of such a phrase appears to be garbled and we find the same phrase occurring elsewhere in
p. 13
much the same context, we can make the correction with a fair degree of certainty. In any case the garbled phrase will be found in the footnote, and the reader is at liberty to draw his own conclusions. As previously stated, all supplied material is enclosed in diamond brackets < >. Any words or letters believed by the writer to be intrusive are enclosed in square brackets [ ]. Certain abbreviations have been employed in the notes to the Maya text. These are to be explained as follows: Ber. = Copy of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel by Dr. Hermann Berendt. C = Photographic reproduction of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel. K = Book of Chilam Balam of Kaua. (Gates photostat.) M = Book of Chilam of Mani. (Berendt copy.) O = Book of Chilam Balam of Oxkutzcab. (Berendt copy.) T =Book of Chilam Balam Tizimin. (Morley photostat; Maler photograph; Gates photostat.) Suppl. = Supplied from In the present rendition of the Maya text it will be seen that marginal notations have been made showing the corresponding page numbers of
the University of Pennsylvania Museum reproduction of the manuscript. Inasmuch as some of the earlier commentaries on the Book of Chilam. Balam of Chumayel make references to the actual folio numbers of the manuscript, a correlation of these with the page numbers of the reproduction will be useful. Some of the folio numbers have disappeared, owing to the crumbling away of the corner of the sheet, but the sequence of the text enables us to apply them in the following table. Manuscript U. of Penn. reproduction missing pp. 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14 15-16 17-18 19-20 21-22 23 24-25 26 27 28-29 30-31 32-33 34-35 Manuscript U. of Penn. reproduction pp. 36-37 38-39 40-41 42-43 44-45 46-47 48-49 50-51 52-53 54-55 56-57 58-59 60-61 62-63 64-65 66-67 68-69 70-71 72 73-74 Manuscript U. of Penn. reproduction pp. 75-76 77-78 79-80 81-82 83-84 85-86 87-88 89-90 91-92 missing pp. 93-94 95-96 97-98 99-100 missing p. 101 pp. 102-103 104-105 106-107
Folio <1> <2> 3 4 5 <6> <7> 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 <15> 16 17 18 19 20
Folio 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 302 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
Folio 41 42 43 44 <45> 46 47 48 49 <50> 51 52 53 54 <55> Unnumbered 56 57 58
Footnotes
3:1 For particulars concerning Chilam Balam see Appendix D.
3:2 Don Juan Xiu of Oxkutzcab possessed such a book in 1689, and Father Avendao was still able to learn to read hieroglyphic writing before he went to convert the heathen Itz in 1696. Cf. Morley 1920, p. 507; Codex Perez, p. 166; Means 1917, p. 143; Appendix D. 4:1 Chilam Balam of Kaua, pp. 99-117; Codex Perez, pp. 31-37. 4:2 Sanchez de Aguilar 1900, pp. 96-97. 4:3 Relaciones de Yucatan, II, pp. 190, 213. 5:1 Sanchez de Aguilar 1900, p. 95. 5:2 Cf. p. 102, note 2, of the present work 5:3 Avendao 1696, f. 29 r., Bowditch translation, MS. p. 67. 5:4 Sanchez de Aguilar 1900, p. 115. Cf. p. 98, note 2 of the present work. 5:5 At least one such song will be found in Chapter XII of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel. 5:6 Sanchez de Aguilar 1900, p. 98. 5:7 Cogolludo 1868, Bk. 4, Chap. 5, translated in Means 1917, p. 14. 6:1 Tozzer 1921, p. 191. 6:2 Genet and Chelbatz 1927, p. 42. 6:3 Brinton 1882, pp. 152-185. 6:4 Martinez Hernandez 1912, 1913, 1927, 1928. 6:5 Tozzer 1921, pp. 120-135. 7:1 Roys 1920, 1922 and 1923. 7:2 Mediz Bolio 1930. 7:3 Cf. p. 143. 7:4 Cf. p. 144. 7:5 Cf. p. 144. 7:6 Martinez Hernandez letter, December 30, 1931. 7:7 Morley 1920, p. 475. 8:1 Toner 1917. 9:1 Roys 1931; Standley 1930.
10:1 Andrade, letter of January 12, 1932. 12:1 Tozzer 1921, p. 112.
Next: I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters
Chilam Balam: Translation: I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters
p. 63
TRANSLATION
I
(THE RITUAL OF THE FOUR WORLD-QUARTERS)
/ the first man of the Canul family. 2 The white guaje, 3 the ixculun <and> the gumbolimbo 4 are his little hut, 5... The logwood tree is the hut of Yaxum, 6 the first of the men of the Cauich family.
1
p. 1 C
FIG. 1 a--Ah Muzencab, the Maya bee god. (After Lothrop.) 7 b, A bee. (Codex Tro-Cortesianus, p. 83.)
p. 64
The lord of the people of the south is the first of the men of the Noh 1 family. Ix-Kan-tacay 2 is the name of the first of the men of the Puch family. They guard nine rivers; they guard nine mountains 3 The red flint stone is the stone of the red Mucencab. 4 The red ceiba tree of abundance 5 is his arbor 6 which is set in the east. The red bullet-tree 7 is their tree. The red zapote . . . The red-vine 8 . . . Reddish are their yellow turkeys. Red toasted <corn> is their corn. The white flint stone is their stone in the north. The white ceiba tree of abundance is the arbor of the white Mucencab. White-breasted are their turkeys. White Lima-beans are their Lima-beans. White corn is their corn.
The black flint stone is their stone in the west. The black ceiba tree of abundance is their arbor. Black speckled corn is their corn. Black tipped camotes are their camotes. Black wild pigeons are their turkeys. Black akab-chan 9 is their green corn. Black beans are their beans. Black Lima-beans are their Limabeans. The yellow flint stone is the stone of the south. The ceiba tree of abundance, the yellow ceiba tree of abundance, is their arbor. The yellow bullet-tree is their tree. <Colored like> the yellow bullet-tree are their camotes. <Colored like> the yellow bullet-tree are the wild pigeons which are their turkeys. Yellow green corn is their green corn. Yellow-backed are their beans . . . /
p. 65
11 Ahau was the katun when they carried <burdens> on their backs. Then the land-surveyor first came; 1 this was Ah Ppizte 2 who measured the leagues. Then there came the chact shrub 3 for marking the leagues with their walking sticks. Then he came<to> Uac-habnal} 4 to pull the weeds along the leagues, when Mizcit Ahau came to sweep clean the leagues, when the land-surveyor came. These were long leagues that he measured.
[paragraph continues]
p. 2 C
Then a spokesman was established at the head of the mat. Ix Noh Uc presides to the east. Ox Tocoy-moo presides to the east. Ox Pauah Ek presides to the east. Ah Miz presides to the east. Batun presides to the north. Ah Puch presides to the north. Balam-na presides to the north. Ake presides to the north. Iban presides to the west. Ah Chab presides to the west. Ah Tucuch preside to the west. Ah Yamas presides to the south. Ah Puch presides to the south. Cauich presides to the south. Ah Couoh presides to the south. Ah Puc presides to the south. 5 The red wild bees 6 are in the east. A large red blossom is their cup. The red Plumeria is their flower. The white wild bees are in the north. The white pacha 7 is their flower. A large white blossom is their cup. The black wild bees are in the west. The black laurel flower 8 is their flower. A large black blossom is their cup. The yellow wild bees are in the south. A large yellow blossom 9 is their cup . . . is their flower./
p. 66
Then they swarmed at ecuzamil 1 in great numbers among the magueys 2 of the land, the calabash trees of the land, the ceiba trees of the land and the chulul trees of the land. 3 Kin Pauahtun 4 was their priest. He commanded the numerous army which guarded Ah Hulneb 5 at Tantun in Cozumel, <also> Ah Yax-ac, 6 Chinab, 7 and Kinich Kakmo. 8
p. 3 C
Footnotes
63:1 One folio is missing from the beginning of the book. 63:2 Martinez H. translates this sentence: "the first figure or idol is that of Ah Canul" (Martinez. H. 1921). 63:3 Maya, uaxim, Leucna glauca Benth. Botanical identifications will be found in Standley 1930 and Roys 1931. 63:4 Maya, chacah, Bursera simaruba Sarg. Spanish palo mulato. 63:5 Maya, pazel, a temporary shelter consisting of a single-pitched roof and open at one side, used for camping out. 63:6 Yax-um, literally the green bird, the quetzal. Um or un is an obsolete word for bird, surviving only in compounds of names of birds, such as pichum, ucum, yuyum, chahum, etc. Cf. Quiche, Rax-on, quetzal, and um, a certain black bird. (Ximenez, Tesoro, etc.) 63:7 Copy of the stucco figure at Tulum known as the Diving god. (Lothrop 1924, pl. 23.) Besides its obvious resemblance to the insect in the Codex Tro-Cortesianus identified by Tozzer and Allen as a bee, it seems possible to recognize the pulvilli, ungues and metanotum, while the wings somewhat suggest the battered membranes of a bee's wings. A similar Diving God has been found at Cob, where the Muzencabob are still believed to dwell (Thompson, Pollock, Charlot 1932, p. 84; Redfield letter). 64:1 Noh, a common family name, resembles nohol, which means south. 64:2 Lit. yellow tacay, the Mexican large-billed tyrant. Cf. Roys 1931, p. 339. 64:3 Maya, Bolonppel-uitz, probably a place-name in the south. The name may survive in that of Salinas de los Nueve Cerros on the Chixoy River.
64:4 This name is spelled Muzencab in the Tizimin manuscript, so Mucencab is probably intended for Muencab. Cab means hive or honey. As shown in Appendix A, the bees are closely connected with the Bacabs and the four world-quarters, and Dr. Redfield finds the Muzencabs invoked in the u hanli cab ceremony which is propitiatory of the gods of the bees. One native priest explained that "the Mulzencabob were a class of supernatural bees dwelling at Cob. They report to Nohyumcab (Great-lord-of-thehive), their superior, everything that happens in the apiary." Another native priest, or h-men, stated that the Nohyumcab and the Ah Muzencab were two gods in the form of large bees who governed all the bees (Letter from Dr. Robert Redfield). 64:5 Maya, imix yaxche. Imix is one of the Maya day-names, and the yaxche is the ceiba tree, the green tree and the first tree of the world. Seler shows that Imix has much the same significance as Cipactli, the corresponding Aztec day-name. It is the symbol of fertility and abundance, and among the Cakchiquels it is closely associated with the ceiba tree (Seler 1902, p. 499). Beyer 1931, p. 204. 64:6 This arbor may correspond to the arch of leaves and branches set up in connection with the New Year's ceremonies (Landa 1929, p. 20). 64:7 Maya, puct, Bucida buceras L. 64:8 Maya, chac-ak, the name of an unidentified vine, used medicinally. 64:9 Akab-chan is probably a dark variety of maize (Martinez letter). The Maya have corn of various colors, and there is a large vocabulary relating to maize (Standley 1930, p. 211). 65:1 This appears to the translator to be a legend of the occupation of the country in ancient times. People came in bearing their household goods on their backs, as we know they had no beasts of burden. Then they were supposed to have surveyed and divided the land, after which they laid out the roads, cleared and cleaned them. 65:2 A Maya pun: a man who measures or a man of the Ppizte family. 65:3 Probably a shrubby form of the chact, or brazil tree is meant (Csalpinia platyoba Wats.). It is a well-known dye wood, and Landa tells us that the Maya made staffs of it. 65:4 It seems likely that Uuc-yab-nal is intended. This is a place-name associated with "the mouth of the well" in the prophecy for Katun 4 Ahau on page 133. In another prophecy for Katun 4 Ahau on page 161 the name Chichen Itz is substituted for Uuc-yab-nal, so it is possible that the latter was the ancient name for Chichen Itz before the Itz came and named it Chichen Itz, "the mouth of the well of the Itz."
65:5 Of the above names Uc, Batun, Balam, Ake, Cauich, Couoh and Puc are well known family names in Yucatan. Ah Puch is one of the names of the Maya death-god (Morley 1915, p. 17). Tucuch and Yiban Can are two of the Lords of the thirteen katuns (Morley 1920, p. 472, and Chilam Balam of Kaua, pp. 167 and 189). Ah Yamaz may be intended for Ah Yamazi who is mentioned on page 71. Ah Chab is the Maya name of the three-toed ant-eater. 65:6 Here the word for wild bees, ix chuuahcab-ob, has the feminine prefix. In the Motul Dictionary it is given as ah chuahcab with the masculine prefix. 65:7 There is little doubt that here the paha is meant, which has been identified as Commelina elegans H. B. K. Here, however, the closely related Callisia repens L. with its white flowers may be intended. 65:8 The Ix-laul, called laurel in Spanish, is Stemmadenia insignis Miers, the flowers of which are white, not black. 65:9 Kan-lol, literally a large yellow blossom, also the name of Tecoma stans H. B. K. 66:1 ecuzamil means Little Cozumel and may refer either to the Island itself or some place on the mainland of the east coast of Yucatan. Oy-cib was another name for Cozumel (Motul), and cib means beeswax. 66:2 Maya, u ciil cab; it could also mean the sweet things of the land. 66:3 The chulul has been identified as Apoplanesia paniculata Presl. 66:4 Probably Kan Pauahtun, the wind-god of the south, is intended. Cf. Appendix A. 66:5 Ah Hulneb, the Archer, was one of the principal deities of Cozumel which was a center of pilgrimage not only from every part of Yucatan but from Tabasco as well. Cf. Cogolludo, Book 4, Chap. 8. 66:6 Ah Yax-ac. Yax means green or first. Ac could mean turtle, dwarf, boar-peccary or a certain tall grass. 66:7 Chinab means the distance from the tip of the forefinger to that of the thumb. Ah un Chinab was the name of one of the nobles who accompanied the embassy of Ah Mochan Xiu to Montejo. 66:8 Kinich Kakmo means sun-eyed fire macaw. He was one of the founders of Izamal and was afterwards deified (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 269). His shrine was visited by sufferers from pestilence, whom he cured. It is of interest to note that yellow fever patients are still given the ashes of a
red parrot's feathers as a remedy (Roys 1931, p. 63).
Next: II. The Rise of Hunac Ceel to Power
Chilam Balam: Translation: II. The Rise of Hunac Ceel to Power
II.
(THE RISE OF HUNAC CEEL TO POWER)
Ah Itzimthul Chac 9 was their commander at Ichcanzihoo. Uayom-chich 10 was their priest at Ichcanzihoo. Canul <occupied> the jaguar-mat. 11 The
p. 67
second Priest Chable was their ruler. Cabal Xiu was their priest. Uxmal Chac 1 was their commander; formerly he was their priest. Then Hapay Can 2 was brought to Chemchan. 3 He was pierced <by an arrow> when he arrived at the bloody wall there at Uxmal. 4 Then Chac-xib-chac was despoiled of his insignia. 5 Zac-xib-chac and Ek
p. 68 [paragraph continues]
Yuuan Chac were also despoiled of their insignia. Ix Zacbeliz 1 was the name of the maternal grandmother of the Chacs. Ek Yuuan Chac was their father. Hun Yuuan Chac was their youngest brother; Uooh-puc was his name. There was a glyph (uooh) written on the palm of his hand. Then a glyph was written
Click to view FIG. 2--Chac-xib-chac, the God Impersonator at Chichen Itz. Fresco, Temple of the Warriors. Drawing by Ann Axtell Morris.
below his throat, was also written on the sole of his foot and written within the ball of the thumb of Ah Uooh-puc. 2 The Chacs were not gods. The only true God is our Lord Dios; they worshipped him according to the word and the wisdom of Mayapan. 3
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Do...ve%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc07.htm (1 of 15)2/28/2007 3:13:43 PM
p. 69
Ah Kin Coba / was their priest there in the fortress <of Mayapan>. Zulim Chan was at the west <gate>. Nauat 1 was the guardian 2 of the p. 4 C
Click to view FIG. 3--Mexican warrior occupying the jaguar-seat. Fresco, Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itz. (After Ann Axtell Morris.) The translator believes that this figure is also representative of the guardians of the gates at Mayapan mentioned in the Chumayel.
south gate. Couoh was the guardian of the east gate. Ah Ek was his companion. This was their ruler: Ah Tapay Nok Cauich 3 was the name of their head-chief; Hunac Ceel was the representative 4 of Ah Mex Cuc. 5 Then he
p. 70
demanded one complete Plumeria flower. 1 Then he demanded a white mat. Then he demanded a mantle faced on two sides. Then he demanded a green turkey. Then he demanded a mottled snail. 2 Then he demanded the gourds called homa. 3 they departed and arrived at Ppoole, where the remainder of the Itz were increased in number; they took the women of Ppole as their mothers. 5 Then they arrived at Ake; 6 there they were born at Ake. Ake it was called here, as they said. Then they arrived at Alaa; Alaa was its name here, they said. Then they came to Tixchel, where their words and discourse were prolonged. 7 Then they arrived at Ninum, where their words and conversations were many. 8 Then they arrived at Chikin-onot, 9 where their faces were turned to the west. Chikin-onot was its name here, so they said. Then they arrived at Tzuc-oop, where they remained apart under the Anona tree. 10 Tzuc-op was its name here, so they said. Then they arrived at Tah-cab (Tahcabo), where the Itzas stirred the honey. Then it was drunk by X-kohtakin. 11 When the honey was stirred, she drank it at Cabilneba, 12 as it was called. Then they arrived/ at Kikil, 13 where they contracted dysentery. Kikil was its name here, so they said. Then they
4Whereupon
arrived at Panabhaa, where they dug for water. 13 Then they came to Cucuchilhaa; they settled at the deep water. 14 Then they arrived at Yalzihon; Yalzihon was its name here, where they settled the town. Then they arrived at Xppitah (Espita), also a town. Then they arrived at
p. 71
p. 5 C
Kancabonot. They departed and arrived at ula. Then they came to Pibhaalonot. Then they arrived at Tahaac, as it was called. Then they came to Ticooh, where they haggled for that which was dear. 1 Ticoh was its name here. Then they arrived at Tikal, where they shut themselves in. 2Tikal was its name here. Then they came to Timaax, where they made complete rogues of themselves. 3 Then they arrived at Buctzotz, where they covered the hair of their heads with a garment. Buctzotz was its name here, so they said. Then they arrived at iontun, where a malevolent man began to seize the land. 4 It was called iholtun here. Then they arrived at Yobain, where the crocodile 5 bewitched them through their maternal grandfather, Ah Yamazi, their ruler at the seashore. Then they arrived at Zinanche, where the devil bewitched them. 6 Zinanche was its name here. Then they arrived at the town of Chac. 7 Then they arrived at euc; their companions contended with one another. Then the maternal grandfather of their companions arrived to reconcile them at emul, 8 as it was called here. Then they arrived at Kini at the home of Xkil Itzam Pech. 9 Their companions were at Xeuc when they /
arrived at the home of Xkil Itzam Pech, the ruler of the people of Kini. Then they arrived at p. Baca, 10 where water was poured out for them. It was Baca here, so they said. Then they 6 arrived at Zabacnail, the home of their maternal grandfather, the first of the men of the Na C <family>; this was Chel Na, their maternal grandfather. Then they arrived at Tebenaa, where they remembered their mother. Then they went to Ixil. Then they went to Chulul. Then they went to Holtun-chable. Then they came to Itzamna (Itzimn). Then they came to Chubulna. Then they arrived at Caucel, where they all shivered with cold. 11 It was Caucel here, so they said. Then they arrived at Ucu, where they said: "ya ucu." 12 Then they went to Hunucma. Then they arrived at Kinchil. Then they went to <Can>kana. Then they arrived at Tixpetoncah. Then they arrived at Zahab-balam. Then they arrived at Tahcum-chakan. Then they arrived at Tixbalche. Then they arrived at Uxmal. Then they departed and arrived at Tixyubak. Then they arrived at Munaa, where their words were
p. 72
soft. 1 Then they went to Oxlochhok. Then they went to Chac-akal. 2 Then they went to Xocneceh; the deer was their familiar spirit 3 when they arrived. Then they went to Ppuztunich. Then they went to Pucnalchac. Then they went to Ppencuyut. Then they went to Paxueuet. 4 Then they arrived at Tixaya (Xaya). Then they arrived at Tiztiz, as it is called. Then they arrived at Chican. 5 Then they arrived at Tixmeuac. /
Then they arrived at Hunacthi. 6 Then they arrived at Titzal. 7 Then they arrived at Tamuzbulna. Then they arrived at Tixcan. Then they arrived at Lop. 8 Then they arrived at Cheemiuan. Then they arrived at Oxcauanka. Then they went to Zacbacelcan. Then they arrived at Cetelac. 9
p. 7 C
These are the names of whatever towns there were and the names of the wells, in order that it may be known where they passed in their march to see whether this district was good, whether it was suitable for settlement here. They set in order the names of the district according to the command of our Lord God. He it was who set the land in order. He created everything on earth. He set it in order also. But these were the people who named the district, who named the wells, who named the villages, who named the land because no one had arrived here in this neck of the land 10 when we arrived here. 11 Zubinche, Kaua, Cumcanul (Cuncunul), Tiemtun 12 (Ebtun), where the precious stones descended, Zizal, Zacii (Valladolid), Tiooc (Tesoco), where the law of the katun was fulfilled, Timozon, Popola, where the mat of the katun was spread, Tipixoy (Pixoy), Uayumhaa (Uayma), Zacbacelean, Tinum where little was said to them, Timacal, Popola where they counted the mat of the katun in its order, 13 Tixmaculum where they interrupted with
p. 73
words, ithaaz (itas), Bon-kauil, Tixmex, Kochila, 1 Tix-xocen (Xocen), Chunpak, Pibahul, Tunkaaz (Tunkas), Haltunhaa, Kuxbila, iilche, Zitilpech, Chalamte where their anger was appeased, Itzamthulil (Izamal), Tipakab (Tepakam?) where they were united, / Tiya (Teya), Caanzahcab, iomtun, together with their maternal grandfather . . . 2 iholtun, p. Popola to the south of Zinanche. Then they came to Muci, Zacnicte-cheen, Zoil; here they 8 had a council of war at Multumut, as it was called here, Mutul. Muxuppipp, Ake, Hoctun, C where they settled at the base of the stone, Xoc-chel, Bohe, Zahcabhaa (Sancaba?), Tzanlahcat (Sanahcat), Human where there were noisy talk and rumors about them. Chalamte, Pacaxua 3 was its name here they said. Tekit where the remainder of the Itz were dispersed, Yokolcheen, Ppuuppulni-huh 4 (Huhi?) the iguana was their familiar spirit when they came forth. oil, Tiab (Teabo), Bitun-cheen. Then they entered Tipikal, as the well was called, after which they came up out of it. Then they went to Poc-huh, as the well was named, where they roasted the iguana. Then they went to Mani, where their language was forgotten by them. Then they arrived at Tiaan (am); three days they were submerged. Then they went to Ticul, Zacluum-cheen (Sacalum), Tixtohil-cheen (Xtohil), where they recovered their health. Then they went to Balam-kin, the district of the priests. Cheenchomac, Zacnicteelonot (Sacnicte), Tiyaxcab (Yaxcaba?), Uman, Oxcum, Zanhil (Samahil), Ichcanzihoo (Mrida), Ti-noh-naa, Nohpat, Poychena, Chulul (Cholul). Then they arrived at the corner of the land, Cumkal (Conkal), where the corner of the district was set. Zicpach, Yaxkukul, / Tixkokob,
Cuca, Cheen-balam, Bolon-nic-xan, Ekol, Ekol was the name of the well here. Tixueue, Tixueue was the name of the well here. Uhumtal, <where> one part came. Tixkanimacal, Tixaan (Texan), Yumxul, where they took their father-in-law as their lord. Holtun-ake (Ake?), Acanceh, Ticooh (Tecoh), Tichahil, Tichac (Telchaquillo?), Mayapan the fortress, Yokol-haa. Then they went to Nabula, Tixmucuy (Timucuy), Tixkanhube, oyila (oyola). Then they arrived at Tizip, where their words and conversation were sinful.
p. 9 C
Then the rulers began to establish the country. There was the priest at Paloncab; there was the priest at Mutupul (Mutul), as it was called. The
p. 74
priest at Paloncab was Ah May; 1 The priest at Mutul 2 was Ah Canul, also <entitled> Uayom Chich, 3 who spoke brokenly also; 4 also the second Chable man, 5 the man of Ichcanziho, Holtun Balam, his son. 6 Then <the province of> Chakan received the quetzal. 7 Then their associate rulers arrived. These rulers were the intimate associates of the rulers in Tun 11 Ahau. Then they established the land; then they established the country. Then they settled at Ichcanziho. Then came the people of Holtun-Ake; 8 then came the people of Zabacna. Then the rulers came, all together. The man of Zabacna was the first of the men of the Na family. Then they assembled at Ichcanziho, where the official mat was, 9 during the reign of Holtun / Balam, there at the well, during the reign of Pochek-ix-oy. 10 He was the first of the men of p. Copo; Tutul Xiu might have been there also. Chacte was the ruler, Chacte was the land where 10 their rulers arrived. 11 Teppanciz was their priest, he was looked upon as such. It was Ah C Ppizte 12 who measured their land. But Lubte was the land where they rested, there were seven leagues of land. Ah May it was who fixed the corners 13 of the land, he who set the corners in their places; the sweeper who swept the land was Mizcit Ahau. But the land which was established for them was Hoyahelcab; there they came to the use of their reason. They proved their ruler, they proved their reason. Then began the introduction of tribute to them at Chichen. At Tikuch arrived the tribute of the four men. 14 11 Ahau was the name of the katun when the tribute was handled. There at Cetelac it was assembled; there it was. Then came 15 the tribute of Holtun Zuiua, there at Cetelac, where they agreed in
p. 75
their opinions. 13 Ahau was the name of the katun 1 when the head-chiefs received the tribute. Then began their reign; then began their rule. Then they began to be served; then those who were to be thrown (into the cenote) arrived; then they began to throw them into the well that their prophecy might be heard by their rulers. Their prophecy did not come. 2 It was Cauich, Hunac Ceel, Cauich was the name of the man there, who put out his head at the opening of the well/
on the south side. 3 Then he went to take it. 4 Then he came forth to declare the prophecy. 5 p. Then began the taking of the prophecy. Then began his prophecy. Then they began to declare 11 him ruler. Then he was set in the seat of the rulers by them. Then they began to declare him C head-chief. He was not the ruler formerly; that was only the office of Ah Mex Cuc. Now the representative 6 of Ah Mex Cuc was declared ruler. The eagle, they say, was his mother. Then, they say, he was sought on his hill. Then they began to take the prophecy of this ruler after it was declared. Then they began to set aloft the house on high for the ruler. Then began the construction of the stairway. Then he was set in the house on high in 13 Ahau, 7 the sixth reign. Then began the hearing of the prophecy, of the news, 8 of the setting up 9 of Ah Mex Cuc, as he was called. Then he carried nearly to Baca 10 the news of Ah Mex Cuc. He was placed there. 11 Then he began to be treated as a lord; 12 then obedience 13 to the name of Ah Mex Cuc began. Then he was obeyed; then he was served there at the mouth of the well. Chichen Itzam was its name because the Itza
p. 76
went there. Then he removed the stones 1 of the land, the stones of the sowed 2 land, the place of Itzam, and they went into the water. 3 Then began the introduction of misery there at Chichen Itz. Then he went to the east and arrived at the home of Ah Kin Coba. Katun 8 Ahau came. 8 Ahau was the name of the katun when their government occurred. Then there was a change of the katun, then there was a change of rulers./ . . . when our rulers increased in numbers, according to the words of their priest to them. p. Then they introduced the drought. That which came was a drought, according to their words, 12 when the hoofs <of the animals> burned, when the seashore burned, a sea of misery. So it C was said on high, so it was said. Then the face of the sun was eaten; 4 then the face of the sun was darkened; then its face was extinguished. They were terrified on high, when it burned at the word of their priest to them, when the word of our ruler was fulfilled at the word of their priest to them. Then began the idea of painting the exterior of the sun. 5 When they heard of that, they saw the moon. Then came the rulers of the land. It was Ix-Tziu-nene 6 who introduced sin to us, the slaves of the land, 7 when he came. Then the law 8 of the katun, the divination of the katun shall be fulfilled. When he was brought, what was your command, you, the rulers of the land? Then the law of another katun was introduced, at the end of the katun when Ix-Tziu-nene was brought. Whereupon a numerous army was seen, and they began to be killed. Then a thing of terror was constructed, a gallows for their death. Now began the archery 9 of Ox-halal Chan. 10 Then the rulers of the land were called. Their
p. 77
blood flowed, and it was taken by the archers. 1 They were terrified . . . the time when the katun ended for them . . . / 2
Footnotes
p. 13 C
66:9 Here we have a new account of the conquest of Chichen Itz by Hunac Ceel, the head-chief of Mayapan. Various versions of this episode will be found in Chapter: XIX, XX and XXI of the present work as well in the Mani and Tizimin chronicles (Brinton 1882, pp. 102, 146; Martinez 1927, pp. 8, 16). Cf. Appendix C. Chac was formerly an important title, but at the time of the Spanish conquest the term merely designated four old men who represented the rain-gods in certain religious ceremonies (Landa 1928, p. 180). Ah Itzimthul appears to be a variant of the name of the ruler of Izamal, afterward deified. He is called Itzmatul by Lizana (1893, ff. 4 and 14) and Itzmal Ulil in the Tizimin chronicle. Historical references to the ancient city of Ichcanzihoo, or Tihoo, the site of Merida, are so extremely rare that it is of especial interest to read that this city was under the command of the ruler of Izamal at this time. 66:10 Uayom-chich: uay means a familiar spirit, and -om is an archaic suffix indicating either a participial or a future form of a verb. Chich signifies a bird. Ah uay chamac was a wizard who could turn himself into a fox, and the translator believes uayom chich indicates a similar relationship with a bird. This title may be associated with the figures of birds worn by the carved figures at Chichen Itz. 66:11 Maya, ix-pop-ti-balam. The mat (pop) was the seat of authority in a Maya council, and balam means jaguar, although it is also a term applied to the priests and officials of a village. We are reminded of the jaguar seats portrayed at Chichen Itz (Cf. fig. 3 and Morris, Charlot and Morris 1931, pp. 368, 373). In these frescos, which are of the Toltec period, we note that such seats are occupied by warriors. It is also known that the Mexican allies of the rulers of Mayapan were called the Ah Canuls (Landa 1928, p. 86; Crnica de Calkini, p. 35). Consequently the statement that one of the Canuls occupied the jaguar-seat accords with both the archological and historical evidence. We are reminded of the ocelopetlatzine, or "jaguar-mat" used at Temimilzinco in Mexico. It was so named because it was woven with dark spots to imitate a jaguar skin. Here, however, it was used to sleep on (Ruz de Alarcn 1892, p. 155). 67:1 One of the first rulers of Uxmal was called Hun Uitzil-Chae (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 287; Tizimin p. 13). Evidently the ruler at Uxmal still retained the title of Chac. 67:2 Although not mentioned in any of the chronicles, Hapay Can figures prominently in a fragmentary account of the Hunac Ceel episode in the Tizimin (pp. 23-24) and Mani (pp. 166-167) manuscripts. The name, Hapay Can, means sucking-snake. The Lacandon Indians believe in a certain evil spirit of this name "in the form of a snake who draws people to him with his breath ... At the end of the world Nohochchacyum (the head of the Lacandon Pantheon) will wear around his waist as a belt the body of Hapay Can" (Tozzer 1907, p. 94).
67:3 Chemchan is a suburb of Uxmal, recently located by Frans Blom. 67:4 Possibly his head was pierced by a stake and the reference is to a tzompantli (the Aztec name of a wooden rack on which the skulls of sacrificed victims were displayed) at Uxmal. 67:5 In the Mani chronicle it is indicated that Chac-xib-chac was the governor or head-chief of Chichen Itz. In Appendix A evidence is presented that Chac-xib-chac, said by Landa to be one of the names of the Red Bacab, was probably in reality the Red Rain-god, who lived at the east of the world. Here we have an important personage bearing the name of the rain-god, and we may infer that he figured as the representative of the god. In the Temple of the Chac Mool found in the substructure of the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itz there is a fresco representing five men wearing the mask and head-dress of God B, the Maya rain-god (Morris, Charlot and Morris 1931, pp. 375 and 454 and pl. 133). These are called God Impersonators, and the translator believes that they impersonated the five Maya rain-gods who, like the five Mexican Tlaloque, were set at the four cardinal points and at the center of the heavens. To identify the insignia of which Chac-xib-chac was "despoiled" is more difficult. It is called canhel in Maya, a word which Beltran defines as "dragon." There are reasons for believing that this canhel is the ceremonial staff carried by the God Impersonators of the fresco in the Chac Mool Temple. In the mixture of Christianity and paganism on page 110 of the present work we read of God the Father grasping in his hand his canhel, so it is evidently something that could be held in the hand. Again, the figure in Maya art most obviously suggested by Beltran's "dragon" is the snake-like head of the God K and, as Ann Axtell Morris has conclusively shown in her analysis of the fresco, this ceremonial object is a vestigial form of the Manikin Scepter with its serpent handle and surmounted by the head or entire figure of the God K. Schellhas (1904, pp. 32-33) has shown the frequent association of God K with God B, who is impersonated in this case. Consequently the ceremonial staff retained its name canhel, even though it did not always bear the head of the god. In the Chumayel text canhel is written cangel, although the g is almost never employed in writing a Maya word. Evidently the writer associated the word with the Spanish angel, and we are reminded of the so-called angel which Landa tells us was set on the back of the figure of Kan-u-uayab-haab, the spirit who ruled over the five unlucky days immediately preceding the Kan years. He says that these "angeles" were frightful in appearance, but that they presaged rain and a good year (Landa 1929, p. 22). In the picture of the New Year's ceremony on page 25 of the Dresden Codex, a human figure with an animal's head, apparently representing the last day of the old year, bears on his back the God K, quite like the angel of which Landa tells. The passage on page 110 of the Chumayel indicates that the canhel was closely connected with the winds. Sols Alcal and Sols M. (1927, p. 245) have associated the canhel with the winds but identify it with the wheel-like object held in the left hand of the figure with the animal's head mentioned above. 68:1 Ix Zacbeliz could be translated either as "the white woman who travels on foot," or as "the woman who travels on the white causeway." 68:2 This appears to have been the procedure followed by one who wished to set himself up as a leader.
At the time of the fall of Mayapan, Ah Kin Chel also "wrote on the fleshy part of his left arm certain letters of great importance in order to be esteemed" (Landa 1928, p. 8; Cf. Spinden 1913, fig. 10). 68:3 Probably a reference to Hunabku, "the only living and true god, also the greatest of the gods of the people of Yucatan" (Motul). 69:1 Nauat is still a family name in Yucatan. We may well infer that this Nauat was one of the Mexican guards of Mayapan mentioned by Landa, as it is a Mexican word. 69:2 Maya, Ah-canul, which has been translated as guardian or care-taker (Tozzer 1921, p. 125). It is not unlikely, however, that the reference is to the people called Ah Canul, the so-called Mexican mercenaries who afterward settled in the Province of Ah Canul. Cf. p. 66, note 11. 69:3 Literally, Cauich with the embroidered mantle. Cauich is still a common family name in Yucatan. 69:4 Maya, pulben. Pul means to carry, to throw, to offer and to cast a spell. Pulben is a passive verbal noun meaning that which is to be carried, thrown or offered, probably the person who was carried in the place of or thrown into the cenote for Ah Mex Cuc. 69:5 Ah Mex Cuc, literally whiskered squirrel, is said to have had the surname Chan and to have been one of the four greatest men of the Maya (Cf. p. 147, note 5). A squirrel of this description appears on one of the sculptured friezes of the Temple of the Warriors. Cf. Plate 1, b. 70:1 The Plumeria still has a mythological significance among the Lacandones (Tozzer 1907, p. 93). 70:2 Maya, ul, "certain small mottled snails found among the bushes and rocks" (Motul). Priests wore snail-shells sewn on their robes (Relaciones de Yucatan, II, p. 27). 70:3 The homa is a long narrow gourd with a small mouth. Dr. Redfield reports that it is still exclusively used to contain balch for religious ceremonies. 70:4 Here we have the beginning of what is evidently a migration legend referring to a much earlier period than the time of the Hunac Ceel episode. 70:5 Ppole was the port on the mainland from which travelers usually embarked for the Island of Cozumel (Aguilar 1900, p. 83). We have here a pun on the name, as ppol means to multiply or increase in numbers. The reference to taking the women of Ppole as their mothers is of interest, as it shows a recollection of the first Itz taking the women of the country as their wives. These invaders were probably largely men.
70:6 This is not the Ake noted for its ruins, but no doubt the modern town of onot-ake, as it is here associated with Sucopo, Kikil and other towns in that neighborhood. Ak is also a family name. 70:7 The name Tixchel probably comes from Ix Chel, the goddess of medicine and the rainbow, but a pun is made on the verbal root, chel, which means to stretch out or prolong. 70:8 Ninum may be derived from num, a wild prickly pear (Acanthocereus pentagonus Britt. & Rose), but num also means much or too much. 70:9 Chikin-onot means west cenote. It was probably in the neighborhood of Tizimin, and not the village of that name south of Valladolid. 70:10 Tzuc-op, the modern Sucopo, probably means a clump of Anona trees, but tzuc-ba means to remain apart, hence the pun. 70:11 X-koh-takin, literally she who wears a gold mask. 70:12 Cabilneba may be derived from cabil, sweet like honey, and neba (lit. gopher-tail) an unidentified plant. Many place-names are derived from plants. 70:13 Kikil means bloody, and Panabhaa, an artificial well. 70:14 Cucuchil-haa means very full of water and cuch can mean to settle. 71:1 Coh means dear or high priced. 71:2 Kal means to shut in. 71:3 Timaax is the modern Temax. Maax means a monkey or a rogue. 71:4 Maya, chuc lum ii, a stock phrase. The Indians told Martin Sanchez that iontun was so named because they had an idol which had a jacket of green and red beads and named Ah Kin Pekual (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 299). 71:5 Maya, ain, or ayin. 71:6 Zinanche, lit. scorpion tree, is the Zanthoxylum caribum Lam. 71:7 Probably Telchac is intended.
71:8 emul means little mound; emlah yol means to reconcile. 71:9 Another Ixkil Itzam Pech was chief of Conkal at the time of the Spanish conquest (Brinton 1882, p. 219). 71:10 Baca, or bac-haa, means to pour water. 71:11 Cel, the last syllable in Caucel, means cold in Maya. 71:12 Ya ucu is probably an exclamation of sorrow or pain. 72:1 Maya, munhi (translated: "were soft,") is a pun on the name, Munaa, which the Indians themselves derived from muan-a, the water (or well) of the sparrow-hawk. Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 155. 72:2 Chac-akal, literally red pond, may be modern Yakal. 72:3 Ceh, the last syllable in Xocneceh, means deer in Maya. 72:4 Pax-ueuet is probably derived from the Maya pax, to drum with the hand, and ueuet, or huehuetl, the Nahuatl for drum. 72:5 Probably Chichican. Mani map of 1557 apud Stephens 1843, II, p. 264. 72:6 Mentioned on p. 142; evidently between Tixmeuac and Tetzal. 72:7 Located from description in Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 296. 72:8 Lop is probably the modern Tiholop. 72:9 Cetelac is the name of a hacienda close to the ruined city now named for the neighboring town of Yaxun. These ruins are, at the western end of the ancient causeway which extends to Cob. 72:10 Maya, u cal peten, in imitation of the Spanish name, Yucatan. 72:11 This is the end of the first migration narrative, apparently an intrusion here, as it refers to a time when much of northern Yucatan was not settled, and the events of this chapter occurred in the time of Hunac Ceel about the end of the Twelfth Century A. D. What follows may refer to the reduction of the country after the fall of Chichen Itz.
72:12 Instead of precious stones (tun) this may refer to the descent or arrival of the Tun family who are very numerous in this neighborhood (Titulos de Ebtun). The modern name, Ebtun, means a stone stairway. 72:13 Maya: ti u tzolahob u pop katun. Here we have an explanation of the phrase in the Tizimin Chronicle which Brinton (1882, p. 144) has translated: "then Pop (the first Maya month) was counted in order," and on which some change in the annual calendar has been predicated. It was the mat (pop) of the katun that was counted in order. The conception p. 73 is an ancient one, for the face of Stela J at Copan, containing an Initial Series inscription, is carved to represent a woven mat. No doubt the expression refers simply to the erection of the katun marker in this instance. it is of interest to note a secondary meaning also given to the word. "Num pop, num am: Trabajo y miseria. Num, pop.l. num am en ti numya mabal yan ten. Soy pobre miserable, no tengo tras que parar.l. ah numya pop en. Vocablos son antiguos." Motul. 73:1 Kochila is just north of the causeway from Cob to Yaxun. Tit. Ebtun, pp. 284 and 320. 73:2 Maya: ti che choc ii. i is defined as hoof, left hand and to conquer in a dispute. Che choc may be intended for chochoc, which would mean loosely tied. 73:3 Pacaxua is on the border of the Province of Mani between Chumayel and Sotuta. Mani map of 1557 (Stephens 1843, 11, p. 264). 73:4 Ppuppulni-huh: lit. the iguana was swollen. 74:1 The chief priest of Yucatan was called Ah Kin May (Landa 1928, p. 72). May is still a common family name in Yucatan. 74:2 A brief summary of the history of Motul is found in Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 77. 74:3 See p. 66, note
10.
74:4 Nun, or ah-nun means a newcomer who does not know the language of the country; a stammerer; a stupid unteachable person. 74:5 Ah Chable could mean a member of the Chable family or a man of the town of Chable. Probably the former is intended here. It is implied on page 67 that he was the chief of Ichcanziho. 74:6 Cf. p. 147. 74:7 Maya, Yaxum, the symbol of Kukulcan, or Quetzalcoatl (Cf. p. 63, note 6). Yaxum is also the name
of an unidentified tree. 74:8 Probably Ake, noted for the unique character of its ruins. 74:9 Ix pop ti balam. Lit. the mat for the balam. Balam means jaguar, priest, and town officials generally, including the priesthood. It seems likely that the seat of government is meant (Cf. p. 66, note 11). 74:10 Lit. "he who tramples on the conquered women." (Cf. Naranjo, Stel 14, 21, and 24. Maler 1908 b, Pl. 33, 35 and 39). 74:11 Place-names in Yucatan are often derived from trees. Chacte is the Brazil tree, but if it were changed to chacet, the passage would read: Great was the ruler, great the land where their rulers arrived. 74:12 Ah Ppizte: cf. p. 65, note 2. 74:13 A play on words: Ah May---amay (corner). 74:14 Apparently a reference to the four main divisions of the typical Nahua tribe or nation. 74:15 Lit. descended. 75:1 As we know that the Hunac Ceel episode occurred in Katun 8 Ahau, either this passage is an intrusion, or else Tun 13 Ahau of Katun 8 Ahau is intended. The same applies to the mention of Katun 11 Ahau a few lines above. 75:2 It was a serious matter if none of those thrown into the cenote returned to declare the prophecy. See Appendix B. 75:3 The stone platform from which victims were flung into the cenote is still to be seen on the south side. 75:4 Maya, ca bini chabil; from the verb, cha, to take. Chabil usually a passive form, is here employed as an active verb. Cf. "Xiic pulbil huun Cumkal, let them go carry the letter to Cumkal." Motul. 75:5 Maya, than. Literally, the word. One secondary meaning is "law," and in the Chumayel it is frequently employed in contexts which plainly call for the meaning, prophecy. 75:6 See p. 69, note 4.
75:7 Probably Tun 13 Ahau is meant, as it is known that Hunac Ceel lived in a Katun 8 Ahau. Why it is the sixth reign is not clear. 75:8 Maya, kin. Besides meaning news, this word could also mean reign, sun, time, day and festival. 75:9 Maya, ua, as in ua-cunah, to set up or erect something. 75:10 Baca is a town a few miles west of Motul. 75:11 Here the page has crumbled and Berendt's copy has been followed. He gives this word as yancuntabi, and it is so translated. Yacuntabi would mean loved or guarded. It might be yeeuntabi, established. 75:12 Maya, yumintabali. This could also mean "treated as a father." 75:13 Maya, tzicile. It means to honor or respect as well as obey. 76:1 Maya, tunil. This usually means precious stones, unless the word occurs in a compound, when it can mean an ordinary stone. While it is true that many precious stones were thrown into the water at Chichen Itz, the context indicates that landmarks are meant here. 76:2 The place of the Itz may be meant. It is uncertain just who or what Itzam was. It is an element in the name Itzamn as well as in that of the whale or monster called Itzam-cab-ain, discussed on page 101, note 4. We find also the name Xkil Itzam Pech (p. 71, note 9). 76:3 We are reminded of the great stones which they threw into the Sacred Cenote when none of the victims returned with the prophecy. Appendix B. 76:4 "During lunar eclipses ... They say that the moon is dying, or that it is being bitten by a certain kind of ant (Aguilar 1921, p. 204). A similar belief was held of solar eclipses. 76:5 An alternative translation would be: "They began to imagine the reverse side of the sun." 76:6 Tziu is a family name, and nen means mirror. Here it may be feminine. 76:7 u mun nal cab might also mean: "the tender green corn of the land." 76:8 Than has many meanings in Maya. The than of the katun is interpreted as "ordenansas" by the Kaua MS, p. 171 (Gates Reproduction).
76:9 Maya, chulul. This word has a number of meanings. In the Maya texts it usually signifies either a bow or the chulul-tree from which bows were made (Apoplanesia paniculata Presl.) 76:10 Literally, Chan of the three arrows. Chan is a common family name. 77:1 Maya, ah-cehob. The term implies hunters who use the bow and arrow rather than warriors. Ah Cehob could also mean the men of the Ceh family. 77:2 The order in which the place-names occur in the first migration narrative in this chapter indicates roughly a great eclipse which covers much of northern Yucatan, running west, south, east and north. The course of the second migration is much more irregular. Both narratives suggest that the people concerned in these movements started in the east and first traveled toward the west. It is significant that Uxmal was the only place southwest of the puuc, or low mountain range, which was visited, for this is the district which is so thickly occupied by the imposing remains of what must have been important cities, such as Sacb, Kabah, Sayi, Tabi, Labn and Keuic, to mention only a few of the best-known sites. Hardly a tradition has come down to us regarding this once densely populated region, although the Xius must have come through it when they settled in Uxmal. Evidently it was a country apart, and the people from the east (or southeast) with whom this chapter is concerned did not attempt to penetrate it. Equally significant is the fact that in the area covered by these two lists of place-names we find no mention of the towns supposed to have been founded by the Cocoms after the fall of Mayapan, such as Sotuta, Tabi and Tibolon, nor of those settled by the Ah Canuls in western Yucatan, such as Calkini, Numkini and Maxcanu. These omissions are a confirmation of the historical value of these old migration narratives.
Next: III: A Prophecy For Katun 11 Ahau
Chilam Balam: Translation: III: A Prophecy For Katun 11 Ahau
III
(A PROPHECY FOR KATUN 11 AHAU) 3
Katun 11 Ahau is set upon the mat, set upon the throne, when their ruler is set up. Yaxal Chac 4 is its face to their ruler. The heavenly fan, the heavenly wreath and the heavenly bouquet shall descend. 5 The drum and rattle of the lord of 11 Ahau shall resound, when flint knives are set into his mantle. 6 At that time there shall be the green turkey; at that time there shall be Zulim Chan; at that time there shall be Chakanputun. 7 They shall find their food among the trees; they shall find their food among the rocks, those who have lost their <usual> food 8 in katun 11 Ahau. 11 Ahau is the beginning of the count, because this was the katun when the foreigners arrived. They came from the east when they arrived. Then
Christianity also began. The fulfilment of its prophecy is <ascribed> to the east. 1 The katun is established at Ichcaanzihoo. 2
This is a record of the things which they did. After it had all passed, they told of it in their <own> words, but its meaning is not plain. Still the course of events was as it is written. But even when everything shall be thoroughly
Click to view FIG. 4--The drum and rattle of the katun resound. Fresco at Santa Rita, British Honduras. (After Gann, 1900, Plate 31. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution.)
explained, perhaps not so much is written about it, nor has very much been written of the guilt of their conspiracies with one another. So it was with the ruler of the Itz, with the men <who were rulers> of Izamal, Ake, Uxmal, Ichcanziho <and> Citab Couoh 3 also. Very many were the /
head-chiefs and many a conspiracy they made with one another. But they are not made known in what is <written> here; not so much will be related. Still he who comes of our lineage will know it, one of us who are Maya men. He will know how to explain these things when he reads what is here. When he sees it, then he will explain the adjustment of the intricacy of the katun by our priest, Ah Kin Xuluc; but Xuluc 4 was not his name formerly. It was only because these
p. 79
p. 14 C
priests of ours were to come to an end when misery was introduced, when Christianity was introduced by the real Christians. Then with the true God, the true Dios, came the beginning of our misery. It was the beginning of tribute, the beginning of church dues, 1 the beginning of strife with purse-snatching, 2 the beginning of strife with blow-guns, the beginning of strife by trampling on people, the beginning of robbery with violence, the beginning of forced debts, the beginning of debts enforced by false testimony, the beginning of individual strife, a beginning of vexation, a beginning of robbery with violence. 3 This was the origin of service to the Spaniards and priests, of service to the local chiefs, 4 of service to the teachers, 5 of service to the public prosecutors by the boys, the youths of the town, while the poor people were harassed. These were the very poor people who did not depart when oppression was / put upon them. It was by Antichrist 6 on earth, the kinkajous of the towns, the foxes of the towns, 7 the blood-sucking insects of the town, those who drained the poverty of the working people. But it shall still come to pass that tears shall come to the eyes of our Lord God. The justice of our Lord God shall descend upon every part of the world, straight from God upon Ah Kantenal, Ix Pucyola, the avaricious hagglers 8 of the world. p. 15. C
Footnotes
77:3 A discussion of Maya prophecies will be found in Appendix D. 77:4 Literally, the green rain-god. Rain is green in the Maya picture-manuscripts. Cf. Appendix A. 77:5 In the Mani version of this prophecy these objects are said to be held in the hand of Yaxal Chac (Perez Codex, p. 75). We are told that the Maya "were fond of fragrant odors, and so made use of bouquets of flowers and fragrant herbs of odd designs." The bouquet was also a ceremonial object, for when children were baptised, the priest's assistant carried a bouquet of flowers. With this he made a threatening motion nine times at each child and then caused the child to smell it (Landa 1928, pp. 150 and 184). 77:6 Here the text is corrupt, it is corrected from page 133.
77:7 The green turkey (p. 70), Zulim Chan (p. 69) and Chakanputun (p. 136) are all associated with occasions when people were driven out into the forest, as many were in Katun 11 Ahau, the period of the Spanish conquest. 77:8 Alternative translation: who have lost their sowed fields, etc. 78:1 Compare with the katun-wheel on p. 132. 78:2 This is the end of the prophecy. What follows is a commentary. 78:3 The Couoh (Spider) family ruled in Champoton (Landa 1928, p. 42). 78:4 Xuluc is probably derived from the name of a fish resembling the dace, but it can also mean perishable, hence the play on words here. 79:1 Limosna in the text, but to the Indians it meant compulsory dues. 79:2 Lit. snatching the bags in which they carried the cacao used for small change. 79:3 These are stereotyped phrases usually employed to describe a riot or the plundering of a town. 79:4 Here we have a description of the oppression of the Indians during the colonial period, not only by the Spaniards but also by many of their own chiefs who held public office under the Spanish regime. 79:5 Maya, camzah, is a term also supplied to the village choirmaster, a person of considerable authority. 79:6 Called antachristoil in the text. We suspect it merely means bad Christians here. 79:7 These are terms applied in general to harsh and oppressive Maya chiefs. It is probable that they were originally honorable titles among the Itz. Cf. Appendix F. 79:8 Maya, utanil, which the Pio Perez dictionary translates as sorcerers or witches. The alternative translation, derived from ut seems preferable here.
Next: IV: The Building of the Mounds
Chilam Balam: Translation: IV: The Building of the Mounds
IV
(THE BUILDING OF THE MOUNDS)
In the year 1541. 9 181 uul. at. 5 Dik: 92 nhele 10 The history which I have written of how the mounds came to be constructed by the heathen. 11 During three score and fifteen katuns they were constructed. 12 The great men made them. Then the remainder of the men went
p. 80
to Cartabona, 1 as the land where they were is called today. There they were when San Bernab 2 came to teach them. Then they were killed by the men; the men were called heathen. 1<5>56 is the total count today <after> fifteen years. 3 On this day I have written how the great mounds / came to be built by the lineages and all the things which the rulers did. They were the ones p. who built the mounds. <It took> thirteen katuns and six years for them to construct them. The 16 following was the beginning of the mounds they built. Fifteen four-hundreds were the scores C of their mounds, and fifty <more> 4 <made> the total count of the mounds they constructed all over the land. From the sea to the base of the land 5 they created names for them as well as for the wells. Then a miracle was performed for them by God. Then they were burned by fire among the people of Israel. <This is> the record of the katuns and years since Chac-unezcab of the lineage of the Tutul Xius departed from Viroa. 6
Footnotes
79:9 The year of the Spanish settlement at Merida. 79:10 Probably a confused imitation of the chapter-heading in some Spanish history. 79:11 Written heregesob (literally heretics) in the text. Cf. p. 115, note 4.
Chilam Balam: Translation: IV: The Building of the Mounds
79:12 This is evidently an attempt to fix the period of building activity in northern Yucatan, just as on page 83 we find four baktuns and fifteen katuns given as what was probably the period of Maya civilization. Some Maya writers put the end of the native regime at the time of the settlement of Merida in 1541 and others fix the date at 1519 when p. 80 Cortez landed at Cosumel and even confuse the latter date with that of the settlement at Merida (Cf. pp. 81, 84). Possibly we have here a reference to the Long Count. If so the end of the native regime (whether we place it in 1519 or 1541) was believed to be fifteen katuns after an even number of baktuns, or scores of katuns as stated here. As to what the three baktuns were, two alternatives seem the most probable. We could consider them to be Baktuns 9, 10 and 11, which would make the Spanish conquest fall in the katun following 12. 15. 0. 0. 0. 1 Ahau 13 Uo. The other most likely alternative would be to consider these three baktuns to be Baktuns, 8, 9 and 10. This would fix the Spanish Conquest in the katun immediately following 11. 15. 0. 0. 0. 2 Ahau 8 Zac. It is generally agreed that Cortez landed in Cozumel during the first part of the katun immediately following Katun 2 Ahau, while on the other hand no dated monuments earlier than Baktun 9 have been found in northern Yucatan. It is possible, of course, that the inhabitants of northern Yucatan had been constructing the mounds mentioned here for some centuries before they set up the first dated monument. 80:1 Cartabona is certainly a European name, but it is not identified. 80:2 Possibly a reference to the battle on the day of San Bernab at Merida. 80:3 Although one of the figures is omitted, the year 1556 seems to be intended, as it was fifteen years after the occupation of Merida in 1541. 80:4 When we find round numbers given in terms of fifty, one hundred or one thousand, we may suspect the influence of European methods of counting on the mind of the Maya writer. 80:5 Maya: tu chun cab. Campeche was called "the base of the land." Chumayel, p. 86. 80:6 Viroa appears to be a corruption of some Spanish or Latin word as the letter r does not occur in Maya. The name, Chacunezcab is unfamiliar, and a possible alternative translation would be: since the lineage of the Tutul Xius departed there at Viroa, Chacunezcab.
Next: V: Memoranda Concerning the History of Yucatan
Chilam Balam: Translation: V: Memoranda Concerning the History of Yucatan
V
(MEMORANDA CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF YUCATAN)
A record of the katuns and years when the Province of Yucatan was first seized by the foreigners, the white men. It was, they say, in Katun 11 Ahau that they seized the port of Ecab. They came from the east when they arrived. They say they were the first to eat the pond-apple for breakfast, this was the reason they called them the foreigners who ate pond-apples; foreigners who
p. 81
sucked pond-apples, they were called. 1 This is the name of the householder whom they seized at Ecab, Nacom Balam 2 was his name. He was the first to be seized at Ecab by the first <Spanish> captain, Don Juan / de Montejo, the first conqueror. It was still the same katun when they arrived at Ichcanziho (Merida). 3 It was the year 1513 in Katun 13 Ahau that they seized Campeche. They were there one katun. 4 Ah Kin Camal from Campeche introduced the foreigners into the province here. It was on August 20th in the year 1541, I have made known the name of the year when Christianity began. In the year 1519, after seven score and eleven years, occurred the agreement with the foreigners, 5 according to which we paid for the war between the foreigners and the other men here in the towns. It was the captains of the towns <who made war>. It is we who pay for it today. Today I have written down that in the year 1541 the foreigners first arrived from the east at Ecab, as it was called. In that year occurred their arrival at the port of Ecab, at the village of Nacom Balam, on the first day of the year / in which Katun 11 Ahau 6 <fell>. After the Itz were dispersed, it was fifteen score years 7 when the foreigners arrived. <It was> after the town of Zaclahtun 8was depopulated, after the town of Kinchil Coba 9 was depopulated,
p. 82
p. 17 C
p. 18 C
after the town of Chichen Itz was depopulated, after the town on the Uxmal side <of the range of hills>, the great town of Uxmal as it is called, 1 was depopulated, as well as Kabah. 2 It was after the towns of Zeye, 3 Pakam, 4 Homtun, at the town of Tix-calom-kin, 5 and Ake, 6 Holtun Ake, were depopulated. It was after the town of Emal Chac 7 was depopulated, Izamal, 8 where the daughter of the true God, Lord of Heaven, descended, the Queen, the Virgin, the miraculous One. 9 When the ruler said: "The shield of Kinich Kakmo 10 shall descend," he was not declared ruler here. It was she, the miraculous one, the merciful one, who was so declared here. "The rope shall descend, the cord shall descend from heaven. The word shall descend from heaven." There was rejoicing over his reign by the other towns when they said this, but he was not declared their ruler at Emal (Izamal?). 11 Then the great Itz went <away>. Thirteen four-hundreds were the four-hundreds of their thousands, 12 and fifteen four-hundreds, the four-hundreds of their hundreds, the leading men among them, the heathen Itz. 13 But many supporters went with them to feed them. Thirteen measures of
p. 83
corn per head was their quota, and nine measures and three handsful of grain. From many small towns the magicians went with them also. / 1 They did not wish to join with the foreigners; they did not desire Christianity. They did not wish p. to pay tribute, did those whose emblems were the bird, the precious stone, the flat precious stone 19 and the jaguar, 2 those with the three magic <emblems>. Four four-hundreds of years and fifteen C score years was the end of their lives; 3 then came the end of their lives, because they knew the measure of their days. Complete was the month; complete, the year; complete, the day; complete, the night; complete, the breath of life as it passed also; complete, the blood, when they arrived at their beds, their mats, their thrones. In due measure did they recite the good prayers; in due measure they sought the lucky days, until they saw the good stars enter into their reign; then they kept watch while the reign of the good stars began. Then everything was good. Then they adhered to <the dictates of> their reason. There was no sin; in the holy faith their lives <were passed>. There was then no sickness; they had then no aching bones; they had then no high fever; they had then no smallpox; they had then no burning chest; they had then no abdominal pains; they had then no consumption; they had then no headache. 4 At that time the course of humanity was orderly. The foreigners made it otherwise when they arrived here. They brought shameful things / when they came. They lost their innocence in carnal sin; they lost their innocence in the carnal sin of Nacxit Xuchit, 5 in the carnal sin of his companions. No lucky days were then displayed to us. This was the origin of the two-day chair (or throne), of the two-day reign; 6 this was the cause of our sickness also. There were no more lucky days for us; we had no sound judgment. At the end of our loss of vision, and of our shame, everything shall be
p. 20 C
revealed. There was no great

p. 84
teacher, no great speaker, no supreme priest, when the change of rulers occurred at their arrival. Lewd were the priests, when they came to be established here by the foreigners. Furthermore they left their descendants here at Tancah (Mayapan). These then received the misfortunes, after the affliction 1 of these foreigners. These, they say, were the Itz. Three times it was, they say, that the foreigners arrived. It was because of this that we were relieved from paying tribute at the age of sixty, 2 because of the affliction by these men, / the Itz. It was not we who did it; it is we who pay for it today. However there is at last an agreement so that there may be peace between us and the foreigners. Otherwise there will be a great war. 3 p. 21 C
Footnotes
81:1 Op is a general term for the Annona species today, but it seems likely that at the time of the Conquest, the op or makop was the insipid pond-apple, the fruit of the Annona glabra L. which is of little use for food. 81:2 Cogolludo (Book 2, Chap. 5) states that Nacom Balam was an old man living at a ranch called Coni, near Conil, on the east coast. 81:3 Juan de Montejo was the son of Francisco the younger. The latter arrived at Merida in Katun 11 Ahau. 81:4 Few of the dates mentioned here are correct. 81:5 The agreement with the Spaniards was in 1542 or 1543, and not in 1519. The year 1543 was just seven score and eleven years after a certain year 7 Cauac which fell in 1392, and was employed as the basis of a chronological count for some reason as yet undiscovered (Chilam Balam of Mani apud Codex Perez, p. 127). 81:6 The Spanish Conquest of northern Yucatan was completed and Merida founded early in Katun 11 Ahau, but it was during the previous katun that Montejo first landed on the east coast of Yucatan. The port of Ecab was near Cape Cotoche and eight leagues northwest of Mugeres Island (Relaciones de Yucatan, II, p. 173).
81:7 According to the chronicles, Chichen Itz was depopulated by Hunac Ceel in a Katun 8 Ahau which was seventeen katuns before Montejo entered Yucatan in a Katun 13 Ahau. In connection with the period of fifteen katuns mentioned here, compare p. 79, note 12, p. 83, note 3, and Appendix H. 81:8 This appears to be the town usually called Zaclactun. In the third Chumayel chronicle and in all the prophecies for Katun 12 Ahau except the two in the Tizimin (see table of references at the end of Appendix D) and the katun-wheel (p. 132), we find the name given as Saclactun Mayapan; and in the other three places it is called Zaclactun or Zaclahtun. It seems likely therefore that Zaclactun was the ancient name of Mayapan. In the latter name the last syllable, -pan, is a Nahuatl word meaning banner. According to Brinton (1882, p. 175) Zaclactun "apparently means 'the place where white pottery is made.'" The present translator is inclined to derive this name from zacal actun, white cave or, according to the Motul dictionary, white stone building. 81:9 Here, as in most of the prophecies for Katun 13 Ahau, Kinchil Coba is given as a place-name. In the Books of Chilam Balam of Kaua and Mani (apud Morley 1920, p. 82 p. 482) this is the name of a personage, and Avendao (see p. 134, note 5) tells of a statue, probably an idol, at Tayasal named Kinchil Coba. In all likelihood the Kaua version of his name, Ah Kinchil Coba, is the correct one, meaning "the man of Kinchil Coba." Thompson believes that the place, Kinchil Coba, was the city of Cob, and the writer is inclined to agree with him (Thompson, Pollock, Charlot 1932, p. 6). Of interest is the statement in the Calkini Chronicle that at the town of Kinchil in northwestern Yucatan "there is a stone building, the stone building of the man of Coba, <Ah> Kinchil Coba." "ti yan nocac u nocacil Ah Coba he Kinchil Coba" (Crnica de Calkini, p. 38). 82:1 The Maya text reads: "cib u kaba," but has been corrected to ci bin u kaba and so translated. As the text stands in the original, the translation could be: to the south of the town of Uxmal, Cib was its name, was depopulated. 82:2 This is the only mention in Maya literature of the name of these ruins known to the translator. 82:3 There is a town of this name northeast of Acanceh, and Indians of Ticul who have farms near the ruins of Zayi insist that Zey is the correct name of that site. 82:4 Possibly the town of Tepakam northwest of Izamal is meant. 82:5 This name much resembles that of Xcalumkin, also called Holactun, a site noted for its Initial Series date. 82:6 Ak is a well-known ruined city, also a Maya family name. Holtun is difficult to translate; it might mean stone gate or opening in the rock. We read of Holtun Zuyua (p. 74) and Holtun Itz (p. 146), also of a personage named Holtun Balam (pp. 74 and 147).
82:7 Emal Chac, literally where the Chac (rain-god) descended. 82:8 Written "Etzemal" in the text. 82:9 Nra. Seora de Izamal, the famous Virgin of Izamal. 82:10 An idol at Izamal. See p. 160, note 2. 82:11 Here the worship of the Virgin of Izamal is ascribed to a time before the Spanish Conquest. 82:12 Picil originally meant eight thousand; it was later reduced to a thousand. 82:13 "It is said that the first founders of Chichen Itz were not idolaters, until Kukulcan, a Mexican captain, entered these provinces. He taught idolatry, as they say it was he who taught it." Rel. de Yucatn, I, p. 270. This statement was made repeatedly by the Indians to the first Spanish settlers. 83:1 A very slight change in the text would make it read: "Many of the daughters of the towns went with them to serve them, also." 83:2 See note
10,
p. 66 Chumayel.
83:3 Evidently a belief existed that Maya civilization had lasted four baktuns and fifteen katuns. These four complete baktuns might have been either Baktuns 8, 9, 10 and 11 or Baktuns 7, 8, 9 and 10. The latter alternative would take us back to Spinden's Historical Era, 7.0.0.0.0. (Spinden 1924, p. 160), and put the Spanish Conquest shortly after 11.15.0.0.0., 2 Ahau 8 Zac. (Cf. p. 79, note 12.) In that case the date 9.0.0.0.0. would have fallen about the year 435 A.D. 83:4 The foreign Toltecs no doubt brought disease into the country, just as the Spaniards did at a later date. 83:5 Nacxit was one of the Mexican names of Quetzalcoatl. Xuchit is an archaic form of the Aztec xochitl, which means flower. We are reminded here of the well-known erotic episode in the Quetzalcoatl legend. 83:6 We shall encounter a number of references to these "two-day" or temporary rulers. They are everywhere referred to as upstarts and usurpers. The following statements of the Indians may cast some light on the matter. In answer to the questions of the Spaniards as to the origin of the vaulted stone buildings seen in the country, some of the natives replied that their own ancestors had built them. "Others say that foreign immigrants settled there, and that the natives put an end to them and killed them." (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 197). Cf. p. 93 of the present work.
84:1 It is difficult to understand why the Itz who had been so long in Yucatan should be called foreigners. Possibly it was because they were still established at Tayasal at the time this passage was written. in any case the Itz are denounced a number of times in these pages. 84:2 Under the Colonial administration, unmarried youths and old men were exempt from tribute. Probably this was also the case before the Spanish Conquest. 84:3 The confusion of this narrative is probably due to the fact that while the writer was referring ostensibly to the Itz, he really had the Spaniards in mind. He evidently shares the belief of some of the Spanish writers that the Itz migrated from northern Yucatan to avoid subjection to the Spaniards, whose coming their prophets had foretold. Cf. Villagutierre 1701, p. 34.
Next: VI: Notes on the Calendar
Chilam Balam: Translation: VI: Notes on the Calendar
VI
(NOTES ON THE CALENDAR)
The beginning of Katun 11 Ahau was in the year Then it ended. Tihoo (Merida) was begun in the year (The convent of) San Francisco was founded at Santiago 6 in Tihoo The principal church was founded in the center of the town of <Ti>hoo in the year The months in a year are twelve The count of the days in one year The count of the nights in one year 7 The count of weeks in one year The number of Sundays in one year The count of the days in the first six months (of the year) 1519 5 1519 1540 12 365 365 52 53 181 / [p. 22 C] 1513 4
p. 85
The count of days in the second six months which complete the year This is the count of days in a week: seven days in one week is the total of this count. / [p. 23 C] The count of the uinals 1 in one year.
184
Poop--July 16th.
Yaax--January 12th. The time is good for gathering the ears of corn.
Uoo--August 5th. when the white <flowers> bloom.
Zac.--February 1st,
Zip-August 25th. February 21st.
Ceeh--
Zo-September 14th. turtles lay their eggs. Mac--March 13th when the
Zec--October 4th.
Kankin--April 2d.
Xul--October 24th, when the fish spawn.
Muan--April 22nd, when there is a ring around the sun in the sky. 4
eyaxkin 2--November 13th. The corn-stalks are bent double. 3 Paax--May 12th.
Mol--December 3rd.
Kayab--June 1st.
Cheen--December 23rd. The five days<called>Uayabhaab.

FIG. 5--The Maya months, or uinals. (Chumayel MS.) / [p. 24 C]
Cumku--June 21st.
Chumayel, 28, is born the god-daughter, Micaela Castaeda 5 /
Footnotes
84:4 It is generally agreed that Katun 11 Ahau began some time during the last half of the fourth decade of the Sixteenth Century. There was, however, a school of Maya writers during the Eighteenth Century who taught that the katun was composed of 24 years of 365 days each. They believed that a certain Katun 4 Ahau ended in 1752; and counting back to Katun 11 Ahau by their assumed katuns of 24 years, they came to the conclusion that it began in a year 10 Cauac which fell in 1512. 84:5 Cortez landed in Cozumel in 1519. 84:6 Santiago was a suburb of Merida occupied by the Nahua allies of the Spaniards (Cogolludo Bk. 7 Chap. 4). 84:7 It is significant to note that the Maya still preserved the idea of a night-count at this late date. 85:1 The uinal was the Maya month of twenty days. 85:2 Literally Little Yaxkin. Yaxkin is the usual name of this uinal. 85:3 The ear is left on the stalk, which is bent double so that the husk will completely shed the rain. Until the fall rains are over, the corn is said to keep better in this manner than in the granary. 85:4 Probably due to the smoke from the fields which are burned over at this time. 85:5 Written in a different hand. The rest of the page is blank.
p. 25 C
Next: VII: The Armorial Bearings Of Yucatan
Chilam Balam: Translation: VII: The Armorial Bearings Of Yucatan
p. 86
VII
(THE ARMORIAL BEARINGS OF YUCATAN) 1
Click to view FIG. 6--The armorial bearings of Yucatan. (Chumayel MS.) / [p. 26 C] 2
Footnotes
86:1 Compare legend accompanying this coat of arms with the figurative geographical description on page 126. 86:2 Naum Pech, head-chief at Motul, welcomed the Spaniards (Brinton 1882, pp. 2 and 235). He was baptised Don Francisco de Montejo Pech and later wrote a chronicle of the Conquest (Martinez 1926, p. 25).
Next: VIII: Notes on Astronomy
Chilam Balam: Translation: VIII: Notes on Astronomy
VIII
[p. 26 C] (NOTES ON ASTRONOMY)
(Small picture of a cross.) 3 When the eleventh day of June shall come, it will be the longest day. 4 When the thirteenth day of September comes, this day and night are precisely
p. 87
the same <in length>. When the twelfth day of December shall come the day is short, <but> the night <begins to> shorten. When the tenth day of March comes, the day and night will be equal <in length.> This annulus in the center of the disk is white and indicates the course of the sun. Between the two rings the black spots indicate the face of the sun, which goes over the large black one and descends to the small black one. Thus its movement is uniform, and this is its course here on earth also. On the ground it is thus manifested plainly all over the earth also. The progress of the sun is FIG. 7.--Diagram showing the course of the sun in the heavens (Chumayel MS.). truly great as it takes its course to enter into the great Oro 1 extended over the world. <This is> the record <of the motion> of the sun as it is known here on earth. / p. 27 C
Click to view FIG. 8--Diagram representing an eclipse of the sun (Chumayel MS.).
To the people on the sides of this half-section as pictured, the sun is not eclipsed; 2 but for anyone who is in the middle it is eclipsed. It is in conjunction with the moon when it is eclipsed. It travels in its course before it is eclipsed. It arrives in its course to the north, very great. It is all the same with eclipses of the sun and moon before it arrives opposite to the sun. <This is> the explanation so that Maya people may know what happens to the sun and to the Moon.
p. 88
Click to view FIG. 9--Diagram explaining the cause of solar and lunar eclipses (Chumayel MS.).
/ [p. 28 C]
Footnotes
86:3 The cross probably indicates that this is Christian teaching. 86:4 This date for the summer solstice indicates that the passage was originally written at a time when the Julian calendar was still current in Yucatan. 87:1 The translator does not know the word Oro as an astronomical term. It is the name of the gold disk which takes the place of the diamond on Spanish playing-cards and may refer to sunlight in general. 87:2 Chibil, the Maya word for an eclipse, also means eaten. Aguilar tells us that the Maya believed that certain ants called xulab ate the sun or moon at the time of an eclipse (Aguilar 1921, p. 304). This passage in the Chumayel is evidently an attempt to correct such a belief, but it does not appear to have been entirely successful, as Dr. Redfield reports that many natives still believe that the moon is eaten by certain ants during an eclipse (Redfield, Letter October 22, 1931).
There was, however, another explanation of the eclipse. Accompanied by some information taken from European almanacs, we find in the Codex Perez (p. 27) the statement that eclipses of the sun and moon are caused by their being "covered" by the planets. Now the Maya Indians of San Antonio in southern British Honduras give the name, xulab, to the deity of the Morning Star who ranks only next to the Christian God in power. The writer is inclined to connect this name with the ants called xulab which by the Maya of northern Yucatan, are believed to eat the sun or moon. The San Antonio Indians have been influenced by both the Chols and Kekchis, and the idea in the north that the xulab-ants eat the moon may well be a misunderstanding of a theory imported from the south to the effect that eclipses were caused by certain planets. Cf. J. E. Thompson 1930, p. 63.
Next: IX: The Interrogation of the Chiefs
Chilam Balam: Translation: IX: The Interrogation of the Chiefs
IX
(THE INTERROGATION OF THE CHIEFS)
This is the language of Zuyua 1 and the understanding for our lord, Seor Governor Mariscal, 2 who has settled at Tzuc-uaxim to the east of Ichcanziho (Merida). This is the land where his garden and homestead were, where he settled. Then the day will come when his period of office shall end also. The command of the head-chief comes. Vigorous is his command, when he arrives, and red is his garment also.
p. 89
On this day, in the language of Zuyua, this is the question asked by the head-chief of the town; then the day shall arrive when the law of Katun 3 Ahau shall end, when another katun shall be set <in its place>, Katun 1 Ahau, as stated below.
1
FIG. 10--The lord of the katun(Chumayel MS.).
This katun today is Katun 3 Ahau. The time has come for the end of its rule and reign. It is finished. Another one <takes its place> for a time.
FIG. 11--The lord of the katun (Chumayel MS.).
This is Katun 1 Ahau, which is set within the house of Katun 3 Ahau. 2 There it is its guest, while it is given its power by Katun 3 Ahau. Things are shameful, they say, <in the place> where they dwell./ 3 p. This is the 29 examination 4 which C takes place in the katun which ends today. The time has arrived for examining the knowledge
of the chiefs of the towns, <to see> whether they know how the ruling men came, whether they have explained the coming of the chiefs, of the headchiefs, whether they are of the lineage of rulers,
whether they are of the lineage of chiefs, that they may prove it. 5 This is the first question which will be asked of them: he shall ask them for his food "Bring the sun." This is the word of the headchief to them; thus it is said to the chiefs. "Bring the sun, <my> son, bear it on the palm of your hand to my plate. A lance is planted, a lofty cross, in the middle of its heart. A green jaguar is seated over the sun to drink its blood." Of Zuyua is the wisdom. This is what the sun is which is demanded of them: a very large FIG. 14--The lord of the katun (Chumayel MS.). fried egg. This is the lance and the lofty cross planted in its heart of which he speaks: it is the benediction. 6 This is what the green jaguar is which is set
p. 90
over it to drink its blood: it is a green chile-pepper, is the jaguar. This is the language of Zuyua. This is the second question that will be asked of them: let them go and get the brains of the sky, so the head-chief may see how large they are. "It is my desire to see them; let me see them." This is what he would say to them. This is what the brains of the sky are: it is copal gum. 1 Zuyua <language>. / p. This is the third 30 FIG. 15--The lord of the katun (Chumayel MS.). question which will C be asked of them: let them construct a large house. 2 Six thils 3 is its length., one such FIG. 16--The lord of the katun (Chumayel MS.). <measure> is that of its upright timbers. This is what the large house is: it is a very large hat set on the floor. He shall be told to mount a very large white horse. White shall be his mantle and his cape, and he shall grasp a white rattle in his hand, while he rattles it at his horse. There is coagulated blood on the rosette 4 of his rattle, which comes out of it. This is what the white horse is: it is a stirrup 5 of henequen fiber. This is the white rattle mentioned, and the
white cape: they are a Plumeria flower <and> a white wreath. This is the coagulated blood on the rosette of the rattle, which is demanded of them: it is the gold in the middle, because it is blood which comes from the veins of the fatherless and motherless orphan. This is the fourth question which will be asked of them: Let them go to his house and then they shall be told: "When you come, you shall be visible at midday. You shall be children again, you shall creep <again>. When you arrive, your little dog shall be just behind you. This little dog of yours carries with its teeth the soul of our holy mistress, 6 when you come with it." This is what the second childhood at midday is, which is mentioned to him. He shall go where he casts a shadow, this is what is called FIG. 17--The lord of the katun (Chumayel M.S.). creeping. Then he shall come to the house of the head-chief. This is what his little dog is which is demanded of him: it is his wife. This is what the soul of our holy mistress is: it is an enormous thick wax candle. <This is> the language of Zuyua./
p. 91
This is the fifth question which will be asked of them. They shall be told to go and get the heart of God the Father in heaven. "Then you shall bring me thirteen layers 1 wrapped up in a coarse white fabric." This is the heart of God the Father, of which they are told: it is a bead of precious stone. This is what the covering of thirteen layers is, which is mentioned. It is an enormous tortilla. Thirteen layers of beans are in it. This is what the coarse white fabric is, it is a white mantle. This shall be demanded of them, as signified <in the language> of Zuyua. This is the sixth question which will be asked of them: to go and get the branch of the pochote tree, 2 and a cord of three strands, and a living liana. This he will relish. "My food for tomorrow. 3 It is my desire to eat it." It is not bad to gnaw the trunk of the pochote tree, so they are told. This is what the trunk of the pochote tree is: it is a lizard. 4 This is the cord of three strands, the tail of an iguana. This is the living liana, it is the entrails of a pig. This is the trunk of the pochote tree, the base of the tail of a lizard. The language of Zuyua. This is the seventh question which will be asked of them. They shall be told: "Go and gather for me those things which plug 5 the bottom of the cenote, two white ones, two yellow ones. I desire to eat them." These are the things which plug the bottom of the
p. 31 C
cenote, which are demanded of them. They are <two> white and two yellow jcamas. 6 These are the things to be understood in order to become chiefs of the town, when they are brought before the ruler, the first head-chief. / p. These are the words. If they are not understood by the 32 chiefs of the towns, ill-omened is the star adorning the C night. Frightful is its house. Sad is the havoc 7 in the FIG. 20--The lord of the katun (Chumayel MS.). courtyards of the nobles. Those who die are those who do not understand; those who live will understand it. This competitive test shall hang over the chiefs of the towns; it has been copied so that the severity may be known in which the reign is to end. Their hands are bound before them to a wooden collar. They are pulled along with the cord. They are taken to
p. 92
the house of the ruler, the first head-chief. This is the end of the chiefs. This shall hang over 1 the unrestrained lewd ones of the day and of the katun. They shall feel anguish when the affairs of the chiefs of the towns shall come to an end. This shall occur on the day when the law of the katun shall come to an end, when Katun 3 Ahau shall terminate. The chiefs of the towns shall be seized because they are lacking in understanding. /
2
Thus shall occur the seizure of the chiefs of the towns. This is the memorandum so that they may give the first head-chief his food, when he demands his food of them. They shall be hung by the neck; the tips of their tongues shall be cut off: their eyes shall be torn out. On this day the end shall come. But those who are of the lineage shall come forth before their lord on bended knees in order that their wisdom may be made known. Then their mat 3 is delivered to them and their throne as well. The test is to be seen as it is copied here. Those of the lineage of the first head-chief here in the land are viewed with favor. They shall live on that day, and they shall also receive their first wand of office. Thus are those of the lineage of Maya men FIG. 21--''The chiefs of the towns shall be seized because they are lacking established again in the Province of Yucatan. God shall in understanding'' (Chumayel MS.). be first, when all things are accomplished here on earth. He is the true ruler, he shall come to demand of us our government, those things which we hold sacred,
p. 33 C
precious stones, precious beads; and he shall demand the planted wine, the balch. 4 He who has none shall be killed. He who obeys, godly is his action according to the law. But perhaps God will not desire all the things which have been written to come to pass. / So, also, these are the nobility, the lineage of the chiefs, who know whence come the men and the rulers of their government. The discretion with which they govern their subjects shall be viewed with favor. Their mat and
p. 93
p. 34 C
their throne shall be delivered to them by our lord, the first head-chief. This is their mat and their throne. <But> the unrestrained upstart of the day and katun, the offspring of the mad woman, the offspring of the harlot, the son of evil, the two-day occupant of the mat, the two-day occupant of the throne, the rogue of the reign, the rogue of the katun, he shall be roughly handled, his face covered with earth, trampled into the ground, and befouled, as he is dragged along. 2 <On the other hand>, the ruling men of noble lineage have walked abroad in Katun 3 Ahau; <they are> placated in the fullness of their hearts when they are told to go and take the chiefs of the towns. Then let them go and take them.
1
"Son, go and bring the flower 3 of the night to me here." This is what will be said. Then let him go on his knees before the head-chief who demands this of him. "Father, here is the flower of the night for which you ask me; I come with it and with the vile thing of the night. There it is with me." These are his words. "Then, <my> son, if it is / with you, have you with you the first captive 4 and the great lamo tree?" 5 "Father, they are with me. I have come with them." "Then, <my> son, if you have come with them, go and call your companions to me. These are an old man with nine sons and an old woman with nine children." "Father," he says when he replies, "I have come with them. Here they are with me. First they came to me, and then I came to see you."
FIG. 22--The examining head-chief, or halach-uinic (Chumayel MS.).
p. 35 C
"Then, <my> son, if they are here with you, go and gather for me stones of the savannah and come with them." He gathers them to his breast when he
p. 94
comes. "Are you a head-chief? Are you of the lineage of the ruler here in the land?" The language of Zuyua. This is the flower of the night which is demanded of him: a star in the sky. This is the vile thing of the night: it is the moon. 1 This is the first woman captive and the great lamo tree: it is the town official, 2 named "he who falls to the ground." This is the old man with nine sons who is demanded of him: it is his great toe. This is the old woman demanded of him: it is his thumb. These are the stones of the savannah which are sought for and which his son is to gather to his breast: they are quails. 3 "Also, <my> son, where is the smooth green thing of which you were told? You were not told to look at its face." Here it is with me, father." "Then, <my> son, go and bring to me here the placenta of the sky. When you come from the east, you shall come with something close behind you." "So be it, father," he says. This is what the smooth green thing is, which is with him when he arrives: it is the rind of a squash. 4 This is the placenta of the sky which is demanded of him: it is moulded copal-gum shaped into thirteen layers. This is what is said to come close behind him: it is the shadow at his back early in the afternoon. "<My> son, you are a head-chief; you are a ruler also. Go and get me the green beads with which you pray." / These are the green beads which are demanded of him: it is a bead of precious stone. Then he shall be asked how many days he prays. "Father," he says, "for one day I pray, and for ten days I pray." "On what day does your prayer arise?" "Father, on the ninth day and on the thirteenth day. It is to Bolon-ti-ku and Oxlahun-ti-citbil 5 that I count my beads." p. 36 C
"<My> son, go and get me your loin-cloth that I may perceive its odor here with the wide spread odor of my loin-cloth, the odor of my mantle, the odor of my censer, 6 the supreme odor at the center of the sky, at the center of the clouds, <also> that which glues together my mouth, it is in a white carved <cup>. <Do this> if you are a head-chief." "Father, I will bring them," he says. This is the odor of the loin-cloth which he asks for, this is the supreme odor at the center of the sky: it is copal gum set on fire <so that> it burns. This is what first glues together his mouth: it is ground cacao, chocolate. "Then, <my> son, go bring me the green blood of my daughter, also her head, her entrails, her thigh, and her arm; also that which I told you to enclose in an
p. 95
unused jar, as well as the green stool of my daughter. Show them to me. It is my desire to see them. I have commissioned you to set them before me, that I may burst into weeping." "So be it, father." He <is to> come with the left ear of a wild bee. Then let him go. This is the green blood of his daughter for which he asks: it is Maya wine. These are the entrails / of his daughter: it is an empty bee-hive. 1 This is his daughter's head: it is an unused jar for p. steeping wine. 2 This is what his daughter's green stool is: it is the stone pestle 3 for 37 <pounding> honey. This is what the left ear of the wild bee is: it is <a drop of> the moisture C of the wine. This is what the bone of his daughter is: it is the flexible bark of the balch. This is the thigh of which he speaks: it is the trunk of the balch tree. This is what the arm of his daughter is: it is the branch of the balch. This is what he calls weeping: it is a drunken speech. Then let him go and give these <things> to him. Let him seat himself tranquilly; let him wait for him to speak; let him salute him as his lord when he arrives. "Father, here is your daughter whom you put in my care. of whom you speak. You are the father, you are the ruler." This is what his son says to him. "Oh son, my fellow head-chief, my fellow ruler! You have remembered; it is sufficient. You know; it is sufficient," he says. "This, then, is the blood of my daughter for which I ask you." Thirteen times the blood of his daughter flows, while he weeps for his daughter, lying there in the courtyard. Perchance, then he weeps, while he looks at her, bowed down, while he says: "Oh son!" he says while he weeps, "you are a head-chief. Oh son, you are a ruler also. Oh my fellow head-chief, I will deliver your mat and your throne and your authority to you, son; yours is the government, yours is the authority also, <my> son." Thus, then, the chiefs of the towns are to obey 4 him when they depart with the first/head-chief, there at the head 5 of the province. Then let them go to his house. There they are at his house, when they give his food to the head-chief, and when he asks them for his food, as he shall specify in its order. p. 38 C
"Son, bring me four cardinals 6 which are at the mouth of the cave. They are to be set over 7 the first thing which glues together my mouth. It is to be red, that which I call the crest over the first thing which glues together my mouth, when it shall be brought before me." "It is well, father." What he asks for are little cakes of achiote. 8 This is the crest of which he speaks: it is the froth on the chocolate.
p. 96
This is what first glues together his mouth: it is cacao which has been ground. <The language of> Zuyua.
"Son, bring me the bird of the night and the drilled <stone> of the night, and with them the brains of the sky. Great is my desire to see them here." "It is well, father." What he wants is a stick used to scrape 1 copal gum <from the tree>. This the drilled <stone> of the night for which he asks, a bead of precious stone. The brains of the sky are copal gum. Language of Zuyua. "Son, bring me the bone of your father whom you buried three years ago. Great is my desire to see it." "It is well, father." This is what he wants, it is cassava baked in a pit. Then let him go and give it to the head-chief. "Son, bring me an old man whose coat 2 is not buttoned, Homtochac 3 is his name." "It is well, father." What he asks for is a nine-banded armadillo, a female armadillo. "Son, bring me three segments split from the sky. I desire to eat them." "Even so, father." / This is what he demands, it is atole shaken to a froth, the froth of atole (maize gruel). Everything is asked in the language of Zuyua. p. 39 C
"Son, bring me a stock of maguey, the thick stalk of the maguey without branches. Do not remove its tip. Also bring with it three strands of ravelled cord." "It is well, father." This is what he asks for, a hog's 4 head baked in a pit. Then he shall go and give it to him. The tip of which he speaks is its tongue, because its tip is fresh and tender. 5
"Son, bring me the hawks 6 of the night for me to eat." It is well, father." What he asks for are chickens, cocks. "Son, say to the first female captive, called Otlom-cabal, to bring me a basket of blackbirds 7 caught beneath the great lamo tree, heaped up there in the shadow of the lamo." "Even so, father." What he asks for are some black beans that are in the house of the town official, that is, the so-called first female captive and the thing which falls limply to the ground of which he speaks. 8 Language of Zuyua. "Son, go and catch the jaguar of the cave, so that by means of you it may give savour to my food. I desire to eat the jaguar." "It is well, father." This is the jaguar for which he asks, it is an agouti. 9 The language of Zuyua. "Son, bring me seven coverings of the fatherless <orphan>. It is my desire to eat them at the time when they should be eaten." "Even so, father." This is what he asks for, it is the pressed <leaves of the> chaya. 10
"Son, bring me the green gallants here. Let them come and dance, that I may look on with pleasure. Let them come with drum and rattle, fan and drum-stick. I am expecting them." 11 "Even so, father." What he asks for is a turkey-cock.
The drum is its crop. The rattle is its head. The fan is its tail. The drum-stick is its leg. The language of Zuyua. "Son, bring me the fanciful desire 1 of the district. I desire / to eat it." What he asks for is clarified honey. <The language of> Zuyua. p. 40 C
"Son, bring me a stone from burned over land, it is burning hot. Bring with it the liquor for me to extinguish it, so it will crack here before me." What he wants is a macal 2 baked in a pit. The liquor to extinguish it is clarified honey. The language of Zuyua.
"Son, bring me the firefly of the night. Its odor shall pass to the north and to the west. Bring with it the beckoning tongue 3 of the jaguar." "It is well, father." What he asks for is a smoking tube filled with tobacco. 4 The beckoning tongue of the jaguar for which he asks is fire. "Son, bring me your daughter that I may see her. Pale is her face and very beautiful. White are her headcovering and her sash. I greatly desire her." tilt is well, father." What he asks for is a white calabash cup <filled> with atole. The language of Zuyua. "Son, bring me the thing called zabel. Fragrant is its odor." "Even so, father." This is what he asks for, it is a melon. "Son, bring me the green curved neck, it is bright green along the back. I desire to eat it." "It is well, father." What he asks for is the neck of a turkey-cock. <Language of> Zuyua. "Son, bring me a woman with a very white and well rounded calf. Here will I tuck back the skirt from her calf." "It is well, father." He wants a jcama. This is what tucking back the skirt is: it is peeling the skin. "Son, bring me a very beautiful woman with a very white countenance. I greatly desire her. I will cast down her skirt and her loose dress before me." "It is well, father." This is what he asks for, it is a turkeyhen for him to eat. Casting down her skirt / and loose dress means plucking its feathers. Then let it be roasted for eating. The language of Zuyua.
"Son, bring to me here a farmer, an old man. I wish to see his face." "Even so, father." What he asks for is a cucut-macal 5 to eat. <This is> the questionnaire. "Son, bring me a farmer's wife, an old woman, a dark colored person. She is seven palms across the hips. It is my desire to see her." What he wants is the green fruit of a squash-vine. 6 The language of Zuyua. The day shall come.
p. 41 C
On this day our lord, the first head-chief, trampled them under foot, when he arrived here in the land, in the land of Yucalpeten. 7 He calls the chiefs, and the chiefs shall come. They are called by our lord, the first head-chief. "Are you chieftains?" "We are, <my> lord." These are their words. "Sons, if you are head-chiefs here in the land," they shall be told, "go and get the winged jaguar, and then come and give it to me to eat. Put his bead collar on him properly, put on his crest properly, and come and give him to me to eat. Go immediately today, and come soon. Sons, I greatly desire to eat him. You are <my> sons, you are head-chiefs." Those who are ignorant shall be sad at heart
p. 98
and in countenance. They shall say nothing. But those who know shall be cheerful when they go to get the winged jaguar. Then he shall come with it. "Is it you, son?" "It is I, father." "Are you of the lineage, son?" "Indeed I am, father." "Where are your companions, son?" "Father, they are in the forest seeking the jaguar." The jaguar, as they call it, does not exist, / but let him bring it before him. This jaguar for which he asks is the chief's horse which he wishes to eat. It is a horse raised about the house. This is the bead collar: it is its little bells. This is its crest: it is a red thread. It is to be completely saddled and bridled. The language of Zuyua. 1 p. 42 C
Footnotes
88:1 Zuyua is Nahuatl, a mythical place-name associated with the "Seven Caves" believed to be the origin of the Nahuas (Brinton 1882, p. 110). 88:2 Probably Don Carlos de Luna y Arellano, governor of Yucatan from 1604 to 1612. Cogolludo Bk. 8, Chap. 12. His period of office was, however, in Katun 5 Ahau, and not 3 Ahau as stated here. 89:1 This and the other blurred crowned heads in this chapter seem to represent the so-called "ruler" of
the katun-prophecies in Chapter XXII. It is of especial interest to find these heads pictured in connection with the present questionnaire, and it suggests that we have here an important ceremony associated with the establishment of a new katun-marker. The crowned head probably represents the glyph Ahau. 89:2 When a katun was half finished, the idol of the succeeding katun was set up and also worshipped (Landa 1929, p. 98). 89:3 Probably a reference to the erotic religious practices of which the early Spanish missionaries complained. 89:4 Lit.: the demand for knowledge or understanding. 89:5 See Appendix E. 89:6 It is not known what sort of a blessing the pagan Maya recited over their ordinary meals. Here the usual Christian benediction is no doubt meant. 90:1 The gum of the copal (Protium copal Engl.) was the principal incense used by the Maya. The thick clouds of smoke may have suggested the convolutions of the brain. 90:2 Lit. let them bind a large house. 90:3 Thil is the Maya measure for the distance between the uprights of a house. 90:4 Mexican rattles were certainly ornamented with rosettes. Cf. Seler 1904, pp. 674, 675 and 700. The Maya word here is lol, which usually means a large blossom. 90:5 Lit. a pierced shoe, which suggests an old Spanish stirrup of the Arab type. 90:6 Our holy mistress (ca cilich colel) is a term usually applied to the Holy Virgin. 91:1 Probably a reference to the thirteen heavens of the Maya cosmos. 91:2 Ceiba schottii Britt. & Baker. 91:3 Alternative translation: odorous food. 91:4 Chop, a red and black lizard. The term is also applied to the dried lizards used by the native doctors.
91:5 Possible alternative translation: tortoises. 91:6 Pachyrhizus erosus (L.) Urban. The Maya name, chicam, appears to be derived from the Nahuatl jcama, and this edible root may have been introduced by the Toltecs. 91:7 Bulcum, a misfortune frequently associated in these pages with swarming flies. 92:1 Alternative translation: There shall be weeping among, etc. 92:2 Prisoners are also portrayed as nude in one of the frescos of the Temple of the Warriors (Morris, Charlot and Morris 1931, Pl. 139). 92:3 Here, as among the Aztecs, the mat and throne are symbols of authority. Believing Cortez to be the returning Quetzalcoatl, Montezuma greeted him with these words: "My royal ancestors have said that you would come to visit your city and that you would sit upon your mat and chair when you returned" (Seler 1923, p. 447). 92:4 An intoxicating drink made of fermented honey and the bark of the Lonchocarpus longistylus Pitt. and used in religious ceremonies. 93:1 This portrayal of the halach-uinic dressed as a Spanish dignitary is probably due to an effort to make it real to the Seventeenth or Eighteenth Century Maya reader, rather than because of ignorance. 93:2 A very similar passage on page 106 states that these usurpers who ruled in Katun 3 Ahau were Itz (who called themselves "the Zuyua people.") This suggests that our questionnaire was originally a method by which the Xius, a 'West Zuyua people," ousted Itz chieftains from the towns over which they (the Xius) had gained control. We shall see on page 137 that the Itz also had a questionnaire of their own. 93:3 Lit.: a large flower. 93:4 Alternative translation: the green weak one. 93:5 Ficus cotinifolia H. B. K. The miter-like head-dress of the Maya chiefs, like those seen on the sculptures of Chichen Itz, was made of the bark of this tree (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, P. 82). 94:1 We know little of the Maya conception of the moon. It is certain, however, that in their later history they were greatly influenced by the Mexicans among whom the moon was associated with the rabbit, the symbol of drunkenness, and with Tlaolteotl, the goddess of sinful love.
94:2 Maya, ah-cuch-cab, which could also mean the honey-bearer. The translator believes the town official is meant because he was so subservient before any higher authority. 94:3 The quail is also associated with a stone on page 128. 94:4 Maya, ca, a certain white and striped squash. The Maya word, haan, is variously defined as something made smooth or scrubbed, father-in-law and son-in-law. 94:5 Lit.: nine gods and thirteen fathers, probably the gods of the nine underworlds and the thirteen heavens. 94:6 Written yubak in our text and corrected to yubkak, which means censer. 95:1 The Maya bee-hive is made of the hollow section of a log. 95:2 Balch, the native wine is made by steeping the bark or root of the balch tree (Lonchocarpus longistylus Pitt.) in a mixture of fermenting honey and water. 95:3 The text reads "couoh tun" (lit. tarantula stone) here, but it is assumed that cocoh tun (stone hammer) is meant, and translated accordingly. 95:4 Alternative translation: then ends the speech of the chiefs, etc. 95:5 Cumkal is called "the head of the land" on pages 86 and 126 of the Chumayel, so it is likely that the territory of Ceh Pech is the source of this ritual. 95:6 Chac-iib is Cardinalis cardinalis yucatanicus Ridg. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, 50, p. 141. Its feathers are a cure for yellow fever (Libro del Judo, p. 80). 95:7 The text reads: I am set over, etc. Probably an error. 95:8 Bixa orellana L., the butter-color of commerce. 96:1 Tocabal could mean either "removed" or "burned." In connection with hoyob, a stick for scraping something, the former definition is applied here. It is possible, ho ever, that a spoonlike censer is meant. 96:2 Habon, in the text, is assumed to be a corruption of the Spanish habito. The Maya hobon, hollow, may be intended.
96:3 Hom-toch-ac could mean hollow stiff tortoise-shell. 96:4 Keken originally was a large variety of peccary, but the term was later applied to European swine. 96:5 Ol is a tender tip or sprout. Ak means tongue, also something fresh or tender. 96:6 Coz, Micrastur melanoleucus Viellot. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool Harvard, 50, p. 121. 96:7 Pichum, or pich: Dives dives Lichtenstein. Pueblo Blackbird. Ibid., 50, p. 141. 96:8 Cf. p. 94, note 2. 96:9 Dasyprocta punctata yucatana Goldman. Mexican agouti, haleu. 96:10 Chay: Jatropha aconitifolia Mill. "They eat the leaves of this tree much as they do cabbages, but they are not as tasty ("Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 56). 96:11 Alternative translation: they are useful to me. 97:1 Maya, caz. Probably az, something clear, is intended. 97:2 Xanthosoma yucatanse Engl.; also the yam, a European importation. 97:3 The Maya were accustomed to make a furtive signal with the tongue. Motul. 97:4 A reference to puffing tobacco smoke toward the four world-quarters. 97:5 This name is applied to the imported taro, but here probably a form of Xanthosoma is meant (Standley, 1930, p. 224). 97:6 ol. Certain green flattish squashes, good and palatable. Motul. 97:7 Yucalpeten is an attempt to turn Yucatan into a name comprehensible in Maya. 98:1 The frequent mention of the language of Zuyua, a mythical place-name of the Nahua peoples, suggests that this interrogatory once abounded in terms familiar to the Toltec conquerors of Yucatan but not understood by the people of the country. In any case it came eventually to mean only mysterious words which were obscure to all but the ruling class. This example of the questionnaire has no doubt sadly degenerated. Nevertheless the mention of a number of things like the horse, known only to the
Maya since the Spanish Conquest, indicates that this interrogatory continued to develop during the colonial period, although the Spanish rulers of the country were entirely unaware of its existence. A discussion of the traditions of caste and chieftainship among the Maya will be found in Appendix E.
Next: X: The Creation of the World
Chilam Balam: Translation: X: The Creation of the World
X
(THE CREATION OF THE WORLD) 2
It is most necessary to believe this. These are the precious stones which our Lord, the Father, has abandoned. 3 This was his first repast, this balch, 4 with which we, the ruling men revere him here. Very rightly 5 they worshipped as true gods these precious stones, 6 when the true God was established, our Lord God, the Lord of heaven and earth, the true God. Nevertheless, the first gods were perishable gods. Their worship came to its inevitable end. They lost their efficacy by the benediction of the Lord of Heaven, after the redemption of the world was accomplished, after the resurrection of the true God, the true Dios, when he blessed heaven and earth. Then was your worship abolished, Maya men. Turn away your hearts from your <old> religion. <This is> the history of the world in those times, because it has been written down, because the time has not yet ended for making these books, these many explanations, so that Maya men may be asked if they know how they were born here in this country, when the land was founded.
p. 99
It was <Katun> 11 Ahau when the Ah Mucenca 2 came forth to blindfold the faces of the Oxlahun-ti-ku; 3 but they did not know his name, except for his older sister and his sons. They said his face had not yet been shown to them also. This was after the creation of the world had been completed, but they did not know it was about to occur. Then Oxlahun-ti-ku was seized by Bolon-tiku. 4 Then it was that fire descended, then the rope descended, then rocks and trees descended. 5 Then came the beating of <things> with wood and stone. Then Oxlahun-ti-ku / was seized, his head was wounded, his face was FIG. 23-- The lord of the katun buffeted, he was spit upon, and he was <thrown> on his back as well. p. (Chumayel MS.). After that he was despoiled of his insignia 6 and his smut. 7 Then shoots The face is darkened or blurred. 43 of the yaxum tree 8 were taken. Also Lima beans were taken with C crumbled tubercles, hearts of small squash-seeds, large squash-seeds 9 and beans, all crushed. He wrapped up the seeds <composing> this first Bolon acab, 10 and went to the thirteenth heaven. 11 Then a mass of maize-dough with the tips of corn-cobs remained here on earth. Then its heart departed because of Oxlahun-ti-ku, but they did not know the heart of the tubercle was gone. After that the fatherless ones, the miserable ones, and those without husbands were all pierced through; 12 they were alive though they had no hearts. Then they were buried in the sands, in the sea.
1
There would be a sudden rush of water when the theft of the insignia 13 <of Oxlahun-ti-ku> occurred.
Then the sky would fall, it would fall down

p. 100
upon the earth, when the four gods, the four Bacabs, were set up, who brought about the destruction of the world. 1 Then, after the destruction of the world was completed, they placed <a tree > 2 to set up in its order the yellow cock oriole. Then the white tree of abundance was set up. A pillar of the sky was set up, a sign of the destruction of the world; that was the white tree of abundance in the north. Then the black tree of abundance was set up <in
Click to view FIG. 24--Lahun Chaan, associated with the planet Venus (Dresden Codex, p. 47).
the west> 3 for the black-breasted pioy 4 to sit upon. Then the yellow tree of abundance was set up <in the south>, 5 as a symbol of the destruction of the world, for the yellow-breasted pioy to sit upon, for the yellow cock oriole to sit upon, the yellow timid mut. Then the green tree of abundance was set up in the center <of the world> as a record of the destruction of the world.
p. 101
The plate 1 of another katun was set up and fixed in its place by the messengers of their lord. The red Piltec was set at the east of the world to conduct people to his lord. The white Piltec was set at the north of the world to conduct people / to his lord. Lahun Chaan 2 was set <at the west> to bring things to his lord. The yellow Piltec p. was set <at the south> to bring things to his lord. But it was <over> the whole world that Ah 44 Uuc Cheknal 3 was set up. He came from the seventh stratum of the earth, when he came to C fecundate Itzam-kab-ain, 4 when he came with the vitality of the angle between earth <and> heaven. 5 They moved among the four lights, 6 among the four layers of the stars. The world was not lighted; there was neither day nor night nor moon. Then they perceived that the world was being created. Then creation dawned upon the world. During the creation thirteen infinite
p. 102
series 1 <added> to seven was the count of the creation of the world. Then a new world dawned for them. The two-day throne was declared, the three-day throne. Then began the weeping of Oxlahun-ti-ku. They wept in this reign. The reign became red; the mat became red; the first tree of the world was rooted fast. 2 The entire world was proclaimed by Uuc-yol-zip; 3 but it was not at the time of this reign that Bolon-ti-ku-wept. Then came the counting of the mat in its order. 4 Red was the mat on which Bolon-tiku sat. His buttock is sharply rounded, 5 as he sits on his mat. Then descended greed from the heart of the sky, greed for power, greed for rule. Then the red foundation was established; the white foundation of the ruler was established; the black foundation was established; the yellow foundation was established. 6 Then the Red Ruler was set up, he who was raised 7 upon the mat, raised upon the throne. The White Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne. The Black Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne. The Yellow Ruler was set up, he who was raised upon the mat, raised upon the throne. 8
As a god, it is said; 1 whether or not gods, their bread is lacking, their water is
lacking. / There was only a portion <of what was needed> for them to eat together . . . 2 but there was p. nowhere from which the quantity needed for existence could come. Compulsion and force were 45 the tidings, when he 3 was seated <in authority>; compulsion was the tidings, compulsion by C misery; it came during his reign, when he arrived to sit upon the mat ... 2 Suddenly on high fire flamed up. The face of the sun was snatched away, 4 taken from earth. This was his garment in his reign. This was the reason for mourning his power, at that time there was too much vigor. At that time there was the riddle for the rulers. 5 The planted timber was set up. Perishable things are assembled at that time. 6 The timber of the grave-digger is set up at the crossroads, at the four resting places. 7 Sad is the general havoc, 8 at that time the butterflies swarmed. Then there came great misery, when it came about that the sun in Katun 3 Ahau was moved from its place for three months. After three years 9 it will come back into place in Katun 3 Ahau. Then another katun will beset <in its place>. The ramon 10 fruit is their bread, the ramon fruit is their drink; the jcama cimarrona 11 is their bread, the jcama cimarrona is their drink; what they eat and what they drink. The ix-batun, 12 the
p. 104
chimchim-chay, 1 are what they eat. These things were present here when misery settled, father, in Tun 9. At that time there were the foreigners. The charge <of misery> was sought for all the years 2 of <Katun> 13 Ahau. 3
Then it was that the lord of <Katun> 11 Ahau spread his feet apart. Then it was that the word of Bolon acab 4 descended to the tip of his tongue. Then the charge of the katun was sought; nine was its charge when it descended from heaven. Kan was the day when its burden was bound to it. 5 Then the water descended, it came from the heart of the sky for the baptism 6 of the House of Nine Bushes. With it descended Bolon Mayel; 7 sweet was his mouth and the tip of his tongue. Sweet were his brains. Then descended the four mighty supernatural jars, this was the honey of the flowers. 8 / Then there grew up for it the red unfolded calyx, 9 the white unfolded calyx, the black unfolded calyx and the yellow unfolded calyx, those which were half a palm <broad> and those which were a whole palm <in breadth>. Then there sprang up the five-leafed 10 flower, the five drooping <petals>, the cacao <with grains like> a row of teeth, the ix-chabil-tok, the little flower, 11 Ix Macuil Xuchit, 12 the flower with the brightly colored 13 tip, the laurel 14 flower, and the limping flower. 15 After these flowers sprang up, there were the vendors
p. 105
p. 46 C
of fragrant odors, 1 there was the mother 2 of the flowers. Then there sprang up the bouquet of the priest, the bouquet of the ruler, the bouquet of the captain; this was what the flower-king bore when he descended and nothing else, so they say. 3 It was not bread that he bore. Then it was that the flower sprang up, wide open, to introduce the sin of Bolon-ti-ku. <After> three years was the time when he said he did not come to create Bolon acab as the god in hell. Then descended Ppizlimtec 4 to take the flower; 5 he took the figure of a humming-bird with green plumage on its breast, when he descended. Then he sucked the honey from the flower with nine petals. Then the five-petaled flower took him for her husband, 6 Thereupon the heart of the flower came forth to set itself in motion. Four-fold 7 was the plate of the flower, and Ah Kin Xocbiltun 8 was set in the center. At this time Oxlahun-ti-ku came forth, but he did not know of the descent of the sin of the mat, when he came into his power. The flower 9 was his mat, the flower was his chair. He sat in envy, he walked in envy. Envy was his plate, envy was his cup. There was envy in his heart, in his understanding, in his thought and in his speech. Ribald and insolent was his speech during his reign. At that time his food cries out, his drink cries out, 10 from the corner of his mouth when he eats, from the back of his claw 11 when he bites his food. He holds in his hand a piece of wood, 12 he holds in his hand a stone. Mighty 13 are his teeth; his face is that of Lahun Chan, 14 as he sits. Sin is <in> his face, in his speech, in his talk, in his understanding <and in> his walk. His eyes are blindfolded. 15 He
p. 106
seizes, he demands as his right, 1 the mat on which he sits / during his reign. Forgotten is his father, forgotten is his mother, nor does his mother know her offspring. The heart is on fire alone in the fatherless one who despises his father, in the motherless one. He shall walk abroad giving the appearance of one drunk, without
understanding, in company with his father, in company with his mother. There is no virtue in him, there is no goodness in his heart, only a little on the tip of his tongue. He does not know in what manner his end is to come; nor does he know what will be the end of his reign, when the period of his power shall terminate.
2This
p. 47 C
is Bolon-ti-ku. <Like that of> Bolon Chan 3 is the face of the ruler of men, the two day occupant of the mat and throne. He came in Katun 3 Ahau. After that there will be another lord of the land who will establish the law 4 of another katun, after the law of the lord of Katun 3 Ahau shall have run its course. At that time there shall be few children; then there shall be mourning among the Itza who speak our language brokenly. 5 Industry 6 <and> vigor finally take the place, in the first tun <of the new katun>, of the sin of the Itz who speak our language brokenly. It is Bolon-ti-ku who shall come to his end <with> the law of the lord of Katun 3 Ahau. Then the riddle of the rulers of the land shall end the law of the katun. Then those of the lineage of the noble chiefs shall come into their own, 7 with the other men of discretion and with those of the lineage of the chiefs. Their faces had been trampled on the ground, and they had been overthrown by the unrestrained upstarts of the day and of the katun, the son of evil and the offspring of the harlot, who were born when their day dawned in Katun 3 Ahau. Thus shall end the power of those who are two-faced toward our Lord God. But when the law of the katun shall have run its course, then God will bring about a great deluge again which will be the end of the world. When
p. 107
this is over, then our Lord Jesus Christ shall descend over the valley of Jehoshaphat beside the town of Jerusalem / where he redeemed us with his holy blood. He shall descend on a great cloud to bear true testimony that he was once obliged to suffer, stretched out on a cross of wood. Then shall descend in his great power and glory the true God who created heaven and earth and everything on earth. He shall descend to level off the world for the good and the bad, the conquerors <and> the captives. 1 p. 48 C
Footnotes
98:2 Here we have a creation narrative of the sort described by Aguilar in his report on idolatry in Yucatan written early in the Seventeenth Century. "Furthermore it would be very advantageous if books were printed in the language of these Indians which would treat of Genesis and the creation of the world, because they have fables and histories which are very detrimental. Some of them have had them written down, and they keep them and read them in their assemblies. I had a copybook of this sort, which I took away from a choir-master named Cuytun from the town of Sucopo. He got away from me, and I never
could get hold of him to learn the origin of this Genesis of his" (Aguilar 1900, p. 115). 98:3 This expresses admirably the religious attitude of the Maya who seem capable of superimposing Christianity on their old faith. See Appendix G. 98:4 See p. 95, note 2. 98:5 Maya, pay bentzil, employed as a synonym for tibil in Crnica de Oxkutzcab (Gates reproduction, Plates 161 and 166). 98:6 These may be what Avendao refers to when he tells of the "devil" and "the worship which they (the Itz) pay to him in the form of some stones" (Means 1917, p. 141. Cf. Appendix D). 99:1 Parallel versions of this passage occur in the Mani (p. 161) and the Tizimin (p. 20) MSS. Juan Martinez H. (1913, pp. 164-171) has made an excellent translation of the first part of this narrative, and suggests that the accompanying head of the "lord" of the katun is blurred in order to indicate that he is blindfolded. 99:2 Ah Mucencab: See p. 64, note 4. 99:3 Oxlahun-ti-ku, literally the Thirteen Gods, are probably the gods of the thirteen heavens of the Maya cosmos, but they are usually treated as a single god. 99:4 Bolon-ti-ku, or Nine Gods, appear to be treated as one god. We find them represented in the inscriptions, and it seems likely that they represent the nine underworlds and correspond to the Nine Lords of the Night of the Mexicans. (Cf. J. E. Thompson 1929, p. 225, and Seler 1923, p. 31.) 99:5 Cf. Motul, p. 346: "Eman u che u tunich Dios coklal: The punishment of God has come upon us with deaths or pestilence." 99:6 Cf. p. 67, note 5. 99:7 Maya idol-makers removed the smut from their faces as a sign that their period of fast and consecration was over (Landa 1929, p. 70). 99:8 We have a Maya homonym here, and possibly quetzal plumage is meant by ix kukil ix yaxum. 99:9 The seeds of the unidentified striped squash called ca. 99:10 Lit. nine generations, or eternal. According to Landa (1929, p. 20), Bolon acab was set up in the
house of the chief as a sort of tutelary god of the Kan years. He appears to be closely associated with the rain-god, Chac, and is identified by Seler as the god usually designated by the letter K. Seler 1902, p. 377. We are reminded of the Mexican image of Tlaloc composed of seeds. 99:11 Lit. "the 13th layer of the sky." 99:12 "pierced through:" The Tizimin and Mani versions say: "fell to pieces," (hutlahi). 99:13 See p. 67, note 5. 100:1 Like the Mexicans, the Maya believed that the present order was preceded by other worlds which had been destroyed. According to the former, the fourth of these worlds, or "Suns," was destroyed by a great flood of water (Seler 1923, p. 40). 100:2 Supplied from the Tizimin and Mani versions. This was the red imix-tree which was set up in the east, for the Kan-xib-yuy, or Kan-xib-yuyum, to sit upon. (Cf. Mani MS. p. 162.) 100:3 Supplied from the Tizimin and Mani versions of this narrative. 100:4 Pioy is spelled three ways in the three versions. The context leaves little doubt that a bird is meant. It may have been something like the mut, an unidentified bird of the Cracid family (Cf. Maler 1908, p. 132). 100:5 We find a portrayal of four trees, each surmounted by a bird, in one of the reliefs of the Temple of the Wall Panels at Chichen Itz. (Cf. Plate 1, c.) Also on page 1 of the Codex Fejrvry-Mayer there is a Mexican picture of the four world-quarters at each of which there is a flowering tree with a bird perched upon it (Apud Seler 1923, p. 15). The yax-che or green tree at the center of the world is probably shown on pages 41-42 of the Maya Codex Cortesianus. This last tree is still remembered by the Maya (Cf. Tozzer 1907, p. 154). In the Ritual of the Four World Quarters found in Chapter I of the present work, these imix-trees, or trees of abundance, are further qualified as being the ceiba tree so prominent in Maya mythology (Cf. p. 64, note 5). 101:1 Mention of the "plate" and "cup" of the katun is found several times in the Books of Chilam Balam. it is probably a reference to the ceremonies connected with the so-called idol of the katun (Cf. Landa 1929, p. 98). These articles appear to symbolize the numerical coefficient of the day Ahau from which the katun took its name. On page 150 it is said of Katun 9 Ahau: "Nine was its plate, nine was its cup." 101:2 Lahun Chaan is doubtless the same as the "Lakunchan" described by Cogolludo as an idol with very ugly teeth. Lahun means ten in both Maya and Chol, and chan means sky, heaven and serpent in
Chol. The Maya word for sky is caan. It seems likely that Lahun Chaan is a borrowed foreign word and means the god of the tenth heaven. On page 47 of the Dresden Codex we find a picture (fig. 24) accompanied by a glyph composed of the number ten and an element which is generally accepted as the symbol of the sky or heavens. The picture is that of a deity whose face resembles that of the God B, or rain-god; but it lacks the curved ornament over the nose, and instead of the protruding tooth at the side of the mouth there is a fleshless lower jaw. Also skeleton-like ribs are painted on the front of the torso. We recall that a fleshless jawbone is one of the symbols of the number ten on the monuments; but the figure appears to be the regent of the second Venus period in the Dresden Codex, and the regent of the first of these periods in the Mexican Codex Bologna also has a fleshless lower jaw. Since the above passage in the Chumayel implies that Lahun Chaan was set in the west, the translator is inclined to believe that this god was closely connected with the appearance of Venus as an evening star. Cogolludo's mention of the "ugly teeth" may be a reference to the fleshless lower jaw in the picture (Cf. Cogolludo Bk. 4, Chap. 8). 101:3 Ah Uuc Chek-nal: he who fertilizes the maize seven times. 101:4 Itzam-kab-ain: literally, the whale with the feet of a crocodile. Martinez 1913, reprint p. 5. Beltran spells it Itzam-cab-ain, and defines it simply as whale, though it could mean literally Itzam-the-earthcrocodile. In either case, we are forcibly reminded of the fabled earth-monster which appears in the Dresden Codex (pp. 4 and 5) with the head of Itzamn between its jaws. The Mexicans believed that the gods created "in the water a great fish, which is called cipctli and which is like a crocodile, and from this fish they made the earth" (Hist. de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, Chap. 2). On page 27 of the Codex Borgia we see this earth-monster with the head and claws of a crocodile and with maize sprouting from its back (Seler 1923, pp. 10, 11). 101:5 A change of one letter (tu muk to tamuk) would give to this sentence the meaning: then he descended while the heavens rubbed against the earth. 101:6 Maya, can cib, literally four wax candles. Cib is also the word for beeswax, but we find no record of candles being used prior to the Spanish conquest. The Maya employed torches of pitch-pine (taht) or of the Viguiera dentata HBK (tah) for lighting. Thompson believes, however, that wax was used by the Maya for ceremonial purposes before the Conquest (J. E. Thompson, 1930, p. 105). 102:1 ac, here translated as series, also means degrees, steps, stairs and other things which go above one another. Motul. 102:2 The yax-cheel-cab, or first tree of the world is believed to be a giant ceiba which grows in the exact center of the earth and rears its branches through successive holes in the various heavens (Tozzer 1907, p. 154). Avendao describes the representation of this mythological tree as "the fragment of a column, of round stone, the circumference of each part of which is about three quarters of a yard across
and one quarter high. It is made of stones placed on top of each other with mortar of lime and cah cab (zahcab), which is usually used for that purpose; and the middle is filled in with bitumen, so that it is like a table with a round pedestal, upon which and set in the foundation of the said stone column, there stands out toward the West a stone mask, very ill-formed . . . The said column is called, in the name by which they worship it, Yax cheel cab, which means in their language, 'the first tree in the world,' and, as it is understood in their old songs (which few people understand) they wish to have it known they worship it because it was the tree of whose fruit our first father Adam ate, who in their language is called Ixanom" (Means 1917, p. 135). 102:3 Cf. p. 157, note 2. 102:4 Cf. p. 72, note
13.
102:5 Maya: ut polbil. ut means pointed like a hat. (Dict. San Francisco.) Polbil is defined as either rounded or shaped. The description fits the representations of the death-god in the Dresden Codex. (Pp. 10, 11, 12, 13 and 19.) As ruler of the ninth and deepest hell, he sits upon the mat, the symbol of authority, and comprises in himself the idea of the gods of the nine under-worlds. Cf. Codex Vaticanus No. 3738, f. l v. apud Seler 1923, p. 21. 102:6 Probably the bases or pedestals on which the following deities were set. 102:7 Written ah ten pop ah ten am in our text, but in the Mani and Tizimin MSS., ah tem pop ah tem am. Tem is an altar or bench, and in compounds something set above something else. Tem is also a verbal stem meaning to alleviate. The mat (pop) and throne (am) have the figurative significance of toil, misery and misfortune. (Motul, 1930, p. 694.) Consequently the expression could also mean "he who alleviates misfortunes." Cf. Tizimin, pp. 7, 8 and 25; Codex Perez, pp. 78, 82, 83, 107, 108, 153 and 161. 102:8 The Red, White, Black and Yellow "Rulers" appear to be the four gods who presided at the four cardinal points. Each is qualified by the adjective, tenel, which we believe to mean "raised up." It is probably an obsolete word, and we find temal substituted for it in the Mani MS. (Codex Perez, p. 116.) A discussion of the gods of the cardinal points will be found in Appendix A. 103:1 Maya, tu than. An expression often found in the medical manuscripts, meaning "so people say" or "so they call it," referring to various names applied to the same disease. Cf. Roys 1931, p. 16. 103:2 Lacuna in the text 103:3 Referring to Bolon-ti-ku. 103:4 Maya, colop, translated as though it were colob.
103:5 A reference to the interrogation of the chiefs. Cf. Chapter IX. 103:6 Maya, zatay babalil. This has been translated as it stands, but in connection with the "riddle for the rulers" we suspect that zatay batabil is intended. This would mean that the chiefs who are about to perish are assembled. Cf. Chapter IX. 103:7 This expression, to ho<l> can be, tu ho<l> can heleb, has been corrected from page 166 of the Kaua MS. Literally it means the four openings where two roads cross, the openings between the four resting places, i.e. the four corners at the cross-roads where travelers set down their packs and rested. Such would be a convenient place for an ambuscade, and here the slain would be buried. Ah muuc, here translated as gravedigger, means anyone who buries or conceals anything. 103:8 Maya, bul cum, might mean "all down" literally. Its translation here is based on the contexts in which it occurs. Always it is sad and to be mourned. On page 91 of the previous chapter it occurs in the courtyards of the nobles on an occasion when a number of chiefs are killed for failing to pass the test. Here it occurs at the cross-roads. In the prophecy for Katun 1 Ahau we shall find it closely associated with the flies (swarming on the corpses?) and mentioned in the same category with pestilence, famine and sudden death. It is an archaic expression and does not occur in any of the old dictionaries. 103:9 Lit. "three heaps of years." The translation of this sentence is uncertain. 103:10 The fruit of the ramon (Brosimum alicastrum Sw.) is boiled and eaten alone or with honey or corn-meal, and a sort of bread is made of the ground seeds. 103:11 The root of the Jcama cimarrona (Calopogonium cruleum, Benth.) is eaten in time of famine. Dicc. San Francisco. 103:12 Ix-batun, or batun, is probably an unidentified wild plant or tree. Batun is a common family name among the Maya. 104:1 Chinchin-chay, a very spiny variety of Jatropha aconitifolia Mill., is boiled like cabbages and eaten when the corn crop fails (Relaciones de Yucatan, 1, p. 299). 104:2 A record of the misfortunes of each of the twenty years of a certain Katun 5 Ahau is found in the Tizimin (pp. 1-13) and Mani (pp. 135-156) manuscripts. 104:3 Most of the preceding paragraph concerning Katun 3 Ahau appears to be an interpolation. It is not found in the Tizimin and Mani versions.
104:4 Bolon acab: Cf. p. 99, note
10.
104:5 Cf. Stela D, Copan (apud Morley 1915, Pl. 14) where the personified numeral is the bearer and the time-period is the burden. 104:6 Alternative translation: for the rebirth etc. 104:7 Bolon Mayel means "the fragrant one." 104:8 For this sentence the following is substituted in the Mani and Tizimin versions of this narrative: "Then descended two mighty demon bats who sucked the honey of the flowers." 104:9 Unfolded calyx (hoch kom): hoch has a number of different meanings, but in the Tizimin and Mani versions choch is substituted, which is a synonym for hoch in the sense of "to untie, to unfold." Kom means something bent, curved or hollowed out in general, and a socket or a depression in the earth in particular. Kom lac is a deep plate. In view of the context here, the calyx of a flower seems to be meant. 104:10 Maya, ix-ho-yal. Ho means five, and, yal, after a numeral, means thin layers, folds or sheets. Literally this would mean five circles of floral leaves composing the perianth. This seems unusual, and it is probable that five leaves are meant. 104:11 Ix-bac nicte: ix-bac means a little girl, and there may be a plant of that name, as it is also a placename. Nicte means flower in general, particularly the Plumeria. 104:12 Macuil Xochitl is Nahuatl for Five Flower, the Mexican god of music and dancing, probably introduced into Yucatan by the Toltecs. 104:13 Alternative translation: hollow tip. 104:14 Laul: Stemmadenia insignis Miers., much admired by the Maya (Landa 1900, p. 386). 104:15 In the Maya treatises on medical plants this word, nict, always designates the Plumeria, but here the definition found in all the Maya dictionaries has been followed: "Nict. A rose, or a flower, not indicating from what tree, bush or plant." Motul. A secondary meaning is: "Nict. Deshonestidad, vicio de carne y travezuras de mugeres." 105:1 Possibly the pollen-bearing insects and humming-birds are meant here. We find a masculine prefix.
105:2 In the Tizimin and Mani versions we find: "there was the house of the flowers." 105:3 Alternative translation: there was no other food than this, so they say. 105:4 "Although they had a god of song whom they called Xocbi<l>tum, they worshipped the idol, the statue of an Indian who, they said, was a great singer and musician named Ah Kin Xooc. They adored him as the god of poetry and also called him Pizlimtec." Cogolludo Bk. 4, chap. 8. 105:5 Alternative translation: to the root of the flower. 105:6 The five-petaled flower, or nict, is without doubt the Plumeria. The red Plumeria and the white Plumeria are considered the father and mother respectively of Nohochacyum, the head of the Lacandon Pantheon (Tozzer 1907, p. 93). 105:7 Maya, can-hek: literally, four-branched. 105:8 See note 4. 105:9 Here the flower, probably a Plumeria, is closely associated with the idea of carnal sin. Cf. p. 104, note 15. 105:10 "his food cries out, his drink cries out:" here the Mani and Tizimin versions of the narrative have been followed in the translation. 105:11 Xau, translated here as claw, also means the toes of a man. 105:12 Alternative translation: He holds in his hand a tree. 105:13 Alternative translation: Great is his madness. 105:14 Lahun Chan: see p. 101, note 2. 105:15 A blindfolded god is pictured on page 50 of the Dresden Codex, and the blurred faces of the Lords of the Katuns on page 144 of the Chumayel are believed to represent the same thing. 106:1 "He seizes, he demands as his right the mat," etc.: here the Mani and Tizimin versions have been followed, as indicated in the Maya text. 106:2 As on page 103, we have here another interpolation which also treats of the interrogation of the
chiefs in Katun 3 Ahau. Cf. p. 89. 106:3 It seems likely that the Maya compiler has inadvertently written Bolon Chan for Lahun Chan. Bolon means nine, and lahun means ten. No personage by the name of Bolon Chan is known to the translator, while Lahun Chan is well known. See p. 101, note 2. 106:4 The than of the katun is translated as its "law," following the explanation on page 171 of the Kaua MS., where it is defined as "ordenanzas." The expression recurs so frequently in this book that an explanation seems to be required. Primarily than means word, speech or language, but it also has a number of different meanings when employed figuratively. If it were not for this definition in the same context in the Kaua MS., we should be inclined to translate it as "the force, power and duration" of the katun. See Motul 1930, p. 875. 106:5 "Nun, or ah nun: A stupid foreigner who does not know the language of the country, or a stammerer or a stutterer; also a stupid person whom it is of no use to teach" (Motul 1930, p. 695). 106:6 Maya, chuen. The translation is based on the word, ah-chuen, defined as artisan (Motul). 106:7 Possible alternative translation: Then those of the lineage of the noble chiefs shall appear. Cf. p. 92. 107:1 Possible alternative translation: the conqueror of the stupid ones. Cf. text, p. 34, note 1.
Next: XI: The Ritual of the Angels
Chilam Balam: Translation: XI: The Ritual of the Angels
XI
(THE RITUAL OF THE ANGELS) 2
Dominus vobiscum ended the words of their song when there was neither heaven nor earth. When the world was submerged, when there was neither heaven nor earth, the three-cornered precious stone 3of grace was born, after the divinity of the ruler was created, 4 when there was no heaven. Then there were born seven tuns, seven katuns, hanging in the heart of the wind, 5 the seven chosen ones. Then, they say, their seven graces 6 stirred also. Seven also were their holy images. 7 While they were still untarnished, occurred the birth of the first precious stone of grace, the first infinite 8 grace, when there was infinite night, when there was no God. Not yet had he received his Godhead. 9 Then he remained alone within the grace, within the night, when there was neither heaven nor earth. Then he departed 10 at the end of the katun, as he could not be born in the first katun. There were his long locks of hair, adeu ti paramii; 11 his divinity came to him when he departed.
p. 108
Thereupon he became man in the second infinite precious stone of grace. Then there arrived in the second katun Alpilcon, as the angel was named when he was born. The second grace was permitted to depart in the second infinite night, when no one was present. Then he received his divinity, alone and through his own effort, when he came to depart. "O firmar" he said, when he received his divinity by / himself and through his own effort. Thereupon he departed and went to the third infinite precious stone of grace. Alba Congel was the name of its angel. This was the third grace. p. 49. C
Let me proceed to the fourth infinite precious stone of grace, to the fourth night. Atea Ohe was the name of its angel. The fourth grace was born and began to speak, alone and through his own effort. "Oh god, the ruler! I am after all nothing in myself." These were his words in his concealment, in his divinity within the grace. "Let me still proceed," he said. Then he went to the fifth infinite precious stone of grace, to the fifth infinite night. The fifth grace was born 1 in the fifth katun. Thereupon he was set up to declare his divinity. Then his angel was born; Decipto was the name of his angel when he was set up. "Since it is so, let me go. Who might I be? I am a god, a ruler, after all," and he declared his divinity all alone. "A ninite dei sin," he said when he received his divinity all by himself. Then he went to the sixth infinite precious stone of grace, to the sixth measured night, to the sixth katun: "Ye gods, ye rulers! Make answer to my words. After all, I am nothing in myself alone." The seventh grace was born. Conlamil was the name of his angel. "I deliver the things of god to you who are gods. 2 Answer my words. After all, there is no one; no one replies to my words." Thus he spoke as he caused the seventh grace to be born. And there was joy in his heart at the birth of the seventh katun, the seven lights, the seventh measured night <and> the seven infinite <things>. Abiento bocayento de la zipil na 3 de fente note. Sustina gracia, trece mili, uno cargo bende. The first, the second, the thirteenth unfolding; thirteen banners of the katuns; three, seven, eight thousand. Then God the Father awoke to consciousness alone in person;/ in the three-cornered precious stone of grace he awoke to consciousness, God the Father, as his name was known
p. 109
p. 50 C
to be. Unidad and God the Father, these were his names, cleft from the katun for you. There were three generations suddenly augmented in stature when he came. Seven were the generations of his angels. 1 Four times did he first speak. There was one seal 2 in the darkness, one seal on high. "I am the beginning and I shall be the end." Here are his words in their mighty entirety. "Datate here to that which has been received. I am Unidate, I am also Unitata, I am the Dove, I am Unitata Anuni. Unidad cometh." 3 Nilu 4 was the name of the night. This was the first speech of God; this was the first speech of the Father. Of cleansed stone was his precious
stone 5 alone in the night. Etomas, ipancas was the name of the wind. Hun Katun was his father. Otahocanil Aucangel was the name of the wind. 6 H<i>eron was the name of the Wind. Xicluto-tu-tanil was the name of the wind. Virtutus was the name of the wind. Joramis was the name of the wind in the second katun. This was what he said when he changed the stone: "Jaxyonlacalpa." He covered the name of the holy heaven which our holy Lord, the Father raised up. Bolay 7 was the name of the serpent of the second heaven. He was in the dust at the feet of Sustinal Gracia, 8 as he was called. Then Lonmias 9 was formed. The sharp stone was his stone within the night. Zihontun 10 was his stone, when these stones were fixed in their places. Three times they were set at the foot of Sustinal Gracia. These stones were born, they were beneath the one stone, the mighty pointed stone, 11 the stone column, the mighty pointed clashing stone. They were manifested all over the world <by> God the Father, / the first ruler. In the first katun was born the only son of God; in the second katun, the Father. In the third katun was Expleoucaan, 12 as he was called, who chastised him named Chac Opilla when he set up the heavens. Enpileo-u-caan 13 was his name. Expleo was his name within the
p. 110
p. 51 C
first noose of God. Hebones was the only son of God. <Like>a mirror 1 he was borne astride on the shoulder of his father, on the stone of his father. Then, it is said, the boldness 2 of the heaven on high was created. This was one grace, one stone; then fire was created, Tixitate was his name, the light of the heavens. Sustinal, they say, was the light from that which lighted the heaven. Acpa, it was, who made the katun after the light originated in the heavens. Alpa-u-manga was his name after it ended. <These are> the angels 3 of the winds which were set up while he created the star, when the world was not yet lighted, when there was neither heaven nor earth: the Red Pauahtun, the White Pauahtun, the Black Pauahtun, the Yellow Pauahtun. 4 Here was the first heaven where God the Father was set up, grasping in his hand his stone, grasping his cangel, grasping his wheel 5 on which are hung the four angels of the winds. Cerpinus was the name of him who, under Orele, measured 6 the land. They were three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He set up the planets, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, which he said were held in the grasp of the god in heaven when he created them. This was the name of the heaven, cristalino. 7 Here were the Angels. Corpinus was the name of him / who held aloft on the palm of his hand the Blessed Father 8 when there was neither heaven nor earth. Inpicco
p. 111
p. 52 C
was his name when all the angels were asperged. 1 Baloyo was his name when <the water> was sprinkled. 2 Seros was his name, Et sepeuas. Laus Deo. Below were Chac Bolay Balam 3 and the cacao called balamt. 4 Esperas was the name of the sixth heaven; Isperas was the name of the seventh heaven. Then the world was created by God the ruler in the seventh katun, created in the darkness named Espiritu. St. Edendeus <and> St. Eluceo were the saints who witnessed the birth of him who was hidden within the stone, 5 hidden within the night. Se repite elitun entri de noche. These were the words said by him who was hidden within the stone, hidden within the night: Tronas Aleseyo de mundo de gracia. En apedia tejo ipi dia te en pieted gracia. Santo Esuleptun jam estum est gracia. Suplilis el timeo me firme abin finitis gracia, y metis absolutum ti metis de gracia. Abegintis gracia, Edendeo gracia, de fentis de gracia, fenoplis tun gracia. Locom dar yme gracia, tretris u mis gracia. Noi lui de gracia, in pricio de gracia, trese mili uno de cargo, leonte." 6 One, two, thirteen, one division, thirteen bakam of katuns. Three, seven, eight thousand was the creation of the world, when he who was hidden within the stone, hidden within the night, was born, when there was neither heaven nor earth. Then God the Father / spoke alone, by his own efforts, in the darkness that clung like a thrice withered fruit <to the tree>. This was the first word of God, when there was neither heaven nor earth, when he came out of the stone and fell into the second stone. Then it was that he declared his divinity. Then resounded eight thousand katuns at the word of the first stone of grace, the first ornamented 7 stone of grace. It was the macaw that warmed it well behind the acantun. 8 Who was born when our father descended? p. 53 C
Thou knowest. There was born the first macaw who cast the stones behind the acantun. 9
p. 112
How was the grain of maize born? How, indeed, father? Thou knowest. The tender green <shoot> was born in heaven. "Ciripacte, horca mundo. Ni mompan est noche. Amanena, omonena, apa opa," <was said> when the wind emerged from the great stone of grace. "Cipiones ted coruna, pater profecido," were his words when he arrived at the seventh stratum of the solid rock of grace. 1 "Bal te piones, orteipio, rei quenta noche. Hun ebrietate, hun cute profeciado," were the words of the Angel, Jerupiter. Then the sky was put in its place, Corporales ti ojales, by the first pope, the face of the katun, the burden of the Katun 13 Ahau. The face of the sun shall be turned from its course, it shall be turned face down during the reign of the perishable men, the perishable rulers. Five days the sun is eclipsed, and then shall be seen the torch of <Katun> 13 Ahau, a sign given by God that death shall come to the rulers/of this land. Thus it shall come about that the first rulers are driven from their towns. Then Christianity <shall> have come here to the land. Thus it is that God, our Father, gives a sign when they shall come, because there is no agreement. The descendants <of the former rulers> are dishonored and brought to misery; we are christianized, while they treat us like animals. There is sorrow in the heart of God because of these "suckers." 2 p. 54 C
1n the year Fifteen hundred and thirty-nine, 1539, to the east was the door of the House of Don Juan Montejo, 3 to introduce Christianity here to the land of Yucalpeten, Yucatan. Chilam Balam, the prophet.
4
/ p. 55 C
Thus today is not an unlucky day 5 . . . /

p. 113
[p. 57 C] This was his name, God the Father, when he came to exist in person, after the creation of the world and the earth. This was then his name. Joshua was his second name. In his third person, his name for the third time was Mesister in Latin, Dei in the vernacular. The Red Pauahtun was Utcorusis.
p. 56 C
The White Pauahtun was Corocalbo. The Black Pauahtun was Corusi-provento. The Yellow Pauahtun was Moses. No vis. No va.
Messiah was the name of God before the heavens and the earth were created. Messiah the Christ, was his name. Then he created the Angels. But it was manifested to God that half of the Angels were destined to sin.
The second name of God was Emanuel. To this was added his third name; this then was Jeremiah, his name when there was neither heaven nor earth.
FIG. 25--The name and symbols of God. (Chumayel MS.). / [p. 57 C]
The misspelled Latin and Spanish names may have been taken from some Spanish treatise on astrology or magic. The decoration here is evidently borrowed from some Spanish religious book.
FIG. 26--Death is ruler over all. (Chumayel MS.)
/ [p. 58 C]
This picture is probably taken bodily from some Spanish almanac.
p. 114
Footnotes
107:2 The following ritual is an example of the manner in which the Maya superimposed Christian doctrines on their own religious conceptions. An account of what we might call the Americanization of Christianity will be found in Appendix G. 107:3 Maya tun. This usually means a precious stone, while an ordinary stone or rock is called tunich. Tun also means the pit of a fruit as well as the soft surface limestone of the country. In compound words designating things made of stone we find the same term employed; furthermore tun is the name of the Maya time-period of 365 days. It is important to the interpretation of this chapter to note that among the Maya the Spanish word gracia, here literally translated as "grace," is a ritualistic term employed to designate the young maize plant (information supplied by Dr. Redfield). Consequently the "three-cornered precious stone of grace" is doubtless also a liturgical term indicating a grain of corn. 107:4 Alternative translation: was declared. 107:5 Alternative translation: in the heart of the spirit. Ik may mean either wind, breath or spirit. 107:6 Written grasiail in the text.
107:7 Written santoil in the text. 107:8 Maya picib, here translated as though it were picil which means innumerable. 107:9 Written Diosil in the text. 107:10 Here buki is translated as though it were luki, he departed. Buki means to be beaten up, like wax, or as soil is pulverized for cultivation. 107:11 Either for the purpose of mystification or to add solemnity to the ritual, this chapter is filled with Spanish and Latin words and names heard in the Christian church service. Here the "long locks of hair" are probably a reference to the corn-silk. 108:1 It is possible that this word zihil should be translated as "originated" here, as we can not be sure that the "grace" or maize plant, is personified. The Spanish words for grace and angel often have a Maya suffix. The names of the angels are unfamiliar to the translator, but they are certainly not Maya. 108:2 The Maya text: "Ten kul u ba ku tex ku exe," is translated as though it read: Ten kub u bal ku tex ku exe. 108:3 In all this abracadabra only the words, zipil na, appear to be Maya and might possibly be translated as "house of sin." The reader is reminded that the sounds of d, f, g and r do not occur in the Maya language. Consequently the remainder appears to be a mixture of corrupted Latin and Spanish, and, it is to be suspected, meant little more to the Maya writer than "eena meena mina mo" does to the American child who recites the formula. 109:1 Maya cangel, or canhel, the genuine Maya "angel," who was probably a wind-spirit. Cf. P. 67, note 5. 109:2 Maya alab, defined as a seal or mold. Literally it means "that which is pressed down on something." The reference is to the terra cotta stamps or molds employed in decorating pottery, and it is possible that they were also used to stamp certain decorations on the human body. 109:3 Of these italicized words, Anuni is the only one which is not intended for Latin or Spanish. Possibly it is either a corrupted Nahuatl form or one taken from the Chol-Tzeltal group of languages. 109:4 Possibly a reference to "Egyptian darkness." 109:5 From here on, the tun appears to refer to a stela or monument. 109:6 Maya ik, here translated as wind, also means breath, life and spirit. "El espritu, vida y aliento." Motul. 109:7 Bolay, the general name for a beast of prey. 109:8 Apparently a corruption of some form of the Latin sustineo and gracia, in which case it would probably mean "sustaining grace," or in other words, the maize plant which is our sustenance. 109:9 Lonmias may be a corruption of Hieronymus. 109:10 Zihontun might be translated as the created stone. 109:11 Alternative translation: the red pointed stone. 109:12 This mixture of Latin and Maya could be translated: I fill out the heavens. 109:13 Possibly the Cielo Empireo is meant.
110:1 The Maya carried mirrors, possibly on the back or shoulder. 110:2 Alternative translation: the bold one, the mad one, the turbulent one; possibly this is a confused recollection of the story of Lucifer. A Maya legend much resembling the Lucifer story is reported from Yucatan (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 177). 110:3 Maya, cangeles ik. The reference is evidently to the so-called "angels," one of whom was set on the back of the image of the Red Bacab in the ceremony pertaining to the year ascribed to the east. This "angel" was a sign of good rains and favorable crops. Easterly winds have always been favorably regarded by the Maya, and the translator believes that this cangel (Landa's "angel" and Beltran's "dragon") was a wind-spirit. It probably looked more like a dragon than an angel. As we see here, there were four of them, and the word itself could well be translated as "the four changing ones." Consequently our "angels of the wind" would be originally the "four changing winds." Cf. p. 67, note 5. 110:4 This passage confirms Baeza's account of the misa milpera (quoted in Brinton 1890, p. 166), in which it is stated that the four Pauahtuns are identical with the winds and the four cardinal points from which they blow. A discussion of the four cardinal points and the deities associated with them will be found in Appendix A. 110:5 Maya, kabalil, is the primitive Yucatecan potter's wheel, which is only a block of wood on which the pot is turned by the feet of the potter. See Tozzer 1907, Plate 13, fig. 3. In the Codex Cortesianus (pp. 20-21 d), we see a wheel-like ceremonial object held by four birdheaded figures. The pictures illustrate a tzol-kin (or tonalamatl) divided into four parts and beginning with the day 4 Ik (4 Wind). 110:6 We find several unexplained references to "measuring the land." Cf. p. 65. 110:7 We find in the Books of Chilam Balam of Ixil and Kaua a diagram on which the earth is enclosed within eleven spheres labeled Luna, Mercurio, Venus, Sol, Marte, Jupiter, Saturno, Firmamento (containing the fixed stars), Christalino, Primer Mobil and Cielo Empireo. It is, of course, the popular idea of Ptolmaic astronomy in vogue at the time, and was not unlike the native conception of thirteen heavens, of which the earth itself counted as the first. 110:8 Possible alternative translation: The blessing of the Father, etc. 111:1 Sprinkling with a consecrated liquid was an ancient Maya ceremony. Landa 1928, p. 184. 111:2 Alternative translation: when they (the angels) were scattered. 111:3 Balam is a general term for jaguar, but it can also mean priest. Chac-bolay is Felis hernandesii goldmani Mearns; but it was also the name of a certain evil spirit, and spreading the skin of this jaguar in the market-place was a symbol of war, famine and pestilence (Tizimin, p. 30). 111:4 Balamt is the Theobroma bicolor Humb. & Bonpl. 111:5 Maya, u lamay tun, probably the planted seed corn. The definition of this phrase, "the square stone," symbolizing the twenty years of the katun, has long been accepted. The word for squared, however, is amay, not lamay, which means sunk out of sight, hidden. Cf. Chumayel, p. 163, where we read of the "hell which is sunken within the world." 111:6 Little, if any, of this hocus-pocus is Maya, and it is the conjecture of the translator that its source was some itinerant Spanish fortuneteller or astrologer. Cf. Aguilar 1900, p. 80. The repetition of the word gracia suggests an incantation to make the corn grow. 111:7 Literally, embroidered. Maya: hun piliz tun de gracia. 111:8 This reference recalls the legend of the divine macaw which brought down from heaven the fire to consume the sacrifice to Kinich Kakm, the sun-god, at Izamal (Cogolludo 1868, 1, p. 319). For an account of the acantun, see page 114, note 3. 111:9 The text is confused here and the translation a little uncertain. 112:1 Probably a fanciful conception of the structure of the maize-kernel.
112:2 Possibly this is a reference to the name first given to the Spaniards. They were called "suckers of anonas," because they were seen eating the pond-apple, an insipid fruit not considered edible by the natives. 112:3 Here as elsewhere Don Juan de Montejo is confused with his father, Don Francisco, the Spanish conqueror. The door of the old Montejo mansion in Merida faces north, not east, and it is the belief of the translator that this reference is not to the actual house of Montejo, but to the compartment, or so-called "house," of the katun-wheel in which is pictured Katun 11 Ahau, the first katun of the Spanish Conquest in which Montejo ruled the country. The katun-wheel on page 132 of the Chumayel ascribes Katun 11 Ahau to the east. 112:4 Written in a different hand. 112:5 Written in a different hand.
Next: XII: A Song Of The Itz
Chilam Balam: Translation: XII: A Song Of The Itz
XII
(A SONG OF THE ITZ)
Damascus was the name of the plain where our first father, Adam, was created by God. This was his name, his first name was Adam, after his soul entered <into him>, after Paradise was set up. After Adam had then been created, then was created our first mother, Eve, the first woman, the mother of the whole world. Drops of moisture formed on the stones and bushes for the first time, 1 they say, created when there was no sky. But <God> the Father was created alone and by his own effort in the darkness. But the stones were created separately. 2 This was the land of Acantun. 3 This was created after Adam was formed also. They were put in the place where the Acans are. Thus it was that he named them when he created them all. These were the first people. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, these are the joint <names> of God. They were created in the stone, the red slender stone and the worn stone of grace. His name is the Word, Josustin Graia. 4 However, at the same time there was born in the stone, the black stone of terror, the one named Verbumtuorum, Ix-coal-tun, Ix-coal-cab, 5 taken by the mistress of the world. 6 Then there was set in its place the thrice seasoned heaven, 7 the seasoned heaven. White and clean, it lay guarded in the heart of Sustinal Gracia. 8 Thirteen orders of katuns 9 lay prostrate in the stone. Then the ruler, Hunac Ceel, stirred into motion. 10 The song: 11 Ho! What is so precious as we are? It is the precious jewel <worn on the breast.> Ho! What is the distinction of righteous men? It is my mantle, my loin-cloth. So spoke the god. Then do you mourn for anyone?
p. 115
No one. A tender boy 1 was I at Chichen, when the evil man, the master of the army, 2 came to seize the land. Woe! 3 /
At Chichen Itz heresy was favored! 4 Yulu uayano! 5 Ho! 1 Imix was the day when the ruler was seized at Chikin-chen. 6 Ho! Where thou art, there is the god. Ho! 1 Imix was the day he said this. At Chichen Itz heresy was favored! Yulu uayano! Buried, buried! 7 This was their
cry. Buried, buried! This they also knew 8 . . . This also was their cry on that first day of p. Yaxkin, that mighty day, 2 Akbal, they came. Woe! Woe! Woe! Yulu uayano! Is there 59. perhaps anyone who by chance has awakened? Force was brought to bear for the second C time. 9 Woe! For the third time was established the religious festival 10 of our enemies, 11 our enemies. Uuiyao! 12 Soon it will come to Chichen Itz, <where> heresy was favored. Yulu uayano! <In> the third heaven is the sun. 13 Behold! Who am I said to be among men? 14 I am a leafy covering. 15 Eya! Who am I among the people of Putun? 16 You do not understand me. Eya! I was
p. 116
created in the night. What were we born? Eya! We were <like> tame animals <to> Mizcit Ahau. 1 <But> an end comes to his roguery. Behold, so I remember my song. 2 Heresy was favored. Yulu uayano! Eya! I die, he said, because of the town festival. 3 Eya! I shall come, he said, because of the destruction of the town. This is the end <of what is> in his mind, of what he thought in his heart. Me, he did not destroy. I tell what I have remembered in my song. Heresy was favored. Yulu uayano! / This is all of the song, the completion of the message of the Lord God. 4 p. 60 C
Footnotes
114:1 "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." Genesis II, 6. 114:2 Alternative translation: But others were created separately. 114:3 Acantun could be translated as a stone set up on a foundation. The four Acantuns were stone . columns set up to represent the four Bacabs at the New Years' ceremonies (Landa 1929, pp. 22-40). Cf. Dresden MS. pp. 25C-28C. 114:4 Perhaps Josu sustina gracia is intended, a pious interpolation which might mean: Jesus, the sustaining grace, the maize plant which sustains us. 114:5 These names might be translated, the harlot born of the stone, the harlot born of the earth. Here is doubtless a reference to the black pustules of the corn-smut. 114:6 "The mistress of heaven" was a term applied to the Holy Virgin; here we may have the direct opposite. 114:7 Maya: ox-cocox-caan. Cocox is a term applied to cacao which has seasoned or ripened on the tree,
also a fruit which withers on the tree before it ripens. 114:8 Sustinal Gracia probably refers to the growing maize. 114:9 Alternative translation, Thirteen times eight thousand katuns. 114:10 Uilim, here translated as motion, is an unusual word. Uil, among other meanings, could signify the stirring of leaves or branches. Uii is a tuberous root, and the phrase has been translated: "se movi la semilla del Senor Hunac Ceel" (Mediz Bolio 1930, p. 68). 114:11 Kay (song) is written in the margin in what appears to be the hand of the compiler. From this point on, we find a genuine old Maya song almost unaffected by post-Conquest influences. 115:1 A tender boy, Maya, munal. "Mun: something tender and unmatured, before it ripens, like fruit and young boys." Motul. Possibly mun nal is intended and the young maize plant or ear is meant. 115:2 Alternative translation: the lord of the katun (u tah katun). 115:3 Ayano, an old Toltec interjection of sorrow. 115:4 We have seen idolators referred to as "heretics" on page 79. Here we have a reference to an old legend related to the first Spanish settlers, probably by Gaspar Antonio. "It is told that the first inhabitants of Chichen Itz were not idolators until Kukulcan, a Mexican captain, entered these provinces. He taught idolatry, as they say it was he who taught them." Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 270. This would be in the Tenth Century A.D. Cf. prophecy on p. 161. The story is hardly to be taken literally and probably refers to a change in the religion of Yucatan and the introduction of the Quetzalcoatl cult. 115:5 The translator believes this to be another old Toltec interjection. 115:6 Lit. West-well, perhaps the modern Chikinonot southwest of Valladolid, but more likely some locality near Chichen Itz. 115:7 We find in the prophecies a reference to certain tribute being buried or hidden at Chichen Itz in a Katun 4 Ahau which probably occurred in the Tenth Century A.D. (Tizimin p. 28). Perhaps, however, merely the planted corn is meant here. 115:8 The next two words, thunci yaue, are not translated. They appear to mean: after something was spattered. Yaue is probably a mistake of the compiler. 115:9 According to the Mani and Tizimin Chronicles the conquest of Chichen by the Itz in Katun 4
Ahau was their second occupation of the city. 115:10 Lit. the day of the god. Cf. Motul. 115:11 In the katun-prophecies we shall see the Itz referred to as enemies. This third triumph may refer to the conquest by Hunac Ceel. 115:12 Uuiyao: probably an interjection. It might mean hunger or famine. 115:13 Maya, Oxte caan u kin. Probably a chronological statement, referring to the position of the sun at the time. The sky was divided into thirteen layers or heavens, Oxlahuncaan (lit. thirteenth heaven or thirteen heavens) was the full moon. Motul. 115:14 Maya, tan yol uinice. Lit. in the midst of men. Tan yol che means in the forest, i.e. in the midst of the trees. 115:15 Maya, Cen u mac lee. This may be an error of the compiler. 115:16 Putun is a geographical term and refers to the people living near Laguna de Trminos, in the ancient Province of Tixchel. There is also a town named Tixchel, where the people "speak a different language called Putun-than, otherwise named Chontal, although in many words it is close to the Maya, so that if one is known, the other is easily learned" (Ciudad Real 1873, II, p. 452). A study of the language is found in Blom & LaFarge 1927, II, p. 465. Possibly putun is also a Maya word. The translator recalls hearing of a variety of chile called putun-ic. 116:1 Possibly one of the conquerors associated with Hunac Ceel. Cf. p. 74. Alternative translation: We were your companions, Mizcit Ahau. 116:2 Alternative translation: I abhorred my song. 116:3 Possibly a reference to human sacrifice. 116:4 Except, perhaps, for some of the prophecies which may have been sung, we have here a unique example of the old songs of the Maya. It was probably little understood in the Eighteenth Century when the Chumayel was compiled. The repeated refrain, Antan hereyao, here translated as "heresy was favored," is likely to be the distortion of some old Toltec chant.
Next: XIII: The Creation of the Uinal
Chilam Balam: Translation: XIII: The Creation of the Uinal
XIII
(THE CREATION OF THE UINAL) 5
Thus it was recorded <by> the first sage, Melchise<dek>, 6 the first prophet, Napuc Tun, 7 the priest, the first priest. This is a song of how the uinal came to be created before the creation of the world. 8 Then he began to march by his own effort alone. Then said his maternal grandmother, then said his maternal aunt, then said his paternal grandmother, then said his sister-in-law: "What shall we say when we see man on the road?" These were their words as they marched along, when there was no man <as yet>. Then they arrived there in the east and began to speak. "Who has passed here? Here are footprints. Measure it off with your foot." So spoke the mistress of the world. 9 Then he measured the footstep of our Lord, God 10 the Father. This was the reason it was called counting off the whole earth, lahca (12) Oc. 11 This was the count, after it had been created by <the day> 13 Oc, after his feet were joined evenly, after they had departed there in the east. Then he spoke
p. 117
its name when the day had no name, after he had marched along with his maternal grandmother, his maternal aunt, his paternal grandmother and his sister-in-law. The uinal was created, the day, as it was called, was created, heaven and earth were created, the stairway 1 of water, the earth, rocks and trees; the things of the sea and the things of the land were created. On 1 Chuen he raised himself to his divinity, after he had made heaven and earth. On 2 Eb he made the first stairway. It descended from the midst of the heavens, in the midst of the water, when there were neither earth, rocks nor trees. On 3 Ben he made all things, as many as there are, the things of the heavens, the things of the sea and the things of the earth. / On 4 Ix sky and earth were tilted. 2 On 5 Men he made everything. On 6 Cib the first candle 3 was made; it became light when there was neither sun nor moon. On 7 Caban honey 4 was first created, when we had none. On 8 Enab his hand and foot were firmly set, then he picked up small things on the ground. On 9 Cauac hell was first considered.
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Documents/My%20Music/...20%20%20%20%20Archive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc18.htm (1 of 5)2/28/2007 3:13:48 PM
p. 61 C
On 10 Ahau wicked men went to hell because of God the Father, that they might not be noticed. On 11 Imix rocks and trees were formed; this he did within the day. On 12 Ik the breath of life 5 was created. The reason it was called Ik was because there was no death in it. On 13 Akbal he took water and watered the ground. Then he shaped it and it became man. On 1 Kan he first created anger because of the evil he had created. On 2 Chicchan occurred the discovery of whatever evil he saw within the town.
p. 118
On 3 Cimi he invented death; it happened that our Lord God invented the first death. 1 On 5 Lamat he established the seven great waters of the sea. On 6 Muluc all valleys were submerged, when the world was not yet created. 2 Then occurred the invention of the word of our Lord God, when there was no word in heaven, when there were neither rocks nor trees. Then they went to consider <what they were>, and <the voice> spoke as follows: / "Thirteen entities, seven entities, one." 3 So it spoke when the word came forth, at the time when there was no word. Then the reason was sought by the first ruling day (the first day Ahau) why the meaning of the word to them was not revealed 4 so that they could declare themselves. Then they went to the center of heaven and joined hands. Then the following were set up in the middle of the land: the Burners, four of them: 4 Chicchan, 4 Oc, 4 Men, 4 Ahau, the Burner. the Burner. the Burner. the Burner. p. 62 C
These are the four Rulers.

8 Muluc 9 Oc 10 Chuen 11 Eb 12 Ben 13 Ix 1 Men 2 Cib 3 Caban 4 Enab 7 4 5 6 2
5 Cauac 6 Ahau 7 Imix 8 Ik 9 Akbal 10 Kan 11 Chicchen 12 Cimi 13 Manik 1 Lamat 5,
The day-name Oc is a homonym for the word meaning foot. Ix has a slight resemblance to the root of nixpahal meaning to tilt. Men means to make or to do something. The syllable e of Enab means to set something firmly on the ground. Nevertheless the Maya were not unaware of the relation between this day and the flint knife pictured by its glyph, for in another manuscript we find it associated with a flint, as well as with the blood-letter and the warrior, both of whom employed this implement (Kaua, p. 21). The association of the day Ahau with hell (metnal) may be because of its resemblance to that of Cumhau (or Hun Ahau,) one of the names of the god of the underworld and whom the author of the Motul Dictionary identifies as "Lucifer, the prince of the devils." Akbal is associated with the verb akzah, which means to water the ground. Chicchan resembles chictahal which means to find. The day-name Cimi and the Maya word meaning death are homonyms. Muluc resembles the verb mucchahal meaning to be buried or submerged.}
p. 119
The uinal was created, the earth was created; sky, earth, trees and rocks were set in order; all things were created by our Lord God, the Father. / Thus he was there in his divinity, in the clouds, alone and by his own effort, when he created the entire world, when he moved in the heavens in his divinity. Thus he ruled in his great power. 1 Every day is set in order according to the count, beginning in the east, as it is arranged. p. 63 C
Footnotes
116:5 The Maya uinal was a period of twenty days, each with a different name. The Maya year, or haab, was composed of eighteen such uinals and a closing period of five days known as xma kaba kin, or nameless days. 116:6 Written Merchise in the Maya text. The presence of an r indicates a European word or name, but it does not follow that it was an r in Spanish. R and l sounded alike to the Maya ear, and in native documents we find the name Melchor written Merchor. We have already seen Bible names piously interpolated in native legends. The last syllable is here supplied by the translator. 116:7 A famous Maya prophet who foretold the coming of the Spaniards. See Appendix D. 116:8 Tima to ahac cab; this could also be translated: before it dawned. 116:9 The mistress of the world. Cf. 114, note 6. 116:10 Alternative translation: Then our Lord, God the Father, measured his footstep. 116:11 In other words, the day 12 Oc (lahca Oc) is derived from the phrase, xoc lah cab oc, which means counting off the whole world by footsteps. 117:1 Maya eb is the name of one of the days, and also means stairway. It is probably derived from e, a point, and refers to a series of points or indentations (Seler 1902, p. 482). Why it is connected with water is uncertain, but the fact is confirmed on page 74 of the Dresden Codex. Here we see the old goddess with the jaguar claws emptying a jar of water upon the earth, and in the descending stream of water is pictured the day-sign Eb. 117:2 Possibly a reference to the horizon where earth and sky meet. 117:3 Cib, which has meant candle since the Spanish occupation, appears to have always been the word for wax. We can find no evidence of the use of candles before the Conquest, but according to the reports of the Sixteenth Century settlers there was such an extensive trade in beeswax that it is difficult to believe that it dated only from the Spanish occupation of the country (Relaciones de Yucatan). Cf. p. 101, note 6. 117:4 Cab, here translated as honey, could also mean the earth. 117:5 Ik can mean either wind or the breath of life. The context appears to call for the latter rendering. 118:1 Following the day 3 Cimi, 4 Manik is omitted. 118:2 Possibly a reference to the belief in a previous creation which was destroyed by water. Throughout this passage everything that occurred is told in language which is a play of words on the name of the day.
118:3 The twenty day-names were combined with the numbers one to thirteen. When the numerical series of thirteen was completed, it began over again and was repeated for seven days more. Consequently we have 13 days + 7 days = 1 uinal. 118:4 Hepahac, here translated as revealed, literally means opened, like a door. 118:5 This series of twenty days could be the first uinal of a Year 8 Muluc which recurred every 52 years. From the time of the Conquest down to the compilation of the Chumayel, this year could have fallen in 1562, 1614, 1666, 1718 and 1770. The meaning of the numbers between the columns of days is not clear. If it is a secondary count beginning on the day 6 Ahau, then 13 Manik is wrongly numbered 7. 119:1 Among the modern Jacalteca Indians it is still believed that the days were once men who lived on the earth. They were rulers who protected the village or divided the land (Lafarge and Byers 1931, p. 159).
Next: XIV: A History of the Spanish Conquest
Chilam Balam: Translation: XIV: A History of the Spanish Conquest
XIV
(A HISTORY OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST)
This is the name of the year when the foreigners arrived, the year One thousand five hundred and nineteen. This was the year when the foreigners arrived here at our town, <the town> of us, the Itz, here in the land of Yucalpeten, 2 Yucatan, in the speech of the Maya Itz. So said the first Adelantado; Don Juan de Montejo, 3 because he was thus informed by Don Lorenso Chable when he listened to this conqueror 4 at Tixkokob. He received the foreigners with all his heart. This was the reason they named him Don Lorenso Chable, because he gave well-roasted meat to the foreigners and all the captains. He had a son also named Don Martin Chable. 5 This is the year which was current when the foreigners prepared to seize Yucalpeten 6 here. It was known by the priest, the prophet, Ah Xupan, 7 as he was called. Christianity was introduced to us in the year 1519. 8 The church at Merida was founded in the year 1540. 9 In the year 1599 the church at
p. 120
Merida was completed. In the year 1648 yellow fever 1 occurred and the sickness 2 began <to afflict> us. / There was death by famine for five years, 1650, 1651, 1652, 1653 and 1654. Then the famine ended. There was a hurricane which killed Father Agustin Gomes in the year 1661. There was a drought in the year 1669. <The disease called> uzankak 3 occurred in 1692. p. 64 C
Footnotes
119:2 Yucalpeten is an attempt to turn into Maya the name Yucatan given by the Spaniards. The origin of the latter has been variously explained. The most plausible account is that of Ah Naum Pech, a contemporary of the Conquest. He states: "The Christian captains asked them in the Spanish language where they lived. They did not comprehend and merely replied, 'We do not understand what you say.' This they said, and <the Spaniards> called it Yucatan. It was the Land of the Turkey, the Land of the Deer" (Martinez 1926, p. 27).
Chilam Balam: Translation: XIV: A History of the Spanish Conquest
119:3 Here again the son, Don Juan, is confused with his father, Don Francisco de Montejo, who conquered Yucatan. 119:4 The Maya allies of the Spaniards who had assisted in the Conquest afterwards called themselves "conquistadores" (Brinton 1882, p. 216). This was evidently the priest, Ah Kin Chable, mentioned on page 86. However, Montejo may be the conqueror referred to here. 119:5 The Chabl family of Tixkokob does not appear to have lived up to expectations. Already in 1581 or thereabouts, Diego de Santillan, the husband of Doa Beatriz de Montejo, writes of this town: "The governor of the said town of Tixkokob is Lorenzo Puch from the town of San Cristbal de los Naborios (a suburb of Merida). For although the said town has a native chief, the government of the said town has not been entrusted to him, as he is not capable of it" (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 281). 119:6 Yucalpeten, a Maya imitation of the name Yucatan, has been translated as "the neck of the land" (Molina Sols 1896, p. 168). 119:7 Ah Xupan, an early Maya prophet. Cf. Tizimin p. 13 and Appendix D. 119:8 Cortez exhorted the Indians at Cozumel to accept Christianity and set up a cross for them in 1519 (Herrera 1725, Dec. 2, Book 2, Chap. 3). 119:9 Although Montejo reached Merida in 1540, the Spanish city was not founded until early in 1542. 120:1 Maya xe-kik, literally blood-vomit. 120:2 This was the famous epidemic recorded in the French colony of Guadeloupe in this year. It broke out in Campeche in June and lasted for the next two years. Molina Sols 1910, p. 168. The Maya cimil can be translated as either sickness or death. 120:3 Uzankak is a term applied to both measles and scarlatina.
Next: XV: The Prophecy of Chilam Balam and the Story of Antonio Martinez
Chilam Balam: Translation: XV: The Prophecy of Chilam Balam and the Story of Antonio Martinez
XV
(THE PROPHECY OF CHILAM BALAM AND THE STORY OF ANTONIO MARTINEZ 4)
<Let it be known that the day then arrived> 5 when the tenth katun 6 was
p. 121
established, when the katun of the Plumeria flower was established. 1 For three moons 2 had been established Yuma-une-tziuit, 3 the quetzal, the green bird. 4 Then there shall be present the forceful one, 5 there would be Nine Mountains, 6 Yuma-une-tziuit, the quetzal, the green bird. No one understands the penance among the rulers 7 in the twelfth tun when he declared his name. <Like> a jaguar is his head, long is his tooth, 8 withered 9 is his body, <like> a dog 10 is his body. His heart is pierced with sorrow. 11 Sweet is his food, sweet is his drink. Perchance he does not speak, 12 perchance he will not hear. They say his speech is false and mad. 13 Nowhere do the younger sisters, native
p. 122
to the land, surrender themselves. They shall be taken away from the land here. So it shall always be with the maidens, the daughters whom they shall bear tomorrow and day after tomorrow. Give yourselves up, my younger brothers, my older brothers, submit 1 to the unhappy destiny of the katun which is to come. If you do not submit, you shall be moved from where your feet are rooted. 2 If you do not submit, you shall gnaw the trunks of trees and herbs. 3 If you do not submit, it shall be as when the deer die, 4 so that they go forth from your settlement. Then <even> when the ruler <himself > goes forth, he shall return within your settlement bearing nothing. 5 Also there shall come <such a pestilence that> the vultures enter the houses, 6 a time of great death among the wild animals. 7 There shall be three kinds of bread, <the bread-nut 8 shall be their bread> in the katun of the Plumeria flower. Then <comes the time> 9 when thirteen layers of mats are laid down for the very mad one, 10 for the adulterer. Then comes the <papal> bull 11 of six divisions. Three times the bull shall be announced. Then the judge of the bull shall come, when he <who bears> the gold staff 12 shall judge, when white wax <candles> 13 shall be exchanged. / It is to be white wax, when justice shall descend from Heaven, for Christian men to come up before the eye of justice. 14 Then it shall shake heaven and earth. In sorrow shall end the katun of the Plumeria flower. No one shall fulfil his promises. The prop-roots of the trees shall be bent over. 15 There shall be an earthquake all over the land. The fulfilment
p. 65 C
p. 123
of the prophecy of the katun of the Plumeria flower shall be for sale. 1 There is no reason or necessity for you to submit 2 to the Archbishop. When he comes, you shall go and hide yourselves in the forest. If you surrender yourselves, you shall follow Christ, when he shall come. Then his visitation 3 shall end. Then shall come to pass the shaking 4 of the Plumeria flower. Then you shall understand. Then it shall thunder from a dry sky. Then shall be spoken that which is written on the wall. Then you shall set up God, 5 that is, you shall admit his divinity to your hearts. I hardly know what wise man among you will understand. He who understands will go into the forest to serve Christianity. Who will understand it? After only fourteen years 6 of chieftainship, permanently the Son 7 shall arrive, Don Antonio Martnez 8 and Saul. These were his names when he departed from heaven. At that time he went to Tzimentan, 9 and when he was at Tzimentan a certain queen said she would marry him. For seven years he was married, when the golden doors of the house of four apartments 10 were opened. <Here>he was shown how, and he equipped 11 a fleet of thirteen ships. Then he began a war with the land of Havana. 12 The King 13 had a friend at Havana, and the King was advised by his friend. The public prosecutor was there with him. Then he went and heard that <the man> was to be seized. Whereupon he departed and went to Tzimentan. It was three months after he was seized that the man who took him departed. Then he arrived at Tzimentan. When <the man> was seized, / he cut short the words of him who took him when he arrived at Tzimentan, and he said: "Go, man." These were his
p. 124
p. 66 C
words to him. "It is three months <since> I arrived," he said. "It is three months, now, <since> you departed. It was three months <ago> that you arrived, since you arrived, since you are shut up in the prison; in the meantime I come. I will take you out of prison. You two captains shall follow me." he said. "Let nine chairs be raised up for us to sit on. 1 The sea shall burn. I shall be raised up." There was fire in his eye. Sand and spray shall be raised aloft. The face of the sun shall be darkened by the great tempest. Whereupon the captain accoutered himself. <Everything> shall be blown to the ground by the wind. In the meantime I sit on my chair; in the meantime the fleet of thirteen ships comes. Then the King 2 accouters himself also. "Prepare yourself, my lord! There come the French." These were his words to me. "We shall be killed by <these> men. For what reason does your strength fail because of your compatriots? Let me go and direct the ship from the middle." My own spirits are raised also. The sea upon which I go burns. The face of the heavens is tilted. But when I came down into his presence, the ship was lost. 3 "What man are you?" he said to me. "I am without compunction. 4 It is I whom you have aided, 5 I am he whom you have caused to live again." 6 <Then he said:> 7 "I shall put my name to the test, it is Martinez. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit is my name." <These were his words.> 8Then I brought out the book of seven generations to read. 9 In three months it was finished.
Now the town officials went elsewhere. 10 Whereupon he said he would give his town, half of the men <in it>, to me. "Where is your town? It is all my town," <he said>. 11 "You shall pay for my town, I was the first to arrive." 12 Then, I tell you, justice shall descend to the end that Christianity and salvation may arise. Thus shall end the men of the Plumeria flower. 13 Then the rulers of the towns shall be asked for their proofs and titles of ownership, if they know of them. Then they shall come forth from the forests and from
p. 125
among the rocks and live like men; then towns shall be established <again>. There shall be no fox to bite them. 1 This shall be in Katun 9 Ahau. 2 Five years shall run until the end of my prophecy, and then shall come the time for the tribute to come down. Then there shall be an end to the paying for the wars which our fathers raised <against the Spaniards>. You shall not call the katun which is to come a hostile one, when / Jesus Christ, the guardian of our souls, shall come. Just as <we are saved> here on earth, so shall he bear our souls to his holy heaven also. You are sons of the true God. Amen. p. 67 C
Footnotes
120:4 The following combined prophecy and narrative in the Chumayel is immediately joined to and made a part of the chronicle contained in the previous chapter, following the statement that a certain epidemic occurred in the year 1692. Two parallel versions of the material contained in the present chapter are found in the Tizimin (pp. 1416) and Mani (pp. 109-116) manuscripts. The fullest account is that of the Mani, but the Tizimin version is probably the oldest, as it retains the Maya forms of a number of words which are translated into Spanish in the Mani and Chumayel. Both the Tizimin and Mani versions contain an explanatory introduction which is completely lacking in the Chumayel. The Mani version bears the following title: U than hahal ku tu nathob Chilam, which could be translated: The words of the true God which Chilam understood. The introduction states that the other great Maya prophets (see Appendix D) assembled at the house of Chilam Balam, here also called Ah Nacom Balam and indicating that he was the official sacrificial priest (Landa 1928, p. 194). Chilam Balam lay stretched out in a trance in his room, while he received a revelation which seems to have descended from the roof of the house, and which only he understood. Finally all the others threw themselves on their faces, and Chilam Balam is said to have delivered the prophecy contained in this chapter.
In this prophecy we find inserted bodily the story of a certain Antonio Martinez, an adventurer who probably lived long after the Spanish Conquest. His name does not appear in any of the Spanish histories of Yucatan. A portion of the actual prophecy evidently dates from ancient times and is written in very obscure language, while other passages are inspired by events which occurred after the Spanish occupation. 120:5 Supplied from the Tizimin and Mani version of this prophecy. 120:6 In the Tizimin and Mani versions it is called "the first katun." Katun 11 Ahau is usually called the first katun. (Cf. p. 147.) Not only was it the first katun of the Spanish occupation, but it also began with the day 1 Imix which was the first day of the tzol-kin, or tonalamatl. Possibly it is here called the tenth katun because the Eighteenth Century Maya copyist found it recorded immediately after the date 1692. According to several Eighteenth Century Maya writers a Katun 10 Ahau should have ended in 1692, but their deduction is not supported by the historical evidence (Tizimin, p. 1; Mani, p. 135; cf. Seler 1902, pp. 591-592). 121:1 The erotic significance of the Plumeria flower has already been discussed (p. 104, note 15). But that this eroticism was always sinful may be doubted, for it was associated with lawful marriage and with the father and mother of Nohochacyum, the head of the Lacandon Pantheon. Furthermore the corollas of this flower are strung in chains and still used as decorations in churches, a custom which probably dates from ancient times (Standley 1930, p. 384). Consequently it may be inferred that many of its associations were innocent and simply concerned the reproduction of the race. Nevertheless, it may have been associated with Kukulcan because of the introduction of certain erotic religious practises by the Toltecs, and with the coming of the Spaniards on account of the manner in which European soldiers of the Sixteenth Century usually behaved toward the women of a newly conquered population. Maya warriors probably carried off women captives to make slaves and concubines of them, but it is doubtful that they practised violation in warfare. Compare with the prophecy for Katun 7 Ahau, p. 151. 121:2 Maya uu. This refers to an actual lunation, and not to the Maya month of 20 days which was called uinal. 121:3 This name is not Maya. The division made here is in accordance with the Maya texts. Its usual association with the quetzal leads to the conclusion that it is closely connected with Kukulcan and may be another name for the Mexican culture-hero. 121:4 The quetzal, the green bird, Maya kuk yaxum. For yaxum see p. 63, note 6. Kuk usually means a sprout or shoot, hence offspring or descendants (Motul). Here we believe it refers to the quetzal, which is also called kk in Kekchi and xman k'uk in Chol (Sapper 1927, p. 428). The Maya word for feather is kukum; but it is very possible that the name, Kukul-can, is derived directly from kuk, quetzal, and can, serpent, making it a literal translation of the Nahuatl Quetzalcoatl.
121:5 The translator can make little out of the Maya expression found here in the Chumayel, u may chiiceh. May can mean either hoof or a fine powder, and chiich means forcefully. The variant found in the Mani version of this passage, ah chich is quite intelligible and means "the forceful one." 121:6 Nine Mountains, Maya, Bolonte uitz. One of the Chumayel chronicles (p. 139) gives this place as the origin of one of the groups of people who later settled in Yucatan, probably the Itz. Cf. p. 64, note 3. 121:7 If some of the most powerful families of Yucatan, like the Xius, were of foreign origin, they would have penances and other religious practises not understood by the ordinary people. Cf. Appendix E. 121:8 The Maya coo can mean either the tooth of an animal or man, or the bill of a bird. 121:9 The various Maya compilers of the Books of Chilam Balam appear to have been uncertain about this passage. The Chumayel text reads uul which means withered or shriveled; the Mani version gives thul which could be translated: "like a rabbit;" while the Tizimin variant is tzutzui which means dove. Among the Mexicans Quetzalcoatl was pictured as having a face not altogether human. 121:10 The Tizimin version is "disgusting is his body." 121:11 Both the Mani and Tizimin versions read: "His heart is pierced by a dart." 121:12 Supplied from the Tizimin version. 121:13 Alternative translation: false and lewd. 122:1 Literally, make way, etc. 122:2 The missionaries caused much suffering by forcibly moving country people from their homes and collecting them in towns to facilitate their conversion to Christianity (Relaciones de Yucatan, II, p. 68). 122:3 Many people fled to the forests to escape from the missionaries and Spanish officials (Cogolludo 1868, Book 10, Chap. 2). 122:4 Maya cim-cehil, when the deer die, i.e. when there is such a severe drought that the water holes in the rocks dry up and the deer die of thirst. Cf. Tizimin version. 122:5 In times of famine, practically always the result of drought, people of the affected area would leave their villages and wander about the country to exchange their personal property for food. We may
infer from this passage that when the chief was obliged to do this, the situation was exceptionally serious. 122:6 Maya, oc-na-kuchil. Cf. Brinton 1882, p. 151. 122:7 It is difficult to explain what is meant by this general mortality of wild animals. The text indicates an epidemic. 122:8 Maya ox, Brosimum alicastrum Sw., the ramon or bread-nut, the fruit of which was eaten especially in time of famine. The second kind of bread would be maize, and the third would be the cup (Calopogonium cruleum Benth., or jcama cimarrona) usually also mentioned in this connection. Cf. p. 103, notes 10 and 11. 122:9 Supplied from the Tizimin and Mani versions. 122:10 Madness and immorality are frequently associated in the Books of Chilam Balam. 122:11 The Spanish word, bula, is employed in the Maya text. 122:12 This may be a reference to the bishop's crozier. 122:13 Mediz Bolio (1930, p. 75, note 147) considers this a reference to votive offerings of wax. 122:14 The Tizimin version reads: "when the eye of justice shall sleep." 122:15 This may be the result of the earthquake mentioned in the following sentence, but Mediz Bolio suggests that a gallows is meant (1930, p. 76). 123:1 Possibly a reference to the money paid for indulgences, which are compared here to the prophecy of the Maya priests. 123:2 Literally: "to give your heads to the Archbishop." 123:3 Written visita in the text. The Tizimin version gives the Maya equivalent: "Ca bin oco u thibah a uichil ex." 123:4 Evidently a reference to some ceremonial act, possibly the sprinkling of some consecrated liquid. 123:5 Alternative translation: declare his divinity.
123:6 Three and a half katuns are mentioned in the Tizimin version and four katuns in the Mani. 123:7 Maya, mehenbil. The Tizimin substitutes the word, almehenil, the nobleman. 123:8 The Spanish historians do not mention this personage. There is an allusion in the prophecy for Katun 1 Ahau (p. 158), which might place him some time during the fifth and sixth decades of the Seventeenth Century. His other name, Saul, is given as Xaul in the Tizimin and Mani versions. 123:9 We are unable to identify this town. Mediz Bolio conjectures that it was some port on the northeastern coast of Yucatan frequented by the Protestant buccaneers, among whom were numbered the members of many strange sects (Mediz Bolio 1930, p. 77). 123:10 Probably a public building, such as the church, as we read that the "town marriages" were performed in the can-kaz-na, as it is called in Maya (Chumayel, p. 159). The idea of golden doors is a purely European conception and may refer to the entrance to the chancel. 123:11 Maya, tuz-zihzah. The Mani and Tizimin versions read likzah which could mean "raised a fleet," etc. 123:12 Probably a piratical raid on the coast of Cuba is meant. 123:13 Our text reads, Rey, while the Tizimin gives its Maya equivalent, ahau. 124:1 Here the Chumayel text is corrupt and the Mani version is followed for this sentence. 124:2 The text gives "Rey," while the Tizimin version reads, "nacom," which means captain. The Mani version reads: "Then the King agrees (cetzicuba) also." 124:3 Corrected from the Tizimin and Mani versions. 124:4 The Mani version reads: "I am an infidel." 124:5 Alternative translation: I, whom you have released. The Tizimin and Mani versions read: "I, whom you have taken." 124:6 In a figurative sense this also means: I am he whom you have baptised. 124:7 Supplied from the Tizimin and Mani versions.
124:8 Supplied from the Mani version. 124:9 Here the Tizimin and Mani versions read: "Then he brought out the book of seven generations for the priests to read." Martinez suggests it was a book of seven folios. 124:10 Alternative translation: Now the town officials surrendered. 124:11 Supplied from the Tizimin and Mani versions. 124:12 The Tizimin and Mani versions read: "It is I, Xaul." Here the story of Antonio Martinez ends, and the prophecy of Chilam Balam is continued. 124:13 Supplied from the Tizimin and Mani versions. Cf. p. 121, note
1
125:1 Here the so-called foxes may refer to the Spanish captains and not to the Maya head-chiefs and warriors. See Appendix F. 125:2 Katun 9 Ahau covered approximately the seventh and eighth decades of the Sixteenth Century. By this time most of the thickly settled portions of the country had been pacified. Many people who had fled to the forests to escape the violence of the Spanish conquerors now returned to their homes again. The Spanish Governor at Merida seriously undertook to reconstruct the social and political organization of the country which had been disrupted by the Conquest. Much of this work was begun during Katun 11 Ahau, but it was probably Katun 9 Ahau before results began to be noted generally.
Next: XVI: A Chapter of Questions and Answers
Chilam Balam: Translation: XVI: A Chapter of Questions and Answers
XVI
(A CHAPTER OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS)
FIG. 27--A map of northern Yucatan. 3 (Chumayel MS.).
13 Enab <was the day> when the land was established. 4 13 Cheneb 5 was when they measured off by paces the cathedral, 6 the dark house of instruction,
p. 126
the cathedral in heaven. Thus it was also measured off by paces here <on earth>. Thirteen katuns was the total count, <that is, thir>teen feet 1 in heaven. Four feet, and from there nine feet, the total count of its extent in heaven. 2 Then it is again measured off by feet from the face of the earth. Four feet separate it from the face of the earth. Mani is the base of the land. Campeche is the tip of the wing of the land. Calkini is the base of the wing of the land. Itzmal is the middle of the wing of the land. Zaci is the tip of the wing of the land. Conkal is the head of the land. 3
In the middle of the town of Tihoo 4 is the cathedral, the fiery house, 5 the mountainous house, the dark house, for the benefit of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Who enters into the house of God? Father, it is the one named Ix-Kalem. 6 What day did the Virgin conceive? Father, 4 Oc <was the day> when she conceived. What day did he come forth <from her womb>? On 3 Oc he came forth. What day did he die? On 1 Cimi he died. Then he entered the tomb on 1 Cimi. What entered his tomb? Father, a coffer of stone entered his tomb. What entered in into his thigh? 7 Father, it was the red arrow-stone. 8 It entered into the precious stone of the world, there in heaven. And his arm? Father, the arrow-stone; and that it might be commemorated, 9 / it entered into the red living rock in the east. Then it came to the north and entered into the white living rock. After that it entered the black
p. 127
p. 68 C
living rock in the west. Thus also <it entered> the yellow living rock in the south. 1
2
Son, how many deep hollows <are there>? These <are the holes> for playing the flute. 3
Son, where is the cenote? 4 All are drenched <with> its water. 5 There is no gravel on its bottom; a bow is inserted over its entrance. 6 <It is> the church. Son, where are the first marriages? The strength of the King 7 and the strength of the other head-chiefs fail because of them, and my strength because of them also. It is bread. 8 Son, have you seen the green water-holes in the rock? There are two of them; a cross is raised between them. They are a man's eyes. Son, where are the first baptised ones? One has no mother, but has a bead collar and little bells. It is peeu. 9
Son, where is the food 10 which bursts forth, and the fold of the brain <and> the lower end of that which is inflated, 11 and the dried fruit? It is the gizzard of a turkey. Son bring me that which hooks the sky and the hooked tooth. They are a deer and a gopher. 12
p. 128
Son, where is the old woman with buttocks seven palms wide, the woman with a dark complexion? It is <the squash called> ol. 1 Son, show me the light complexioned woman with her skirt bound up who sells white flints. It is <the squash called> ca. 1 Son, bring me two yellow animals, one to be well boiled, and one shall have its throat cut. I shall drink its blood also. It is a yellow deer and a green calabash full of chocolate. <My> sons, bring me here a score of those who bear flat stones and two married ones. They are a quail 2 and a dove. 3 Son, bring me a cord of three strands, I wish to see it. It is an iguana. Son, bring . . . . 4 a mutual confession of sin 5 that I may see it here. It is the maguey. 6 Son, bring me here that which stops the hole in the sky and the dew, the nine layers of the whole earth. 7 It is a very large maize tortilla. 8 Son, have you seen the old man <who is like> an overturned comal? 9 He has a large double chin which reaches the ground. It is a turkey cock. Son, bring me the old farmers, their beards come to their navels, also their wives. It is a muddy arrowroot. 10 Bring to me here with them the women who guard the fields, white complexioned women. I will remove their skirts and eat them. It is a jcama. 11 / Son, bring me the great gallants that I may view them. Perhaps they will not dance badly when I see them. It is a turkey-cock.
p. 129
p. 69 C
Son, where is the first collector? <The answer is> to undress, to take off one's shirt, cape, hat and shoes. 1
Son, where was it that you passed? Did you pass, perchance, to the high rocky knoll which slopes down to the door of heaven, where there is a gate in the wall? Did you see men in front of you, coming side by side? Bolon Chaan 2 and the first Ah-kulel 3 are there. It is the pupils of the eyes and any pair of eyes. Son, have you seen the rain of God? It passed beneath the mountains of God; it entered beneath the mountains of God, where there is a cross on the savannah. 4 There will be a ring in the sky where the water of God has passed. Son, where has the water of God passed when it comes forth from the living rock? Father, <from> a man's head and all a man's teeth, it passes through the opening in his throat and comes forth beneath. Son, whom did you see on the road just now? . . . .
5
Son, what did you do with your companions who were coming close behind you? Here are my companions. I have not left them. I await the judgment of God when I shall come to die. This is a man's shadow. Son, whom did you see on the road? Did you see perchance <some> old men accompanied by <their> boys? Father, here are the old men I saw on the road. They are with me; they do not leave me. This is his great toe with the little <toes>. Son, where did you see the old women carrying their step-children and their other boys. Father, here they are. They are still with me so that I can eat. I can not leave them yet. It is my thumb and the other fingers. Son, where did you pass by a water-gutter? 6 Father, here is the water-gutter; it is right with me. This is my dorsal furrow. Son, where did you see an old man astride a horse across a water-gutter? Father, here is the old man. He is still with me. My shoulders are the horse / on which you say the old man sits astride. Son, this is the old man with you of which you spoke: it is manifest truth and justice. Son, go get the heart of the stone and the liver of the earth. . . . back, and one lying on its face as though it were
p. 130 7
p. 70 C
I have seen one of them lying on its
going into hell. They are a Mexican Agouti 1 and a Spotted Agouti, 2 also the first local chief and the first Ah-kulel. 3 As for the heart of the stone, it is the tips of the teeth; and that which covers the opening in the neck of hell is a camote 4 and a jcama. Son, go and bring me here <the girl> with the watery teeth. 5 Her hair is twisted into a tuft; she is a very beautiful maiden. Fragrant shall be her odor when I remove her skirt and her <other> garment. It will give me pleasure to see her. Fragrant is her odor and her hair is twisted into a tuft. It is an ear of green corn cooked in a pit. 6 Son, then you shall go and get an old man and the herb that is by the sea. The old man is the ac, 7 and <the herb is> a crab. Son, then you shall go and get the stones from the bottom of a forest pond. 8 It is the tzac. 9 Son, then you shall bring here the stones of the savannah. It is a quail. 10 Also <bring> the first sorcerers, there are four 11 of them. They are the gopher, the Spotted Agouti, the Mexican Agouti and the peccary. Son, then go and get the thigh of the earth. It is the cassava. 12 Son, go and bring here the green gallant and the green singer. It is a wild turkey <hen> and cock. 13 Son, you shall bring your daughter that I may see her in the sun tomorrow. First the smaller one shall be brought and behind her shall come the larger one. Her hair shall be bound with a feathered band; she shall wear a head-scarf. I will take off her head-scarf. Also the Ah-kulel is behind her. /
p. 131
Son, then go and get a cluster 1 of Plumeria flowers widely separated. <They should be> there where the sun is tomorrow. <What is meant is> roasted corn and honey.
p. 71 C
Here I have rolled that which you have which is flat and round. 2 There are many rolls of it in the cave where you live. Then you shall roll it here that we may see it, when it is time to eat. <It is> a fried egg.
Footnotes
125:3 This type of map is fairly typical in Maya documents. Here as usual the principal town, Tihoo
(Merida), is in the center; but as a general thing the space between the two outlying circles is divided into compartments, each of which is occupied by the name of one of the border-sites. For a map of this sort see Stephens, 1843, II, p. 264. 125:4 Probably a reference to the Spanish occupation. 13 Enab was the day preceding 1 Cauac, from which the Maya year which began in 1568 took its name, but this year does not appear to have any special significance. 13 Enab would recur every 260 days. 125:5 13 Cheneb. This may be a mistake of the copyist and intended either for the month Chen or the day Eb. It is also possible that it was an occult word employed for purposes of mystification. 125:6 Written Ygleia mayor in the text. 126:1 Chek, chekel and chekeb designate a measure equaling the length of the human foot. Perhaps the idea is that 13 katuns (13 x 7200?)in heaven correspond to 13 feet on earth, and that any sacred thing on earth must previously exist in heaven. 126:2 Alternative translation: toward heaven. This would indicate that we have here merely the perpendicular measurement of the cathedral, but in that case the number of feet designated would not be sufficient. 126:3 It will be seen that the country is thought of as a vast bird whose wings extend from Campeche to Valladolid (Zaci). 126:4 Tihoo is the modern Maya name for Merida. In the older literature it is called Ichcanzihoo. 126:5 Maya, kakal-na. An alternative translation would be "the enclosed house." This would better fit Pio Perez' definition, which is the government building, the casa real. 126:6 Ix-Kalem is a feminine name, but it means little. Probably Ix-Kulem, the Holy One, is intended. 126:7 Maya, chac-bacel, which is the outside of the thigh or the thigh-bone. 126:8 The text actually reads chac haal-tun which would mean the red water-hole in the rock, but as an I between vowels is almost silent in Maya, we have made it read chac ha<l>al-tun, which conforms with the word halal-tun, arrow-stone, occurring in the answer to the following question. 126:9 Maya kinbezabal: this could mean either commemorated or warmed in the sun. 127:1 Here the text reverts to pure Maya symbolism. The details of the crucifixion of Christ apparently
recalled to the Maya mind some of the ceremonies connected with human sacrifice, in which the victim was probably considered the representative of the god. Like the crown of thorns, a paper crown was placed on his head, and the spear which pierced Christ's side appears to have reminded the Maya writer of the arrow with which the priest struck blood from the thigh of the sacrificial victim (Landa 1928, pp. 198-200). It is also possible that the legend of the stone arrow-points, which entered the mythical rocks at the four corners of the world, was associated in the mind of the writer with the rocks which were rent at the time of the crucifixion. 127:2 The balance of this chapter consists of a series of questions much resembling the series entitled The Interrogation of the Chiefs in Chapter IX. Here, however, no explanation is given as to the purpose of the catechism. 127:3 Maya chul, defined as a flute. This is a direct flute or flageolet. An excellent picture of this type of instrument is found in the Dresden Codex (p. 34 A) and plainly shows the finger-holes along the side. Landa states that they were made of cane or reeds. Another wind-instrument employed was a trumpet called hom. This was made of a wooden tube to the end of which was attached a long curved gourd, which probably gave it a flaring mouth. Whistles made of reeds or bones and conch-shells were also blown (Landa 1928, pp. 158-160). 127:4 Evidently a reference to the cave type of cenote. 127:5 Probably either the holy water or the water of baptism is meant. 127:6 A reference to the arched doorway of the church. 127:7 Written Rey in the text. 127:8 The key to this riddle is not apparent. 127:9 Peeu is a small early yellow maize which forms in forty days. The term is also applied to anything small or dwarfed (Motul). 127:10 Maya kauil, an obsolete word which has survived only in the term, kauil-yah, to beg for food. In the old prophecies it is associated with bread. Zatom uah, zatom kauil, bread shall be lost, food shall be lost, i.e. the crops shall fail (Tizimin, p. 1). 127:11 Maya peehe, a term applied to an inflated stomach or a full stomach. The question is based on fancied resemblances seen in removing and cutting up the giblets of a turkey. 127:12 Maya ba, Heterogeomys torridus Merriam or Orthegeomys scalops Thomas, possibly both. It is
called tuza in Spanish. The Maya eat it. 128:1 ol is a green flat squash and ca is another variety described as white and striped with thick seeds (Motul). Ca is also the name of a stone used to grind maize and cacao. 128:2 Maya bech, a name applied to Eupsychortyx nigrogularis Nelson (The Yucatan Bob-white), and Dactylortyx thoracicus sharpei Nelson (Yucatan Long-toed Grouse) (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, vol. 50, p. 116). We have already seen the quail associated with a stone. (p. 94.) 128:3 Maya mucuy, Columbigallina rufipennis Bonaparte (Ground dove), ibid. p. 117. 128:4 Here there is a hiatus in the text. 128:5 The word for sin used here, tanal, was considered antiquated already in the Sixteenth Century. It has the same meaning in Chol and may have been borrowed from that language (Motul Dictionary; LaFarge 1930, MS.). This mutual confession was an ancient Maya custom and was usually practised in time of sickness when death was imminent (Landa 1928, p. 188). 128:6 Mrs. S. G. Morley has called the translator's attention to a lintel at Piedras Negras on which a kneeling penitent is seen passing a cord of maguey spines through his tongue (Charnay 1887, p. 250). 128:7 Like the Mexicans, the Maya appear to have conceived that the world consisted of nine layers. The uppermost was the surface of the earth, and the other eight were the underworlds; in the lowermost reigned the god of the under regions variously called Cumhau and Xibalba in Maya (Motul Dictionary) and Mictlantecuhtli in Nahuatl (Seler 1923, pp. 17 and 22). 128:8 This is evidently the "tutiwa" consisting of nine layers of tortillas and beans and employed in connection with the Maya harvest festival and the rain-making ceremony called chachac (Tozzer 1907, pp. 160-162). 128:9 Comal, the Spanish name for the dish or pan used for cooking tortillas, called xamach in Maya. 128:10 Chac in the text. It is usually spelled chaac, Maranta arundinacea L. 128:11 Pachyrhizus erosus (L.) Urban, an edible root resembling a turnip but eaten raw. 129:1 It seems probable that the compiler has omitted something here. 129:2 Bolon Chaan is probably the name of a deity. It might be translated as Ninth Heaven. We find him mentioned on page 106.
129:3 Ah-kulel means mediator or deputy and is the title of a certain class of town-officials. They were inferior to the ah-cuch-cab, or councillors, and superior to the tupil, whom the Spaniards considered a sort of constable. 129:4 We can not but suspect that by the "mountain of God" the usual landmark consisting of a heap of stones surmounted by a cross is meant. 129:5 A hiatus in the text. 129:6 Maya yoc-ha. It also means river, but there are practically no rivers in northern Yucatan. 129:7 A hiatus in the text in which the Maya copyist has inserted a few disjointed syllables. See text. 130:1 Maya, haleu, Cuniculus paca nelsoni Goldman (?); Spanish paca. 130:2 Maya, tzub, Dasyprocta punctata yucatanica Goldman; aguti pinto. 130:3 Cf. p. 129, note 3. 130:4 Maya iz, Ipoma batatas L. 130:5 Maya, ix ha-liz co. Ix is the regular feminine prefix. Haa means water, and -liz is a suffix indicating possession of what precedes. Co means either a tooth or a kernel of maize. The phrase has been interpreted as "a woman of Jalisco," which would no doubt be rendered Ix Halisco or Ix Halizco in Maya, but Jalisco is so distant from Yucatan that the metaphor seems rather unlikely. Cf. Mediz-Bolio 1930, p. 84. 130:6 Meat, maize and squashes were frequently cooked in a heated pit by the Maya. Here the ear of green corn was evidently cooked in the husk, which would preserve the milky juice. The husk is compared to a garment and the corn-silk to a twisted tuft of hair. 130:7 Ac is a tall grass employed for thatching houses. It is called barbon in Spanish, which means a man with a thick beard. One Yucatecan writer states that it is "Andropogon antillarum" (MacKinney, 1889). Ac is also a turtle. 130:8 Maya kax-ek, defined by Avendao, apud Means 1917, p. 159. 130:9 The text reads ah-tzatzac. The tzac is an unidentified variety of small fish.
130:10 Cf. p. 94, note 3. 130:11 The text gives this number as two. 130:12 Maya iin, Manihot esculenta Crantz. Cf. p. 96. 130:13 Maya cutz and ah-tzo. Ah-tzo is a general term for turkey-cock. Cutz has been identified as Agriocharis ocellata Cuvier, or Ocellated turkey (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, vol. 50, p. 115). There is another wild turkey found in Yucatan, Meleagris mexicana, which may be called cutz also (Tozzer 1907, p. 22).
Next: XVII: An Incantation
Chilam Balam: Translation: XVII: An Incantation
XVII
(AN INCANTATION)
Strung end to end are the precious stones, the red precious stones, representing the substance of heaven, the moisture of heaven. 3 The form in which you created the sun, <in which> you created the earth! The form of the moisture of heaven, the substance of heaven, the yellow blossom 4 of heaven! How did I create your sun? <How did I> create your moon? How did I create your precious stones? I created you. When you were sprinkled with water, you remembered the force of the sun. Then when the message was sent to you ... Under cover I created you, I set you <where you are>. From time to time I take <you>, I perceive your vigor because of your father. You await ... that I may take away ... from your mouth. They are the yellow precious stones. So runs its course as he records 5 it. These are the rulers 6 which have been set in order. Go and read it and you will understand it. 7
Footnotes
131:1 The text reads un trus nicte. Nicte is a flower, usually the Plumeria. Trus, since it contains an r is probably a distorted Spanish word. The translation given here is derived from a comparison of the use of the expression on p. 118 of B.L.C. No. 43 and that of a similar Maya phrase, oxlahun tzuc nicte on page 174 of the same manuscript. The translator is inclined to associate this expression with the love-charm described by Aguilar (Aguilar 1892, p. 84; translated in Saville 1921, p. 207). 131:2 Maya, pectzil. This word usually means news or what is said of some one. Here something concrete appears to be intended, and the word has been divided into its component parts, pec and tzil, which give a very different meaning. 131:3 Maya: kab caan itz caan. When asked who he was, Itzamat-ul, a deified ruler of Izamal, replied: "Itz en caan, itz en muyal." This has been translated: "Yo soy el roco, sustancia del cielo y nubes" (Cogolludo 1868, Book 4, chap. 8). 131:4 Cf. p. 65, note 9. 131:5 To obtain this meaning olic (he skins it) has been changed to tzolic (he records it).
Chilam Balam: Translation: XVII: An Incantation
131:6 Ahau (ruler) is the day for which the katun is named. 131:7 This very difficult passage differs in vocabulary and style from the rest of the MS. The spaces left in the text indicate that the Eighteenth Century compiler copied it from a defective original. Its unique style resembles that of Gates' Ritual of the Bacabs, which was probably written in eastern Yucatan, judging from a comparison of the latter with the Titulos de Ebtun. The translator is familiar only with a few extracts from the Ritual of the Bacabs, but it is possible that the above passage has been copied from that manuscript. Cf. Tozzer 1921, p. 196. We suggest that this is an invocation to the growing corn. Possibly the last three sentences refer to the following chapter.
Next: XVIII: A Series of Katun-Prophecies
Chilam Balam: Translation: XVIII: A Series of Katun-Prophecies
p. 132
XVIII
(A SERIES OF KATUN-PROPHECIES)
Click to view [p.73 C] FIG. 28. The katun wheel. 1 (Chumayel MS.)/
[p. 73 C]
p. 133
Katun 11 Ahau is established at Ichcaanzihoo. 2 Yax-haal Chac 3 is its face. The heavenly fan, the heavenly bouquet shall descend. The drum and rattle of Ah Bolon-yocte 4 shall resound. At that time there shall be the green turkey; at that time there shall be Zulim Chan; at that time there shall be Chakanputun. 5 They shall find their food among the trees; they shall find their food among the rocks, those who have lost their crops in Katun 11 Ahau.
1
The katun is established at Uuc-yab-nal in Katun 4 Ahau. At the mouth of the well, Uuc-yab-nal, 7 it is established ... It shall dawn in the south. 8 The face of <the lord of the katun> is covered; his face is dead. There is mourning for water; there is mourning for bread. 9 His mat and his throne shall face the west. 10 Blood-vomit is the charge <of the katun>. 11 At that time his loin-cloth and his mantle shall be white. 12 Unattainable shall be the bread of the katun. The quetzal shall come; the green bird shall come. The kax tree shall come; the bird shall come. 13 The tapir shall come. The tribute shall be hidden at the mouth of the well. 14
6 p. 134
The katun is established at Maylu, Zaci, Mayapan 1 in Katun 2 Ahau. The katun <stone> is on its own base. The rope shall descend; the poison of the serpent shall descend, pestilence <and> three piles of skulls. The men are of little use. 2 Then the burden was bound on Buluc-chabtan. 3 <Then there came
up> a dry wind. The ramon 4 is the bread of <Katun> 2 Ahau. It shall be half famine and half abundance. This is the charge of Katun 2 Ahau. The Katun is established at Kinchil Coba, 5 Maya Cuzamil, 6 in Katun 13 Ahau. Itzamna, Itzam-tzab, 7 is his face during its reign. The ramon shall be eaten. Three years shall be locust years, ten generations <of locusts>. The fan shall be displayed; the bouquet shall be displayed, 8 borne by Yaxaal Chac in the heavens. Unattainable is the bread of the katun in 13 Ahau. The sun shall be / eclipsed. Double is the charge of the katun: men without offspring, chiefs without successors. 9 For five days the sun shall be eclipsed, then it shall be seen <again>. 10 This is the charge of Katun 13 Ahau. p. 74 C
Footnotes
132:1 For a full discussion of the Maya katun wheel the reader is referred to Bowditch 1910, Appendix II, and to Landa 1929, pp. 94-97. The katun series with its prophecies is discussed in Appendix D of the present work. Among the various katun wheels, this one is unique in that the beginning of each prophecy is set down opposite the number of the katun to which it corresponds, i.e. the day with its number on which the katun ends. Here the cross is set above Katun 13 Ahau, but in Landa's wheel the cross is over Katun 11 Ahau, which is usually considered to be the first of the series, and indeed it begins with the day 1 Imix. It should be noted that on this wheel, although the succession of katuns is as usual to the right, the sequence of the directions, or world-quarters, East, North, West and South, is to the left. 133:1 Here we have four of the first and older series or katun-prophecies. Cf. p. 20 and Appendix D. 133:2 Ichcaanzihoo is the Maya name of Merida. It is also called Tihoo. 133:3 Yax-haal Chac is the Green Rain-god. Cf. p. 77, note 4. 133:4 A comparison of this version of the prophecy with that on p. 20 indicates that Ah Bolon-yocte was the lord or idol of Katun 11 Ahau. The name might be translated as the nine-footed one, but its meaning is uncertain. 133:5 The green turkey, Zulim Chan and Chakanputun, are symbols of other times when the people were driven from their homes into the forest, as they were again in Katun 11 Ahau by the Spanish
conquerors. Cf. p. 77, note 7. 133:6 The series is incomplete; Katuns 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 12, 10, 8 and 6 Ahau are omitted here. 133:7 We know nothing of Uuc-yab-nal beyond what is stated here. In the prophecy for this same Katun 4 Ahau on page 161, it is said to be established at Chichen Itz, and here Uuc-yab-nal is said to be "at the mouth of the well" (tu chi cheen). We can only conclude that Uuc-yab-nal was the ancient name of the old city of Chichen Itz before the Itz came and called it "the mouth of the well of the Itz." Uuc means seven, and Abnal is still a well-known Maya family name. 133:8 Here the Chumayel text means little to the translator, and it may be corrupt. Consequently the Tizimin version of the same passage has been given as the correct one. 133:9 In other words, it shall be a time of drought and famine. 133:10 Here again the Chumayel text seems meaningless, and the Tizimin and Mani version of the same prophecy is assumed to be the correct one and translated accordingly. A comparison of these three versions will be found in the Maya text. 133:11 Evidently a reference to the epidemic mentioned on p. 142 as occurring in the fifth tun of the Katun 4 Ahau last preceding the Spanish Conquest. This tun would fall between 1480 and 1485. This was probably the pestilence said by Landa to be characterized by a fever followed by the body swelling and being filled with worms. The blood-vomit and fever strongly suggest yellow fever, and the last symptom could refer to secondary infections such as abscesses and suppurations in which flies had laid their eggs. It should be noted, however, that the medical historians do not believe that yellow fever occurred in America prior to the Spanish conquest. Cf. Landa 1928, pp. 92-94. 133:12 A reference to the white garments of the priests of Quetzalcoatl. Under the Maya name of Kukulcan, this culture-hero is said to have come with the Itz in a Katun 4 Ahau. Cf. p. 161, also Landa 1928, p. 62. 133:13 Maya kax-te. Possibly the kax, or Randia longiloba Hemsl., is intended. The reference to the bird and tree suggests the mythological symbols already noted. Cf. p. 100, note 5. 133:14 The Sacrificial Cenote at Chichen Itz may be meant here. Cf. Appendix B. 134:1 Maylu is not identified; Zaci is the Maya name for Valladolid; and Mayapan, the former capital of Yucatan is well known. 134:2 In other words, they are weakened by the pestilence, of which the "three piles of skulls"
constituted the symbol. Serapio Zumarraga, an aged Indian of Mani, knows the latter term (ox-multuntzek) and explains it as three burial mounds for the Spaniards, mestizos and Indians. in ancient times the corresponding classes of society were nobles, commoners and slaves. 134:3 Buluc-chabtan could be translated, eleven penances or eleven times fortunate. It appears to be the name of a personage, possibly a deity. 134:4 The dried seeds of the ramon tree (Brosimum alicastrum Sw.) are ground into a meal from which a sort of bread is made. It took the place of corn in time of famine. 134:5 Any mention of the great and ancient city of Coba is of especial interest as Maya history is silent concerning it. Here, possibly the city itself is meant, though Kinchil Coba is usually treated as a personage, one of the priests associated with the thirteen katun-prophecies in the Mani and Kaua manuscripts. In the translation by C. P. Bowditch of Avendao's Relacin, now in the Peabody Museum at Cambridge, we read: "This image (of Cortez' horse) they preserved till the present time and they worship it as they do also the statue of a man made of stone and lime, situated on the top of a hillock, which they call Kinchilcoba, who they say is their watchman and sentinel, who defends them against all misfortunes which can happen to them" (Avendao MS. f. 29 v; Bowditch MS., p. 68). Coba is still a well-known family name and is also the name of a tree which the Indians say is to be found in the forests of Campeche. Co-ba could be translated gopher-tooth, just as ne-ba (another unidentified plant or tree) means gopher-tail. 134:6 This place-name suggests the island of Cozumel, but on the katun-wheel it is associated with Mayapan. 134:7 Itzamna was the god of the heavens, and Itzam-tzab may be another name for the constellation called tzab, "the Pleiades, a constellation of seven stars; also the rattles of the snake" (Motul). 134:8 Cf. p. 77, note 5. 134:9 The Oxkutzcab version of this prophecy (p. 202) gives the double charge of this katun as pestilence and famine. 134:10 This belief that an eclipse might last five days probably reflects a legend to the effect that such was once the case. It would explain the frantic efforts of the people to bring it to an end. Cf. Aguilar 1921, pp. 203-204.
Next: XIX: The First Chronicle
Chilam Balam: Translation: XIX: The First Chronicle
p. 135
XIX
(THE FIRST CHRONICLE) 1
A record of the count of the katuns since the discovery of Chichen Itz occurred. It is written for the town in order that it may be known by anyone who wishes to be informed of the count of the katuns. 6 Ahau 2 was when the discovery of Chichen Itz occurred. 4 Ahau. 2 Ahau. 13 Ahau was when the mat <of the katun> was counted in order. 3 11 Ahau. 9 Ahau. 7 Ahau. 5 Ahau. 3 Ahau. 1 Ahau. 4
p. 136
12 Ahau. 10 Ahau. 8 Ahau was when Chichen Itz was abandoned. There were thirteen folds of katuns 1 when they established their houses at Chakanputun. 2
6 Ahau. 4 Ahau was when the land was seized by them at Chakanputun. 2 Ahau. 13 Ahau. 11 Ahau. / 9 Ahau. 7 Ahau. 5 Ahau. 3 Ahau. 1 Ahau. 12 Ahau. 10 Ahau. 8 Ahau was when Chakanputun was abandoned by the Itz men. Then they came to seek homes again. For thirteen folds of katuns had they dwelt in their houses at Chakanputun. This was always 3 the katun when the Itz went beneath the trees, beneath the bushes, beneath the vines, to their misfortune. 6 Ahau. 4 Ahau. 2 Ahau. 13 Ahau. 11 Ahau. 9 Ahau. p. 75 C
7 Ahau. 5 Ahau. 3 Ahau. 1 Ahau.

p. 137
12 Ahau. 10 Ahau. 8 Ahau was when the Itz men again abandoned their homes because of the treachery 1 of Hunac Ceel, because of the banquet 2 with the people of Izamal. 3 For thirteen folds of katuns they had dwelt there, when they were driven out by Hunac Ceel because of the giving of the questionnaire 4 of the Itz. 5 6 Ahau. 4 Ahau was when the land of Ich-paa 6 Mayapan was seized by the Itz men who had been separated from their homes because of the people of Izamal and because of the treachery of Hunac Ceel. 7 / 2 Ahau. 13 Ahau. 11 Ahau. 9 Ahau. 7 Ahau. 5 Ahau. 3 Ahau. 1 Ahau. 12 Ahau. p. 76 C
10 Ahau. 8 Ahau was when there was fighting with stones at Ich-paa Mayapan because of the seizure of the fortress. They broke down the city wall because of the joint government in the city of Mayapan. 8 6 Ahau.
p. 138
4 Ahau was when the pestilence occurred; it was when the vultures entered the houses 1 within the fortress. 2 2 Ahau was when the eruption of pustules occurred. It was smallpox. 13 Ahau was when the rain-bringer died. It was the sixth year. The year-count was to the east. It was <the year> 4 Kan. Pop was set to the east. . . . It was the <fif>teenth <day of the month> Zip. 9 Imix was the day when the rain-bringer, Napot Xiu, died. It was the year of our Lord 158. 3 11 Ahau was when the mighty men arrived from the East. They were the ones who first brought <disease> 4 here to our land, <the land of > us who are Maya, in the year 1513. 5 / 9 Ahau was when Christianity began, when baptism occurred. It was in this katun that Bishop Toral arrived here also. It was when the hangings ceased in the year of our Lord 1546. 6 7 Ahau was when Bishop de Landa died. 7 5 Ahau. 3 Ahau. p. 77 C
Footnotes
135:1 The following three chronicles have been dependably translated by Brinton and Martinez (Brinton 1882; Martinez 1912, 1927). If the present translator has ventured to disagree with them in some particulars, it is because new material has come to light. 135:2 The katun consisted of twenty tuns of 360 days each, making 7200 days in all, and was named for the day Ahau on which it ended.
135:3 Fifty years ago Brinton translated this sentence: "The thirteenth ahau; Pop was set in order." He admits that he was at a loss for the exact bearing of the expression, but since Pop was the name of the first month in the Maya year, he concludes that this is a record of the adoption of the Maya calendar at that time (Brinton 1882, p. 150). Later it was thought that this statement recorded a calendrical change of some sort. But although Pop, the name of the first month of the year, means mat, we have seen on page 72 of the present work that there was also a mat of the katun and that it was "counted in order." (See page 72, note 13.) Here we have the actual count, and it seems obvious that it is the socalled mat of the katun which was counted in order in this case. Moreover Katun 13 Ahau is the last of the recurring series of 13 katuns, and it would be the time to make a count of the preceding katunmarkers of this period, now that it had elapsed. The following day is 1 Imix, the day with which Landa tells us the Maya calendar began, and the first day of the new series. Further mention of the mat of the katun will be found on page 165. Cf. Roys 1922, p. 52, and Dieseldorff 1931, p. 31. 135:4 The long gaps in these chronicles, sometimes covering more than two centuries, are puzzling. Besides the so-called second Chumayel chronicle which is really a historical folk-song, there are four which have come down to us, and they are uniform in the two following particulars. All four end about the second decade of the Seventeenth Century and none of them take on the character of a genuine chronicle except for the period following the destruction of Mayapan, which occurred about the middle of the Fifteenth Century. Subsequent to that event the entries are fairly frequent, but during the thousand years prior to that date, a period which the Mani, Tizimin and first Chumayel chronicles purport to cover, the historical entries are few and far between. The most likely conclusion to be drawn from these circumstances is that for the long period before the fall of Mayapan our chronicles are compilations or reconstructions made by early Seventeenth Century Maya writers from the historical allusions contained in the katun-prophecies and the old folk-songs, supplemented no doubt by a certain amount of oral tradition. That the Maya once had genuine chronicles written in hieroglyphic characters, there is little doubt, as has been demonstrated by Carrillo y Ancona (1872, p. 563); and it is probable that some of these were composed in much the same form as the chronicles of the Books of Chilam Balam, only with more numerous entries. 136:1 Possibly the reference is to the folds of the screen-like book in which the katuns were recorded, or else to thirteen turns of the katun-wheel. 136:2 Chakanputun is generally supposed to have been the modern Champoton in Southwestern Yucatan. The latter name is substituted for Chakanputun on page 75 of the Codex Perez. 136:3 Katun 8 Ahau recurred approximately every 256 years, and for a thousand years every time a katun of this name occurred, the Itz were driven from their homes, no matter where they were living at the time. Late in the Seventh Century A.D. they were expelled from Chichen Itz after their first occupation of that city. In the middle of the Ninth Century they were driven out of Chakanputun. At the end of the Twelfth Century they were again driven from Chichen Itz by Hunac Ceel. About the middle of the Fifteenth Century Mayapan was sacked and destroyed; and strangely enough it was again in a
Katun 8 Ahau at the end of the Seventeenth Century that the Spaniards conquered the last Itz stronghold at Tayasal, which was the end of this remarkable nation. 137:1 Maya, keban-than, variously defined as treachery, treason, plot, conspiracy, to accuse falsely and to slander. Hence the Itz may have been driven out because of some false accusation that Hunac Ceel made concerning them. 137:2 Maya, uahaluah, literally an occasion when there is an abundance of bread for everyone. Brinton's translation of the term as a banquet seems appropriate, and it accords with the Itz legend of the wedding feast from which the bride was stolen. Cf. Appendix C. 137:3 Here the Maya word, Ah Itzmal, could be equally well translated as the ruler of Izamal. 137:4 Maya, u abal u natob. This a passive form of the expression, a-naat, which we find on page 30, and which is applied to the questionnaire of the chiefs in Chapter IX. The primary meaning of naat is to understand something; and the Motul dictionary also defines it as "to foretell by conjectures and prophecy in this manner," although the translator has not found the expression employed in this sense in any Maya text. 137:5 There are a number of references in Maya literature to the episode so briefly recorded here. Cf. Appendix C. 137:6 lch-paa, literally: within the walls. 137:7 Evidently the Itz were able to regain their power forty years after the great disaster. 137:8 Katun 8 Ahau ended 1457-1460. The reference is to the well-known destruction of the capital in which the Cocom and Xiu families had long governed the rest of the country. The Xius, whose power had been inferior to that of the Cocoms, organized a conspiracy among the subject chiefs, killed most of the Cocom family and destroyed the city. Subsequently northern Yucatan was divided among a number of petty states. Cf. Landa, 1928, p. 82. 138:1 Maya, oc-na-kuchil. This expression is a stereotyped one employed as a synonym for pestilence. 138:2 The Maya term, ich-paa, was one of the names for Mayapan, but that city was now destroyed. 138:3 The episode referred to was the murder of the "rain-bringer" Napot Xiu, halach-uinic of Mani, by Nachi Cocom at a town called Otzmal in the latter's territory. Following a severe drought Napot Xiu started on a pilgrimage to the Sacrificial Cenote at Chichen Itz to make an offering of human victims to the rain-god. Being obliged to pass through Nachi Cocom's territory, the pilgrims stopped at Otzmal
where they were entertained and subsequently murdered by the Cocom ruler. Cf. Morley 1920, page 478; Landa 1928, page 114. Here the chronology of the event is badly confused. It occurred in 1536 in a year 8 Cauac, while the year 4 Kan cited here began in 1545. We can only conclude that our Maya historian confused the time of the Otzmal murder with some similar occurrence which took place in the latter year. The number 158 appears to be an error of the Maya compiler. One phrase left untranslated here, he tun te na cici pahool, is rendered by Martinez as follows: "ces de llevarse la cuenta del katun de los anos;" 138:4 The present writer has followed the translation given here by both Brinton and Martinez, but the Maya expression y-ah-talzah-ul simply means "those who brought something or someone." Cf. San Buenaventura 1888, f. 27 v. As previously noted, an epidemic of smallpox swept through Yucatan in Katun 2 Ahau, and it may have been brought by the party of Spaniards who were shipwrecked and cast on the east coast in 1511 (Landa 1928, p. 34). The Tizimin chronicle states that white men first came in tun 13 of Katun 2 Ahau (Martinez 1927, p. 17). 138:5 This date recalls the statement on page 81 that the Spaniards seized Campeche in 1513. 138:6 Katun 9 Ahau covered approximately the twenty years following 1556 or 1559, according to which of the two chronological correlations we accept. It was in this katun that the conversion of the country took place, although efforts in this direction began a decade previously. Bishop Toral arrived in 1562. The hangings referred to here were probably the result of the Indian uprising of 1546 in the region of Valladolid. 138:7 Landa died on April 29, 1579.
Next: XX: The Second Chronicle
Chilam Balam: Translation: XX: The Second Chronicle
p. 139
XX
(THE SECOND CHRONICLE) 1
4 Ahau was the name of the katun when occurred the birth of Pauahs, when the rulers descended. 2 Thirteen katuns they reigned; thus they were named while they ruled. 4 Ahau was the name of the katun when they descended; the great descent and the little descent they were called. 3 Thirteen katuns they reigned. So they were called. While they were settled, thirteen were their settlements. 4 4 Ahau was the katun when they sought and discovered Chichen Itz. There it was that miraculous things were performed for them by their lords. Four divisions they were, when the four divisions of the nation, as they were called, went forth. From Kincolahpeten in the east one division went forth. From Nacocob in the north one division came forth. But one division came forth from Holtun Zuyua in the west. One division came forth from Four-peaked Mountain, Nine Mountains is the name of the land. 5 /
p. 140
4 Ahau was the katun when the four divisions were called <together>. The four divisions of the nation, they were called, when they descended. They became lords when they descended upon Chichen Itz. The Itz were they then called.
p.78 C
Thirteen katuns they ruled, and then came the treachery by Hunac Ceel. Their town was abandoned and they went into the heart of the forest to Tan-xuluc-mul, 1 as it is called. 4 Ahau was the katun when their souls cried out! Thirteen katuns they ruled in their misery! 8 Ahau was the katun when occurred the arrival of the remainder of the Itz, as they were called. They arrived, and there their reign endured in Chakanputun.
13 Ahau was the katun when they founded the town of Mayapan, the Maya men, as they were called. 8 Ahau was when their town was abandoned and they were scattered throughout the entire district. In the sixth katun after they were dispersed, then they ceased to be called Maya. 2 11 Ahau was the name of the katun when the Maya men ceased to be called Maya. They were called Christians; their entire province <became subject> to St. Peter and the reigning King <of Spain>. 3
Footnotes
139:1 The following is a chant or song rather than an actual chronicle, and the events recorded are not set in chronological order. Nevertheless it has usually been included with the Maya chronicles because its content is largely historical. It emphasizes the fact already noted, that most of the historical events recorded by the Maya occurred either in a Katun 4 Ahau or a Katun 8 Ahau. Besides the translations already cited. Tozzer has also translated this passage (Tozzer 1920, p. 131). 139:2 Part of the text here is corrupt: paua haen cuh u yahauoob, and has been changed to pauah emci u yahauoob, to obtain the reading given above. For the Pauah or Pauahtun, see page 110, note 4. Chichen Itz was once ruled by Chac-xib-chac, a name associated with Pauahtun. Cf. page 67. Mr. T. A. Willard has made a study of this important passage and translates it: "In 4 Ahau, the name of the katun, were born (again) those who had been destroyed by water (i.e. the flood or the rain)." The word cuh may be intended for cah, the town which was destroyed; pa could mean to destroy, and ha, water, either flood or rain. We know that the old Maya era with which the Initial Series dates began was a day 4 Ahau, and we have seen both from the creation story in Chapter X and from page 74 of the Dresden Codex that according to the Maya the world was once destroyed by water. 139:3 "In former times they called the East Cenial (e-emal), the Little Descent, and the West Nohenial (noh-emal), the Great Descent. The reason they give for this is that on the east of this land a few people descended, and on the west a great many; and with that syllable they understand little or much, to the east and the west; and that few people came from one direction and many from another." Lizana 1893, ff. 3 and 4, apud Brinton 1882, page 182. 139:4 There was a tradition that Yucatan was divided into thirteen provinces or divisions in ancient times. Cf. Avendao apud Appendix D. 139:5 Like the typical Nahua tribe, the Maya nation was composed of four main divisions. As we shall see in the next chronicle, when Mayapan was destroyed, the head-chief Tutul Xiu went out with his
chiefs and with the "four divisions of the nation." It is not impossible that the system was a Nahua innovation. Here it is suggested that this method of organization was the result of the amalgamation of four different peoples into one nation. The places of origin are not fully identified. We have discussed Zuyua on page 88, note 1. Holtun may mean a stone gate. For "Nine Mountains, see page 64, note 3. Kincolah-peten is mentioned on page 132. 140:1 Avendao reports a pond named Tan-xuluc-mul a short distance west of Lake Peten. Above it towered a high hill crowned by a ruined building in which a noted idol was said to be worshipped. This would indicate that some of the Itz at least migrated to Tayasal at this time (Means 1917, p. 128). 140:2 The reference here is to the destruction of Mayapan in Katun 8 Ahau. Counting this katun as the first, 11 Ahau, the katun of the actual Spanish conquest, was the sixth. 140:3 R. B. Weitzel considers the preceding a presentation of the Nahua penetration of the peninsula of Yucatan, and if we are to consider the so-called arrival of Kukulcan (perhaps the introduction of the Quetzalcoatl cult) a Nahua intrusion, some support for this opinion will be found in the prophecy for Katun 4 Ahau on page 161. His suggestion that a folk-song of this kind is the original form of a Maya chronicle is not unreasonable. It is indeed possible that the other chronicles were later compilations made from the material found in such songs. The prophecies would also furnish historical data. Such a hypothesis would explain the long sequences of katuns in the chronicles for which there are no historical entries (Weitzel 1931, p. 323).
Next: XXI: The Third Chronicle
Chilam Balam: Translation: XXI: The Third Chronicle
XXI
(THE THIRD CHRONICLE) 4
A record of the katuns for the Itz, called the Maya katuns. 12 Ahau.
p. 141
10 Ahau. 8 Ahau. 6 Ahau was when the people of Conil were dispersed. 1 4 Ahau. 2 Ahau. / 13 Ahau. 11 Ahau. 9 Ahau. 7 Ahau. 5 Ahau was when the town of the ruler of Izamal, Kinich Kakmoo 2 as well as Pop-hol Chan was destroyed by Hunac Ceel. 3 Ahau. 1 Ahau was when the remainder of the Itz were driven out of Chichen. It was the third tun of <Katun> 1 Ahau when Chichen was depopulated. 12 Ahau.
p. 79 C
10 Ahau. 8 Ahau was the katun when the remainder of the Itz founded their town, coming forth from beneath the trees and bushes at Tan-Xuluc-Mul, as it was called. They came out and established the land of Zaclactun Mayapan, 3 as it was called. In the seventh tun of Katun 8 Ahau, this was the katun when Chakanputun perished at the hands of Kak-u-pacal and Tee Uilu. 4 6 Ahau. 4 Ahau. 2 Ahau. 13 Ahau. 11 Ahau. 9 Ahau.
p. 142
7 Ahau. 5 Ahau was when foreigners arrived to eat men. / They were called foreigners without skirts. 1 The land was not depopulated by them. 3 Ahau. p. 80 C
1 Ahau was when the district of Tancah Mayapan, as it was called, was depopulated. It was in the first tun of Katun I Ahau that the head-chief Tutul <Xiu> departed with the chiefs of the town and the four divisions 2 of the town. This was the katun when the men of Tancah 3 were dispersed and the chiefs of the town were scattered. 12 Ahau. The stone was taken at Otzmal. 10 Ahau. The stone was taken at Zizal. 8 Ahau. The stone was taken at Kancaba.
6 Ahau. The stone was taken at Hunacthi. 4 Ahau. The stone was taken at Atikuh. This was the katun when the pestilence occurred. It was in the fifth tun of Katun 4 Ahau. 4 2 Ahau. The stone was taken at Chacalna. 13 Ahau. The stone was taken at Euan. 11 Ahau. On the first day the stone was taken at Colox-peten. 5 This was the katun when the rain-bringer died; his name was Napot Xiu. 6 It was in the first tun of 11 Ahau, that was the katun, when the
Spaniards first arrived here in our land. 1 It was in the seventh tun of Katun 11 Ahau that Christianity then began; 2 it was in the year A. D. 15 19. 3
9 Ahau. No stone was taken. This was the katun when Bishop Francisco Toral first arrived. He arrived in the sixth tun of Katun 9 Ahau. 4 7 Ahau. No stone was taken. This was the katun when Bishop de Landa died. Then another bishop also arrived. / 5 Ahau. 3 Ahau. p. 81 C
On this 18th day of August, 1766, occurred a hurricane. I have made a record of it in order that it may be seen how many years it will be before another one will occur. On this 20th day of January, 1782, there was an epidemic of inflammation here in the town of Chumayel. The swelling began at the neck and then descended. <It spread> from the little ones to the adults, until it swept the entire house, once it was introduced. The remedy was sour ashes 5 and lemons or the young Siempre vive. 6 It was the year of '81 when it began. After that there was a great drought also. There was scarcely any rain. The entire
p. 144
forest was burned <with the heat>, and the forest <trees> died This is the record which I have written
down, I, Don Juan Josef Hoil. 1 (Rubrica.) / Chumayel, June 28th, 1858, was when I made a loan to Chinuh Balam. 1, Pedro Briceo. (Rubrica.) 2 / p. 83 C p. 82 C
Footnotes
140:4 Of the five chronicles found in the Books of Chilam Balam this is the most puzzling. Much of its material is found in the others, but the dates and sequence of events are different. Here Hunac Ceel is said to have lived prior to the destruction of Chakanputun, and the fall of Mayapan is placed in Katun 1 Ahau, three katuns prior to its well established date in Katun 8 Ahau. Nevertheless a number of events are dated within the katun with an apparent precision not found in the other chronicles. 141:1 Alternative translation: when the merchants were dispersed. This might be a reference to some occasion when foreign merchants were driven from the country. Brinton's translation, "the well-dressed ones" is based on a slight error by Berendt in copying the original manuscript. He wrote ah oni for ah coni. 141:2 Kin-ich Kak-moo, lit. sun-eyed fiery macaw, was a sort of sun-god whose rays descended and consumed sacrifices to him. This deity, whose idol was at Izamal, was a protector against disease (Cogolludo 1868, Book 4, Chap. 8). 141:3 The place-name Zaclactun has survived only in that of the hacienda of Salactun in the district of Izamal (Berendt: Nombres propios en lengua Maya, f. 73 v.). 141:4 We find the names of these leaders mentioned in the historical reports of the first Spanish settlers. "The inhabitants of the said city (Izamal) were conquered by Kak-u-pacal and Uilo, valorous captains of the Itz who were the people who founded Mayapan" (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 269). "In the course of time the inhabitants of the said town (Motul) were conquered by Kak-u-pacal and one hundred valorous captains formerly of the city of Mayapan" (Ibid, I, p. 119). Evidently the fall of Chakanputun, the establishment of Mayapan and the Itz conquest of the important cities of northern Yucatan all took place within a single generation. Kak-u-pacal, literally fiery glance, was deified and worshipped at the time of the Spanish Conquest (Cogolludo 1868, Book 4, Chap. 8). 142:1 Brinton and Martinez both consider these invaders to have been Caribs because of the cannibalism and nudity mentioned. Down to the middle of the Eighteenth Century Mosquito Indians in canoes from Rio Tinto, Honduras, were still making raids on the east coast of Yucatan. (MS. map of Yucatan by Juan de Dios Gonsalez, 1766.) It seems likely that similar incursions took place in pre-Columbian times. The skirt (Maya pic) referred to is certainly a woman's garment. Possibly ppic is intended. This was the sobre
carga, a bundle carried above the usual traveler's pack. Cf. Motul. 142:2 Cf. p. 139, note 5. 142:3 Tancah may refer to the portion of Mayapan lying outside the walls. 142:4 Cf. p. 133, note
11.
142:5 This taking of the stone evidently refers to the Maya custom of setting up a monument every 7200 days to commemorate the katun that has just passed. Cf. Landa 1929, pages 94-98. Avendao states that the thirteen katuns were ascribed to each of thirteen provinces in turn. Cf. Appendix D. A parallel passage found on page 95 of the Codex Perez ascribes these ceremonies as follows: 1 Ahau, Izamal; 12 Ahau. Zizal; 10 Ahau. Kulche; 8 Ahau, Hunucma; 6 Ahau, Chacalna; 4 Ahau, Tiix-Kulche; 2 Ahau, Euan; 13 Ahau, Colox-peten; and states that in 11 Ahau when the Spaniards arrived no stone was taken. Izamal, Hunucma and Zizal are well-known towns. Euan is in the district of Izamal. Hunacthi is said to be in the Province of Mani (Molina Sols 1896, p. 219). Otzmal is now a hacienda two leagues south of Sotula, and Kancaba is the name of a hacienda in the district of Valladolid (Berendt, Nom, prop. de Yuc. f. 55 v.). 142:6 In the Mani, Tizimin and first Chumayel chronicles this event was placed in Katun 13 Ahau but confused with some unknown episode which occurred in a year 4 Kan, presumably 1545 (Cf. p. 138, note 3). The year 4 Kan fell in Katun 11 Ahau, and in this chronicle the actual death of the rain-bringer is ascribed to the latter katun. 143:1 "Verbi gratia. The Indians state that the Spaniards completed their arrival at the city of Merida in the year A.D. 1541, which was exactly the first year of the era 11 Ahau" (Landa 1929, p. 98). The truth of this statement is open to question, but it agrees with the date mentioned in the present chronicle. 143:2 In these chronicles Christianity is usually said to have begun in Katun 9 Ahau. The present reference may be to the arrival of Fr. Villalpando in 1546. On page 145 we shall see the statement that the missionaries arrived in 1545. 143:3 In the Books of Chilam Balam the year 1519 is given an importance out of all proportion to the fact that it was the year when Cortez landed and remained for a short time in Cozumel. On page 81 we have seen this date associated with a treaty with the Spaniards which must have occurred much later; again on page 84 we have seen the foundation of Merida and that of the Convent of San Francisco ascribed to the same year. The Maya text is not divided into sentences, and the present translation is based on a sentence
arrangement which changes the meaning materially from that of Brinton's translation, which is as follows: "The eleventh ahau: in the time of its beginning, the stone of Coloxpeten was taken; in this katun died Apula Napotxiu, in the first year of the eleventh ahau; it was also in this katun that the Spaniards first arrived here in this land, in the seventh year of the eleventh ahau katun; also Christianity began in the year fifteen hundred and nineteen, the year of our Lord 1519" (Brinton 1882, pp. 171172). Although it is possible that Brinton's rendition is the correct one, preference is given to the sentence arrangement given above, because Maya writers usually place a temporal phrase or clause beginning with the particle ti before the main clause of the sentence. Indeed Dr. Andrade reports that in present-day spoken Maya a temporal clause with ti precedes the main clause. 143:4 Bishop Toral arrived in Yucatan in 1562. 143:5 Possibly a lye solution is meant. 143:6 Maya, zizal-xiu, the Bryophyllum pinnatun (Lam.) S. Kurz. It is called Siempre vive, Admirable and Sinverguenza in Spanish (Roys 1931, p. 310). 144:1 Juan Josef Hoil is considered the compiler of the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel. 144:2 This note is made in a different hand from the usual text of the Chumayel. The date might be 1818, 1838 or 1858. The last has been chosen as the most probable.
Next: XXII: A Book of Katun-Prophecies
Chilam Balam: Translation: XXII: A Book of Katun-Prophecies
XXII
(A BOOK OF KATUN-PROPHECIES)
(1. Frontispiece.)
FIG. 29--The lords of the thirteen katuns. (Chumayel MS.). / [p. 84 C] We have here a picture of the thirteen Lords of the Katuns. Click to view The blurred faces may signify that they are blindfolded. The crowns, crosses and manner of drawing are purely European, but they doubtless represent the idols set up in honor of each katun. Unfortunately no pre-Conquest representation of these figures has come down to us. Cf. Landa 1929, PP. 94-Too, also Appendix D. After thirteen Katuns the same series will always recur.
Today, Wednesday, April 4th, 1832, I have recorded the name of Maria Isidora, daughter of Andres Balam and Maria Juana Xicum. 4
Today, Sunday, December 22d, 1833, I have recorded the name of Tomas, son of Andres Balam and Maria Xicum. God-father: Jos Maria Castaeda. God-mother: Manuela Marin. Cura . . . Justo Balam, Secretary. (Rubrica)
p. 145 1 This is the day on which I purchased the book: July 1st, 1838. It cost me one peso in <my> poverty. This was the price <I paid> to the Seor Padre: <one> peso. This is the year of the purchase ... I have recorded it in order that it might be known that at this time it passed into my hands by purchase.
I, Pedro de Alcantara Briceo, resident of San Antonio. / (2. Historical introduction to the katun-prophecies.) p. 85 C
In Katun 13 Ahau the ship of the foreigners first appeared at Campeche. 1541 was the name of the year when they brought the news that the Maya men were to enter into Christianity, when the land of Tantun Cuzamil was established. They were there for half a year. Then they went to the seaport to the west and the people of Chikin-Chel 2 were put under tribute. It was the year 1542 when the district of Tihoo, Ichcanziho, 3 was established, in Katun 11 Ahau. The first governor was the Adelantado Don Francisco Montejo who was to appoint subjects 4 for the foreigners, mighty men. In the year 1542 tribute was introduced. A. D. 1545 was the year when the Padres arrived, four years after the arrival of the foreigners. Then it was that men were baptised from town to town by <the Padres>. When they first arrived the towns were distributed among them. 1544 was the year . . . six hundred years and seventy-five years after the town of Chichen Itz was depopulated, 5 after its settlements were depopulated. <It was> eight hundred years and seventy years after the town of Uxmal was depopulated, after the people were driven out of its towns. 6 In the year 1537, on a day named 9 Cauac, was when the nobles gathered at the town of Mani to discuss fully whether they should go and
bring the foreigners to their settlements because the head-chief had been killed. 7 These
p. 146
were their names: Ah Moochan Xiu, Nahau Ez, Ah un Chinab, Napoot Cupul, Napot Che, Nabatun Itza, Ah-kin 1 Euan from Caucel, Nachan Uc from ibilkal 2 Ah-kin Ucan from Ekob, Nachi Uc, Ah-kul Koh, Nachan Motul, Nahau Coyi. These were the men of importance who talked of bringing the foreigners to their town, because the head-chief of the town, Ah <un> 3 Xiu was killed at Otzmal. / 10 Kan 4 was the year-bearer when the seeker for a town passed. He was called Montejo, he who wrote down the towns. This was the year when the strangers in the land, the foreigners who ate annonas, passed. They were the first to distribute the towns. It was when the foreigners arrived that the "receivers" received them. 5 When they assembled at Campeche, when their ships came forth, then the nobles went to give gifts to them. There were thirteen "receivers of the foreigners." 6 After that they came to Ichcanziho. 9 Ahau was the katun. 7 p. 86 C
<This is> a record of the wisdom of the book in which is set down the course of the katun. Here it is published in the land of Nitunala, Chactemal, Tahuaymil, Holtun Itz, Chichinila, 8 in order that the charge of the course of the katun may be known, of each katun, whether it is good or bad. Thus it is written by the Holy Writer, the Evangelist, it is the word of the Lord of heaven and earth . . . it comes from on high. This was given to
p. 147
them ... at the beginning of the land, at the beginning of our humanity ... the true word in Holy Writ, in the book, the Reportorio. 1 It has no error; the seal 2 on the book 3 was carefully surveyed by them. These were the four lineages from heaven, the substance of heaven, the moisture of heaven, 4 the head-chiefs, the rulers of the land: Zacaal Puc, Hooltun Balam, Hochtun Poot, Ah Mex-Cue Chan. 5 Behold, within seven score years Christianity will be introduced amid the clamor of the rulers, those who violently seize land <during> the katun. Then suddenly appears the wise man; then there is the examination of the katun. 6 Miserable is the face of Chac Chuen Coyi. 7 Then the Lord of the Church shall come. It is in the middle of the town of Tihoo. 8 It shall come from the East, from the North, from the West, from the South; the word of Christianity shall be heard in the 17th tun in order that Christianity may truly arise. / The Padres shall arrive; the Bishop shall arrive, the Holy Inquisition, the word of God. <These things> shall be accomplished. No one shall cause them to cease. Amen. (3. The katun-prophecies.) 9 The Chapter of the year, the katun. First: 11 Ahau, when the foreigners first established the country. The first: Katun 11 Ahau was the beginning of the katun-count, the first katun. The katun was established at Ichcaanzihoo when the foreigners arrived. Red were the beards of the children of the sun, the bearded ones from
p. 148
p. 87
the east, when they arrived here in our land. The strangers to the land are white men, red men, 1 . . . a beginning of carnal sin 2 . . . Oh Itz! . . . make ready. There cometh a white circle 3 in the sky, the fair-skinned boy from
FIG. 30--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.).

Each prophecy of this series is headed by an illustration similar to this one. It consists of a crowned head, and the crown is surmounted by a cross. It evidently represents a socalled "ruler" mentioned in a number of the prophecies, but there is some uncertainty as to the function of his personage in connection with each new katun. In the Tizimin (p. 22) and Mani (Code. Perez, p. 120) manuscripts we read of a certain Katun 8 Ahau that "the ruler of the people of Uxmal was painted." It is possible that this means that a picture of this ruler headed the prophecy for the katun: but Katun 8 Ahau "was established" at Izamal and not Uxmal according to the present series of katunprophecies.
heaven, the white wooden standard 4 that shall descend from heaven. A quarter of a league, a league away, 5 it approaches. You shall see the dawn of a new day, you shall see the mut-bird. 6 Oh! how there shall be intercession for us when they come. There shall come multitudes who gather stone and wood, 7 the worthless rabble 8 of the town. Fire shall flame up at the tips of their hands. There shall be sufficient poison and also ropes to hang their lords. 9 Oh Itz! Your worship is of no avail with the true God who has descended. It is false in word and teaching. Niggard is the katun; scanty are its rains. Who would be the priest, who would be the prophet who would understand
p. 149
it when he came to Tancah Mayapan <or> to Chichen Itz? Alas! The <burden> laid upon the younger brothers; 1 it came in Katun 7 Ahau 2 through necessity, through misery, from the tribute, from the time it was first imposed upon you down to the tribute which you shall bear tomorrow and day after tomorrow in your children's time. Prepare yourselves to endure the burden of misery which is to come among your villages. This katun which has been established is, / a katun of misery, a katun of the importunity 3 of the devil, when it is established in Katun 11 Ahau. Receive your guests, the p. bearded men, the bearers of the sign of God. Your elder brothers, the men of Tantun, 4 come. They shall ask of you an offering 88 to God with them. Their priest was named Ah Miznilacpe. Their faces were <like> the puma, <like> Antichrist, on that day C which is to come, on that day which confronts you, alas, in much misery, <my> sons. This is the word of our Lord: "It shall burn on earth, there shall be a white circle in the sky, in that katun in time to come." It is the true word from the mouth of God the Father. Alas, very heavy is the burden of the katun that shall be established in Christianity. When it comes there shall be slavish talk, slavish ... servile men. When it comes, there shall be . . . you shall see. There shall come the head-chiefs ... the two day occupants of the thrones and mats ... in the <five> unlucky days at the end of the year, in the days of penance. This only is the end of the word of God. 11 is the cup 5 <of the katun>. The news <regarding> the aspect of its reign is gathered, all its teachings, all its words. You shall die; you shall live; but you may not understand the word of the living book. Ah Maypan 6 was his only son, his justice. He was put in prison, he was taken out, then he was bound and whipped. After that, when he was seated, the son was admonished. There was a hat on his head and sandals on his feet. A cord was tied about his waist when he came. / 7 The second <katun>. Katun 9 Ahau is the second katun of the count. The katun was established at Ichcaanzihoo. Then it was that the foreigners to the land received their tribute. Then it was that the fathers of our souls arrived. The scattered
p. 150
p. 89 C
divisions of the towns under their local chieftains 1 were gathered together. They began to teach the holy faith and baptise us. 2 The foundations of the holy Cathedral were laid, the public house of God, the widely extended house of God the Father. Then the seven
sacraments were established to take away <our sins> . . . There began to be much labor in the center of the town . . . the misery of the world. Then there was set up . . . the word of God, which shall also come from the mouth of God the Father. Then the fair complexioned boy 3 arrives, he comes from heaven. The Virgin, as she is called, is the mother of the seven planets. 4
FIG. 32--The seven planets. (Chumayel MS.).
FIG. 31--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.).
It was in the ninth year of <Katun> 9 Ahau that they served 5 Christianity, just as it was written by the prophet Chilam Balam on the stone of nine seals in heaven. 13 Enab 6 was the day there in heaven as well as here on earth. <There was> the heavenly staff, the heavenly fan. 7 The cord descended, the word of God which came from on high all over the entire world. Nine was its plate, nine was its cup. Oh make ready, Itz. Nowhere shall
p. 151
you offer <provocation> to your guests. You shall give them food to eat, and they shall also give you food to eat when they come. / The third <katun>. Katun 7 Ahau is the third katun. The katun is established at Ichcaanzihoo. 1 Yaxal Chac 2 is the face <of the katun in the heavens> 3 to its ruler, to its wise man, 4 while the drum <resounds> below and the rattle <resounds> above. The Plumeria is its bread, the Plumeria 5 is its water, the burden <of the katun>. 6 Then begins the lewdness of the wise men, 7 the beckoning of carnal sin, the beckoning of the katun. The katun begins to limp; it is all over the world. <Carnal sin> is its garment, carnal sin is its face, carnal sin is its ... carnal sin is its sandal, carnal sin is its head, carnal sin is its gait. They twist their necks, they twist their mouths, they wink the eye, they slaver at the mouth, at men, women, chiefs, justices, presiding officers, clerks, choir-masters, <everybody both> great and small. 8 There is no great teaching. Heaven and earth are truly lost to them; they have lost all shame. Then the head-chiefs of the towns, the rulers of the towns, the prophets of the towns, the priests of the Maya men are hanged. Understanding is lost; wisdom is lost. Prepare yourselves, oh Itz! Your sons shall see the mirth of the katun, the jesting of the katun. Dissolute is the speech, dissolute the face of the rogue to the rulers, to the head-chiefs. Seven is the plate, seven the cup 9
p. 90 C
FIG. 33--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.)
<of the katun>, it is the word of God. Much hanging <of men> is the charge 1 of the katun. / p. 91 C
The fourth <katun>.
Katun 5 Ahau is the fourth katun. The katun is established at Ichcaanzihoo. Harsh is its face, harsh its tidings, to the ruler. There is affliction 2 of the offspring of woman and man, when it comes. Then begins the vexation by the devil in the world. Then <came> the blinding of <the face of the god>, 3 the face of Kauil, 4 in the four changing heavens, the four changing roads. 5 Then hanging comes to the world. The red <rattlesnake> 6 raises its head to bite; the holil-<och> 7 raises its head <to bite>. Men and women have few children. Then came ... the end of the cigar, 8 after the lord of the world was created ... he heard the dance. . . 9 There is the red flowered thing, the red xulab, 10 the red uayah-cab, 11 the
accessory of the rattle of the giver of our hearts in tribute through misery
p. 153
and vexation. It is the opossum chieftain, the fox chieftain, the ah-pic chieftain, 1 the <blood>sucking chieftain, the avaricious ones of the town. He is set up perchance, and then it is that your drum is beaten, my younger brother <my> elder brother. He who lies in wait for you on all fours is among you, the tolil-och. 2 <It is> his katun. The Plumeria flower is his chair, as he sits on his throne. He is publicly seen in the market-place on his mat, the two-day occupant of the throne, the two-day occupant of the mat. They deceive the town, the two town officials, the chieftain opossum and he who lies in wait on all fours. They bring the pestilence, <they are> the cause of ...; there was little of it formerly. You then called them the Itz. The rattle of the katun is shaken; there is the treachery of the katun at Tancah Mayapan. There is the great tribute of Zuyua. The kinkajou 3 claws the back of the jaguar amid the affliction of the katun, amid the affliction of the year; they are greedy for dominion. Many hangings are the charge of the katun, when the chiefs of the town are hung there. There is an end to the misery of the Maya men / when suddenly the men of Uaymil come to take vengeance on the world. 4 p. 92 The fifth katun. 1620. C
FIG. 35--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel M.S.)
Katun 3 Ahau was the fifth katun. The katun was established at Ichcaanzihoo. Ek-Cocah-mut 5 was its face to the rulers, to the wise men. Antichrist 6 was its face to the rulers. Fire shall flame up at the horn of the brockett
p. 154
at Ichcaanzihoo. 1 The skin of the jaguar shall be spread out in the marketplace. 2 The water-tank 3 is its tidings. There are rains of little profit, 4 rains from a rabbit sky, 5 rains from a parched sky, rains from a woodpecker sky, high rains, rains from a vulture sky, crested 6 rains, deer rains. Then descends the thrice raised leaf of the zil-palm. 7 There is fighting; there is a year of locusts. The diminished remainder <of the population> is hanged. 8 They are defeated in war. 9 Sad shall be the havoc at the cross-roads. 10 There are the lords of the army; 11 their souls cry out at the opening up of the town ... 12 Behold, I am Katun 3 Ahau. My town of Ichcaanzihoo is founded. Behold, I am Caesar Augustus. 13 . . . I receive my donation in the heart of the forest / 14
p. 155
The first <katun>. 1
p. 93 C
Katun I Ahau is the seventh 1 katun. The katun is established at Emal. 2 At that time Ix Puc-yola and Ox Ualacii 3 shall come. The rope shall descend, the cord 4 shall descend. There comes from heaven the word of the true path. Through it will come the fulfilment of the word of the Lord of heaven, the true word. The dog 5 is its tidings; the vulture is its tidings. The flag is the second of the figures <drawn above>. The opossum is its face to the rulers. Thrice impeded are their thought and speech, thrice impeded their manhood, thrice impeded their flint knife among the rulers, among the
wise men. Then came Hunpic-ti-ax 6 as an affliction, the jaguar and Canul 7 for an affliction. These were the eaters of their food, the destroyers of their crops, the boboch, 8 the destroyer of food. For seven years there is the affliction of Hunpic-ti-ax; for seven years there is the affliction of Canul. Then the justice of our Lord, God, shall descend upon carnal sin, upon the worthless rabble of the town, 9 upon the lewd rogue, the rascal. After that there shall come another word, another teaching, but the Maya men shall not admit it to their hearts. The word of God, the Father of Heaven, shall be sung among them that they may correct their ways, that they may turn their backs upon their evil ways, the usages among Maya men; but they will not wish / to listen to the word of God, when they should rather respect the judges as their fathers. The hearts of the head-chiefs of the world shall be sad. They believe little, nor do they even believe that. So you say. The blessed among those in authority are set apart. Fire shall be kindled with a fire-drill as a sign of the Maya Virgin. 10 Hunab-ku 11 is in his only virgin Church, 12 where he p. 94 C
FIG. 36--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) p. 156
cries out. There is heard the word of the Lord of Heaven, the Lord on earth. The entire world shall be sad when he comes. The wing of the land shall shake, the center of the land 1 shall shake when he comes in his time. Then there shall occur the obedience of the foreigners of Bentana 2 <to> the word of God. Thrice shall the justice of our Lord descend to the world. Then a great army shall descend upon the worthless rabble of the town, 3 that it may be known whether their faith is truly firm. Then descended the governor. 4 There shall begin the tearing out of the eyes: 5 of the rogue who incites riot, 6 of the great rascal, of the great hawk of the town, of the fox of the town. Then the eternal ruler shall come to cut the cord from the burden of misery, the ruler who appraises. 7 Then sickness, 8 the result of guilt, shall descend, the punishment of all the world shall come from heaven, with it the drought. At that time it shall be all over the world. The remainder of the guardians of the sands, the guardians of the sea, shall be detained together such as the people of Uaymil, 9 such as the people of Emal. 10 The rest of them shall be assembled in great numbers by the sea at the end of the katun. Thus it is seen that the fold 11 of the katun is brought about. Then the flag shall be raised. 12 Then there is an end to the importunity of the devil, of Antichrist. <There is> knife-thrusting strife, purse-snatching strife, 13 strife with the blow-gun, strife by trampling on
p. 157
people, stonethrowing strife. The fighting ends in the heart of the forest 1 where Csar Augustus 2 receives his donation. <There is> / sudden death with hunger; the vultures enter, the houses <because> of the pestilence. There is sad havoc 3 with flies p. <swarming> at the cross-roads, and at the four resting places <at the four corners>. There is oppression of the younger 95 brothers, 4 flaying 5 of the sons; it comes to the world. Then arrives the ruler to propound the riddle 6 to them. His face is that C of a war-captain, of the son of God. After that there is the arrival of the Bishop, the Holy Inquisition as it is called, and Saul. 7 They ask for penitence 8 and Christianity. There is an end to greed, an end to vexation in the world. This shall be the end of its prophecy: there is a great war. The Chan<s> shall rise up in war with the five divisions of Chakan, 9 an army of Chan<s> in Katun I Ahau. A parching whirlwind storm 10 is the charge of the katun. There is a series of rains, rain from a rabbit-sky 11 <during> the evil katun. There is a sudden end to planting. Then the burden of legal summons descends; tribute descends; the proof is sought, with seven fathoms . . ., 12 when the serving of God is strongly urged.
It is the end of receiving the money of Antichrist. Antichrist does not come, our Lord God does not desire it. The katun is not ruined 1 here in our land by the natives of our land. This was the origin of Antichrist, it was avarice; 2 but before the coming of the mighty men 3 there was no robbery by violence, there was no greed and striking down one's fellow man in his blood, at the cost 4 of the poor man, at the expense 4 of the food of each and every one. In time to come there shall be five fruits of the tree for the food of the kinkajou, 5 the man of Bentena. 6 Alas, there is sorrow in the heart of the Lord of Heaven. Smallpox 7 is the end of the prophecy of the katun. An army shall come forth from Havana <with> a fleet of thirteen ships. 8 /
The second <katun>.
p. 96 C
Katun 12 Ahau is the eighth 9 katun of the count. The katun is established at Zaclahtun. 10 Yaxal Chuen 11 is his face, Buleu-caan-chac 12 is his face to the rulers. He shall manifest himself. He is in the sky by day; he is in the sky by night. The great artisan, 13 the wise man <shall come>. There are kind head-chiefs, kind chiefs; kindness and joy is the law of the entire world. Poor men become rich. Abundance of bread is the word of the katun. It is a rich year; there is an accumulation of wealth also. The katun is good. The rains are good ones; the fruit will form. Then they come forth from among the rocks to Christianity, 14
p. 159
where God is. There shall be neither the fox nor the kinkajou that will bite. 1 Then penitence is sought of the town officials, <with the opening of> the golden gates and the town marriages in the official building. 2 Then our sandals are sought for, 3 in the time of our Christianity. This is a new day which dawns for us; this is what you tell of today. This shall be the end of the katun of carnal sin. 4 Soon 5 shall it end. The law of the ruler comes. Then there shall come the Seven Mountains, 6 the Red Star, 7 and in the wind-swollen sky <there shall be> the House of Storms, 8 in the 17th tun. / The third <katun>. p. 97 C
FIG. 38--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.) p. 160
Katun 10 Ahau, the katun is established at Chable. 9 The ladder 10 is set up over the rulers of the land. The hoof shall burn; the sand by the seashore shall burn; the bird's nest shall burn. 11 The rocks shall crack <with the heat>; drought is the charge of the katun. It is the word of our Lord God the Father and of the Mistress of Heaven, 12 the portent 13 of the katun.
No one shall arrest the word of our Lord God, God the Son, the Lord of Heaven and earth. There shall not be lacking that which shall, through his power, come to pass all over the world. Holy Christianity shall come bringing with it the time when the stupid ones who speak our language badly 1 shall turn from their evil ways. No one shall prevent it; this then is the drought. Sufficient is the word for the Maya priests, the word of God.
8 Ahau is the <next> fold, the fourth <katun>. / The fourth <katun>. Katun 8 Ahau is the ninth katun. The katun is established at Izamal. There is Kinich Kakmo. 2 The shield shall descend, the arrow shall descend <upon Chakanputun> 3 together with the rulers of the land. The heads of the foreigners to the land were cemented <into the wall> 4 at Chakanputun. 5 There is an end of greed; there is an end to causing
p. 98 C
vexation in the world. It is the word of God the Father. Much fighting shall be done by the natives of the land.
p. 161
The fifth <katun>. Katun 6 Ahau is the tenth katun according to the count. The katun is established at Uxmal. <The katun monuments> are set up on their own bases. 1 Shameless is his speech, shameless his face 2 to the rulers. They shall FIG. 39--The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.). be the inventors of lewd speech, 3 and then God the Father 4 shall descend to cut their throats because of their sins. Then they shall be regenerated; the judgment of our Lord God shall unite them until they enter into Christianity with their families. As many as are born here on earth shall enter into Christianity. / The first <katun>. 5 Katun 4 Ahau is the eleventh katun according to the count. The katun is established at Chichen Itz. The settlement of the Itz shall take place <there>. 6 The quetzal shall come, the green bird shall come. 7 Ah Kantenal 8 shall come. Blood-vomit shall come. 9 Kukulcan 10 shall come with them for the second time. <It is> the word of God. The Itz shall come.
p. 162
p. 99 C
The second <katun>.

Katun 2 Ahau is the twelfth katun. At Maya [uaz] Cuzamil 1 the katun is established. For half <the katun> there will be bread; for half <the katun> there will be water. <It is> the word of God. For half of it there will be a temple 2 for the rulers. <It is> the end of the word of God. / The third <katun>. The judgment. 3 It is Katun 13 Ahau according to the count. The katun is established at Kinchil Coba, 4 the thirteenth katun. The bouquet of the rulers of the world shall be displayed. 5 There is the universal judgment of our Lord God. Blood shall descend from the tree and stone. Heaven and earth shall burn. It is the word of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It is the holy judgment, the holy judgment 3 of our Lord God. There shall be no strength in heaven and earth. Great cities shall enter into Christianity, any settlements of people whatever, the great towns, whatever their p. 100 C
names are as well as the little towns, all over our land of Maya Cuzamil Mayapan. <It shall be> for our two-day men, because of lewdness . . . 6 the sons of malevolence. At the end of our blindness and shame our sons shall be regenerated from carnal sin. There is no lucky day for us. It is the cause of death from bad blood, 7 when the moon rises, when the moon sets, the entire moon, <this was> its power; <it was> all blood. So it was with the good planets <which were> looked upon as good. It is the end of the word of God. The
p. 163
waters of baptism shall come over them, the Holy Spirit. They receive the holy oil without compulsion; it comes from God. There are too many Christians who go to those who deny the holy faith, . . . 1 <to> the Itz and the balams. 2 There is then an end to our losing/ .. (Page 101 is left blank in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel. It contains a note in a modern hand stating that a page of the book is missing here.) / p. 101 C
Footnotes
144:3 Written in a different hand on a blank page. 144:4 Women retain their maiden names after marriage in Yucatan. 145:1 Written in still another hand.
p. 102 C
145:2 Chikin-chel (lit. west woods) was the native province immediately to the south of Rio de Lagartos. Its chief city was Chauach, a name also given to the entire province (Relaciones de Yucatan, II, p. 7). 145:3 Merida was founded on the site of an ancient city named Ichcanziho in the older narratives. At the time of the Spanish conquest it was called Tihoo, which still continues to be the Maya name of the capital. 145:4 Maya chinam, a word probably borrowed from the Nahuatl. It is defined by Pio Perez as "town," but it can also mean subjects, as in the Carta de diez caciques: "a chinamob tulacal cech ah-tepale," "all the subjects of Your Majesty" (Martinez, Ed. 1930, p. 59). The reference is probably to the establishment of encomiendas, but the towns may be meant. 145:5 Here probably a tun of 360 days is meant instead of a year of 365 days, although the latter is stated. No mention of the inhabitants of Chichen Itz being driven out at this time has yet been noted. 145:6 This suggests the conquest of some ancient city at Uxmal long before the Xiu occupation of the site, but we know nothing of either conquerors or conquered. 145:7 In spite of the statement as it stands we believe that by 9 Cauac the name of the year is intended. As we have previously noted, the Xiu head-chief was murdered in a year 8 Cauac which lasted from the middle of 1536 to the middle of 1537. The following year was 9 Kan. This paragraph has been translated and there is a full discussion of the matter in Morley 1920, pages 478-487. Yucatan had been abandoned by the Spaniards, and in 1537 a small expedition under Godoy returned to Champoton (Molina Sols 1896, p. 551). 146:1 Ah-kin Euan, the priest Euan. 146:2 Montejo established his headquarters for a time at ibilkal, four leagues west or southwest of Merida, just prior to capturing the latter site in 1541. The mention here of an emissary from this town and the neighboring Caucel indicates that the assembly took place in 1541 and not in 1537. Molina Sols states that an embassy was sent from Mani to ibilkal at this time (Molina Sols 1896, p. 624). 146:3 Where the edge of the page is torn, the title or official name of Tutul Xiu has been supplied from the Crnica de Oxkutzcab, page 66, apud Morley 1920, page 507. Here it is given as Ah Dun Tutul Xiu.
146:4 The year 10 Kan (lahun Kan) began in 1525 prior to Montejo's arrival and could not recur for fifty two years. Probably 13 Kan (oxlahun Kan) is intended. The latter year began in July 1541. 146:5 Nakuk Pech tells of accompanying such an embassy to the Spaniards at Campeche (Brinton 1882, p. 219). 146:6 The council at Mani which discussed going to meet the Spaniards was also composed of thirteen members. Possibly they were to be the actual ambassadors. Among the Maya thirteen had a symbolic meaning. 146:7 The events mentioned here occurred in Katun 11 Ahau and not in 9 Ahau. 146:8 Chactemal and Tahuaymil are both names given to the native province better known as Chetumal. It lies just north of British Honduras. Ah-uaymi is defined as an animal resembling the opossum (Motul). Holtun Itz might be translated as "the gate of the Itz." The district was the embarking point for considerable commerce with what is now the Republic of Honduras. Cf. Relaciones de Yucatan, II, page 179. There is a town named Chichimila a few miles south of Valladolid. There was also a town of Chactemal, or "Chetemal," located by Cogolludo (Bk. 9, Chap. 6) on what is now Chetumal Bay, three leagues east of the mouth of the Rio Hondo, called Nohukum by the Maya. This town was the capital of the native province of the same name and the residence of Nachan Can, the ruler or one of the rulers of the province (Herrera 1726, Dec. 3, book 4, chap. 2). 147:1 Written "Repuldoryo" in the text. Evidently the writer knew little Spanish. 147:2 The idea of a seal on a book was probably taken from the Spaniards, but the Maya were familiar with clay stamps used to decorate pottery and possibly also to mark designs on the human body. 147:3 This is the book mentioned on pages 13 and 29 of the Tizimin MS. and on page 115 of the Codex Perez. This book is stated to have been either written or copied on a day 11 Chuen, 18 Zac, February 15th, 1544. 147:4 Cf. page 131, note 3. 147:5 Mention has already been made in this book of Holtun Balam and Ah Mex-cue. They appear to have been contemporaries of Hunac Ceel (Cf. pp. 69 and 74). Zacal Puc is probably the "Cacal Puc" referred to in the famous Valladolid law-suit of 1618 (Cf. Brinton 1882, p. 117). He was one of several leaders who came to found towns at Chichen Itz, Bacalar and on the coast of Yucatan to the north. It is specifically stated that these men came from Mexico, and that they ruled in Yucatan for a long time. The period of their arrival is not recorded here, but we find the statement elsewhere that the Maya had been subject to certain Mexicans six hundred years prior to the Spanish Conquest (Aguilar 1892, p. 92). 147:6 Cf. p. 89, note 4. The reference is to the catechism which the chiefs were obliged to undergo every katun to prove that they held their positions legitimately. 147:7 Nothing is known of this personage. Coyi is a well-known family name among the Maya. 147:8 The Maya name for Merida. 147:9 Here we have the second and later series of katun-prophecies described in Appendix D. 148:1 A reference to the red beards of some of the Spaniards. 148:2 Maya, nict, literally the Plumeria flower, and figuratively the carnal sin for which it was the symbol. Cf. page 104, note
15.
148:3 Here instead of the Maya word for circle, a ring is drawn. There is a stereotyped expression in Maya meaning the same thing: zac petahom canal, which frequently occurs in the prophecies and is usually associated with drought (p. 164). Here, as in Christian legends, it appears to be a halo encircling a celestial vision, the child Jesus, "the fair-skinned boy." 148:4 Maya, uaom che. The Spanish missionaries translated this as cross (Villagutierre 1701, p. 37). It was probably the symbolic tree of
Maya mythology. According to the prophecy of Chilam Balam a bird was perched on it (Cf. p. 167). 148:5 Literally, the distance a cry can be heard, the distance after which the traveler sets down his pack and rests. 148:6 Maya, mut, may mean either news, or an unidentified bird of the Cracid family (Maler 1908, p. 132). In Chol, Chontal and Tzotzil mut is a general term meaning bird (Stoll 1884, p. 54). Cf. page 100, note 4. 148:7 Probably a reference to the construction of Spanish cities and churches with native labor. 148:8 Maya, zac ibteelob; the translation is doubtful, but certainly it is a term of contempt. Compare the use of the same expression on pages 155 and 156. 148:9 Alternative translation: their fathers. 149:1 A term probably applied to the natives by the Toltec invaders. Cf. prophecy of Chilam Balam, page 169, note 1. 149:2 Maya, uuc Ahau; 11 Ahau (buluc Ahau) appears to be intended. 149:3 Maya, u tza cizin, a phrase often encountered. Tza is to harass with an importunate demand or with a law-suit. 149:4 Cf. page 168, note 3. 149:5 A figure of speech meaning the coefficient of the day Ahau on which the katun ends. 149:6 Possibly Ah Mayapan, the man of Mayapan, is intended. 149:7 We have already noted a similar distortion of Christian teaching in these pages. Cf. page 107, note
2
and Appendix G.
150:1 Maya, hool-poop, literally "he who sits at the head of the mat." These scattered hamlets were destroyed by the missionaries after the Conquest and their inhabitants forced to live together in the towns where they could more easily be christianized. The practise was criticized in the reports of the encomenderos, as it caused a serious diminution of the native population. Cf. Relaciones de Yucatan, II, page 187. 150:2 Maya, yocol haa tac polob, literally "the water entered to our heads." 150:3 The image of the child Jesus, and not the Virgin, as the wording of the text might suggest. 150:4 Maya, chachac ek, the red stars. By chac ek the morning star is usually meant, probably the planet Venus. In the Venus table of the Dresden Codex the glyph for red is always prefixed to the Venus-sign. Here, however, the seven planets of medieval astronomy are plainly intended: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. 150:5 Maya, taninah. The translator is not familiar with this word. The translation given is based on its resemblance to tanlah, meaning to serve. 150:6 It has already been noted on page 125, note 4, that the year preceding 1 Cuauac ended on a day 13 Enab, which could have fallen in 1568. This would be approximately the ninth year after the date given above as the beginning of Katun 9 Ahau. 150:7 On pages 8 and 9 of the Crnica de Oxkutzcab the Tutul Xiu ruler holds a fan as a symbol of authority. 151:1 Merida. 151:2 Yaxal Chac could be translated: the green rain-god. "Chaac was similarly a giant who taught agriculture, whom they afterward considered the god of bread, of water, of thunder and lightning" (Motul).
151:3 Avendao tells us of similar katun-prophecies in the hieroglyphic books of the Itz at Tayasal. Each was associated with an "idol," a priest and a locality. The so-called "face of the katun" is evidently that of the god himself as he appears in the heavens, possibly a constellation. Among the gods mentioned in a similar connection with the various katun-prophecies are the familiar names of Ah-Cocah-mut, Itzamna, Kinich Kakmo, Ekchuuah and Lahun Chan. Cf. Appendix D. The words supplied here are taken from Codex Perez, page 157 and the Tizimin MS. page 23. 151:4 The wise man mentioned here may be the priest of the katun-prophecy. 151:5 Cf. page 104, note
15.
151:6 Supplied from Tizimin page 29. 151:7 Landa describes religious festivals at which the most unbridled license prevailed (Landa 1928, p. 156). 151:8 One of the conquerors, Juan Farfan, witnessed a number of pagan festivals and tells us that "as they went on dancing and singing, they gave to each of those who danced and sang a small cup <of balch> to drink. They gave it to them so frequently that they became drunk with it, and did and said so many extravagant things and made such grimaces that it was a sight to behold" (Relaciones de Yucatan, II, p. 188). 151:9 Cf. page 149, note 5. 152:1 The charge, or burden, of the katun was its destiny, usually an unpleasant one. 152:2 Maya, Chibil, may mean either pain and affliction or being eaten or bitten. Early reports state that ceremonial cannibalism in connection with human sacrifice did not exist in northern Yucatan, but Avendao ascribes the practise to the Itz of Tayasal (Means 1917, p. 150). 152:3 Supplied from a parallel version of this prophecy (Tizimin, p. 30). We have noted a reference to the blindfolding of a god on page 99, and the Dresden Codex, page 56, contains a picture of a blindfolded god. 152:4 Probably the name of a divine patron of the crops. Kauil can mean food, and Itzamna-Kauil was a well-known sky-god. 152:5 Alternative translation: the four resting places at the four corners of the heavens, like the four corners at the crossroads where travelers set down their loads and rest. The same verb, hel, can mean either to change or to rest. 152:6 Supplied from Tizimin, page 30. The page is badly water-stained. The Motul dictionary states that there were four varieties of rattlesnakes, red, white, black and yellow. 152:7 Literally hole-opossum, Marmosa gaumeri Osgood, an opossum which burrows under stones and logs and has a small gray body. Like the other animals mentioned here, it symbolized certain warrior chiefs. Cf. Roys 1931, page 333, and Appendix F. 152:8 Chamal, a roll or tube of tobacco for smoking (Motul). The modern Maya believe in four supernatural protectors, the Balams, who move abroad at night. The shooting stars are believed to be glowing stumps of the cigar smoked by the Balams, which they throw away (Brinton 1890, p. 174). Chamal-utan is a small comet (Motul). 152:9 A space in the text indicates that the Maya compiler found the text he copied illegible. The space is followed by the words bot (to pay) and bat (hatchet, hail) which are not translated here. 152:10 Xulab: defined as certain stinging ants (Motul). They move in batallions, have long legs, are found in dry places and destroy the leaves of plants (Pacheco Cruz 1919, p. 50). Their sting caused an eclipse of the moon (Aguilar 1900, p. 83). 152:11 Chac uayah-cab, described as a red stinging ant which lives underground (Pacheco Cruz 1919, p. 50). The translator does not understand the connection between these insects and the diviners rattle. Compare the mention of "coagulated blood on the red rosette of the rattle" on page 90 of the present work.
153:1 Ah-pic is a species of Hemiptera (Martinez' note to Motul). It is described as a flying cimex, so it appears to be a blood-sucking insect. 153:2 The meaning of this expression is uncertain. Och is the opossum, and tolil difficult to translate in this context. There was a certain dance called "ix tolil." 153:3 For the figurative use of the word, kinkajou, see Appendix F. 153:4 Alternative translation: to collect the debts of the world. Uaymil was another name for the native province of Chetumal, or Chactemal, in southeastern Yucatan, just north of what is now British Honduras. 153:5 Literally, the Black Cocah-mut. Yax-Cocah-mut was one of the regents of the Muluc Years (Landa 1929, p. 28). The name is spelled Yax-Cocay-mut in the Tizimin MS. (p. 25) which might be translated as "the green fire-fly bird." Avendao saw at Tayasal a mask set in a stone column which he identified as Ah-Cocah-mut. "I came to recognize it, since I had already read about it in their old papers and had seen it in their Anahtes, which they use, which are books of the barks of trees, polished and covered with lime, in which by painted figures and characters, they have foretold their future events. By which means I knew that there was found in the said Peten Itz the said idol of Yaxchecab, that of Cocahmut, that of Ytzimna (Itzamna) Kauil, which means "horse of the devil" (Bowditch, unpublished translation p. 67. Avendao, original MS., f. 29 r.). Yax-Cocah-mut is probably one of the names of Itzamna. None of the hieroglyphic prophecies has survived, but it is evident that the present series follows the original model. 153:6 Written "Antachristo" in the text. 154:1 Possibly a reference to the firing of a pistol, which may have looked like the horn of a brockett or that of a goat to the natives. 154:2 Maya, haylahom u keuel chac-bolay. This expression evidently has the same figurative meaning as that of zin balam (literally "spread the jaguar") which is defined as "to fight or to go to war" (Motul). 154:3 The Maya word pek primarily means a dog, and among its rather numerous secondary meanings are water-tank, chills and fever, and a certain skin disease. We might conclude that the "tidings," or fortunes, of the katun were chills and fever; but the statement following that it was a period of drought suggests rather that people were obliged to use the stagnant water of the tanks, when the rains failed. It is also quite possible that pek, the dog, had a symbolic meaning unknown to us, perhaps merely that the news is bad. 154:4 Literally, white or pale profit. "Zac, in composition with certain expressions, diminishes their significance and denotes a certain imperfection" (Motul). 154:5 The precise significance of these figures of speech is nowhere explained. We find it rain from a rabbit sky" (thul caan chacil) associated with a period of drought on page 1 of the Tizimin MS. 154:6 Maya thelen chacil. Thilen chacil would mean interrupted rains. 154:7 The zil is reported as an unidentified variety of palm (Martnez letter). ceremonial significance is unknown, but the Tizimin version of this prophecy treats it as a misfortune (Tizimin MS., p. 30). 154:8 Ox chuylah u xuthen, or ox chuilah xotem, is a stereotyped phrase which Brinton has translated: "three generations hang there" (on the tree). An alternative translation would be: the diminished remainder are driven far away. Cf. Brinton 1882, page 127. 154:9 Maya, ox cuchlahom yal max, is another stereotyped phrase. Cuch-chimal means to be defeated in war, i. e. to bear one's shield on one's back in retreat. Chimal, however, is a borrowed Nahuatl word, and we find the original Maya expression only in the verb, maax-cinah, to employ a shield in defense, and its derivative maax, a man who defends himself well with his shield. Yal max could be a little shield. 154:10 At a time of civil disorder and revolution we found the "havoc" occurring in the courtyards of the nobles (p. 91, note 7). Now, however, there is defeat in war. Possibly the retreating soldiers are ambushed at a cross-road. The Tizimin version adds the detail that flies swarm, presumably over the corpses (Tizimin, p. 30). 154:11 Alternative translation: the masters of the katun.
154:12 The text is unsatisfactory and the translation here is uncertain. Also the manuscript is water-stained. One mutilated sentence has been left untranslated: "nomal Ytza e . . . talii." 154:13 Written "Cear Agustoe" in the original. A discussion of the use of this name will be found on page 157, note 2. 154:14 There is a break in the text here indicating that one or more pages are missing. 155:1 This is the sixth katun. The reason for starting a new count here is not apparent. 155:2 On page 82 it was implied that Emal was another name for Izamal, and the same city may be meant here, but there is another Emal on the northern coast of Yucatan. 155:3 Written Ix Puc-yol-ha and Ix Ual-icim on page 25 of the Tizimin MS. 155:4 Perhaps a reference to the "living rope" (cuxan zum), which is a road suspended in the sky and extending from Tulum and Cob to Chichen Itz and Uxmal (Tozzer 1907, p. 153). 155:5 Cf. p. 154, note 3. 155:6 Literally, eight thousand warts. Possibly a disease and not a personage is meant. 155:7 Canul is probably a reference to an important family of Nahua origin. They settled in the province of Ah Canul after the fall of Mayapan. Landa. calls them Mexican mercenaries. 155:8 The boboch is identified by Pio Perez as a fabulous animal, but he gives no particulars. 155:9 Cf. p. 148, note 8. 155:10 During the colonial period the most famous shrine in Yucatan was that of the Virgin of Izamal, where many cures were performed. Here, however, we are reminded of Zubuy-kak, the Fire-Virgin, who was the goddess of little girls. She was said to be the deified daughter of a ruler, a member of an order of virgins or nuns who served the gods (Lizana 1893, ff. 39-40). 155:11 Hunab-ku was "the only living and true god, also the greatest of the gods of the people of Yucatan" (Motul 1930, p. 404). 155:12 Written "Yglesia" in the text. 156:1 Cf. page 126, note 3. 156:2 Maya, ah bentana, and written ah bentena on page 158. The name has not been identified. Possibly the rendering should be: the obedience of the men of Bentana <to> the foreigners <and to> the word of God. 156:3 This translation is inferred from the three contexts in which it occurs. Cf. page 148, note 8, and page 155, note 9. 156:4 Maya, ah mektan. Cf. Brinton 1882, page 124, note 3. These prophecies abound in references to a time when an avenging ruler will come and punish certain immoral and oppressive chieftains who are designated as birds or animals. Cf. Appendix F. 156:5 On page 92 we have noted this punishment in connection with the upstart chief who is not of the proper lineage. The Dresden Codex (p. 3) depicts a bird tearing the eye from a sacrificial victim. 156:6 Maya, u cuyil cab, literally the moth in the hive. Any bee-keeper is familiar with the results of this phenomenon. A very similar phrase, yilkil cah, the moth of the town, has the figurative meaning: "a great rascal, like the moth of the town, who incites it to riot and destroys it" (Motul). It is an interesting commentary on the vicissitudes of civic life in ancient Yucatan.
156:7 Maya, xotom ahau, the ruler who cuts, or the ruler who appraises and judges. 156:8 Maya, koch, which means either guilt or the sickness which is the punishment of guilt. It can also mean a burden or obligation. 156:9 Uaymil is another name for the Province of Bacalar in southeastern Yucatan. 156:10 Here the town of Emal on the north coast is evidently meant. We are reminded of the mounds found on the seashore in that region. 156:11 Probably the end or turn of the katun is meant. 156:12 Here the meaning of the Maya phrase, tix ucham ua pani, is doubtful. It may be an archaic expression, but it seems more like a corruption of the original text. 156:13 Cf. page 79, note 2. These are all stereotyped phrases. 157:1 Among the Maya wars, whether civil or foreign, appear to have ended by driving the conquered into the forest. 157:2 We are unable to explain this allusion, but it is of interest to note that in the Tizimin version of the preceding prophecy we find the name of Ah Uuc-yol-zip substituted for that of Csar Augustus in what is practically the same statement; "ti taliob tan yol che ti ual tu kamic u matan Ah Uuc-yol-zip uale." Tizimin, page 30. Ah Uuc-yol-zip might be the modern Zip, or protector of the deer, to whom Dr. Redfield still finds the hunters making offerings. 157:3 Cf. p. 91, note 7. 157:4 Cf. p. 149, note 1. 157:5 Translation doubtful. The text might be rendered either: i-il, flayed, or i-il, overcome in a contest. 157:6 Cf. p. 89, note 5. The use of this word is of ethnological interest, as the riddle is supposed to have been absent from aboriginal culture in America, and first introduced by Europeans. Already in the Sixteenth Century Motul dictionary we find the word used here, naatal-nat, defined: "enigma, o que es cosi cosa dezirla." 157:7 Cf. p. 123, note 8. 157:8 Maya, okolal. It seems likely that ocolal is intended, which would give the passage the meaning: there is an inquiry into their faith. 157:9 Chakan was the name of the native province or geographical division in which Merida was founded. We have no record of any outstanding family ruling there, as the Xius, Chels, Cocoms, Cupuls, Peches, Cochuahs and Canuls ruled in other provinces. Nor do we know of any war in Chakan in a Katun 1 Ahau. The battle fought by Montejo near Merida in 1541 took place in Katun 11 Ahau; also the actual fight was just over the border of Chakan in the Province of Ceh Pech. The Can family is said to have been predominant in the Province of Chetumal (Chactemal), and there was an uprising of the natives there in 1636, which lasted all during the Katun 1 Ahau which ensued. Very little fighting occurred, however (Cogolludo 1868, Book 11, Chap. 12). 157:10 Maya, kakal mozon chac, lit. parched or fiery whirlwind storm. Dr. Redfield reports that the kakal-mozon ik (wind) is a disease bringing wind which comes from cenotes and caves containing water. It is summoned by whistling to burn the fields when cleared for planting. 157:11 Cf. p. 154, note 5. 157:12 The following two words, yibnel cab, have not been translated. Ibnel is defined as "a cloth or net, or else the placenta in which the fetus is wrapped at birth. Item, the umbilical cord of the fetus at birth" (Motul). Cab could mean honey, hive, town, region, world, low and red earth.
158:1 Alternative translation: the army is not ruined, etc. This does not fit the context. 158:2 Maya, utulutil. The word also means peddling something from house to house. For a reference to Antichrist, cf. page 79, note 6. 158:3 A term applied to the Spaniards. 158:4 Maya, tu muk, literally: at the suffering or endurance, etc. 158:5 Cf. Appendix F, for the significance of this animal. The preceding reference is obscure. 158:6 Cf. page 156, note 2. 158:7 As noted on page 120, this period was distinguished for its epidemic of yellow fever rather than for any conspicuous outbreak of smallpox. 158:8 Probably a reference to the story of Antonio Martnez. Cf. p. 123, and p. 157, note 7. 158:9 This katun is really the seventh in the series. 158:10 This place-name has survived only as the name of a hacienda in the Department of Izamal. It is, however, frequently associated with Mayapan in these pages and may be another name for this city. 158:11 Yaxal Chuen appears to be an important deity and probably a constellation as well. The name might be translated as the green or first artisan. We find on pp. 23, 24 of the Codex Peresianus a glyph composed of the elements, yax and chuen, which may refer to this deity (Gates 1910, p. 30). These are the pages containing the figures which represent the thirteen divisions of the Maya zodiac. 158:12 The text appears to be corrupt here. 158:13 Maya, hunac ah-menil. Among the modern Maya ah-men means sorcerer. 158:14 As a result of the five years of famine, 1650 to 1654, enormous numbers of Indians had left their towns and were scattered in the forests. In 1652 an unsuccessful attempt had been made by the Spanish authorities to bring them back to their homes, but it seems likely that during the following katun they gradually returned to their homes. Cf. Molina Sols 1910, p. 231. 159:1 Cf. Appendix F. 159:2 The golden gates (u puertail takin) are probably the gilded gates to the chancel of the church. The town marriages perhaps refer to the marriages of many people at one time, when the people had returned to the towns after living for some years in the forests and mating without ecclesiastical sanction. Can-kaz-na, here translated as the official building, means literally "the house of four apartments." 159:3 The return to the towns meant also a return to the regulations governing the Indians. One such law regarding dress reads: "that all shall manage to wear footgear, at least hemp sandals" (Cogolludo 1868, book 5, chap. 19). 159:4 Maya, nicte katun, literally the katun of the Plumeria flower. Cf. page 104, note this reference; the others were Katuns 11, 7 and 5 Ahau. 159:5 Maya, conbil, also means that which is for sale. 159:6 We are reminded of the "Nine Mountains" mentioned on page 139. 159:7 Maya, chac ek, the morning star. (Motul.) Cf. p. 150, note 4. In Mexican mythology we find a close association between Quetzalcoatl and the planet Venus.
15.
This is the fourth katun-prophecy in which we find
159:8 The text reads pa hool chace, which we have rendered as Pap-hool-chac and which is probably the Ppappholchac mentioned by Lizana, who translates it "casa de las cabezas y rayos." It was the name of one of the pyramids at Izamal and was said to be the dwelling of the priests of the gods (Lizana 1893, p. 5). 159:9 Chabl was a town of some importance in the district of Bacalar at the time of the Conquest, but it was already depopulated in Cogolludo's time (Cogolludo 1868, Book 2, chap. 6). Berendt lists a port of that name in Yucatan, also a town in Tabasco (Berendt, Nombres proprios en lengua Maya). It is still a family name in Yucatan. 159:10 A possible alternative translation could be: the ladder is forcibly broken over, etc. We do not know the significance of the ladder among the Maya, possibly one is intended in the accompanying picture. We find a picture of a ladder on page 34 of the Dresden Codex in connection with a ceremony said to represent a human sacrifice. 159:11 Extensive forest fires have never been reported from Yucatan, and we probably have here only an exaggerated description of extreme heat and drought. 159:12 Maya, u colel caan, a term usually applied to the Holy Virgin. 159:13 Maya, u ye katun, literally, that which the katun sets before us. U yekabtun would mean an offering of precious stone. 160:1 Maya, ah nunob, a term applied several times to the Itz in these pages. This would indicate a foreign origin for the Itz. 160:2 This reference to Kinich Kakmo is capable of two explanations. It may be merely a reference to the god of this name as the idol or presiding deity of the katun. It is very possible, however, that it is a historical allusion to the man, Kinich Kakmo, who was later deified. Gaspar Antonio Chi collaborated with Cristbal Snchez in writing a report which states that "in course of time the inhabitants of the said town (Izamal) were conquered by Kak-u-pacal and a hundred valorous captains formerly of the town of Mayapan, and that those who founded this place were called Kinich-Kabul, Kinich Kakmo and others from whom descend the Xool, Mo and Coyi <families>, Indians so named in this province" (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, pp. 119-120). Mo or Moo (parrot) is still a common family name among the Maya, and it will be noted that it is one of the elements of the name, Kinich Kakmo, which means sun-eyed fire-parrot. Cf. p. 141, note 2. 160:3 Supplied from the Tizimin version of this prophecy which is more complete (Tizimin p. 32). One of the objects in the accompanying picture may be intended for a shield and two arrows. 160:4 Supplied from Tizimin (p. 32). The Maya pak, here translated as wall, can also mean a water-tank. Motul, Spanish-Maya portion. This is the only mention of the episode of cementing human heads into a wall that we find anywhere. Possibly what is meant is that a tzompantli was erected, and the stakes transfixing the heads were set in a wall of masonry. 160:5 For the accounts of the sojourn of the Itz at Chakanputun see page 136 and page 141, note 4. Chakanputun is generally believed to be the modern Champoton in southwestern Yucatan. The translator is uncertain whether or not to accept this identification, as excellent reasons could be cited both for and against it. 161:1 It is suggested here that at Uxmal they erected stel as katun monuments. 161:2 The reference is probably to the idol of the katun. 161:3 Here doubtless referring to the introduction of certain erotic religious festivals like the one described by Landa (1928, p. 156). 161:4 The Tizimin version of this prophecy substitutes the expression "u kochob (the punishment of their guilt) shall descend," instead of "God the Father." 161:5 Here the count recommences for no apparent reason. The feathers in the picture no doubt represent Kukulcan, or Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent. The stars in the picture may refer to the four Venus periods of the Dresden Codex. It will be recalled that the Mexicans believed that Quetzalcoatl became the planet Venus after his death. 161:6 This agrees with the Maya chronicles which place the second occupation of Chichen Itz by the Itz in a Katun 4 Ahau which fell in
the Tenth Century A.D. (Appendix H). 161:7 Cf. page 63, note 6, and page 121, note 4. 161:8 Nothing is known of this personage. Kante is a tree which yields a yellow dye. 161:9 Cf. page 133, note
11.
161:10 This statement is important as it enables us to date the beginning of the worship of Kukulcan at Chichen Itz which was accompanied by a number of new architectural features at that city. Cf. Landa 1928, pages 62-68, and Relaciones de Yucatan, I, page 121. The Tizimin version of this prophecy is even more explicit than the Chumayel, for it says: "Kukulcan shall come with the Itz." Although Torquemada (Book 3, chap. 7) says that Quetzalcoatl went to "Onohualco," a term comprising Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatan, the writer is inclined to doubt that the Kukulcan who came to Chichen Itz in the Tenth Century was the actual culture-hero, who is supposed to have lived about the Seventh Century. Like the Kukulcan mentioned in the Tizimin (p. 23) in connection with the Hunac Ceel episode about 1200 A.D., this was probably also a ruler who bore as a title the name of the deified hero. 162:1 Probably Maya Cuzamil, Mayapan, is intended as stated in the following prophecy. 162:2 Alternative translation: Its bread, water and temple are halved. 162:3 Written juicio in the text. 162:4 Kinchil Coba. Cf. page 134, note 5. 162:5 Cf. page 77, note 5. 162:6 A space is left in the text indicating that the Maya compiler was unable to read a few words in the manuscript which he was copying. What is meant by the "two-day men" is uncertain. Cf. page 83, note 6. 162:7 Maya, tu lobol kik. "Bad blood" is associated with dysentery in the Maya medical manuscripts. Cf. Roys 1931, page 38. 163:1 The text is water-stained and illegible here. 163:2 Literally, the jaguars, probably a reference to the pagan priests of the Itz. Many renegade Christians fled to the Itz at Tayasal during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.
Next: XXIII: The Last Judgment
Chilam Balam: Translation: XXIII: The Last Judgment
XXIII
(THE LAST JUDGMENT) 3
The judgment of God for the righteous: "Come unto me ye blessed of my Father, inherit the eternal glory prepared by my Father for you since the beginning of the world. You have kept my commandments; you have done penance when you sinned against me. Therefore come ye to heaven." 4 Then he turns his gaze upon the sinners with whom he is angered. "Depart from me ye accursed of my Father into the eternal fire of hell which is prepared for the Devil by my Father. You have despised me, your Father, me, your Redeemer. You have despised my commandments with the commandment of the Devil. Go ye therefore with him to eternal misery." Then the wicked men shall go to hell, but the good men shall go to Heaven with our Father, God, to eternal glory comparable to the glory of Jehoshaphat. There are three men, the true servants of God, well beloved of God. Elias, and Methuselah and Enoch are their names; they are living to this day. They are ordained by God to guard his seats. Our Lord God shall call a reckoning in a valley in the land, a great open savannah. There he shall sit upon his throne. The entire world shall assemble <there>. The sheep shall be set apart; they shall be on his right hand. The goats shall be set apart; they shall be on his left hand. On his left shall be the wicked men; those who have not fulfilled all the commandments of God shall then go to the eternal misery of hell, sunk in the earth, oppressed by <the Sins> of our first parents. 5 But the
p. 164
good men who have fulfilled the commandments of God shall be at the right hand of the great Lord God. "Come, ye men blessed of my Father and take the kingdom prepared for you since the beginning of the world." Then a great cloud shall gather, black in the sky, 1 / down to the face of the earth. Like a trumpet is the joyful song of the Angels. It is beautiful beyond comparison. The true God shall arise, the Lord of heaven and earth. p. 103 C
Footnotes
163:3 The following is an account of the Christian Last Judgment apparently written by a Spanish missionary. The text seems to adhere too closely to the rules laid down by the Spanish writers on Maya grammar for it to have been written by an Indian. Nevertheless it is written in excellent Maya and probably dates from the Seventeenth Century. It will be of interest to compare this text with the "Carta de los Diez Caciques" written in 1567 and published by Juan Martinez in his edition of the Motul
Chilam Balam: Translation: XXIII: The Last Judgment
Dictionary. The latter is formal but extremely idiomatic. Our present text, although we do not know the date when it was written originally, shows that the Maya idiom had changed in its forms of expression since the middle of the Sixteenth Century. The present translator has availed himself freely of Sr. Martinez' Spanish translation of this passage (Martinez 1928, pp. 137-138). 163:4 Matthew, chap. 25. 163:5 Alternative translation: told of by our first parents (Adam and Eve). 164:1 Possible alternative translation: Then a great cloud of stars shall gather. Cf. Revelation 14.14: "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man."
Next: XXIV: Prophecies of a New Religion
Chilam Balam: Translation: XXIV: Prophecies of a New Religion
XXIV
(PROPHECIES OF A NEW RELIGION) 2
These are the words which were composed to admonish the fatherless ones, the motherless ones. 3 These words are to be treasured as a precious jewel is treasured. They are concerning the coming introduction of Christianity, <and were spoken> at Tancah Mayapan <and> at Chichen Itz in the time of the Zuyua people, 4 in the time of the Itz. A new wisdom shall dawn upon the world 5 universally, in the east, north, west and south. It shall come from the mouth of God the Father. Those who recorded it were the five priests, the holy priests who came into the presence of God. They recorded the charge of misfortune when the introduction of Christianity came. Here are their names written down: 1. Chilam Balam, the great priest. 2. Napuctun, the great priest. 3. Nahau Pech, the great priest. 4. Ah Kuil Chel, the great priest. 5. Natzin Yabun Chan, the great priest. <Like> a servant of God who bends his back over virgin soil, 6 they recorded the charge of misery in the presence of our Lord God: the introduction of Christianity occurs; blood-vomit, pestilence, drought, a year of locusts, / smallpox are the charge of misery, <also> the importunity of the devil. There shall be a white circle in the sky. It shall burn on earth in Katun 3
p. 104 C
Ahau, in Katun 1 Ahau, the worst of three katuns. Just as it was written by the Evangelists and the prophet Balam, it came from the mouth of the Lord of heaven and earth. Then the priests set it down in holy writ at the time of the great drought at Lahun Chable 1 in <the time of> Christianity. Then Saul and Don Antonio Martnez 2 shall come to avenge 3 their descendants. The day has dawned. So it is written in the command of the great priest, the prophet of Chilam Balam and in the chest of manuscripts. Amen Jesus. The Interpretation <of> the histories of Yucatan.
The priests, the prophecy <of> Napuctun. 4 It shall burn on earth; there shall be a circle in the sky. Kauil 5 shall be set up; he shall be set up in front in time to come. It shall burn on earth; 6 the <very> hoof shall burn in that katun, in the time which is to come. Fortunate is he who shall see it when the prophecy is declared, who shall weep over his misfortunes in time to come. 7 The prophecy of Ah Kuil Chel, 8 the priest. When the end of the katun shall come, lord, ye shall not understand when it comes. Who shall believe it at the rolling up of the mat of the katun? 9 The end shall come because of misery. It comes from the north, it comes from
p. 166
the west at that time when it shall be, lord. Who then shall be the priest, who then <shall be> the prophet who will declare truly the word of the book, lord, in <Katun> 9 Ahau? Ye shall not understand, <ye people> in every part of the world . . . 1 shall be cleansed of shame. Oh <there was> joy among the / rulers, pleasure among the rulers of the land. Acknowledge it in your hearts, ye Itz. 2 The prophecy of Nahau Pech the great priest. p. 105 C
At that time when the sun shall stand high 3 <in the heavens>, lord, when the ruler has had compassion, in the fourth katun 4 it shall come to pass, the tidings of God are truly brought. They ask 5 perchance what I recommend, lord. You see your guests upon the road, oh Itz! It is the fathers of the land 6 who will arrive. <This prophecy> comes from the mouth of Nahau Pech, the priest in the time of Katun 4 Ahau 7 at the end of the katun, 8 lord. The food of the ant<-like> men shall be destroyed. They shall be at the end of their food <-supply> because of the boboch 9 <which takes their> food, the great hawk <which takes their> food, the ant, the cowbird, 10 the grackle, 11 the blackbird, 12 the mouse. 13
p. 167
The prophecy of Natzin Yabun Chan. There was the word of the true God in the land. You shall await the coming forth, lord, of his priests who will bring 1 it in time to come. Give your understanding to his word, to his admonition. 2 Fortunate are you who truly receive it. Forsake those things which you have held sacred, oh Itz; forget your perishable gods, your transitory gods. Of all things he is the ruler, lord, the creator of all heaven and
earth. It is to your hearts that I speak, oh Maya Itz. You shall not desire another God <than> the true God according to your <own> words. You shall take to heart the word of my admonition. 3 The prophecy of Chilam Balam, the singer, of Cabal-chen, 4 Mani. On <the day> 13 Ahau the katun will end 5 in the time of the Itz, in the time of / Tancah <Mayapan>, lord. There is the sign of Hunab-ku 6 on high. The raised wooden standard shall come. 7 It shall be displayed to the world, that the world may be enlightened, lord. There has been a beginning of strife, there has been a beginning of rivalry, when the priestly man shall come to bring the sign <of God> in time to come, lord. A quarter of a league, 8 a league <away> he comes. You see the mut 9-bird surmounting the raised wooden standard. A new day shall dawn in the north, in the west.
p. 168
p. 106 C
Itzamn Kauil shall rise. 1 Our lord comes, 2 Itz. Our elder brother comes, <oh> men of Tantun. 3 Receive your guests, the bearded men, the men of the east, the bearers of the sign of God, lord. Good indeed 4 is the word of God that comes to us. The day of our regeneration 5 comes. You do not fear the world, Lord, you are the only God who created us. It is sufficient, then, that the word of God is good, lord. <He is> the guardian 6 of our souls. He who receives him, who has truly believed, he will go to heaven with him. Nevertheless <at> the beginning were the two-day men.
Let us exalt his sign on high, let us exalt it <that we may gaze upon it today> 7 with the raised standard. Great is the discord that arises today. 8 The First Tree of the World 9 is restored; it is displayed to the world. This is the sign of Hunab-ku on high. Worship it, Itz. You shall worship today his sign on high. You shall worship it furthermore with true good will, 10 and you shall worship the true God today, lord. You shall be converted to the word of Hunab-ku, lord; it came from heaven. Oh it is he who speaks to you! 11 Be admonished indeed, Itz. They will correct their ways 12 who receive him in their hearts 13 in another katun, lord. Believe in my word itself, I am Chilam Balam, and I have interpreted the entire message of the true God <of> the world; it is heard in every part of the world, 14 lord, the word of God, the Lord of heaven and earth. Very good indeed is his word in heaven, lord. He is ruler over us; he is the true God over our souls. / But those to whom <the word> is brought, lord: thrice weighed down is their 15 strength, the
p. 169
p. 107 C
younger brothers 1 native to the land. Their hearts are submerged <in sin>. Their hearts are dead in their carnal sins. They are frequent backsliders, 2 the principal ones who spread <sin>, Nacxit Xuchit 3 in the carnal sin of his companions, the two-day rulers. 4 <They sit> crookedly on their thrones; crookedly in carnal sin. Two-day men they call them. For two days <endure> their seats, 5 their cups, their hats. 6 They are the unrestrained lewd 7 ones of the day, the unrestrained lewd ones of the night, 8 the rogues of the world. They twist their necks, they wink their eyes, they slaver at the mouth, 9 at the rulers of the land, lord. Behold, when they come, there is no truth in the words of the foreigners to the land. They tell very solemn and mysterious things, the sons of the men of Seven-deserted-buildings, the offspring of the women of Seven-deserted-buildings, 10 lord. Who will be the prophet, who will be the priest who shall interpret truly the word of the book? FINIS
Footnotes
164:2 These are fundamentally prophecies of the return of Kukulcan, or Quetzalcoatl, the Mexican culture-hero; but after the arrival of the Spaniards they were believed to be prognostics of that event and were in some instances adapted in later times to fit the facts of the actual occurrence. Cf. Tozzer 1921, p. 192. A discussion of these prognostications, their reputed authors and their place in the prophetic literature of the Maya will be found in Appendix D. 164:3 A term applied to the Itz in the Tizimin MS. It may well be a reference to the Itz custom of killing off the older men to prevent their becoming sorcerers, though we do not hear of their killing the older women. Cf. Appendix C. 164:4 Probably the foreign Nahua who invaded Yucatan. Cf. page 88, note 1. 164:5 Literally, a new day shall dawn. Both the literal and figurative meanings of this expression are given in the Motul Dictionary. 164:6 Possibly a description applied by the missionaries to themselves. 165:1 Lahun Chable: possibly the same as Chabl. Cf. page 159, note 9. 165:2 Cf. page 123, note 8, and page 157, note 7.
165:3 Alternative translation: to collect the debts of their descendants, etc. 165:4 Of the five following prophecies the Maya text has been copied from the Chilam Balam of Mani in Codex Perez, pages 72-73, and from the Chilam Balam of Oxkutzcab in Codex Perez, pages 166-170. Accompanying the latter are Spanish translations of the first four. Berendt ascribes the latter version of these prophecies to the Chilam Balam of Ixil, but they are not to be found in the reproduction of the Ixil; and the Perez Codex indicates that they are a part of the copy of the Chilam Balam of Oxkutzcab which immediately precedes them. The Maya text of the prophecies of Nahau Pech, Natzin Yabun Chan and Chilam Balam are given in the Tizimin MS., pages 17, 18. The Maya text and Spanish translations of all five have been published in Lizana 1893, pages 37-39. The Maya text and an English translation of the prophecy of Nahau Pech appear in Brinton 1882, pages 255256; the text and English translation of the prophecy of Chilam Balam are given in Tozzer 1921, pages 122-128. Spanish translations of all five prophecies are to be found in Cogolludo 1868, Book 2, chapter 11, and in Villagutierre Soto-Mayor 1701, pages 36-37. Tozzer (1921, pages 192-194) gives a full bibliography of the modern literature covering the subject. 165:5 Kauil is an obsolete word meaning food. Cf. kauilyah, to beg for food (Motul). It also appears to be the name of a god as in Itzamna Kauil. Kauil is also a common family name in Yucatan. 165:6 We are reminded of the portents said to have presaged the Spanish Conquest of Mexico: "there appeared in the sky a pyramidal flame of fire, which ascended from midnight till sun-rising, when it came into the south, and then vanish'd" (Herrera 1726, Dec. 2, Book 10, Chap. 1). 165:7 The Maya text is accompanied by a Spanish translation in the Chilam Balam of Oxkutzcab which reads as follows: "Habr final culto de los Dioses vanos y el mundo sera purificado con fuego. El que esta viere sera llamado dichoso si con dolor llorare sus pecados" (Codex Perez, p. 167). The translator has difficulty in finding any close correspondence between this and the Maya text of the prophecy. The setting up of Kauil is a figure of speech which is difficult to understand. 165:8 Called Kauil Chel in the Oxkutzcab, Ah Kauil Chel in the Tizimin (p. 13) and Mani (Codex Perez, p. 72), and Ah Kukil Chel by Cogolludo (Book 2, chap 11). 165:9 Cf. page 135, note 3. 166:1 Part of the text is obliterated here, and this portion of the prophecy does not occur in any of the other versions; the translation is therefore a little uncertain.
166:2 We find the following purported translation in the Book of Chilam Balam of Oxkutzcab: "La interpretacion. En el fin de la edad presente los que ignorais futuras que <e>dad pensais que suceder: sabed pues que vendran de todas partes tales cosas por nuestros malos. Historia. Que los podreis tener por presentes y os digo que en la edad novena ningun sacerdote ni profeta os declarara las escrituras que generalmente ignorais." The fulfilment of this very vague prophecy was evidently the Christianization of Yucatan in Katun 9 Ahau. 166:3 This version of the prophecy of Nahau Pech is the only one which corresponds here to the timehonored translation by the early Spanish missionaries. The other versions read: "At that time the news shall be understood." 166:4 This statement, "in the fourth katun," can be taken two ways. It could be either the fourth katun after the fall of Mayapan, Katun 13 Ahau, when the Spaniards made their first and unsuccessful attempt to conquer Yucatan, or Katun 9 Ahau, the fourth katun after the time of Nahau Pech who lived in Katun 4 Ahau. Katun 9 Ahau was really the period when the general conversion of the Mayas was effected. 166:5 A space has been left in the Chumayel text here which has been supplied from the Tizimin version. The Mani version reads: "You ask what I recommend." The Spanish translation renders this sentence: "With great concern I recommend," etc. 166:6 A term equally applicable to the priests of Quetzalcoatl and the Christian missionaries. 166:7 Katun 4 Ahau ended either in 1497 or 1500 according to which correlation is accepted. 166:8 The rest of the prophecy does not appear in any of the other versions. 166:9 Pio Perez defines boboch as a fabulous animal. The name may be derived from bob, another mysterious animal, and och, an opossum. 166:10 Maya iu, Tangavius neus involucratus Lesson. Cf. Roys 1931, page 344. 166:11 Maya kau, Megaquiscalus major macrourus Swainson. Cf. ibid., page 334. 166:12 Maya pich, Dives dives Lichtenstein. Ibid., page 338. 166:13 The Spanish translation given for this prophecy in the Chilam Balam of Oxkutzcab is as follows: "En el dia que mas alumbrare el sol por la misericordia del omnipotente, vendra de aqu a cuatro edades los que han de traer la nueva de ese Dios con grande afecto, os encomiendo, esperais oh itzalanos nuestros huespedes que son los padres de la tierra cuando vengan. Profetiz Nahau Pech sacerdote en los dias de la cuarta edad acerca de su principio."
167:1 Here the Maya puchcob has been translated as though it were pulicob. 167:2 Tzacil is translated as though it were tzecil, for which it may be an antiquated form. The word tzac has survived only in compounds and means an incantation. 167:3 The Spanish translation of this prophecy in the Oxkutzcab manuscript reads: "Hecha fue la palabra de Dios sobre la tierra, la cual esperad que ella vendr que sus sacerdotes os la traern; aprended sus palabras y predicacion. Bien aventurados los que aprendieron; o Ytzalanos, aborreced ya vuestros dioses, olvidad los que ya son fundibles; adorad todos el Dios de la verdad que est poderoso en todas partes y que es criador de todas las cosas." 167:4 The Chumayel text reads Cauichen, but the Tizimin version calls it Cabal-chen, which is still the name of the cenote at Mani. it is in a cave and approached by a path, but there is also an opening like a well in the roof of the cave directly above the pool. Tozzer has made a valuable study of this prophecy in which he has compared the Tizimin, Chumayel and Lizana versions of the text with the reading by Martinez, and his own translation with those of Lizana and Martinez. 167:5 The Tizimin, Oxkutzcab and Lizana versions of the text read: "the katun shall be established." In either case the meaning is approximately the same. This is the day when Katun 13 Ahau ends and when the new Katun 11 Ahau is established. 167:6 "Hunabku: the only living and true god, and he was the greatest of the gods of the people of Yucatan. He had no form because they said that he could not be represented as he was incorporeal." (Motul.) 167:7 Maya, uaom che, literally a raised wooden standard. The Ticul Dictionary defines the term as "picota, horca, rollo," indicating a raised pole on which the heads of malefactors were exposed. The missionaries applied the term to the cross, but originally it probably meant a ceremonial pole or standard, perhaps a mythological tree. 167:8 Maya, hun auat, the distance that a cry can be heard. 167:9 Defined as a bird of the Cracid family (Maler 1908, p. 132). Mut can also mean news, but in this context the bird seems to be intended. Martinez has noted that a quetzal appears on the cross at Palenque (Tozzer 1921, p. 123, note 7). Also what appears to be a conventionalized bird surmounts the cross on the katun-wheel in the Chilam Balam of Kaua. 168:1 Alternative translation: shall awaken. Both this phrase and the statement "Kauil shall be set up" in
the prophecy of Napuctun (p. 165) are translated by the missionaries: "the worship of the vain gods shall cease." Possibly Itzamna Kauil, at one time the supreme Maya god, is here identified with the Christian God. 168:2 Alternative translation: our father comes. 168:3 On page 66 Tantun is associated with the Island of Cozumel which was a holy place visited by many pilgrims. Lizana puts it in the plural and translates the expression; "o Tantunites," i.e. oh ye men of Tantun. Apparently it is an exhortation to them to receive Christianity. 168:4 Maya, ka: "appended to certain expressions it embellishes, as: Bax u ka Dias? What is God? Bax u ka lo? What is that?" (Motul). 168:5 Literally, our life. 168:6 Cf. page 69, note 2. 168:7 Supplied from the Tizimin, Mani, Oxkutzcab and Lizana versions. 168:8 Here the text varies somewhat in the different versions. 168:9 Cf. page 102, note 2. Here this mythological tree is said to be restored, apparently as the Christian cross. 168:10 Written colah in the Chumayel text, which is obscure. Here the Mani version, a uolah has been followed; but the Oxkutzcab version, ocolal, which means faith, is equally acceptable. 168:11 Alternative translations: he who commands you, or he who has power over you. 168:12 Literally: a day will dawn for them or the world will awaken for them. The figurative meaning given above is not unusual and is authorized by the Motul Dictionary. 168:13 Maya, ol. Primarily it means the will, but figuratively it is "the true heart, not the physical one" (Motul). The organ is called puczikal. 168:14 The remainder of the prophecy as given here does not occur in any of the other versions or translations. 168:15 Written "your strength" in the text.
169:1 In the various prophecies believed to foretell the coming of the Spaniards, the Indians are called "the younger brothers," and the new-comers, "the elder brothers." That these terms originally signified the first inhabitants of Yucatan and the Itz invaders is indicated by the following passage in the Tizimin MS.: "This was when the time of the white men, the bearded, men was known, just as the priest Chilam declared the time of the arrival of their elder brothers, just as the hosts of Itz had already arrived among them" (Tizimin, p. 36). 169:2 Maya, ah uaua tulupoob: literally, those who often turn back. 169:3 Nacxit Xuchit, cf. page 83, note 5. 169:4 Cf. page 83, note 6. 169:5 Maya, xec, defined as a straight chair without arms. Apparently it indicated authority. 169:6 The early Spanish writers make no mention of hats. The Maya word, ppooc, was applied to a hat, hood or cap, as well as to a crown of flowers (Motul). Elaborate head-dresses are found on Maya monuments of almost every period, and in the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itz are carved headdresses which are plainly hats in the modern sense of the word (Morris, Charlot and Morris, 1931, p. 278 and Pls. 50 and 52). 169:7 Maya, co, defined as "Mad, unrestrained, insolent, deceitful and lewd" (Motul). In many of its compounds it means lewd. 169:8 Maya, u co akab, could also be translated as the mad one of the night. Ah-coo-akab is the name of the Yucatan screech-owl, probably on account of its cry. Cf. Roys 1931, page 329. 169:9 Cf. page 151, note 8. Alternative translation: they pout their lips. Here it appears to refer to certain foreigners who introduced these wild orgies. The reference to Nacxit Xuchit indicates a people of Nahua traditions and some Nahua elements. Nacxit Xuchit is expressly associated with the Itz on pages 83 and 84 of the present work. 169:10 Maya, Uuc-tocoy-naob. This allusion to deserted ruined buildings suggests that the Itz came from a land where there were already deserted and ruined cities in ancient times. Could this refer to the cities of the Old Empire in the south? We are reminded of the mixture of Maya and Mexican features occurring in the drawings incised on the latest stucco covering of the inner walls of the temples at Tikal. Here are spear-throwers (atlatls) of the Mexican type and a row of the little flags which were a Mexican numerical symbol, both of which are practically unknown to the old Maya sculptures. Cf. Maler 1911, pages 56-63. Compare the standards, or "way-signs," incised on one of the Tikal temples (Maler 1911, fig. 14), with those painted on the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itz (Morris, Charlot & Morris
1931, fig. 323).
Next: Appendix A: The Four World-Quarters
Chilam Balam: Appendices: Appendix A: The Four World-Quarters
p. 170
APPENDIX A
THE FOUR WORLD-QUARTERS
Few religious ideas were more widely spread among the aboriginal peoples of America than that of the sacred character of the four cardinal points. The Plains Indians of North America are said to ascribe the origin of this conception to the apparent motions of the sun to the east, north, west and south, 1 and the same explanation would appear to hold good for the peoples of Central America. The Maya connected the idea with a system of color symbolism: red with the east, white with the north, black with the west and yellow with the south. In the Dresden Codex we frequently find the glyphs for these directions associated with those representing the four colors in the order named. Each successive year followed the same rotation according to the day with which it began. The Kan years were ascribed to the east, the Muluc years to the north, the Ix years to the west and the Cauac years to the south, as shown by the calendar wheel of the Book of Chilam Balam of Ixil. 2 The same system governed the katun-wheel, only here we find whole groups of katuns associated with each of the cardinal points, as we see from the wheel on page 132 of the present work. On pages 41 and 42 of the Maya Codex Cortesianus there is a picture of the four world-quarters, each marked with its appropriate glyph, and in the Mexican Codex Fejrvry-Mayer 3 is a similar picture showing the trees and birds mentioned in Chapter X of the Chumayel. It is evident that the Mexican and Maya myths relating to this subject were very similar in some respects. In Chapter X we have seen how the gods set up the four Trees of Abundance at the cardinal points to commemorate the previous destruction of the world. Like the conventionalized trees of the Palenque reliefs, the so-called crosses, these trees were surmounted by birds of mythological significance. From the four world-quarters came the winds, and here in all probability were the four great jars of water which supplied the rains. 4 According to the Mexican version of this myth the rain was favorable or unfavorable to the crops depending on the cardinal point from which it came. 5 From Landa we learn that "among the multitude of gods worshipped by these people they adored four, each of whom was called Bacab. These, they said, were four brothers whom God, when he created the world, placed at its four quarters to hold up the sky, so that it should not f all. They also state that these Bacabs were saved when the world was destroyed by a deluge.
Other names are <also> given to each of these, and with them they designate the world
quarter where God set them to hold up the sky." 1 The same writer goes on to tell us their names. In the east was Chacal Bacab, literally the Red Bacab, whose name was Cantzicnal, 2 and Landa also ascribes to him the names Chac Pauahtun and Chac-xib-chac. In the north was Zac-cimi, 3 as Zacal Bacab, or the White Bacab, was named, and he is also called Zac Pauahtun and Zac-xib-chac. In the west was Hozanek, or Ekel Bacab, the Black Bacab, also called Ek Pauahtun and Ek-xib-chac. In the south was Hobnil, or Kanal Bacab, the Yellow Bacab, to whom Landa also gives the names, Kan Pauahtun and Kan-xibchac. Connected with the worship of these Bacabs were four stones, the Red, White, Black and Yellow Acantuns, which were anointed with the blood of the worshippers. Acantun might be translated as stone stela, and each of these probably had its mythological counterpart at one of the four cardinal points. 4 In the Motul Dictionary the word bacab is defined as "representante," possibly indicating that the Bacabs were the representatives of the gods. They were the advocates or patrons of the bee-keepers, 5 and it has been thought that their name was in some way connected with bees or honey, as cab can mean honey and bee-hive as well as earth and land. In the ritual in Chapter I we have noted that there were red, white, black and yellow bees, each sort ascribed to the world-quarter corresponding to their color. Of the individual names of the Bacabs, Cantzicnal and Hozan-ek mean little to the writer. Zac-cimi means a swoon, and Hobnil, which primarily means something hollow, is a term applied to a bee-hive, probably because it is made of the hollow section of a tree-trunk. It seems likely that the four Pauahtuns were not quite the same as the Bacabs. Brinton gives an account of the misa milpera, or cornfield mass, as described by Baeza in a report written in 1813. 6 Here it is stated that "they are identical with the winds, and the four cardinal points from which they blow," and we find this confirmed in Chapter XI of the Chumayel which contains the Ritual of the Angels. In the modern ceremonies the red, white and black wind-spirits are identified with St. Dominic, St. Gabriel, and St. James; only the Yellow Pauahtun has the name of a Maya deity. This is Ix-Kan-le-ox, the goddess named for the yellow ramon 7 leaf. The word, Pauahtun, is difficult to translate. The last two syllables, Uah and tun, suggest
p. 172
a stone or a pillar set up or erected; but they are evidently personages, and the writer is inclined to identify them with the "angels" described by Landa in his account of the ceremonies preceding the New Year. 1 We have already seen in Chapter XI that the four Pauahtuns were set up before the world was created and were either identical or closely associated with the wind-spirits. Possibly they occupied the same position in the heavens that the Bacabs did on the earthly plane. Landa has also ascribed to the four Bacabs the names, Chac-xib-chac, Zac-xib-chac, Ek-xib-chac and Kan-xib-chac. These appear to be the rain-gods who were four in number and were set at the four cardinal points. The author of the Motul Dictionary considers them to be one person and states that Chaac "was a gigantic man who taught agriculture and whom they later considered the god of bread, water, thunder and lightning." The names given by Landa could be translated as the Red, White, Black and Yellow male Chacs, or rain-gods.
We find in Landa a detailed description of the ceremonies performed on the five unlucky days which concluded the year. 1 Although they have been considered New Year's ceremonies, in each case the Bacabs and other personages belong to the year which is ending, and not to the coming year for which they are said to be the augury. On pages 25 to 28 of the Dresden Codex is the portrayal of some very similar ceremonies which Seler has analysed and compared with the Landa account. 2
Footnotes
170:1 Brinton 1890, pp. 156-157. 170:2 Reproduced Bowditch 1910, p. 328. 170:3 Codex Fejrvry-Mayer, p. 1, reproduced in Seler 1923, p. 15. 170:4 Codex Cortesianus, p. 40. 170:5 Seler 1904, p. 267. 171:1 Landa 1929, pp. 14-16. We can not but believe that at least some of the numerous Atlantean figures found at Chichen Itz represent these mythological personages who held up the sky. 171:2 The name is supplied from the Tizimin MS. p. 10; in Landa it is written Canzienal. 171:3 Given in Landa as Zacciui, but the associated prognostic is swooning, which is zac-cimil in Maya. 171:4 Landa, 1929, pp. 16-40. 171:5 Ibid., p. 58. 171:6 Brinton 1890, p. 166; Baeza 1845. 171:7 Cf. p. 103, note
10.
172:1 Cf. p. 67, note 5; also Landa 1929, p. 22. 172:2 Seler 1902, pp. 357-389.
Next: Appendix B: The Sacrificial Cenote at Chichen Itza
Chilam Balam: Appendices: Appendix B: The Sacrificial Cenote at Chichen Itza
p. 173
APPENDIX B
THE SACRIFICIAL CENOTE AT CHICHEN ITZA
Chichen Itz was at one time not only the greatest and most powerful city in Yucatan, but it was a sacred city as well, a center of pilgrimage to which people flocked from every part of the peninsula and from foreign countries also to make offerings of gold, incense, copper, precious stones and human victims. The city owed its reputation for sanctity to its cenote, 1 or natural well, which was believed to be inhabited by the gods and the spirits of the illustrious dead. It is a great cup-shaped depression in the earth with perpendicular walls, about seventy feet down to the surface of the water and about one hundred and seventy feet across. The sacred well served no utilitarian purpose; the city obtained its water from another more convenient cenote and several artificial wells. We first hear of the Sacrificial Cenote from Bishop Landa who mentions it several times in his report on the natives of Yucatan. He gives an account of human sacrifice and adds: "Besides killing people in their towns, they had two infamous sanctuaries at Chichen Itz and Cozumel, where they sent an infinite number of wretched people to be sacrificed. At the former they were flung headlong down a precipice, and at the latter they tore out their hearts." 2 "From the court facing these theaters (two stone platforms in front of the main temple) a broad and handsome causeway led to a well about twice a stone's throw distant. Into this well it was their custom to cast living men as a sacrifice to the Gods in times of drought; and it was their belief that they did not die, although they never saw them any more. They also threw in many other things of precious stone and articles which they highly prized. Thus if this land had contained gold, this well would hold the largest part of it, so devoted were the Indians to it. It is a well with a depth of seven times a man's height down to the water and a breadth of more than one hundred feet. It is round with a sheer precipice down to the water which is extraordinary. The water appears to be very green, and I believe that this is caused by the thicket of trees with which it is surrounded. It is also very deep. Above, close to its mouth, is a small structure where I found idols made in honor of all the principal edifices of the country, almost like the Pantheon at Rome. I do not know whether this was a device of the ancients or of the moderns in order to encounter their idols when they came to this well with offerings. I found pumas carved in the round, (stone) jars and other things such that I do
p. 174
not know how anyone can say that these people did not have steel tools. 1 I also found two men of great stature each carved from a single block of stone, naked but their modesty preserved by the coverings the Indians formerly used. They had separate heads with ear-rings in the ears such as the Indians used to
wear. There was a tenon at the back of the neck which fitted into a deep hole made for it which was also in the neck. When fitted together it made a complete figure." 2 Landa also tells us "that they held Cozumel and the well at Chichen Itz in as great veneration as we do the pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome." 3 A report by the municipality of Valladolid written in 1579 covers a number of details omitted by Landa. Here we read: "This pyramid (the principal temple of the city) lies between two cenotes of very deep water. One of these is called the Sacrificial Cenote. Chichen Itz was named for an Indian who lived beside the Sacrificial Cenote and who was called Ah Kin Itz. 4 It was the custom of the lords and nobles of all these provinces of Valladolid to fast for sixty days without raising their eyes during this time even to look at their wives or those who brought them their food. And this they did in order, when they should arrive at the mouth of that cenote, to cast into it at break of day some Indian women of each of these lords. They had told them that they should ask for an abundant year <and> all those things which occurred to them. Thus when these Indian women were thrown in without being bound but flung down as from a cliff, they fell into the water striking it with great force. Precisely at mid-day the one who was to come forth made a great outcry for them to let down a rope to draw her out. When she came up half dead, they built large fires about her perfuming her with copal incense. After she recovered consciousness, she said that down below there were many of her nation, both men and women, and that they received her; but when she raised her head to look at any of them, they struck her with heavy blows on the back of the neck so that she should keep her head bowed. This was all within the water, below which there were believed to be many hollows and pits. And they replied to her whether there would be an abundant year or a bad one according to the questions which the Indian woman asked of them. And if the devil was angered with any of the lords who threw in the Indian women, when none asked to be drawn out at precisely noon, they knew that he was angry with them and that she would never more come forth. In this it rather resembles
p. 175
what occurred at the cave of Salamanca. 1 Then when it was seen that she was not coming out, that lord and all of his <men> threw great stones into the water and fled precipitately from the place making a great outcry." 2 We have seen in the Chumayel, 3 however, that one man at least did not flee in terror from the cenote when none of the messengers to the gods returned. This was Hunac Ceel, later the head-chief of Mayapan who conquered Chichen Itz and drove out its inhabitants. 4 He was evidently of the stuff of which rulers are made, a man with sufficient courage and force of character to shape his own destiny. When no one appeared on the surface of the water crying to be drawn out, he realized that the prophecy must be obtained at any cost. "It was Cauich, Hunac Ceel, Cauich, was the name of the man there who put out his head over the mouth of the well on the south side. Then he went to get it. Then he came forth to declare the prophecy." There can be but one interpretation of this terse statement: Hunac Ceel cast himself into the cenote and returned from its depths bringing the desired prophecy.
In his account of the visit of Father Alonso Ponce to Yucatan in the summer of 1588, Antonio de Ciudad Real, the reputed author of the Motul Dictionary, tells of the Sacrificial Cenote at Chichen Itz and adds the detail that "they even say that in the wall of this well or zonote there is a cave which enters a considerable distance within <the cliff>." 5 In his description of the ruins of Mayapan the same writer describes the principal pyramid and states: "Near the foot of this mul (pyramid) there is a very deep zonote with a very flat stone at the edge of its mouth from which (as they say) they flung down those whom they sacrificed to their gods." 6 Stephens found a cenote at Mayapan near the base of one of the larger pyramids there but states that it was in a cave. "The entrance was by a broken, yawning mouth, steep, and requiring some care in the descent." 7 Long after Chichen Itz ceased to be of political importance, its sacred cenote continued to draw pilgrims. The last pilgrimage of which we have any knowledge was in 1536, and although its members never reached the holy spot, the event had considerable influence on the history of the country. "The Spaniards having gone forth from Yucatan (1535), there was a scarcity of water in the land, and as they had used their maize recklessly in the wars with the Spaniards, there came upon them a great hunger, so great that they were
p. 176
even brought to eat the bark of trees, especially one which they called cumche, 1 which is soft and tender inside. On account of this famine the Xiu who are Lords of Mani resolved to make a solemn sacrifice to the idols, bearing certain slaves, both men and maidens, to be thrown into the well of Chichen Itz, and to reach which they have to pass by the town of the Lords Cocomes, their principal enemies, and so thinking that at such a time ancient passions would not be renewed in this land, they (the Xiu) sent to them (the Cocom) asking them to let them (the Xiu) pass through their land. And the Cocomes deceived them with a fair reply, and giving them shelter all together in one great house they set fire to it and slew those who escaped, and for this reason there were great wars." 2 Here we have the complete story of the murder of Napot Xiu mentioned on pages 138, 142 and 146 of the present work. From this it would appear that the rain-god was one of the divinities who dwelt in the Sacrificial Cenote. In a report written in 1581 by one of the early Spanish settlers who tells us that he received much of his information from Gaspar Antonio Chi, we read: "At one time all this land was under the dominion of a lord who dwelt at the ancient city of Chichen Itz and to whom all the lords of this province were tributaries. And even from without the province, from Mexico, Guatemala, Chiapas and other provinces they sent them presents in token of peace and friendship." 3 We can not but believe that these foreign embassies, which must have traveled for weeks through tropical forests, swamps and waterless wastes to reach a far-off city in northeastern Yucatan, were motivated more by the religious veneration which its famous sanctuary enjoyed than by the political prestige which its rulers enjoyed in such a distant country.
Footnotes
173:1 The word cenote is a Spanish corruption of the Maya onot. As the drainage of Yucatan is subterranean and the ponds of surface water are unfit to drink, the water used is drawn either from cenotes or artificial wells. In Maya cheen, which means an artificial well primarily, is also another name for a cenote, hence the name Chichen Itz, which means the mouth of the well of the Itz. 173:2 Landa 1900, p. 367. 174:1 Landa employs the term, herramientas, which means iron or steel tools, but he must have meant merely hard metal tools in general. It would seem that he was too well informed about the Indians to believe that they ever had iron or steel. 174:2 Landa 1900, pp. 365-366. 174:3 Ibid., p. 335. 174:4 Literally the priest Itz; written Alquin Itz in the report. Besides being the name of a nation, Itz is also a common family name in Yucatan. 175:1 There was a story of an enchanted cave at Salamanca in Spain which contained an oracle. Of seven who entered to consult the oracle only six ever returned (Relaciones de Yucatan, II, p. 26, note 1). 175:2 Ibid., II, pp. 25-26. 175:3 Cf. p. 75. 175:4 Cf. p. 137 and Appendix C. 175:5 Ciudad Real 1873, II, p. 404. 175:6 Ibid., II, p. 471. Ciudad Real apparently confused the Mayapan cenote with the one at Chichen Itz. 175:7 Stephens 1843, I, p. 134. 176:1 The cumche, or kumche, has been identified as Leucopremna mexicana (A. DC.) Standl. and is called bonete in Spanish (Roys 1931, p., 259). 176:2 Landa 1928, pp. 112-114, translated by S. G. Morley, 1920, p. 478.
176:3 Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 120.
Next: Appendix C: The Hunac Ceel Episode
Chilam Balam: Appendices: Appendix C: The Hunac Ceel Episode
p. 177
APPENDIX C
THE HUNAC CEEL EPISODE
The conquest of Chichen Itz by Hunac Ceel and his allies is without doubt one of the most interesting and puzzling episodes in Maya history. It might well be called the Trojan War of Yucatan, for tradition ascribes as its cause the theft of the wife of a powerful ruler by the chieftain of another great and famous city. As in the case of its classical counterpart, the immediate cause of the trouble may have been the abduction of the wife, but the struggle doubtless originated in political jealousies of long standing and the desire of one city to obtain control of economic resources previously enjoyed by another. From about the year 1000 A.D. the three cities of Chichen Itz, Mayapan and Uxmal had ruled over the rest of northern Yucatan, and there is evidence that the most powerful of them was Chichen Itz. 1 Then late in the Twelfth Century, Hunac Ceel, the ruler of Mayapan, organized a conspiracy against Chichen Itz, as the result of which he conquered the latter city aided by seven foreign Mexican captains and probably also by the people of Izamal. The consequences were far-reaching. Not only was there a permanent readjustment of the political forces of northern Yucatan by which the country was governed solely from Mayapan for the next two centuries and a half, but also it resulted in the migration of a considerable portion of the Itz nation to the distant region of Lake Peten in what is now the Republic of Guatemala. The outstanding personality of the episode was Hunac Ceel. 2 Although we do not know the details of his conspiracy, it is evident that he played a sinister part in the affair. Incomplete accounts of the event occur in the formal chronicles of the Books of Chilam Balam, and confused details are also contributed by the fragmentary historical narratives which are to be found in these manuscripts. The episode still remains a puzzle, because these details are given in a more or less incoherent form and it is difficult to determine the order in which they occurred. We have seen a number of references to the event in the present work, but the most complete account is to be found in the chronicle of the Book of Chilam Balam of Mani which is as follows: "In <Katun> 8 Ahau the halach-uinic, or head-chief, of Chichen Itz was driven out because of the treachery of Hunac Ceel; and this happened to Chac-xib-chac of Chichen Itz because of the treachery of Hunac Ceel, 3 the head-chief of Mayapan, the forp. 178
tress. Four score years and ten years; it was in Tun 10 of <Katun> 8 Ahau. That was the year when <Chichen Itz> was depopulated by Ah Zinteyut Chan, Tzuntecum, Taxcal, Pantemit, Xucheueut, Itzcuat and Kakaltecat. It was in this same Katun 8 Ahau that they went to drive out Ah Ulmil, the ruler, because of the banquet 1 with Ulil, the ruler of Itzmal. It was thirteen folds of katuns 2 when they were driven out by Hunac Ceel because of the giving of the questionnaire." 3 So far as we can tell from our present knowledge of Maya history, this appears to have been a struggle between two branches of the Itz nation, one of which was at Chichen Itz and the other at Mayapan. The Itz occupation of Chichen Itz in the Tenth Century is well known, and we learn from the Relaciones de Yucatan that "Izamal was conquered by Kak-u-pacal and Uilo, valorous captains of the Itz who were the people who founded Mayapan." 4 Moreover this was not the first conflict between these two Itz factions, for we have already seen in the third Chumayel chronicle that Chakanputun, the former home of the inhabitants of Chichen Itz, was depopulated by the same Kak-u-pacal and Uilo (or Uilu) in the Tenth Century A.D. 5 It has never been satisfactorily explained just who the Itz were. Although their connection with the history of Yucatan began at a very early period, the native literature always refers to them as a people apart. They were feared and hated, but at the same time regarded as holy men. They spoke the Maya language, but are called ah-nunob which means "those who speak our language brokenly." Their customs were certainly different from those of the rest of the people of northern Yucatan, for they are called rogues, people without fathers or mothers and people who are disobedient to their fathers and mothers. Indeed this last epithet was a very mild statement of the facts in the case, for Avendao tells us that they had the custom of beheading the older men when they passed the age of fifty, "so that they shall not learn to be wizards and to kill; except the priests of their idols, for whom they have great respect." 6 Of special interest is the part taken in the conquest of Chichen Itz by the seven men of Mayapan. Brinton has noted that their names have a Nahuatl appearance, which seems to confirm the statements of Landa and
Herrera that at one time the rulers of Mayapan brought in Mexican warriors from the province of Tabasco to assist them in controlling the Maya inhabitants of northern Yucatan. These were the people called Ah Canul who-later settled in the province of that name in western Yucatan after the fall of Mayapan. 1
In the second Chumayel chronicle we read: "then came the treachery of Hunac Ceel. Their town (Chichen Itz) was abandoned, and they went into the heart of the forest to Tan-xuluc-mul, as it is called." This is important, for Avendao locates this place near Lake Peten, around which the Itz were living at the time of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico and northern Yucatan. Here they maintained their independence until the close of the Seventeenth Century. They told Father Fuensalida, a Spanish missionary who visited them in 1618, that they had come there from Chichen Itz. According to their story, in a certain Katun 8 Ahau one of their rulers at Chichen Itz stole the bride of another more
powerful chieftain during the wedding festivities. Fearing the consequences of the act, the offender and his subjects abandoned their city and retired to Lake Peten. 2 The connection of this event with the Hunac Ceel episode is further confirmed by the historical fragment in the Book of Chilam Balam of Mani which tells of the same affair. Here it is stated that an unspecified person "sinned against Ah Ulil, the ruler <of Izamal>, against the wife of his fellow-ruler." 3 We conclude that it was the ruler of Izamal whose bride was stolen. Why it was Hunac Ceel and his Mexican captains who avenged the offense by the sack of Chichen Itz, and why the Maya chronicles ascribe the trouble to the treachery of Hunac Ceel, is a problem which the writer is unable to solve. It appears that the city of Izamal had another grievance against Chichen Itz, but the precise nature of it is uncertain. In the obscurely written historical fragment already cited we read that the son (or possibly the sons) of "holy Izamal" was given in tribute (or perhaps put under tribute) to feed and nourish Hapay Can. 4 We have seen in Chapter II of the present work that after the fall of Chichen Itz and the degradation of Chac-xib-chac Hapay Can was taken to Uxmal, where he was pierced by an arrow. 5Unfortunately we are nowhere told who or what Hapay Can was. The translation of the name is Sucking-snake. The Lacandons still believe in an evil spirit of this name who drew people to him with his breath and killed them. At the end of the world the chief god of the Lacandons will wear the body of Hapay Can around his waist as a belt. 6 The historical fragment cited above would imply
p. 180
that this fabulous serpent actually ate the son of the ruler of Izamal, but the writer would suggest the two following interpretations of the statement. Either Hapay Can was an idol at Chichen Itz to which the people of Izamal were sacrificed, or else it was the title of an important personage, perhaps a God Impersonator, at Chichen Itz who was maintained in state by tribute from Izamal. The latter alternative is favored by the statement that he was pierced by an arrow at Uxmal, which suggests a person, while the former is
Click to view FIG. 44--Human sacrifice scene. Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itz. (Restored by Ann Axtell Morris.)
supported by the mural fresco in the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itz, where we see the sacrifice of a human victim who lies stretched across one of the coils of a huge plumed serpent. 1 We can find no confirmation for the possibility that there was a sacred serpent at Chichen Itz which was actually fed with human victims.
In any case Chichen Itz was depopulated at this time, and the inhabitants fled to Tan-xuluc-mul in the region of Lake Peten. Evidently a considerable number of them did not remain permanently in the south, although no doubt many of them did. We have seen in the first Chumayel chronicle that about forty years later, it was in Katun "4 Ahau, when the land of Ich-paa
p. 181
Mayapan was seized by the Itz men who had been separated from their homes because of the people of Izamal and because of the treachery of Hunac Ceel." 1 This indicates that the inhabitants of Izamal also had a hand in driving out the people of Chichen Itz. After their return these Itz appear to have joined forces with their conquered enemies of Mayapan, for from that
Click to view FIG. 45--Typical Itz priest. Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itz. Drawing by Ann Axtell Morris.
time down to the fall of the latter city in the middle of the Fifteenth Century we find Mayapan enjoying the hegemony of all northern Yucatan. After the end of the Twelfth Century we hear nothing more of Chichen Itz as an important political power, but its sacred cenote continued to be a center of pilgrimage down to the time of the Spanish Conquest.
Footnotes
177:1 Relaciones de Yucatan, I, pp. 120, 147, 176, 200, 214, 225, 242 and 270. 177:2 The episode of the Sacrificial Cenote, recorded in Chapter II and discussed in Appendix B, shows that Hunac Ceel was an unusually bold and resourceful person. 177:3 This expression, u keban-than Hunac Ceel, can in the writer's opinion be translated only as the treachery or plot of Hunac Ceel. It has usually been translated as the plotting or treachery against Hunac
Ceel, although Brinton admits that the former rendering seems more correct (Brinton 1882, p. 129). 178:1 Maya, uahaluah. The writer agrees with Brinton and Martnez who have translated this as banquet. It must be admitted, however, that the word could also mean an abundance of bread. 178:2 This was thirteen katuns after the Itz were driven from Chakanputun. 178:3 Brinton 1882, p. 97. Cf. Chumayel p. 137, note 4. The writer believes this to be a reference to the questionnaire given in Chapter IX, the so-called naat. An alternative translation is possible: because they were so given to understand; but we are told that Chac-xib-chac was trampled upon, and this was one of the usual penalties for not being able to answer the questionnaire. Cf. Tizimin MS. pp. 22-23, also p. 93 of the present work. 178:4 Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 269. 178:5 Cf. p. 141. 178:6 Means 1917, p. 132. 179:1 Brinton 1882, p. 129; Landa 1928, p. 80; Herrera 1726, decad. 3, book 6, chap. 3. Cf. p. 66, note 11. 179:2 Cogolludo 1868, book 9, chap. 14; Villagutierre Soto Mayor 1701, p. 30. 179:3 Codex Perez, p. 120. "tumenel zipci ti Ah Ulil ti chuplal yatan yet-ahaulil." 179:4 Codex Perez, pp. 120-121; Tizimin, pp. 22-23. 179:5 Cf. p. 67. 179:6 Cf. p. 67, note 2: Tozzer 1907, p. 94. 180:1 Morris, Charlot and Morris 1931, Plate 145. See figure 44. Here, however, the serpent appears to be Kukulcan, and not Hapaycan. 181:1 Cf. p. 137.
Next: Appendix D: The Maya Prophecies
Chilam Balam: Appendices: Appendix D: The Maya Prophecies
p. 182
APPENDIX D
THE MAYA PROPHECIES
Prophecy played an important part in the lives of the Maya and occupied a prominent position in their literature. Nor was the Maya prophet without honor in his own country. Foretelling the future was the profession of a special branch of the priesthood, the members of which were called chilans. The word means mouthpiece, spokesman or interpreter, and it was the chilans who delivered to the people the responses of the gods. They were held in such high esteem that they were carried on men's shoulders when they went abroad. 1 In the Tizimin manuscript we find an account 2 of the manner in which Chilam Balam. gave his prophecy, and it is likely that it was the customary method with this class of priests. He retired to a room in his home where he lay prostrate 3 in a trance while the god or spirit, perched on the ridgepole of the house, spoke to the unconscious chilan below. Then the other priests assembled, probably in the reception hall of the house, and listened to the revelation with their faces bowed down to the floor. Broadly speaking, Maya prophecies fall into four classes: day-prophecies, year-prophecies, katun-prophecies and special prophecies of the return of Quetzalcoatl, or Kukulcan as he was called by the Maya. What we have termed the day-prophecy is more properly a prognostic, probably the business of the ah-kinyah, or diviner, rather than that of the chilan. Every one of the 260 days of the tzolkin, or tonalamatl, is specified as being lucky or unlucky, and many of them are followed by further prognostications telling whether the day is suitable for certain undertakings, lucky for certain professions and trades, auspicious for sowing certain crops, etc. These divinations are probably the scanty remnant of an extensive hieroglyphic literature exemplified by the numerous tzolkin series found in the Maya picture manuscripts. Although these almanacs are perhaps the most constant feature of the various Books of Chilam Balam, no series of this sort occurs in the Chumayel. The predictions for the years, however, fall definitely in the field of genuine prophecy. Two versions of the series of prophecies for the twenty years of a certain Katun 5 Ahau have come down to us in the books of Tizimin and Mani. The one in the latter manuscript is entitled "Cuceb," which means squirrel, for some unknown reason. It seems likely that these were originally the predictions corresponding to the twenty tuns of this katun, but the versions
p. 183
which we have, ascribed them to the Maya year, or haab, of 365 days, giving the name of the first day of each such year. As in the words of the minor Hebrew prophets, a surprisingly large proportion of the predictions are unfavorable. Drought, famine, pestilence are freely foretold, to say nothing of war, political upheavals, the sacking of towns and the captivity of the inhabitants. Many misfortunes are symbolized by the name of the deity which
Click to view FIG. 46--Typical Itz sorcerer. Temple of the Warriors, Chichen Itz. Drawing by Ann Axtell Morris. Taken from the colored fresco reproduced in Morris, Charlot and Morris 193T, Plate 156 c. This personage undoubtedly belongs to the highest priestly class, as he wears not only the hat with green plumes, but also the white robe of the priests of Kukulcan mentioned in the prophecies. For these reasons we are inclined to identify him with the chilan.
brought them, and there are valuable references to religious ceremonies. The latter, coming as they do from a purely native source, are of
especial importance, since practically all our knowledge of the Maya religion comes from the accounts of the Spanish missionaries who were obviously prejudiced. Of all the prophecies, those of the katuns possess the greatest historical interest. As the Maya commentator himself tells us on page 78 of the Chumayel, they are essentially historical in character. This appears to be because whatever has occurred in the past during a certain katun is expected to recur
p. 184
in the future during another katun of the same name. The katun was named for the day Ahau with its numerical coefficient on which the period ended. A katun of the same name recurred after approximately 256 years, consequently at the end of that time history was expected to repeat itself. The events recounted in the Maya Chronicles found in the Mani, Tizimin and Chumayel manuscripts offer excellent grounds for believing that this belief was so strong at times as to actually influence the course of history. A surprisingly large proportion of the important upheavals in Maya history appear to have occurred in some katun named either 4 Ahau or 8 Ahau. That the katun-prophecies written in European script in the Books of Chilam Balam correspond closely to their original form, is confirmed by the account of Father Avendao who drew his information from the actual hieroglyphic manuscripts of the independent Itz. The missionary's familiarity with such books and his ability to read and expound them to the Indians indicate that similar hieroglyphic manuscripts were still available for study in northern Yucatan during the last part of the Seventeenth Century, for the few days he spent at Tayasal certainly did not allow sufficient time to acquire the knowledge. Avendao's account explains so well the prophecies in the Books of Chilam Balam that it deserves to be given in full. It is as follows: "I told them that I wished to speak to them of the old manner of reckoning which they use, both of days, months and years and of the ages, and to find out what age the present one might be (since for them one age consists only of twenty years) and what prophecy there was about the said year and age; for it is all recorded in certain books of a quarter of a yard high and about five fingers broad, made of the bark of trees, folded from one side to the other like screens; each leaf of the thickness of a Mexican Real of eight. These are painted on both sides with a variety of figures and characters (of the same kind as the Mexican Indians also used in their old times), which shows not only the count of the said days, months and years, but also the ages and prophecies which their idols and images announced to them, or, to speak more accurately, the devil by means of the worship which they pay to him in the form of some stones. These ages are thirteen in number; each age has its separate idol and its priest, with a separate prophecy of its events. These thirteen ages are divided into thirteen parts, which divide this kingdom of Yucathan and each age, with its idol, priest and prophecy, rules in one of these thirteen parts of this land, according as they have divided it; I do not give the names of the idols, priests or parts of the land, so as not to cause trouble, although I have made a treatise 1 on these old counts with all their differences and explanations, so that they may be evident to all, and the curious may learn them, for if we do not know them, I affirm that the Indians can betray us face to face." 2
p. 185
We could hardly ask for a more accurate description of the katun-prophecies as we find them in the Books of Chilam Balam. About the only difference is that they are not written in hieroglyphics. All of them give the name of the katun, the place where it is "established" and a deity who is called "the face of the katun." The last named, however, is not described as an idol, but is said to be in the sky, or heavens. In the Chumayel and Tizimin manuscripts the prophecy is not accompanied by the name of its corresponding priest, but we find the names of these priests in the Books of Chilam Balam of Mani and Kaua. Of the prophecies themselves, more of them are unfavorable than favorable, but we do not find the complete pessimism which prevails in the year-prophecies. In the Books of Chilam Balam we find two different series of katun-prophecies, both covering the thirteen katuns which make up the "u kahlay katunob," i.e. the record of the katuns. They begin with Katun 11 Ahau, which is called the first katun because it commences with the day 1 Imix, the first day of the tzol-kin, or tonalamatl, and ends with Katun 13 Ahau. This period of thirteen katuns is the least common denominator of the 260 day tzol-kin and the katun which consists of 7200 days. The first of these two series is evidently the older, as it takes little account of the events which occurred after the Spanish Conquest, although it does mention the actual conquest. Also its language is somewhat more symbolic than that of the other. The second series of prophecies was probably compiled at some time later than the second decade of the Seventeenth Century, judging from some of the historical allusions which it contains. Most of these allusions, however, date from before the discovery of America. The second and later series of prophecies is completely recorded in the Chumayel, but of the first, only abbreviated versions of the
prophecies for Katuns 11, 4, 2 and 13 Ahau occur. The second series is complete in the Tizimin manuscript, which also contains the prophecies of the first series. In the Books of Chilam Balam of Mani, Oxcutzcab and Kaua only the thirteen prophecies of the first series are to be found. In both of these series of katun-prophecies the more ancient allusions are to the history of the Itz, so far as we are able to identify them. If Avendao was the only Spanish writer to concern himself with the katun-prophecies, such was not the case with the special prophecies which deal with the return of Quetzalcoatl. These aroused the interest of most of the early missionaries, since they were believed to foretell the coming of the Spaniards and the conversion of the Maya to Christianity. Lizana, Cogolludo and Villagutierre all published Spanish translations of five of these, and Lizana even went so far as to quote the Maya text. To anyone who knew them only through these Spanish translations, they would appear to be inspired by missionary propaganda; but an examination of the Maya text leads to a conviction
p. 186
of their genuine character, in spite of the fact that any mention of the name of Quetzalcoatl has been carefully deleted. This personage is, however, mentioned in the most obscure and guarded terms in a sixth prophecy by Chilam Balam found in the Chumayel, Tizimin and Mani manuscripts. 1 A seventh prophecy, also ascribed to Chilam Balam, is thoroughly pagan in character, but confines its statements to predicting misfortunes of a general character in Katun 13 Ahau. Its language is archaic, and it approaches more closely the European idea of poetry than anything else found in Maya literature. 2 Only in an eighth prophecy, ascribed to Ah Xupan Nauat, do we find a statement obviously inspired by the event itself. Here the arrival of the white men is foretold as occurring in the eighth year of Katun 13 Ahau. If Katun 13 Ahau began in 1519, this is altogether too accurate a prediction of Montejo's landing on the east coast of Yucatan in 1527 to be credited to a man said to have lived under Hun Uitzil Chac at Uxmal about the Eleventh Century A.D. 3 The five Maya prophets quoted by Lizana, Cogolludo and Villagutierre were Ah Kauil Chel, Napuctun, Natzin Yabun Chan, Nahau Pech and Chilam Balam It is possible that the first two were contemporaries of Ah Xupan Nauat, as the three names appear to be associated. Nothing is known of Natzin Yabun Chan to the translator. Nahau Pech is believed to have lived about four katuns, or eighty years, before the coming of the whites, which would be about the time of the fall of Mayapan. He was probably a member of the powerful Pech family which governed the Province of Ceh Pech at the time of the Conquest. The last and greatest of the Maya prophets was Chilam Balam. Balam in this case was probably the man's family name, and as among ourselves the name of his profession was prefixed to it as a title.
p. 187
Chilam Balam lived at Mani during the reign of Mochan Xiu. 1 In Katun 2 Ahau 2 he predicted that in the Katun 13 Ahau following, bearded men would come from the east and introduce a new religion. His prophecy was somewhat more definite than those of his predecessors, except for the suspicious case already mentioned. This can be accounted for by rumors of the arrival of the Spaniards in the West Indies, for we know that fishing canoes were occasionally driven across to Yucatan by storms. 3 What Chilam Balam had in mind was the return of Quetzalcoatl and his white-robed priests, but after the Spaniards landed in Yucatan in Katun 13 Ahau according to schedule, he never ceased to be regarded as the most famous of the Maya prophets. We have associated five of these six prophets with the provinces governed by the Xiu, Pech and Chel families. It is worthy of note that Montejo and his soldiers received a more friendly reception in these three provinces than in any other part of Yucatan. The following table will be useful to the student who wishes to make a comparison of the various versions of the prophecies found in the Books of Chilam Balam. 4
Chumayel reproduction pp. Year-prophecies Katun-prophecies, 1st series 13, 72-74
Mani (in Codex Perez) pp. 101-114 75-90
Oxkutzcab (in Codex Perez) pp.
Tizimin
pp. 1-13
153-165
20, 23-29, 36
Katun-prophecies, 2d series Special prophecies of the return of Kukulcan and of a new religion Special prophecy of Chilam Balam in which the Antonio Martinez story is interpolated
83-100 103-107 70-75 166-170
29-33 17-18
64-67
65-69
13-16
Footnotes
182:1 Landa 1928, p. 192. The content of their prophecies indicates that they continued to carry on the Mexican traditions of the Itz. 182:2 Chilam Balam of Tizimin, pp. 13, 14. 182:3 This is a Maya pun; chil-cabal means stretched out prostrate on the ground. 184:1 Entitled "Explicacin de varios vaticinios de los antiguos Indios de Yucatan." MS. Listed in Eguiara's Biblioteca Mexicana. This interesting work by Avendao has disappeared. 184:2 Means 1917, p. 141. 186:1 Chumayel p. 64; Tizimin p. 14; Mani p. 109 of B.L.C. No. 43. 186:2 Tizimin p. 19. This is the prophecy translated in part by Brinton (1882, p. 126) as follows: "Eat, eat, thou hast bread; Drink, drink, thou hast water; On that day, dust possesses the earth, On that day, a blight is on the face of the earth, On that day, a cloud rises, On that day, a mountain rises, On that day, a strong man seizes the land, On that day, things fall to ruin, On that day, the tender leaf is destroyed, On that day, the dying eyes are closed, On that day, three signs are on the tree, On that day, three generations hang there, On that day, the battle flag is raised, And they are scattered afar in the forests." 186:3 Mani apud B.L.C. No. 43, p. 116. The prophet is identified in Tizimin, p. 13. 187:1 Relaciones de Yucatan, 1, p. 45. 187:2 Chilam Balam of Tizimin, page 36. Katun 2 Ahau- covered approximately the first two decades of the Sixteenth Century. 187:3 Herrera 1725, 11, p. 121. Dec. 2, Book 4, Chap. 4.
187:4 The prognostics for the days are not really prophecies in the same sense as the above and are not listed in this table.
Next: Appendix E: Traditions of Caste and Chieftainship Among the Maya
Chilam Balam: Appendices: Appendix E: Traditions of Caste and Chieftainship Among the Maya
p. 188
APPENDIX E
TRADITIONS OF CASTE AND CHIEFTAINSHIP AMONG THE MAYA
Although chieftainship in Yucatan was not always hereditary in the strictest sense of the word, it was only considered legitimate when confined to certain families, and a proper rank was most essential. Apparently it was not necessary to have established this social position in the particular locality in question, for after the fall of Mayapan about the middle of the Fifteenth Century when the Ah Canuls, the so-called Mexican mercenaries at the capital, were allowed to settle in western Yucatan, they were promptly accepted as chiefs by the people living in that region. As we are told in the Calkini chronicle, "they were not pretenders to chieftainship nor were they provokers of discord." They were legitimate chiefs, even though they had been driven by revolution from the capital which had been their home for centuries. So "they began to love the towns and the local chiefs, and they were also loved by the towns there where my great ancestor governed men." 1 Maya society, broadly speaking, was divided into two classes, nobles and commoners. The former were called almehen, and the latter, mazeual. Al designates the son of a woman and mehen a man's son. Consequently the word almehen means one who had a father and a mother, both presumably persons of distinction. Oddly enough, the term parallels its Spanish equivalent, hidalgo, which is the abbreviation of hijo de algo, the son of somebody. Mazeual was a foreign word borrowed from the Toltec intruders into Yucatan. In the Nahuatl language as well as in Maya it meant the ordinary agricultural laborer who was not eligible to political office. The Maya language itself bears frequent evidence of static social conditions in spite of wars and political revolutions. For example, pic-acab (literally innumerable generations) is defined in the Sixteenth Century Motul Dictionary as: "by inheritance from one's ancestors, by caste, by lineage, by family or from far back." An example is given which is translated: "By caste, by lineage, by inheritance from his ancestors or from far back, the chieftainship comes to Juan, or he comes to be a farmer," etc. 2 So in spite of certain communistic aspects of Maya society, it was anything but democratic. From the time of the fall of Mayapan down to the Spanish Conquest we find two classes of chieftains in Yucatan, the halach-uinic and the batab. The former, literally the real man, was the governor, or headchief, of a district, and the latter was the local municipal executive officer. Halach-uinic has usually been translated as governor and batab as cacique or chief. The objection
p. 189
to calling the former a governor is that in Spanish colonial times the local batab was given the title of Gobernador and frequently appears as such in official documents. After the Conquest of course the native office of halach-uinic disappeared. Consequently in the present work batab has been rendered as "chief" and halach-uinic, as "head-chief." There was probably also a religious aspect to the office of halach-uinic judging by the definition of the term given by the Motul Dictionary: "Obispo, oydor, governador, o comissario; es nombre para estas dignidades y otras semejantes." Another term, ahau, was applied to some of the head-chiefs of the various territorial divisions of Yucatan. In the present work this has been translated as "ruler," although we can not be certain as to just what it implied. The Motul Dictionary defines ahau as "king, emperor, monarch, prince or great lord," and in colonial times it was the Maya title of the King of Spain. We know that before the Conquest the head-chiefs of three of the so-called provinces 1 were called Ahau Pech, Ahau Chel and Ahau Cocom. 2 Strangely enough we nowhere find the title, Ahau, given to any of the Xiu rulers, the halach-uinics 3 of the Province of Mani, although they seem to have been the most powerful in Yucatan at the time of the Spanish Conquest. In some provinces there may have been more than one head-chief, 4 while in others we find only a loose confederation of local batabs. 5 Landa would have us believe that the office of head-chief was hereditary. "If when the lord died there were no sons <old enough> to rule and if he had brothers, the eldest of the brothers governed or else the one who was most at liberty <to do so>. These instructed the heir in their usages and festivals in view of the time when he should become a man; and even when the heir was <old enough> to govern, these brothers continued in command all during their lives. If there were no brothers, the priests and leading people chose a man who was capable." 6 It is difficult to reconcile this account with what we find to have been the actual practise. In that unique document, the Xiu family tree, 7 which covers the period from the destruction of Mayapan down to the Spanish Conquest, we find that during the last two generations the office of halach-uinic passed through two different branches of the Xiu family, and not from father to son nor even from brother to brother. We know that the grandfather of the famous interpreter, Gaspar Antonio Chi, was the Xiu halach-uinic who was murdered at Otzmal by Nachi Cocom; and he appears in the Xiu family tree as Ah ulub Xiu, although he was also known as Ah
un Xiu. 1 He had two sons and two younger brothers, one of whom survived him, but his successor, christened Francisco de Montejo Xiu, was the second son of his second cousin, Ah Ziyah Xiu, who also met his death at Otzmal.
The head-chief of the Province of Ceh Pech always belonged to the Pech family, and in Ah Kin Chel the Chel family governed. In Zotuta the Cocom family was supreme, while in the Provinces of the Cupuls and of Cochuah we find members of the Cupul and Cochuah families in power. In addition to being noble, such families enjoyed the further distinction of being called "the first lineage" in the provinces in which they were supreme. In Ceh Pech, for example, Nakuk Pech referred to himself and his relatives as belonging to the "first lineage," 2 and the families of the head-chief s of other provinces probably enjoyed a similar distinction. We can not be certain of the method employed for determining the
succession among the various members of the family when the halach-uinic died. It may have been hereditary, as explained by Landa, in some families, while in others it was probably a matter of personal prestige. So far as we can learn, the powers of the halach-uinic appear to have been very broad. Certainly he took the lead in formulating both foreign and domestic policy, but we get the general impression that he had an advisory council composed of the more important batabs and priests. The towns of his territory paid him tribute in the form of grain, fowls, honey, game, cotton cloth, precious stones and sometimes even slaves. We find no mention of gold in this connection, probably because gold was not produced in Yucatan. The tribute does not seem to have been onerous, and under the Xius of Mani it is said to have been very light, little more than a matter of form in fact. In time of war it was obligatory for each town to furnish the quota of fighting men demanded by the head-chief. The maritime provinces often fought to prevent outsiders from fishing or gathering salt on their coasts, and there were many petty wars over boundary disputes. 3 "The lords were absolute in command, and what they ordered was carried out without fail. They had in the towns caciques <batabs> or a person of rank 4 to listen to lawsuits and public demands. He received the litigants or negotiators, and when the case was heard, if the matter was a serious one, he discussed it with the lord. To settle it, other officials were appointed who were like lawyers and alguaciles, 5 and they always took part in the presence of the judges. The latter and the lords could receive gratuities from both parties." 6
p. 191
In some cases the halach-uinic himself acted as judge. 1 The batab, or local chief, was appointed by the halach-uinic, 2 who frequently gave the position to one of his own family connections. Other noble families were by no means excluded, but we find a considerable proportion of the local chiefs belonging to the "first lineage" in the Provinces of Ceh Pech, Zotuta and Cupul. Landa tells us that at the death of the batab his son was appointed in his place by the head-chief, 3 if he was found suitable for the position. Nevertheless we also find the capable sons of local chiefs appointed to govern other towns during their fathers' lifetime. 4 The batab was the local magistrate and executive. He took an important part in the conduct of war, 5 although there was also a war-chief called the nacom. 6 The batab's power could hardly have been arbitrary, for he was subject to influence and probably even pressure at times from three different quarters. Certainly he had to carry out the orders of the halach-uinic who had appointed him. Then he was obliged to cooperate with the local priest, who was the diviner and prophet and "whom they (the people) obeyed, though not so much as they did the batabs." 7 Furthermore we learn that he had two or three advisers called ah-cuch-cab who could veto his decisions in the village council. 8 It is probable that these last represented the interests of the wealthier members of the community. As a matter of practise these things did not always work out according to rule. Sometimes the batab was in a position
where he could afford to pay little attention to the halach-uinic, as in some parts of the Province of the Cupuls, and in other cases he was able to override the objections of the town-council. His government was decidedly of a paternal character. Besides presiding at the local council and holding court, he also gave directions for repairing the houses of individual citizens as well as the municipal buildings, preparing the fields for cultivation and planting crops at such times as the priest declared proper. 9 As to the remuneration of the batabs, we are told that "they did not pay them any tribute; they only supported them from what they manufactured and sowed." 10 This information is supplemented by the decrees of the Spanish governors of Yucatan in confirmation of certain old rights and privileges granted in perpetuity to a number of native families whose members had aided in the Conquest and reorganization of the country. Adjoining the town
p. 192
of Oxkutzcab was a village called Yaxa, the chief of which was favored by such a grant. In the year 1608 we find the official Protector of the Indians petitioning the Governor to confirm the rights of Don Pedro Xiu, a descendant of the original grantee. The grant compelled local gobernador and alcaldes of Yaxa to see to it that the village cultivated each year a cornfield for the support of Don Pedro Xiu and his wife, supplied each week a man and a woman for domestic service, and repaired the buildings comprising the Xiu residence as often as it might be needed. 1 The measure was a wise one on the part of the Spanish government, calculated to preserve the loyalty of the more influential Maya families, and it continued in force down to the end of the colonial period. New light is cast on the traditions of caste and chieftainship among the Maya by the chapter in the Chumayel which the translator has entitled "The Interrogation of the Chiefs." This formality took place at the beginning of each katun 2 and was a sort of civil service examination conducted by the halachuinic with the object of weeding out from the ranks of legitimate chieftainship the upstarts, pretenders and those who had obtained office under false pretenses. Many of the prescribed questions and answers are trivial, and the questionnaire which has come down to us contains references to horses, which shows us that it had been altered a little to correspond to the new conditions since the Spanish Conquest. Nevertheless three important facts are brought out in this chapter. The first is that there was a firmly established tradition of such an examination; the second, that the proof of legitimacy was considered to be certain knowledge supposed to have been handed down from father to son in families eligible to chieftainship; the third, that this occult knowledge was known as the "language of Zuyua." The name Zuyua is inseparably connected with the Toltec penetration of Yucatan, which left a number of Nahuatl words in the Maya language. Many such words are those associated with ideas of political power and social standing. The Xius believed that they had come from a place called West Zuyua, 3 and Brinton has identified Zuyua with the Mexican Zuiven, "the name of the uppermost heaven, the abode of the Creator, Hometecutli, the father of Quetzalcoatl, and the place of his first birth as a divinity." 4 The foregoing indicates that only members of those families in which certain Toltec traditions had been
handed down were eligible to chieftainship. It is uncertain whether such families were actually of Mexican descent, but confirmation of the long-standing Nahua affiliations of the ruling families is found in Landa's account of the annual festival in honor of Kukulcan, or Quetzalcoatl, at Mani, the capital of the Province of the Xius. This festival
p. 193
had been celebrated at Mayapan until the destruction of that city, and it was peculiarly the affair of the chiefs and priests who had assembled from the various parts of the country. 1 The other provinces contributed each year in turn four or five feather banners which played an important part in the ceremonies, and the various halach-uinics, so frequently at war with one another, appear for the time being to have forgotten their feuds and enmities. During the last five days of the month of Xul everything was as it had been when the entire country was united under the rule of Mayapan. To account for these Toltec traditions among the ruling families we must go back to the time of the introduction of the worship of Kukulcan into Yucatan. The identity of the Maya Kukulcan with the Mexican Quetzalcoatl and the Mexican origin of the worship of this culture-hero have been well established. 2 If a foreign religion was introduced into the country from Mexico, we should first look for the families of the descendants of the people who introduced it, although, of course, it does not necessarily follow that any of them survived. In this connection our attention is drawn first to the Xiu family in whose capital we have seen the festival for Kukulcan still being celebrated down to the time of the Spanish Conquest. We have already noted that they themselves believed that they had come from a place called West Zuyua, a name derived from Mexican mythology. Landa tells us that when they arrived in Yucatan, their only weapon was the dart and throwing-stick, 3 or atlatl, which points strongly to a Nahua origin. Elsewhere we read of the town of Mama near Mani that "they were subject to a lord whom they called Tutul Xiu, a Mexican name, who, they say, was a foreigner. He came from the west, and having come to this province the leading people raised him with common consent to be their king." 4 If further confirmation of the Mexican origin of this family were needed, we might cite the Xiu family tree, 5 according to which two members of the family have the name or title of Ah Cuat Xiu. Cuat is simply another form of the Nahuatl coatl which means serpent. If we search for Nahuatl names or titles among the other leading families of Yucatan, we find mention three times in the Chronicle of Nakuk Pech of the name, Ah Cuat Cocom, 6 he may have been related to Nachi Cocom who
p. 194
was the halach-uinic at Zotuta. The Cocom family was at one time the most powerful in Yucatan, and even after the destruction of Mayapan they continued to play an important part in the history of the country. Their history goes back to the founding of Mayapan in the Tenth Century A.D. Of this city
Landa tells us that after settling Chichen Itz-"Kukulcan again founded another city by arrangement with the native lords of the land, in which he and they should live and where all the affairs and business should be conducted ... and they surrounded it with a very broad wall of dry stone of about half a quarter of a league, leaving only two narrow gates. The wall was not very high. Within this they constructed their temples ... and the houses for the lords, among whom he divided the entire country, giving towns to each according to the antiquity of his lineage and his personal importance. Kukulcan ... called it Mayapan, which means the standard of the Maya . . . "This Kukulcan lived with the lords for some years in that city, and leaving them in all peace and friendship he returned by the same road to Mexico ... After the departure of Kukulcan the lords agreed in order to perpetuate the government that the house of the Cocoms should have the chief command, either because it was the oldest or richest, or because its head was at that time the most valorous man." 1 In one of the Mexican sources we read that-"The people of Yucatan venerated and reverenced this God, Quetzalcoatl, and called him Kulkulcan, and said he arrived there from the west ... They said of him that from him descended the Kings of Yucatan whom they call Cocoms, which means Oidores." 2 Descent from a Nahua culture-hero would be ascribed to a Mexican family rather than to one of Maya origin. A third important Toltec family, probably a later arrival than the Xius and Cocoms, was that of the Ah Canuls, the so-called Mexican mercenaries 3 whom we have already discussed. Consequently the joint government at Mayapan appears to have consisted of two rival Mexican factions, Cocoms and Xius, 4 the former being supported by a third element of similar origin, the Ah Canuls. By the time of the fall of Mayapan, however, they were probably Mexican only by tradition, for the Spanish conquerors found them speaking only Maya some sixty years later. A question arises as to the origin of the other ruling families of the various provinces, such as the Pechs, Chels, Cupuls and Cochuahs, to mention only those of whose hereditary standing we have some information. At some unspecified time, probably after the destruction of Mayapan, a certain Noh-cabal
p. 195
Pech established his capital at Motul, and we are told that he was "a near relative of the great lord at Mayapan." 1 The Chel family was descended from Mo-Chel, the noble son-in-law of one of the principal priests at Mayapan. He is said to have foreseen the destruction of the capital, and he fled with some followers to Tecoh near Izamal, where he established an independent state, taking the title of
Ah Kin (the priest) Chel. 2 We know little of the history of the others, but their status as independent rulers dated only from the fall of Mayapan about the middle of the Fifteenth Century. No doubt most of those who were not of Toltec origin were descended from the old Yucatecan ruling class, of whom we have practically no knowledge. There were, however, other intruders into the country besides the Toltecs. Both in the proper names and in the vocabulary of Yucatan we find distinct traces of people from the south who spoke a language very similar to what we know of the Chol. This is one of the other languages of the great Maya stock, and while it much resembles the Maya of Yucatan in some respects, it has a different consonantal system. At least two Maya families 3 had such foreign names, and there were probably others. During the hegemony of Mayapan these "lords" lived at the capital and each governed his own district from there. Their residences were within the walled enclosure, but outside the walls each head-chief had a house where petitioners from his own district were received when they came to the capital. This house was in charge of a personal representative called the caluac who made requisitions on the towns of the district for food, clothing and anything else needed for the maintenance of the household of his master. 4 A comparison of the Maya sources cited in this paper with Zurita's account 5 of the political institutions of Mexico leads to the conclusion that the central government at Mayapan corresponded in many respects to the Nahua pattern. At the time of the revolution which destroyed the city we are told that "the halach-uinic Tutul <Xiu> departed with the chiefs of the town and of the four districts or divisions of the town," 6 and we are reminded of the four main divisions of the Aztec and Tlaxcalan states. The four chiefs of these divisions were especially concerned with the distribution of tribute from subject peoples, and we find an echo of this function in the present work when we read: "At Tikuch arrived the tribute of the four men." 7 The resemblance is less apparent in the local government of the Yucatecan towns and villages. Here the administration of the batab, assisted by the ah-cuch-cags and ah-kulels probably followed the ancient traditions of Yucatan.
Footnotes
188:1 Crnica de Calkini, pp. 13, 14. 188:2 Maya: "Pic-acab u talel Juan ti batabil, tah colil," etc. This explains the importance of genealogy among the Maya. Cf. Landa 1928, p. 168, and page 89 of the present work. 189:1 After the fall of Mayapan these so-called provinces, or cacicazgos, were really independent states. 189:2 Chronicle of Nakuk Pech (Brinton 1882, p. 195). 189:3 The English plural form has been applied to Maya terms here. The Maya plural would really be
halach-uinicob. 189:4 Relaciones de Yucatan, II, pp. 23, 53, 150. 189:5 Ibid., II, p. 104; also Crnica de Calkini. 189:6 Landa 1928, pp. 170-172. This resembles the rules of succession among the Nahuas of Mexico. Cf. Zurita 1891, pp. 79-80. 189:7 Crnica de Oxkutzcab, pp. 8, 9; Blom 1928, p. 258. 190:1 Morley 1920, pp. 478, 507; Blom 1928, p. 254. 190:2 Maya, yax chibal. Brinton 1882, p. 201. 190:3 Relaciones de Yucatan, I and II. 190:4 Maya, hol-pop (he who sits at the head of the mat). Cf. Relaciones de Yucatan, I, pp. 90, 95. 190:5 Probably the ah-kulel. These are defined as "advocates, mediators between any people" (Motul). 190:6 Cogolludo 1868, Bk. IV, Chap. 3. 191:1 Cogolludo 1868, Bk. IV, Chap. 4; Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 227. 191:2 Chronicle of Nakuk Pech. Brinton 1882, p. 216. 191:3 Landa 1928, p. 72. 191:4 Chronicle of Nakuk Pech. Brinton 1882, pp. 216-241; Xiu family tree, Crnica de Oxkutzcab, pp. 8, 9. 191:5 Relaciones de Yucatan, II, p. 208. 191:6 Ibid., II, pp. 185 and 209; Landa 1928, p. 206. 191:7 Relaciones de Yucatan, II, p. 182.
191:8 Ibid., II, pp. 104, 182, 211. 191:9 Ibid., I, p. 80, 11, p. 210. 191:10 Ibid., II, pp. 103-104. 192:1 Crnica de Oxkutzcab, pp. 15-16. 192:2 The katun was a chronological period of 7200 days, approximately twenty years. 192:3 Brinton 1882, p. 95. 192:4 Ibid., p. 110. 193:1 Landa 1929, pp. 60-62. 193:2 Seler (1902, p. 674) has assembled and correlated the evidence on this point. The first Spanish settlers in Yucatan also tell us: "It is the opinion among the Indians that with the Itz who settled at Chichen Itz there came a great lord named Kukulcan . . . And they say that he entered <the country> from the western side . . . and that after his return he was held in Mexico to be one of their gods and called Quetzalcoatl; in Yucatan they also consider him to be a god because of his great public spirit" (Landa 1928, pp. 62-64). 193:3 Landa 1928, p. 14. 193:4 Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 161. 193:5 Crnica de Oxkutzcab, pp. 8, 9. 193:6 Brinton 1882, p. 237. 194:1 Landa 1928, pp. 64-70. This legend is colored in some respects by the later hegemony of Mayapan over all northern Yucatan. It is probable that prior to 1200 A.D. Chichen Itz was the more powerful of the two cities. Cf. Appendix C. 194:2 Torquemada 1723, II, p. 52. The translation is an excellent one, for cocom could well be an archaic participial form meaning "one who listens with attention." 194:3 Landa 1928, p. 80.
194:4 Ciudad Real 1873, II, p. 470. 195:1 Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 78. 195:2 Landa 1928, p. 88: Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 193. 195:3 Chan and Te. Berendt MS. 195:4 Landa 1928, pp. 70-72. 195:5 Zurita 1891. 195:6 p. 142. 195:7 p. 74.
Next: Appendix F: Toltec Military Orders in Yucatan
Chilam Balam: Appendices: Appendix F: Toltec Military Orders in Yucatan
p. 196
APPENDIX F
TOLTEC MILITARY ORDERS IN YUCATAN
In the prophetic literature of the Maya we find the names of certain animals mentioned in such manner as to suggest that they stand as the symbols for something else and that the reference is not to the actual animals. For example, we read: "There shall be no fox 1 to bite them," 2 "there shall be neither fox nor kinkajou that will bite," 3 "there shall be neither fox, puma nor weasel: there shall be none that bite. The claws of the puma shall be drawn; the claws of the jaguar shall be drawn." 4 "The time shall come when the burrowing opossum 5 and the jaguar 6 shall bite one another." 7 At first sight it seems strange to find the comparatively harmless fox, kinkajou, weasel and opossum classed with the jaguar and puma. We can not but suspect that these fauna-names are referable to certain persons and that the prophecies tell of a time when the people will be freed of the presence of these unwelcome individuals. Indeed, a further examination of the related material confirms this conjecture. In the Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin we read: "At the time <of the year> 3 Kan the spots shall be removed from the red jaguars, the white jaguars. 8 The claws and teeth shall be drawn from the jaguars 9 of the Itz." 10 We find further indications of the significance of these names of animals in the following passages: "There is no kinkajou, there is no fox, there is no weasel to suck men's blood; there are no pernicious rulers." 11 "The rulers shall be cut off, when the claws of the eagle 12 are cut, when the backs of the kinkajou
p. 197
and the fox are clawed and torn" 1 "Then the burrowing opossums who are greedy for dominion shall bite one another." 2 For Katun 12 Ahau, a period of good fortune, the prophecy states: "The burrowing opossum shall flee. He shall give up his delegated mat 3 and throne, and he shall go out into the wilderness. Men shall be happy; things shall go well in the towns." 4 From this we infer that these animals represent certain persons in authority, and such a conclusion is amply confirmed by the following passage: "In the ninth year of Katun 6 Ahau the puma (coh) and the jaguar (balam) claw one another's backs. The puma (coh) is a leon. 5 These are the head-chiefs (halach-uinicob)." 6 We have already seen how the central organization at Mayapan may be traced to a Toltec origin and followed to a certain extent the example of the Nahua institutions of the highlands of Mexico. It has also been noted that this foreign political structure was superimposed upon a form of local government that was probably indigenous. 7 We may therefore turn to the history of the Nahua peoples of Mexico for an explanation of some symbols connected with the higher ranks of the rulers in Yucatan. Landa has given us to understand that with the exception of the Cocoms and Xius who ruled at Mayapan, the so-called "lords" possessed delegated powers only, and that it was only after the fall of that city that these halach-uinics became the real rulers of the various independent states into which the Spaniards found the country divided at the time of their arrival. 8 We have also noted in one of the prophecies just quoted that the "burrowing opossum" is to "give up his delegated mat and throne," or in other words, his authority. Consequently it seems permissible to draw an analogy between the halach-uinics symbolized by these animals and the tecuhtli, or so-called "lords," of the Nahua peoples of Mexico. Seler has convincingly shown that the Mexican "king" delegated many of his functions to these men, and that the institution reached its highest development when the latter were set to supervising the collection of tribute and enforcing other rights which their own state had acquired over a conquered people. 9 Such would also be the case in Yucatan where the Toltec conquerors appear to have actually settled in the country and maintained their power for a long time in spite of the fact that they could never have formed more than a very small proportion of the population.
p. 198
Seler goes on to quote from the unpublished Sahagun manuscript a list of mantles worn by persons of high rank in Mexico. A number of these are described as representing the skins of animals which we have seen mentioned in the Maya prophecies, such as the jaguar, kinkajou,
puma, wild-cat and coyote. 1 From the same source and from the Mexican picture-manuscripts he gives descriptions and illustrations of warrior-costumes representing coyotes and jaguars. 2 He believes that what he calls "royal rank" among the Mexicans went back in the first instance to Quetzalcoatl and the Toltec dynasty, 3 and we have already seen how Landa traces the authority of the "lords" of Yucatan back to the same source. 4
FIG. 47--Temple of the Warriors frescos: a, coyote-fox; 5 b, eagle. (After Ann Axtell Morris.)
If we are right in ascribing a Mexican origin to a large part of the symbolism discussed here, it is to the architectural remains of the Toltec occupation of Yucatan that we should look for archological confirmation. The jaguar, it is true, appears frequently in the older Maya art, indeed it goes back to some of the earliest monuments; but before the appearance of an intrusive Nahua culture in Yucatan this animal is always connected with the priesthood. Only in the Toltec temples do we begin to find it a symbol of the warrior class, as in the reliefs of the Temple of the Tigers and the platform just to the east of it at Chichen Itz. It is in the reliefs and frescos of that masterpiece of Maya-Toltec architecture, the Temple of the Warriors, that we find the most striking illustration of the animals symbolizing the Nahua warrior-chieftains who once ruled over Yucatan. Many of them bear human hearts in their claws, suggesting that the warriors whom they represent captured victims for human
p. 199
sacrifice. Here we see the puma, 1 the jaguar 2, the coyote or fox 3 and the eagle. 4 Although we have but little data on which to base an estimate of the age of the Toltec remains at Chichen Itz, it seems probable that the political hegemony of this city preceded that of Mayapan. 5 Consequently we can hardly expect too close a correspondence between the references in the Books of Chilam Balam and the sculptures at Chichen Itz. The Maya writers of the Spanish colonial period would have a much more vivid recollection of the hegemony of Mayapan which ended about the middle of the Fifteenth Century. Among the Mexicans the jaguar was the strong and brave animal par excellence, the companion of the eagle. Indeed "Eagle and Jaguar" was the conventional designation of brave warriors. 6 The coyote was regarded in a two-fold aspect. He was the god of singing and dancing, but as a beast of prey he was also a symbol of the warrior. Certain outstanding warriors appeared both at dances and in battle clothed in a garment representing the coyote. 7 If it seems a little strange to find the coyote serving as a symbol of bravery, we can not but feel that a considerable stretch of the imagination was required to consider the kinkajou in the same light. And yet such was the case. Whether alone, or associated with the hawk, the kinkajou was, next to the eagle and jaguar, regarded as one of the bravest and strongest animals and the symbol of the bold warrior. 8 "Hawk and Kinkajou" are often mentioned in the Mexican myths and stories along with the "Eagle and Jaguar." 9 The weasel (Maya zabin or sabim) seems a more appropriate animal in this connection than either the coyote or kinkajou. Its association with ideas pertaining to military affairs is shown by certain expressions found in the Motul dictionary. "Zabim-be, ah-zabim-be: a look-out, sentinel and spy, when no battle-line has been formed; also to keep a look-out." "Zabin-katun: look-out
p. 200
or sentinel, when the battle-line has been formed, and to keep a look-out in this manner." Literally, zabim-be means the weasel of the road
and zabin-katun, the weasel of the army. No portrayal of this animal has yet been found and identified. This leaves the so-called "burrowing opossum" to be accounted for. It must be confessed that neither in Maya nor Mexican art have we found the opossum playing the rle assigned to him in the Books of Chilam Balam. Frequently depicted in the Mexican picture-manuscripts, the animal appears as
FIG. 48--Jaguar. Relief-carving at Chichen Itz.
lord of the lower regions or as the associate of certain gods. In the Maya Dresden Codex he is dressed as a dancer and brings on his back the Regent of the New Year. 1 Nowhere do we find him associated with either war or chieftainship except in the Books of Chilam Balam. The frequent mention of these various animals in the Books of Chilam. Balam is therefore of unusual interest. Although the meaning of the jaguars and eagles at Chichen Itz has long been known, we should be tempted to ascribe a religious or mythological significance to the other animals found in the reliefs and frescos of that city, if it were not for the information contained in these manuscripts. As it is, they take on the character of historical and political figures.
Footnotes
196:1 Maya, chamac, a term applied in northern Yucatan to the Grey Fox, Urocyon cinereo-argenteus fraterculus Elliot, identified by Goldman and Gaumer. The same name appears to be given to the coyote in some part of the Maya speaking area where the latter exists. Cf. Roys 1931, p. 331. 196:2 Chumayel, p. 125. 196:3 Maya, cab-coh, literally honey-puma, called oso melero in Spanish and identified by Goldman and Gaumer as the Aztec Kinkajou, Potas flavus aztecus Thomas. Cf. Roys 1931, p. 329. The quotation is from Chumayel, p. 159. 196:4 Tizimin p. 26; Mani (Codex Perez) p. 80. Coh is the puma, Felis concolor L., and zabin is the weasel, Mustela tropicalis Merriam. Cf. Roys 1931, pp. 330, 342. 196:5 Maya, holil-och, identified by Gaumer as Marmosa gaumeri Osgood, spec. nov. Cf. Roys 1931, p. 333. 196:6 Maya, chat-bolay, identified by Goldman as Hernandez's Jaguar, Felis hernandesii goldmani Mearns, and called tigre in Spanish. Pio Perez (1866-77) defines it as "el leoncillo" and Pacheco Cruz (1919, p. 14), as "tigrillo." Balam is the usual Maya word for jaguar.
196:7 Tizimin, p. 3. 196:8 Maya, chac-bob, zac-bob. Bobil-che was a general term for the tigre, or jaguar (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 169). It is possible that smaller felines like the margay were also included by the term. 196:9 Maya, bal<a>mil. 196:10 Tizimin, p. 10. 196:11 Mani (Codex Perez), p. 80. 196:12 Maya, chuyum-thul (literally, that which holds a rabbit suspended) is defined by the Motul dictionary, Spanish-Maya portion as "Aguila o especie della, ave de rapina." In present-day Maya the word means both an eagle and a large hawk (Pacheco Cruz, 1919, p. 62,) and elsewhere we find the term defined as a hawk, osprey or kite (Motul, Maya-Spanish portion). Another word, coot is variously defined as the red eagle and the black eagle. 197:1 Tizimin, p. 32. 197:2 Ibid., p. 25. 197:3 The mat, like the throne, was a symbol of authority. Cf. p. 92, note 3. 197:4 Tizimin, p. 26. 197:5 In many parts of Spanish America the puma is called leon. 197:6 Mani (Codex Perez), p. 72. 197:7 Cf. Appendix E. 197:8 Landa 1928, pp. 70-72. 197:9 Altmexikanischer Schmuck und soziale und militrische Rangabzeichen, Seler 1904, pp. 509-619. 198:1 Ibid., p. 518. 198:2 Ibid., pp. 558-560. 198:3 Ibid., p. 510. 198:4 Cf. Appendix E. 198:5 Mrs. Morris notes that this animal wears the blue necklace common to the human warrior and considers it to be a composite bear and coyote, identifying it with a short-tailed long-haired animal which appears frequently in the sculptured frieze of the same temple. As the coyote would be known only from hearsay at Chichen Itz, we might expect a less realistic treatment than in the case of other animals. Morris, Charlot and Morris, Plate 165. 199:1 See Plate 1, a; also Morris, Charlot and Morris 1931, pp. 40-41. Cit-chac-coh, literally Father-red-puma, appears to have been the name of one of the war-gods. In the month of Pax the warriors and nacom (war-chief) celebrated a festival to this deity, during which the nacom was given divine honors as though he were himself the god. It would seem from this that the war-chief was the especial representative of this puma war-god. (Landa 1929, p. 84.) 199:2 Morris, Charlot and Morris 1931, Pl. 151.
199:3 Ibid., Pl. 165; see fig. 47, a. 199:4 Ibid., Pl. 164. 199:5 Perhaps the most likely estimate of this period would be from the introduction of the Kukulcan cult some time in the Tenth Century A. D. to the conquest of the city by Hunac Ceel at the end of the Twelfth Century. We are told that the hegemony of Chichen Itz lasted over two hundred years and that "at one time this entire land was under the dominion of a lord who reigned over the ancient city of Chichen Itz. To him were tributary all the lords of this province, and even from outside the province, from Mexico, Guatemala, Chiapas and other provinces they sent presents in token of peace and friendship" (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, pp. 176, 120-121). 199:6 Seler 1923, p. 470. 199:7 Ibid., p. 496. 199:8 Ibid., p. 503. 199:9 Ibid., p. 595. 200:1 Seler 1923, pp. 506-509.
Next: Appendix G: The Americanization of Christianity
Chilam Balam: Appendices: Appendix G: The Americanization of Christianity
p. 201
APPENDIX G
THE AMERICANIZATION OF CHRISTIANITY
According to the early Spanish writers a considerable proportion of the Maya of northern Yucatan embraced Christianity quite willingly after the Spanish occupation of the country. Whether or not this was true, the Books of Chilam Balam convince us that their faith was genuine, once they were converted. Even in those books which were frowned upon by the missionaries, we note an unmistakable spontaneity in the pious phrases with which the Spanish Dios, the Trinity and the Holy Virgin are frequently invoked. At first sight it is difficult to reconcile this apparently sincere belief in the new religion with the lapses into idolatry which continued to recur during a large part of the colonial period. The fact of the matter was that their Christianity, however sincere it may have been, was something quite different from that of their European conquerors. They simply superimposed it upon their old religion, just as they had previously superimposed the Quetzalcoatl cult of the Nahua invaders upon the original Maya faith. 1 They sometimes called their old deities perishable gods (hauay kuob), 2 but they continued to worship them surreptitiously. Even in their Christian worship we find among the Maya an unconscious tendency to adapt the new religion to their own psychology, as we have seen in Chapters XI and XII of the present work. There is further evidence of this in the katun prophecies, where the Spanish God is cited as authority f or prognostications made by their own prophets before the coming of the white man. The Spanish missionaries did their best to prevent this Americanization of Christianity. The historian Cogolludo bitterly deplores the lapses of the Indians into idolatry, but he appears to be still more horrified at their attempts to combine the new religion with the old. Probably this tendency was already anticipated by the statutes of Toms Lpez little more than a decade after the country was pacified. In one of these we find the Indians forbidden to found or conduct schools for the teaching of Christian doctrine except by the express authority of the prelate of the province. 3 We do not know just when the Indians of Yucatan began to combine some form of Christian worship with their old idolatrous practises, but we learn of an Indian of rank at Zotuta by the name of Don Andres Cocom who, about the year 1585, was "convicted, not only of idolatry, but also as a perverse dogmatizer
p. 202
and the inventor of new abominations among the Indians." 1 Condemned to exile and imprisonment, he escaped and attempted to instigate a native rebellion before he was finally captured and punished. In 1597 Andres Chi, also of Zotuta, "incited the Indians of that territory to go into the forests to practise idolatry. Falsely pretending and saying that he was another Moses 2 he deceived the people of his town, persuading them that what he did was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. For this purpose he hid a boy in his house to speak to him at night and say what he wished him to. When the Indians heard this, as they were ignorant of the fraud, they blindly allowed themselves to be deceived." 3 Chi was convicted and condemned to death for this offense. A similar case occurred in 1610. "There were two Indians, one named Alonso Chabl and the other Francisco Canul. The former pretended to be the Pope and supreme pontiff and the latter, a bishop, and they announced themselves to be such among the Indians. Also they caused themselves to be venerated, deceiving the wretched Catholic Indians with their infernal doctrine. They said mass at night dressed in the sacred vestments of the church which no doubt the sacristans had given them. They profaned the holy chalices and consecrated oils, baptized boys, confessed adults and gave them communion, while they worshipped the idols which they placed on the altar. They ordained priests for service, anointing their hands with the oil and the holy chrism, and when they ordained them they put on a miter and took a crozier in their hands. They commanded the Indians to give them offerings and openly taught other deadly heresies." 4 In addition to all this they were said to have practised witchcraft. In the year 1636 there was a general uprising of the Indians in the district of Bacalar in southeastern Yucatan. They relapsed into idolatry, and many of them fled to Tipu, 5 the southernmost of the towns which had been christianized up to this time. This place continued to be the center of the insurrection, and finally in 1641 Fr. Bartolom Fuensalida 6 and Fr. Juan de Estrada determined to go there and try to conciliate the inhabitants. The expedition was a failure and they did not quite reach Tipu. At the neighboring village of Hubeln the Indian companions of the priests witnessed a religious ceremony performed by the rebels in which "one of those apostates was the idolatrous priest of the others. He said mass to them, and with the mass his
p. 203
food was tortillas and his drink, maize gruel. The other idolatrous Indians said to them: 'This is indeed a mass which your companion (one of the two Spanish priests) does not say.' " 1 It was years before these Indians were again reconciled with the Church, and during this period the people of the district doubtless had an excellent opportunity to develop a form of Christianity suited to their own psychology. We find the tendencies already outlined cropping out in every part of the Maya-speaking area where the Spanish authorities and missionaries were not in a position to exercise strict control over the natives. In
1646 two monks were sent from Yucatan to the Usumacinta region to take charge of the spiritual welfare of some Maya-speaking Indians at a town called Nohaa situated on the shore of a large lake in the forests beyond Tenosique. A church had been built and the people somewhat perfunctorily converted by a Dominican friar who had gone away. The founder of the town, Don Diego de Vera Ordoez, had left the place in charge of a mestizo captain named Juan de Bilbao. When they arrived, the friars found that this man was not only exploiting the Indians, but also that he had a wooden idol which he, his native wife and the villagers worshipped together. "They became drunk in front of it with a drink called balch. Also they said that on Ash Wednesday he put on a stole, blessed it and gave it to the Indians. On Palm Sunday he blessed palms and distributed them. During Holy Week he made a monumento 2 and placed on it the idol of his Indian woman; and on Holy Saturday he blessed the baptismal font. All these things and others which are unspeakable were done by this insolent fellow, who possessed an entire set of sacred vestments and a chalice. He only refrained from saying mass." 3 The incidents related here are sufficient to account for the mixture of Christianity and paganism which we find in the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel. This tendency has continued to be effective down to the present time and its modern manifestations would fill an entire volume. Not only have the names of saints replaced in many cases those of the Maya deities in the old native ceremonies which survive, but in parts of Yucatan, particularly in the Territory of Quintana Roo, many nominal Catholics are at heart polytheists. "The Christian god is the Zeus of the Pantheon. The Virgin Mary, the Saints of the Catholic Church, and such of the old gods as have survived, form a less powerful, but more friendly group of divinities." 4 The present psychology of the Maya Indian is the result of centuries of conflict between European and native religious concepts. During this time each reacted upon the other unceasingly, and the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel is perhaps one of the most illuminating documents we have to illustrate the history of the process.
Footnotes
201:1 "It is said that the first founders of Chichen Itz were not idolaters until Kukulcan, a Mexican captain, entered these provinces. He it was who taught them idolatry" (Relaciones de Yucatan, I, p. 270). Kukulcan is the Maya equivalent of the Nahuatl name, Quetzalcoatl. Although we may doubt the statement that the original inhabitants did not worship idols, there is considerable evidence that a new religion was introduced. 201:2 Cf. p. 98. 201:3 Cogolludo 1868, Book 5, chap. 17. 202:1 Cogolludo 1868, Book 7, chap. 11.
202:2 We have already noted that Moses was identified with the Yellow Pauahtun on page 113. 202:3 Cogolludo 1868, Book 7, chap. 15. 202:4 Cogolludo 1868, Book 9, chap. 1. 202:5 Tipu is believed to have been located on Booths River in what is now British Honduras. See Means 1917, map. 202:6 This was the same Fr. Fuensalida who went to Tayasal in 1618 to attempt to convert the Itz. Means 1917, pp. 59-74. 203:1 Cogolludo 1868, Book 11, chap. 14. 203:2 An altar raised in churches on Holy Thursday to resemble a sepulcher. 203:3 Cogolludo 1868, Book 12, chap. 5. 203:4 J. E. Thompson 1930, p. 106. See also Tozzer 1907 and Gann 1918.
Next: Appendix H: Chronological Summary
Chilam Balam: Appendices: Appendix H: Chronological Summary
p. 204
APPENDIX H
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY
Katun 8 Ahau 6 4 2 13 11 9 7 5 3 1 12 10 8 6 4 2 13 11 9 A. D. 433 452 472 492 511 531 551 571 590 610 630 649 669 689 709 728 748 768 787 807 The land of Chakanputun is seized. Chichen Itz abandoned. Chakanputun settled. The "mat" of the katun is counted in its order. (Chichen Itz occupied.) (Chichen Itz and Ziancan discovered.) Chichen Itz discovered. (Bakhalal occupied.) 1
7 5 3 1 12 10 8 6 4 2 13 11 9 7 5 3 1 12 10 8 6 4 2 13 11
827 847 866 886 906 925 945 965 985 1004 1024 1044 1063 1083 1103 1123 1142 1162 1182 1201 1221 1241 1261 1280 1300 Seizure of Mayapan by the Itz. Conquest of Chichen Itz by Hunac Ceel. Occupation of Chichen Itz by Kukulcan and the Itz. (The Xiu found Uxmal. League of Mayapan begins.) Chakanputun abandoned.
9 7 5 3 1 12 10 8 6
p. 205
1320 1339 1359 1379 1398 1418 1438 1458 1477 Destruction of Mayapan.
4 2 13 11 9 7 5 3
1497 1517 1536 1556 1576 1596 1615 1635
The "Maya pestilence," called blood-vomit. The small-pox. (The Spaniards first seen.) Arrival of Montejo. Death of the "rain-bringer" (Napot) Xiu. The Spanish Conquest. Merida founded. Tribute exacted. Missionaries arrive. Bishop Toral arrives. General conversion of the natives to Christianity. Bishop Landa dies.
In the above table it is the end of the katun that is dated, as the katun is named for the day on which it ends. The Christian dates are taken from a similar table compiled by Dr. Morley 1 and are in accordance with the well-known Morley-Spinden correlation of Maya and Christian chronology. According to the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation each of the Christian dates given above should be three years later. Although there is only a variation of about three years between the two correlations so far as the katun count of the Books of Chilam Balam is concerned, they differ by about 259 years in their interpretations of the Initial Series dates of the monuments in terms of European chronology. According to the former correlation, the end of the last Katun 13 Ahau before the Spanish Conquest fell on 12. 9. 0. 0. 0. 13 Ahau 8 Kankin, in the year 1536. 2 The latter correlation, however, places the end of the same Katun 13 Ahau on 11. 16. 0. 0. 0. 13 Ahau 8 Xul, in the year 1539. 3 The only two possible references to the Long Count known to the writer are those which we have seen on pages 79 and 83 of the
present work, and these unfortunately are somewhat vague. In the former it is stated that the mounds in Yucatan were constructed during a period of "three score and fifteen katuns." Evidently referring to the Maya, the latter passage tells us: "Four fourhundreds of years and fifteen score years was the end of their lives." In the Books of Chilam Balam we find occasional references to the haab, or 365 day year, when the tun of 360 days is plainly meant. Consequently in terms of the Long Count we have on page 79 a mention of a period which would be recorded on the monuments as 3. 15. 0. 0. 0.; and on page 83 the period referred to would be 4. 15. 0. 0. 0. These two statements are indefinite in several important respects. No date in the Long Count is given as a starting point. No current Maya day, month, year or katun is given as the end of either of these periods. Although the implication is that Maya civilization came to an end at the close of these periods, native writers differ somewhat
p. 206
as to just when the end came. Some of them considered that it ended early in Katun 13 Ahau, as predicted by the prophet Chilam Balam, while many others very logically put the end either at the close of Katun 13 Ahau or at the foundation of Merida in 1542. If we make the assumption that these three score katuns and "four four-hundreds of years" refer to the even baktuns of the Long Count and then add fifteen katuns, it is of interest to note that the date 11. 15. 0. 0. 0. falls on a day 2 Ahau, which is also the name of the last day of the katun immediately preceding the Spanish invasion of Yucatan. According to the 1539 correlation Katun 2 Ahau, the last katun prior to the Spanish invasion, ended in 1519, and its position in the Long Count was 11. 15. 0. 0. 0. 2 Ahau 8 Zac. Subtracting 3. 15. 0. 0. 0. from this we reach the date 8. 0. 0. 0. 0., or very near the time when the Maya must have begun to record their chronology on imperishable media. The oldest contemporaneous date is 8. 6. 4. 2. 17. which is recorded on the Tuxtla Statuette. If we subtract from 11. 15. 0. 0. 0. the other period mentioned in the Chumayel, 4. 15. 0. 0. 0., the count will be carried back to 7. 0. 0. 0. 0. which is believed to be the general period when Maya Chronology was first developed. 1 In other words, either of the totals given in the Chumayel Manuscript, counted backward from 11. 15. 0. 0. 0., will reach an Initial Series value which we now believe is about the time that Maya chronology, in the first case, was actually inaugurated and, in the other case, was first committed to stone. No such interesting conditions will arise, however, if the 12. 9. 0. 0. 0. correlation is used. To this extent the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel tends to support the former correlation against the latter. We also have here an indication that the Maya calendar continued unbroken, except for the shift of a single day in the Year Bearer, from the time of the inscriptions down to that of the Spanish occupation of Yucatan. 2
Footnotes
204:1 Events not mentioned in the Chumayel are enclosed in parentheses. 205:1 Morley 1920, p. 503. 205:2 Spinden. 205:3 Martinez H. 1926, p. 11. Goodman fixes the date on October 30, 1539; Thompson (1927, p. 21) places it on November 13, 1539. For other correlations see Morley 1920, pp. 524-535. 206:1 Spinden 1924, p. 156. 206:2 In this summary the writer has quoted freely from a letter of Dr. S. G. Morley, who was kind enough to point out the significance of the results to be obtained by such a subtraction as suggested above.
Next: Bibliography
Chilam Balam: Appendices: Bibliography
p. 207
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aguilar, Pedro Sanchez de (See Sanchez de Aguilar, Pedro) Avendao y Loyola, Andres de 1696 Relacin de las dos entradas que hiz a Peten Itza. MS. (Translated by C. P. Bowditch: MS. in Peabody Museum: the greater part of Bowditch translation published in Means 1917.) Bancroft, Hubert Howe 1874-76 The native races of the Pacific States of North America. 5 vols. New York. Bandelier, Adolf F. 1879 On the social organization and mode of government of the ancient Mexicans. In Twelfth Annual Report of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Cambridge. (Published separately, Salem, 1879.) Bacabs, Ritual of the MS. Medical incantations and prescriptions; described in Tozzer, 1921, p. 196. Beltran, de Santa Rosa Maria, Pedro 1746 Arte del idioma Maya reducido a succintas reglas y semi-lexicon Yucateco. Mexico. Second edition, Merida, 1859. Bennett, Robert R. 1930 The ancient Maya causeway in Yucatan. In Indian Notes, Mus. Amer. Ind., Heye Foundation, v. 7, No. 3, pp. 347-382. New York. Berendt, Carl Hermann 1866-67 Vocabulario del dialecto (de Maya) de Peten. MS. (Berendt Linguistic Collection, No. 42-5. English translation in Means 1917, pp. 188-191.) 1869 Analytical alphabet for the Mexican and Central American languages. (Pub. by American Ethnological Society.) New York. MS. Nombres proprios en lengua Maya. (Berendt Linguistic Collection, No. 48.)
Beyer, Herman 1919-27 El Mexico antiguo; disertaciones sobre arqueologa, etnologa, folklore, pre-historia, historia antigua y linguistica mexicana. 2 vols. Mexico. 1929 The supposed Maya hieroglyph of the screech-owl. In American Anthropologist, n. s., v. 31, pp. 34-59. 1930 The analysis of the Maya hieroglyphs. In Internationales Archiv fr Ethnographie, v. 31. Reprint Leyden, 1930. 1931 Mayan hieroglyphs: the variable element of the introducing glyphs as month indicator. In Anthropos, v. 26, pp. 99-108. Blom, Frans 1928 Gaspar Antonio Chi, interpreter. In American Anthropologist, n. s., v. 30, pp. 250-262. 1929 Preliminary report of the John Geddings Gray memorial expedition. Department of Middle American Research, Tulane University of Louisiana. New Orleans. Blom, Frans, and La Farge, Oliver 1926-27 Tribes and Temples. A record of the expedition to Middle America conducted by Tulane University of Louisiana in 1925. 2 vols. New Orleans. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Charles tienne 1869-70 Manuscrit Troano. tude sur le systme graphique des Mayas. 2 vols. Paris. Bowditch, Charles P. 1901 Memoranda on the Maya Calendars used in the Books of Chilam Balam. In American Anthropologist, n. s., v. 3, pp. 129-138. 1906 Mayan nomenclature. Cambridge. 1910 The numeration, calendar systems and astronomical knowledge of the Mayas. Cambridge. Bowditch, Charles P. (translator). (See Avendao y Loyola, 1696.)
p. 208
Brinton, Daniel Garrison 1882 Maya chronicles. In Library of Aboriginal American Literature, No. 1. Philadelphia.
1890 Essays of an Americanist. Philadelphia. 1900 Catalogue of the Berendt Linguistic Collection (1884). In Bulletin of the Free Museum of Science and Art, v. 2, pp. 203-234. Philadelphia. Cacalchen, Libro de MS. (Collection of wills, statutes and other legal documents in Maya.) Gates reproduction. Calkini, Crnica de MS. (Chronicle and geographical description of the Province of Ah Canul in Maya.) Gates reproduction. Carrillo y Ancona, Crescencio 1872 Disertacin sobre la historia de la lengua Maya Yucateca. In Boletin de la Sociedad de Geografa y Estadstica de la Repblica Mexicana. 2d ser., v. 4, pp. 134-195. Mexico. Chicxulub, Crnica de MS. Published and translated in Brinton 1882, pp. 189-259. Extract from Documentos de tierras de Chicxulub. Chicxulub Documentos de Tierras de MS. Copied by Hermann Berendt. (In Berendt Linguistic Collection, No. 50, Appendix, pp. 201-256.) Chumayel, Book of Chilam Balam of MS. Copy by Hermann Berendt made in 1868. Berendt Linguistic Collection, No. 49, pp. 1-74, 80, 159200. 1913 The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel, with introduction by G. R. Gordon. Univ. of Penn. Museum. Anthrop. Publ., v. 5. Philadelphia. <Ciudad Real, Antonio de> 1875 Relacin breve y verdadera de algunas cosas de las muchas que sucedieron al Padre Fray Alonso Ponce en las provincias de la Nueva Espaa . . . escrita por dos religiosos, sus compaeros . . . 2 vols. Madrid. Cogolludo, Diego Lpez de 1688 Historia de Yucathan. Madrid. 3d edition 1867-68, 2 vols. Merida. (Second edition, 1842-45, Campeche and Merida, said to be incomplete.) Coleccin de Documentos inditos (See Relaciones de Yucatan.)
Coronel, Juan 1620 Arte en lengua Maya recopilado y enmendado. Mexico. Reprinted in Martinez H. 1930, pp. 3-55. Merida. Cortesianus, Codex 1883 Photographi et publi pour la premire fois par Lon de Rosny. Paris. Dieseldorff, E. P. 1926-1931 Kunst und Religion der Mayavlker im alten und heutigen Mittelamerika. 2 vols., v. 1, 1926; v. 2, 1931. Berlin. Dresdensis, Codex 1880 Die Maya-Handschrift der Kniglichen Bibliothek zu Dresden; herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. E. Frstemann. Leipzig. 2d edition, 1892. Dresden. Ebtun, Titulos de MS. (Collection of legal documents in Spanish and Maya.) Gates reproduction. Espinosa, Antonio Ca. 1910 Mapa de la peninsula de Yucatn (Mxico) comprendiendo los estados de Yucatn y Campeche y el territorio de Quintana Roo. Espinosa y Espinosa, Manuel, and Espinosa S., Luis H. 1928 Calendario de Espinosa para el ao bisiesto 1928. Merida. Fejrvry-Mayer, Codex 1901-02 Codex Fejrvry-Mayer: an old Mexican picture manuscript in the Liverpool free public museums . . . Berlin and London. Fragmentos y Planos MS. Fragmentos y planos del archivo gral. de la conquista desde 1557 a 1843. Mrida de Yucatn. (Dep't of Middle Amer. Res. Tulane University.)
p. 209
Gann, Thomas W. F. 1900 Mounds in northern Honduras. 19th Annual Report, Bureau of American Ethnology. Pt. 2, pp. 655692. Washington. 1918 The Maya Indians of southern Yucatan and northern British Honduras. In Bur. of Amer. Eth. Bull. 64. Washington.
Gann, Thomas W. F., and Thompson, J. E. 1931 The history of the Maya from the earliest times to the present day. Chicago. Gates, William E. 1910 Commentary upon the Maya-Tzental Codex Prez. (Harvard Univ., Peabody museum papers, v. 6, No. 1.) Cambridge. 1920 The distribution of the several branches of the Mayance linguistic stock. In Morley, 1920, pp. 604615. 1931 1 The thirteen Ahaus in the Kaua manuscript and related katun wheels in the Paris Codex, Landa, Cogolludo and the Chumayel. In the Maya Society Quarterly, v. 1, pp. 2-20. 1932a 1 Eras of the thirteen gods and the nine gods. Book of Chumayel, pages 42-48. In The Maya Society Quarterly, v. 1, 78-92. 1932b 1 The testing of the princes. Book of Chumayel, pages 28-42. In The Maya Society Quarterly, v. 1, pp. 123-144. Gaumer, George F. 1917 Monografa de los mamferos de Yucatn. Mexico. (Dept. de Talleres Grficos de la Sra. de Fomento.) Genet and Chelbatz 1927 Histoire des peuples Maya-Quichs, (Mexique, Guatmala, Honduras.) Paris. Goodman, J. T. 1897 The archaic Maya inscriptions. (Biologia Centrali-Americana, archaeology. Appendix.) London. Harvard University 1906 Museum of comparative zoology, Bull., vol. 50. Cambridge. Ixil, Book of Chilam Balam of MS. Reproduction. Original MS. in Mexico, D. F. Kaua, Book of Chilam Balam of MS. Gates reproduction. Kidder, Alfred V. 1930 Report of Division of Historical Research. In Carnegie Institution of Washington Year Book No. 29, pp. 91-121. Washington.
1931 Archaeological Problems of the Maya. In Art and Archaeology, v. 31, pp. 290-297. La Farge, Oliver 1927 Adaptations of Christianity among the Jacalteca Indians of Guatemala. In Thought, v. 2, No. 3, pp. 476-495. 1930 Choles, Chorties and Puctunes. Their position in the Mayan stock, with an outline grammar of the Cholti language of the Peten, Guatemala, after the Manuscripts of Fr. Francisco Moran and other Dominicans of the Provincia del Chol, 1650-1695. MS. La Farge, Oliver, and Byers, Douglas 1931 The year bearer's people. The Tulane University of Louisiana. Middle American Research Series. Publication No. 2. New Orleans. Landa, Diego de 1864 Relation des choses de Yucatan ... texte espagnol et traduction franaise ... par l'Abb Brasseur de Bourbourg. Paris. (Incomplete.) 1881 Relacin de las cosas de Yucatn. In Rosny, L. de. Ensayo sobre la interpretacin de la escritura hiertica de la Amrica Central ... Prlogo por D. Juan de Dios de la Rada y Delgado. Apndice I, pp. 71114. Madrid. (Complete.) 1900 Relacin de las cosas de Yucatn. In Col. de doc. ind. . . . 2d ser. v. 13, pp. 265-411. Madrid. (Incomplete.) 1928 Relation des choses de Yucatan. 3 vols. Notes by Jean Genet. Paris. V. 1, 1928; v. 2, 1929.
p. 210
Lizana, Bernardo de 1893 Historia de Yucatn. Devocionario de Ntra. Sra. de Izamal, y conquista espiritual. Mexico. (Reprint of original edition of 1633, Valladolid.) Lopez, Toms 1801 Mapa geogrfico de la peninsula y provincia de Yucatn segun las mejores noticias y mapas del pais, remitidos por los naturales dado luz en la mejor forma. Madrid. Lothrop, Samuel K. 1924 Tulum, an archological study of the east coast of Yucatan. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 335. Washington.
Maler, Teobert 1895-1902 Yukatekische Forschungen. In Globus, v. 68, pp. 247-259, 277-292; v. 82, pp. 197-230. 1901-03 Researches in the central portion of the Usumatsintla valley. Peabody Museum Memoirs, Harvard University, v. 2. Cambridge. 1908 Explorations of the upper Usumatsintla and adjacent region. Altar de Sacrificios; Seibal; ItsimtScluk; Cancuen. Peabody Museum Memoirs, Harvard University, v. 4, No. 1. Cambridge. 1908a Explorations in the department of Peten, Guatemala and adjacent region. Topoxt; Yaxh; Benque Viejo; Naranjo. Peabody Museum Memoirs, Harvard University, v. 4, No. 2. Cambridge. Mani, Almanac of 1755 Copia de un almanaque del archivo de Mani. MS. In Perez, Codex, pp. 50-64. Mani, Book of Chilam Balam of MS. (Known only from copious extracts copied by J. Pio Perez in Perez, Codex. Recopied by Berendt and by Sols Alcal and Sols M. See Perez, Codex.) Martnez Aloma, Gustavo 1906 Historiadores de Yucatn. Apuntes biogrficos de los historiadores de esta peninsula desde su descubrimiento hasta fines del siglo XIX ... Campeche. Martnez, Hernndez, Juan 1912 Los grandes cielos de la historia Maya segn el manuscrito de Chumayel. In Proc. 17th Int. Congress of Americanists, Mexico (1910), pp. 180-213. 1913 La creacin del mundo segn los Mayas. Pginas inditos del manuscrito de Chumayel. In Proc. 18th Int. Congress of Americanists, London (1912), pp. 164-171. 1921 The Book of Chilam. Balam of Chumayel, <Chapter> No. 1. MS. 6 pp. (Text and interlinear translation.) 1926 Crnica de Mani. In Boletin de la Universidad Nacional del Sureste. Merida. pp. 160-169. 1926a Ciclo solar Maya-Azteca. In Boletin del de la Universidad Nacional del Sureste, pp. 170171. Merida. 1926b Paralelismo entre los calendarios Maya y Azteca. Su correlacin con el calendario Juliano. Merida. (Originally published in Diario de Yucatn.)
1926c Crnicas Mayas. Crnica de Yaxkukul. Editor: Carlos R. Menndez. Merida. (1927) Crnicas Mayas. Editor Carlos R. Menndez. Merida. 1928 El juicio final. Pgina 102 del MS. de Chumayel. (Maya text and Spanish translation.) In Espinosa y Espinosa S., 1928, pp. 137-138. Martinez Hernndez, Juan (Editor) 1930 Diccionario de Motul: Maya Espaol; atribuido a Fray Antonio de Ciudad Real y arte de lengua Maya por Fray Juan Coronel. Merida. Maudslay, Alfred P. 1889-1902 Archology. (Biologia Centrali-Americana.) 4 vols. London. Means, Philip A. 1917 History of the Spanish conquest of Yucatan and of the Itzas. Papers of the Peabody Museum, v. 7. Cambridge. Mediz Bolio, Antonio 1930 Libro de Chilam Balam de Chumayel. Traduccin del idioma Maya al Castellano. San Jos. Costa Rica.
p. 211
Molina Sols, Juan Francisco 1896 Historia del descubrimiento y conquista de Yucatn con una resea de la historia antigua de esta peninsula. Merida. 1904-13 Historia de Yucatn durante la dominacin Espanola. V. 1, 1904; v. 2, 1910; v. 3, 1913. Merida. Morley, Sylvanus Griswold 1911 The historical value of the books of Chilam Balam. In American Journal of Archology, 2d ser., v. 15, pp. 195-214. 1911a Ancient temples and cities of the new world. Chichen Itza. In Pan-American Union, bull., v. 32, pp. 453-468. 1911b Ancient temples and cities of the new world. Uxmal, the city of the Xius. In Pan-American Union, bull., v. 32, pp. 627-642. 1913 Archological research at the ruins of Chichen Itza, Yucatan. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 200, pp. 61-91. Washington.
1915 An introduction to the study of the Maya hieroglyphs. In Bureau of American Ethnology, Bull. 57. Washington. 1917 The rise and fall of the Maya civilization in the light of the monuments and the native chronicles. (Proc. 19th Int. Congress of Americanists, [1915], pp. 140-149.) Washington. 1920 The inscriptions at Copan. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 219. Washington. 1927 New light on the discovery of Yucatan and the foundation of the new Maya empire. Amer. Journ. of Arch., 2d ser., v. 31, pp. 51-69. Morris, Earl H., Charlot, Jean, and Morris, Ann Axtell 1931 The Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itz, Yucatan. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 406. 2 vols. Washington. Motul, Diccionario de 1929 Diccionario de Motul, Maya Espaol. atribuido a Fray Antonio de Ciudad Real y arte de lengua Maya por Fray Juan Coronel. Juan Martinez Hernndez, Editor. Merida. 16th century MS., missing. Copy, said to be 17th century, in John Carter Brown Library, Providence. Gates reproduction. MS. Unpublished Spanish-Maya dictionary in John Carter Brown Library, Providence. This has been called the Spanish-Maya portion of the Diccionario de Motul, but internal evidence on fol. 198 r. indicates that it was written at the town of Calkini in western Yucatan, where there was a Franciscan monastery, founded in 1561. The present writer suggests that this book should be named Diccionario de Calkini. (Gates reproduction.) Nah, Book of Chilam Balam de MS. Gates reproduction. Oxkutzcab, Book of Chilam Balam of MS. (Known only from extracts copied by J. Pio Perez in Perez, Codex. Oxkutzcab, Crnica de MS. Original in Peabody Museum. Reproduced by Gates and by C. P. Bowditch, latter with introduction by A. C. Breton. Also called Xiu Chronicle. Chiefly composed of documents, the Probanzas, of the Xiu family of Oxkutzcab. Chronicle on p. 66 is discussed, reproduced and translated in Morley 1920, pp. 470471 and 507. Pacheco Cruz, Santiago 1919 Lxico de la fauna Yucateca. Merida.
1920 Compendio del idioma Maya. 2d ed. Merida. Peresianus, Codex 1864 Manuscrit dit Mexicaine no. 2 de la Bibliothque Impriale. Photographi par ordre de S. E. M. Duruy, Ministre de l'Instruction Publique, Prsident de la Commission Scientifique de Mexique. Paris.
p. 212
Peresianus, Codex (cont.) 1887 Manuscrit hiratique des anciens Indiens de l'Amrique Centrale conserv la Bibliothque nationale de Paris, avec un introduction par Lon de Rosny. (Publi en couleurs. Ed. 2.) Paris. 1888 Same as 1887, but not in colors. 1909 Redrawn and slightly restored, and with the coloring as it originally stood, so far as possible, given on the basis of a new and minute examination of the codex itself. Drawn and edited by William Gates. Point Loma. Perez, Juan Pio 1866-77 Diccionario de la lengua Maya. Merida. 1898 Coordinacin alfabtica de las voces del idioma Maya que se hallan en el arte y obra del Padre Pedro Beltran de Santa Rosa, con las equivalencias castellanas que en las mismas se hallan. Merida. (This contains the Ticul dictionary.) Perez, Codex (also known as Codice Perez) Ca. 1837 MS. owned in Yucatan. Known from copies by Hermann Berendt (1870) and by Dr. Ermilio Sols Alcal and Ermilio Sols M. (1926). Former entitled: Chilam Balam. Articulos y fragmentos colectados por Perez. (Berendt Linguistic Collection, No. 50, in the museum of the University of Pennsylvania.) Latter entitled: Codice Perez. Extractos de varios ejemplares del Chilam Balam y apuntaciones sobre el calendario Maya por el Sr. Don Juan Po Prez. (Made for Dr. S. G. Morley.) Ponce, Alonso 1875 (See Ciudad Real, Antonio.) Rejn Garcia, Manuel (Marcos de Chimay) 1910 Etimologas Mayas. Los nombres de varias poblaciones Yucatecas. Algo sobre su orgen. Merida. Relaciones de Yucatan 1898-1900 Coleccin de documentos inditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organizacin de las antiguas posesiones Espaoles de Ultramar. 2d ser., v. 11 and 13. Madrid.
Roys, Ralph L. 1920 A Maya account of the Creation. In Amer. Anthropologist, n.s., v. 22, pp. 360-366. 1922 A new Maya historical narrative. In Amer. Anthropologist, n.s., v. 24, pp. 44-60. 1923 The ritual of the chiefs of Yucatan. In Amer. Anthropologist, n.s., v. 25, pp. 472-484. 1927 Recent developments in Maya research. In Proceedings of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, v. 2, pp. 94-105. 1931 The ethno-botany of the Maya. The Tulane University of Louisiana. Middle American Research Series. Publication No. 2. New Orleans. 1932 Antonio de Ciudad Real, ethnographer. In Amer. Anthropologist, n.s., v. 34, pp. 118-126. Ruz de Alarcn, Hernando 1892 Tratado de las supersticiones y costumbres gentilcas que oy viven entre los indios naturales desta Nueva Espaa. In Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico, v. 6, pp. 123-223. Mexico. Ruppert, Karl 1931 Temple of the wall panels, Chichen Itz. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 403, Contributions to American Archology, v. 1, No. 3, pp. 117-140. Washington. San Buenaventura, Gabriel de 1684 Arte de la lengua Maya. Mexico. (Facsimile reprint of the original edition of 1684, J. G. Icazbalceta, ed., 1888, Mexico.) Sanchez de Aguilar, Pedro 1639 Informe contra idolorum cultores del Obispado de Yucatan. Madrid. New edition in Anales del Museo Nacional, Mexico, 1892, v. 6, pp. 15-122. Partly translated in Saville. 1921, pp. 202-208.
p. 213
San Francisco, Diccionario de Ms. 17th century; original missing. Copy by Juan Pio Perez. Gates reproduction. Copy by Hermann Berendt. Berendt Linguistic Col., No. 3. Sapper, Karl 1897 Das nrdliche Mittel-Amerika nebst einem Ausflug nach dem Hochland von Anahuac. Reisen und Studien aus den Jahren 1888-95. Braunschweig. 1904 Independent Indian states of Yucatan. In Bureau of American Ethnology, Bull. 28, pp. 625-634.
Translation from Globus, v. 67, No. 13. Saville, Marshal H. 1921 Reports on the Maya Indians of Yucatan. In Indian Notes and Monographs of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, v. 9, pp. 137-226. New York. 1930 Ancient causeways of Yucatan. In Indian Notes, Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, v. 7, pp. 89-100. New York. Schellhas, Paul 1904 Representation of deities of the Maya manuscripts. 2d ed. Translated by Selma Wesselhoeft and A. M. Parker. Papers of the Peabody Museum, Harvard Univ., v. 4, No. 1, pp. 1-47. Cambridge. Seler, Eduard 1902-23 Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur Amerikanischen Sprachund Altertumskunde. 5 vols. v. 1, 1902; v. 2, 1904; v. 3, 1908; v. 5, 1915; v. 4, 1923. Berlin. Sols Alcal, Ermilo 1927 11 Ahau-katun 3 nicte-katun. In Boletin de la Universidad Nacional del Sureste, pp. 355-357. Merida. 1928 11 Ahau-katun 13 nicte-katun. In Bol. de la Univ. Nac. del Sureste, pp. 19-22. Merida. 1928a Estudios de historia Maya. Los asesinatos en Sotuta y Otzmal. In Bol. de la Univ. Nac. del Sureste, pp. 5-6. Merida. Sols Alcal, Ermilo and Sols M., Ermilo 1927 El canhel. In Bol. de la Univ. Nac. del Sureste, pp. 245-247. Merida. Sols y Rosales, Jos Vicente 1870 Vocabulario de la lengua Maya compuesto y redactado por el uso del Sr. Abate Brasseur de Bourbourg. MS. Quoted in Brasseur de Bourbourg, 1869-70. Sotuta, Documentos del pueblo de MS. Collection of documents in Maya copied in Perez, Codex, pp. 185-194. Spinden, Herbert J. 1913 A study of Maya art. Peabody Museum Memoirs, Harvard University, v. 6. Cambridge. 1917 Ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America. American Museum of Natural History, handbook series, No. 3. New York.
1824 The reduction of Mayan dates. Papers of the Peabody Museum, Harvard Univ., v. 6, No. 4. Cambridge. Standley, Paul C. 1930 Flora of Yucatan. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publication No. 279. Botanical ser., v. 3, pp. 157-492. Chicago. Stephens, John L. 1843 Incidents of travel in Yucatan. New York. Stoll, Otto 1884 Zur Ethnographie der Republik Guatemala. Zrich. Strmsvik, Gustav 1931 Notes on the metates of Chichen Itz, Yucatan. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 403. Contrib. to American Archaeology, v. 1, No. 4, pp. 141-157. Washington. Tabi, Documentos de MS. Documentos de tierras de la hacienda Sn. Juan Bautista Tavi en idioma Maya o Yucateca. (In Dep't of Middle American Research. Tulane University of Louisiana.) Teeple, John E. 1931 Maya astronomy. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 403, Contrib. to American Archology, v. 1, No. 2. (Preprint 1930.) Washington.
p. 214
Tekax, Book of Chilam Balam of MS. Gates reproduction. Thompson, Edward H. 1911 The genesis of the Maya arch. In Amer. Anthropologist, n. s., v. 13, pp. 501-516. Thompson, J. Eric 1927 A correlation of the Mayan and European calendars. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Anthrop. Ser. v. 17, No. 1. Chicago. 1930 Ethnology of the Mayas of southern and central British Honduras. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Anthrop. Ser., v. 17, No. 2. Chicago. Thompson, J. Eric, Pollock, Harry E. D., and Charlot, Jean
1932 A preliminary study of the ruins of Cob, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 424. Washington. Ticul, Diccionario de 1898 Vocabulario de la lengua Maya que comienze en romance, compuesto de varios autores de esta lengua con notas siguientes . . . In Perez 1898, pp. 123-298. The original MS., now missing, bore the date January 26, 1690. Tizimin, Book of Chilam Balam of MS. Original in Mexico D. F. Photographed by Teobert Maler; Gates reproduction; reproduction made for Dr. S. G. Morley. Tozzer, Alfred M. 1907 A comparative study of the Mayas and the Lacandones. New York. 1910 The animal figures in the Maya codices. Papers of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, v. 3, pp. 272-372. (Glover M. Allen, joint author.) Cambridge. 1917 The Chilam Balam books and the possibility of their translation. In Proc. 19th Int. Congress of Americanists, (1915), pp. 178-186. Washington. 1921 A Maya grammar with bibliography and appraisement of the works noted. Papers of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, v. 9. Cambridge. 1927 Time and American archology. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Journ. v. 27, pp. 210-221. 1930 Maya and Toltec figures at Chichen Itza. In Proc. 33d Int. Cong. Americanists (1928), pp. 155164. New York. Tro-Cortesianus, Codex 1892 Cdice Maya denominado Cortesiano que se conserva en el museo arqueolgico nacional (Madrid). Reproduccin fotocromolitogrfica ordenada en la misma forma que el original hecha y publicada bajo la direccin de D. Juan de Dios de la Rada y Delgado y D. Jernimo Lpez de Ayala y del Hierro. Madrid. Villagutierre Soto-Mayor, Juan de 1701 Historia de la conquista de la provincia de el Itza, reduccin y progressos de la de el Lacandon y otras naciones de Indios barbaros, de la mediacin de el reyno de Guatemala, a las provincias de Yucatan, en la America Septentrional, Primera parte, Madrid. Willard, Theodore A. 1926 The city of the sacred well. New York.
Ximnez, Francisco MS. Primera parte de el tesoro de las lenguas Cakchiquel, Quiche, y Tzutuhil en que las dichas lenguas se traducien en la nuestra Espaola. (In Bancroft Library. University of California.) Xiu Chronicle (See Oxkutzcab, Crnica de). Zurita, Alonso de 1891 Breve y sumaria relacin de los seores y maneras y diferencias que habia de ellos en la Nueva Espaa, y en otras provincias sus comarcanas . . . In Nueva coleccin de documentos para la historia de Mxico, v. 3, pp. 71-227. Joaqun Garca Icazbalceta, Ed. Mexico.
Footnotes
209:1 Gates 1931, 1932a and 1932b were received by the writer after the present work had gone to press.
Next: Map of Northern Yucatan
Chilam Balam: Appendices: Map of Northern Yucatan
Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Previous
p. 230
Map of Northern Yucatan According to the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel
Click to view
Click to view
Errata
Errata
page 89: 'th'->'the'
page 120: 'proobably'->'probably'
page 139: 'Avendano'->'Avendao'
page 152: 'Pacheo'->'Pacheco'
page 177: 'oustanding'->'outstanding'
page 194: 'conquerers'->'conquerors'
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Documen...rchive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/errata.htm2/28/2007 3:14:00 PM
Chilam Balam Index
Sacred Texts Native American Maya

BY RALPH L. ROYS
[1933]
Title Page Preface Contents Plate 1 List of Illustrations Introduction
Translation
I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters II. The Rise of Hunac Ceel to Power III: A Prophecy For Katun 11 Ahau IV: The Building of the Mounds V: Memoranda Concerning the History of Yucatan VI: Notes on the Calendar VII: The Armorial Bearings Of Yucatan VIII: Notes on Astronomy IX: The Interrogation of the Chiefs X: The Creation of the World XI: The Ritual of the Angels XII: A Song Of The Itz XIII: The Creation of the Uinal XIV: A History of the Spanish Conquest XV: The Prophecy of Chilam Balam and the Story of Antonio Martinez XVI: A Chapter of Questions and Answers XVII: An Incantation XVIII: A Series of Katun-Prophecies XIX: The First Chronicle
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/index.htm (1 of 2)2/28/2007 3:14:00 PM
Chilam Balam Index
XX: The Second Chronicle XXI: The Third Chronicle XXII: A Book of Katun-Prophecies XXIII: The Last Judgment XXIV: Prophecies of a New Religion
Appendices
Appendix A: The Four World-Quarters Appendix B: The Sacrificial Cenote at Chichen Itza Appendix C: The Hunac Ceel Episode Appendix D: The Maya Prophecies Appendix E: Traditions of Caste and Chieftainship Among the Maya Appendix F: Toltec Military Orders in Yucatan Appendix G: The Americanization of Christianity Appendix H: Chronological Summary Bibliography Map of Northern Yucatan
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/index.htm (2 of 2)2/28/2007 3:14:00 PM

Book of Chilam Balm Mayan

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Book of Chilam Balm Mayan

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chilam Balam: Title Page

Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Next

THE BOOK OF CHILAM BALAM OF CHUMAYEL

Chilam Balam: Preface

Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Previous Next

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc01.htm (1 of 2)2/28/2007 3:13:40 PM

Chilam Balam: Preface

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc01.htm (2 of 2)2/28/2007 3:13:40 PM

Chilam Balam: Contents

Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Previous Next

xi 3 63 63 66 77 79 80 84 86 86 88 98 107 114 116 119 120 125 131 132

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc02.htm (1 of 2)2/28/2007 3:13:41 PM

Chilam Balam: Contents

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc02.htm (2 of 2)2/28/2007 3:13:41 PM

Chilam Balam: Plate 1

Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Previous Next

Next: List of Illustrations

Chilam Balam: List of Illustrations

Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Previous Next

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc04.htm (1 of 3)2/28/2007 3:13:41 PM

Chilam Balam: List of Illustrations

41. The lord of the katun. (Chumayel MS.)

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc04.htm (2 of 3)2/28/2007 3:13:41 PM

Chilam Balam: List of Illustrations

162 162 180 181 183 198 200

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc04.htm (3 of 3)2/28/2007 3:13:41 PM

Chilam Balam: Introduction

Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Previous Next

THE BOOK OF CHILAM BALAM OF CHUMAYEL

Chilam Balam: Introduction

Chilam Balam: Introduction

Chilam Balam: Introduction

PREFATORY NOTE TO THE MAYA TEXT

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc05.htm (4 of 9)2/28/2007 3:13:42 PM

Chilam Balam: Introduction

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc05.htm (5 of 9)2/28/2007 3:13:42 PM

Chilam Balam: Introduction

Chilam Balam: Introduction

Folio <1> <2> 3 4 5 <6> <7> 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 <15> 16 17 18 19 20

Folio 41 42 43 44 <45> 46 47 48 49 <50> 51 52 53 54 <55> Unnumbered 56 57 58

Chilam Balam: Introduction

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc05.htm (8 of 9)2/28/2007 3:13:42 PM

Chilam Balam: Introduction

Next: I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc05.htm (9 of 9)2/28/2007 3:13:42 PM

Chilam Balam: Translation: I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters

Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Previous Next

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc06.htm (1 of 7)2/28/2007 3:13:42 PM

Chilam Balam: Translation: I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc06.htm (2 of 7)2/28/2007 3:13:42 PM

Chilam Balam: Translation: I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc06.htm (3 of 7)2/28/2007 3:13:42 PM

Chilam Balam: Translation: I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters

Chilam Balam: Translation: I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc06.htm (5 of 7)2/28/2007 3:13:42 PM

Chilam Balam: Translation: I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters

Chilam Balam: Translation: I: The Ritual of the Four World-Quarters

red parrot's feathers as a remedy (Roys 1931, p. 63).

Next: II. The Rise of Hunac Ceel to Power

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ank/My%20Doc...ive%20%20%20%201300%20books/nam/maya/cbc/cbc06.htm (7 of 7)2/28/2007 3:13:42 PM

Chilam Balam: Translation: II. The Rise of Hunac Ceel to Power

Sacred Texts Native American Maya Index Previous Next

Chilam Balam: Translation: II. The Rise of Hunac Ceel to Power