An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs

by Sylvanus Griswold Morley

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 57

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

OF THE MAYA HIEROGLYPHS

BY
SYLVANUS GRISWOLD MORLEY

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1915

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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

Smithsonian Institution,
Bureau of American Ethnology,
Washington, D. C., January 7, 1914.

Sir: I have the honor to submit the accompanying manuscript of a memoir bearing the title "An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs," by Sylvanus Griswold Morley, and to recommend its publication as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

The hieroglyphic writing developed by the Maya of Central America and southern Mexico was probably the foremost intellectual achievement of pre-Columbian times in the New World, and as such it deserves equal attention with other graphic systems of antiquity.

The earliest inscriptions now extant probably date from about the beginning of the Christian era, but such is the complexity of the glyphs and subject matter even at this early period, that in order to estimate the age of the system it is necessary to postulate a far greater antiquity for its origin. Indeed all that can be accepted safely in this direction is that many centuries must have elapsed before the Maya hieroglyphic writing could have been developed to the highly complex stage where we first encounter it.

The first student to make any progress in deciphering the Maya inscriptions was Prof. Ernst Förstemann, of the Royal Library at Dresden. About 1880 Professor Förstemann published a facsimile reproduction of the Dresden codex, and for the next twenty years devoted the greater part of his time to the elucidation of this manuscript. He it was who first discovered and worked out the ingenious vigesimal system of numeration used by the Maya, and who first pointed out how this system was utilized to record astronomical and chronological facts. In short, his pioneer work made possible all subsequent progress in deciphering Maya texts.

Curiously enough, about the same time, or a little later (in 1891), another student of the same subject, Mr. J. T. Goodman, of Alameda, California, working independently and without knowledge of Professor Förstemann's researches, also succeeded in deciphering the chronological parts of the Maya texts, and in determining the values of the head-variant numerals. Mr. Goodman also perfected some tables, "The Archaic Chronological Calendar" and "The Archaic Annual Calendar," which greatly facilitate the decipherment of the calculations recorded in the texts.

It must be admitted that very little progress has been made in deciphering the Maya glyphs except those relating to the calendar and chronology; that is, the signs for the various time periods (days and months), the numerals, and a few name-glyphs; however, as these known signs comprise possibly two-fifths of all the glyphs, it is clear that the general tenor of the Maya inscriptions is no longer concealed from us. The remaining three-fifths probably tell the nature of the events which occurred on the corresponding dates, and it is to these we must turn for the subject matter of Maya history. The deciphering of this textual residuum is enormously complicated by the character of the Maya glyphs, which for the greater part are ideographic rather than phonetic; that is, the various symbols represent ideas rather than sounds.

In a graphic system composed largely of ideographic elements it is extremely difficult to determine the meanings of the different signs, since little or no help is to be derived from varying combinations of elements as in a phonetic system. In phonetic writing the symbols have fixed sounds, which are unchanging throughout, and when these values have once been determined, they may be substituted for the characters wherever they occur, and thus words are formed.

While the Maya glyphs largely represent ideas, indubitable traces of phoneticism and phonetic composition appear. There are perhaps half a dozen glyphs in all which are known to be constructed on a purely phonetic basis, and as the remaining glyphs are gradually deciphered this number will doubtless be increased.

The progress which has been made in deciphering the Maya inscriptions may be summarized as follows: The Maya calendar, chronology, and astronomy as recorded in the hieroglyphic texts have been carefully worked out, and it is unlikely that future discoveries will change our present conception of them. There remains, however, a group of glyphs which are probably non-calendric, non-chronologic, and non-astronomic in character. These, it may be reasonably expected, will be found to describe the subject matter of Maya history; that is, they probably set forth the nature of the events which took place on the dates recorded. An analogy would be the following: Supposing, in scanning a history of the United States, only the dates could be read. We would find, for example, July 4, 1776, followed by unknown characters; April 12, 1861, by others; and March 4, 1912, by others. This, then, is the case with the Maya glyphs—we find dates followed by glyphs of unknown meaning, which presumably set forth the nature of the corresponding events. In a word, we know now the chronologic skeleton of Maya history; it remains to work out the more intimate details which alone can make it a vital force.

The published writings on the subject of the Maya hieroglyphs have become so voluminous, and are so widely scattered and inaccessible, that it is difficult for students of Central American archeology to become familiar with what has been accomplished in this important field of investigation. In the present memoir Mr. Morley, who has devoted a number of years to the study of Maya archeology, and especially to the hieroglyphs, summarizes the results of these researches to the present time, and it is believed that this Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs will be the means of enabling ready and closer acquaintance with this interesting though intricate subject.

Very respectfully,

F. W. Hodge,
Ethnologist-in-Charge.

Dr. Charles D. Walcott,
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D. C.

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PREFACE

With the great expansion of interest in American archeology during the last few years there has grown to be a corresponding need and demand for primary textbooks, archeological primers so to speak, which will enable the general reader, without previous knowledge of the science, to understand its several branches. With this end in view, the author has prepared An Introduction to the Study of the Maya Hieroglyphs.

The need for such a textbook in this particular field is suggested by two considerations: (1) The writings of previous investigators, having been designed to meet the needs of the specialist rather than those of the beginner, are for the greater part too advanced and technical for general comprehension; and (2) these writings are scattered through many publications, periodicals as well as books, some in foreign languages, and almost all difficult of access to the average reader.

To the second of these considerations, however, the writings of Mr. C. P. Bowditch, of Boston, Massachusetts, offer a conspicuous exception, particularly his final contribution to this subject, entitled "The Numeration, Calendar Systems, and Astronomical Knowledge of the Mayas," the publication of which in 1910 marked the dawn of a new era in the study of the Maya hieroglyphic writing. In this work Mr. Bowditch exhaustively summarizes all previous knowledge of the subject, and also indicates the most promising lines for future investigation. The book is a vast storehouse of heretofore scattered material, now gathered together for the first time and presented to the student in a readily accessible form. Indeed, so thorough is its treatment, the result of many years of intensive study, that the writer would have hesitated to bring out another work, necessarily covering much of the same ground, had it not been for his belief that Mr. Bowditch's book is too advanced for lay comprehension. The Maya hieroglyphic writing is exceedingly intricate; its subject matter is complex and its forms irregular; and in order to be understood it must be presented in a very elementary way. The writer believes that this primer method of treatment has not been followed in the publication in question and, furthermore, that the omission of specimen texts, which would give the student practice in deciphering the glyphs, renders it too technical for use by the beginner.

Acknowledgment should be made here to Mr. Bowditch for his courtesy in permitting the reproduction of a number of drawings from his book, the examples of the period, day and month glyphs figured being derived almost entirely from this source; and in a larger sense for his share in the establishment of instruction in this field of research at Harvard University where the writer first took up these studies.

In the limited space available it would have been impossible to present a detailed picture of the Maya civilization, nor indeed is this essential to the purpose of the book. It has been thought advisable, however, to precede the general discussion of the hieroglyphs with a brief review of the habitat, history, customs, government, and religion of the ancient Maya, so that the reader may gather a general idea of the remarkable people whose writing and calendar he is about to study.

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CONTENTS

Page
Chapter I.	The Maya	1
	Habitat	1
	History	2
	Manners and customs	7
II.	The Maya hieroglyphic writing	22
III.	How the Maya reckoned time	37
	The tonalamatl, or 260-day period	41
	The haab, or year of 365 days	44
	The Calendar Round, or 18,980-day period	51
	The Long Count	60
	Initial Series	63
	The introducing glyph	64
	The cycle glyph	68
	The katun glyph	68
	The tun glyph	70
	The uinal glyph	70
	The kin glyph	72
	Secondary Series	74
	Calendar-round dates	76
	Period-ending dates	77
	U kahlay katunob	79
IV.	Maya arithmetic	87
	Bar and dot numerals	87
	Head-variant numerals	96
	First method of numeration	105
	Number of cycles in a great cycle	107
	Second method of numeration	129
	First step in solving Maya numbers	134
	Second step in solving Maya numbers	135
	Third step in solving Maya numbers	136
	Fourth step in solving Maya numbers	138
	Fifth step in solving Maya numbers	151
V.	The inscriptions	156
	Texts recording Initial Series	157
	Texts recording Initial Series and Secondary Series	207
	Texts recording Period Endings	222
	Texts recording Initial Series, Secondary Series, and Period Endings	233
	Errors in the originals	245
VI.	The codices	251
	Texts recording tonalamatls	251
	Texts recording Initial Series	266
	Texts recording Serpent Numbers	273
	Texts recording Ascending Series	276

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List of Tables

Page
Table I.	The twenty Maya day names	37
II.	Sequence of Maya days	42
III.	The divisions of the Maya year	45
IV.	Positions of days at the end of a year	48
V.	Relative positions of days beginning Maya years	53
VI.	Positions of days in divisions of Maya year	55
VII.	Positions of days in divisions of Maya year according to Maya notation	55
VIII.	The Maya time-periods	62
IX.	Sequence of katuns in u kahlay katunob	80
X.	Characteristics of head-variant numerals 0-19, inclusive	103
XI.	Sequence of twenty consecutive dates in the month Pop	111
XII.	Comparison of the two methods of numeration	133
XIII.	Values of higher periods in terms of lowest, in inscriptions	135
XIV.	Values of higher periods in terms of lowest, in codices	135
XV.	The 365 positions in the Maya year	141
XVI.	80 Calendar Rounds expressed in Arabic and Maya notation	143
XVII.	Interrelationship of dates on Stelæ E, F, and J and Zoömorph G, Quirigua	239

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page
Plate 1.	The Maya territory, showing locations of principal cities (map)	1
2.	Diagram showing periods of occupancy of principal southern cities	15
3.	Page 74 of the Dresden Codex, showing the end of the world (according to Förstemann)	32
4.	Diagram showing occurrence of dates recorded in Cycle 9	35
5.	Tonalamatl wheel, showing sequence of the 260 differently named days	43
6.	Glyphs representing Initial Series, showing use of bar and dot numerals and normal-form period glyphs	157
7.	Glyphs representing Initial Series, showing use of bar and dot numerals and head-variant period glyphs	167
8.	Glyphs representing Initial Series, showing use of bar and dot numerals and head-variant period glyphs	170
9.	Glyphs representing Initial Series, showing use of bar and dot numerals and head-variant period glyphs	176
10.	Glyphs representing Initial Series, showing use of bar and dot numerals and head-variant period glyphs—Stela 3, Tikal	178
11.	Glyphs representing Initial Series, showing use of bar and dot numerals and head-variant period glyphs—Stela A (east side), Quirigua	179
12.	Glyphs representing Initial Series, showing use of head-variant numerals and period glyphs	180
13.	Oldest Initial Series at Copan—Stela 15	187
14.	Initial Series on Stela D, Copan, showing full-figure numeral glyphs and period glyphs	188
15.	Initial Series on Stela J, Copan	191
16.	Initial Series and Secondary Series on Lintel 21, Yaxchilan	207
17.	Initial Series and Secondary Series on Stela 1, Piedras Negras	210
18.	Initial Series and Secondary Series on Stela K, Quirigua	213
19.	Initial Series and Secondary Series on Stela F (west side), Quirigua	218
20.	Initial Series on Stela F (east side), Quirigua	220
21.	Examples of Period-ending dates in Cycle 9	223
22.	Examples of Period-ending dates in cycles other than Cycle 9	227
23.	Initial Series, Secondary Series, and Period-ending dates on Stela 3, Piedras Negras	233
24.	Initial Series, Secondary Series, and Period-ending dates on Stela E (west side), Quirigua	235
25.	Calendar-round dates on Altar 5, Tikal	240
26.	Initial Series on Stela N, Copan, showing error in month coefficient	248
27.	Page 12 of the Dresden Codex, showing tonalamatls in all three divisions	254
28.	Page 15 of the Dresden Codex, showing tonalamatls in all three divisions	260
29.	Middle divisions of pages 10 and 11 of the Codex Tro-Cortesiano, showing one tonalamatl extending across the two pages	262
30.	Page 102 of the Codex Tro-Cortesiano, showing tonalamatls in the lower three divisions	263
31.	Page 24 of the Dresden Codex, showing Initial Series	266
32.	Page 62 of the Dresden Codex, showing the Serpent Numbers	273
Figure 1.	Itzamna, chief deity of the Maya Pantheon	16
2.	Kukulcan, God of Learning	17
3.	Ahpuch, God of Death	17
4.	The God of War	17
5.	Ek Ahau, the Black Captain, war deity	18
6.	Yum Kaax, Lord of the Harvest	18
7.	Xaman Ek, the North Star God	19
8.	Conflict between the Gods of Life and Death (Kukulcan and Ahpuch)	19
9.	Outlines of the glyphs	22
10.	Examples of glyph elision, showing elimination of all parts except essential element	23
11.	Normal-form and head-variant glyphs, showing retention of essential element in each	24
12.	Normal-form and head-variant glyphs, showing absence of common essential element	25
13.	Glyphs built up on a phonetic basis	28
14.	A rebus. Aztec, and probably Maya, personal and place names were written in a corresponding manner	29
15.	Aztec place names	30
16.	The day signs in the inscriptions	38
17.	The day signs in the codices	39
18.	Sign for the tonalamatl (according to Goodman)	44
19.	The month signs in the inscriptions	49
20.	The month signs in the codices	50
21.	Diagram showing engagement of tonalamatl wheel of 260 days and haab wheel of 365 positions; the combination of the two giving the Calendar Round, or 52-year period	57
22.	Signs for the Calendar Round	59
23.	Diagram showing section of Calendar-round wheel	64
24.	Initial-series "introducing glyph"	65
25.	Signs for the cycle	68
26.	Full-figure variant of cycle sign	69
27.	Signs for the katun	69
28.	Full-figure variant of katun sign	70
29.	Signs for the tun	70
30.	Full-figure variant of tun sign	70
31.	Signs for the uinal	71
32.	Full-figure variant of uinal sign on Zoömorph B, Quirigua	71
33.	Full-figure variant of uinal sign on Stela D, Copan	71
34.	Signs for the kin	72
35.	Full-figure variant of kin sign	73
36.	Period glyphs, from widely separated sites and of different epochs, showing persistence of essential elements	74
37.	Ending signs and elements	78
38.	"Snake" or "knot" element as used with day sign Ahau, possibly indicating presence of the u kahlay katunob in the inscriptions	83
39.	Normal forms of numerals 1 to 19, inclusive, in the codices	88
40.	Normal forms of numerals 1 to 19, inclusive, in the inscriptions	89
41.	Examples of bar and dot numeral 5, showing the ornamentation which the bar underwent without affecting its numerical value	89
42.	Examples showing the way in which numerals 1, 2, 6, 7, 11, 12,16, and 17 are not used with period, day, or month signs	90
43.	Examples showing the way in which numerals 1, 2, 6, 7, 11, 12,16, and 17 are used with period, day, or month signs	90
44.	Normal forms of numerals 1 to 13, inclusive, in the Books of Chilan Balam	91
45.	Sign for 20 in the codices	92
46.	Sign for 0 in the codices	92
47.	Sign for 0 in the inscriptions	93
48.	Figure showing possible derivation of the sign for 0 in the inscriptions	93
49.	Special sign for 0 used exclusively as a month coefficient	94
50.	Examples of the use of bar and dot numerals with period, day, or month signs	95
51.	Head-variant numerals 1 to 7, inclusive	97
52.	Head-variant numerals 8 to 13, inclusive	98
53.	Head-variant numerals 14 to 19, inclusive, and 0	99
54.	A sign for 0, used also to express the idea "ending" or "end of" in Period-ending dates	102
55.	Examples of the use of head-variant numerals with period, day,or month signs	104
56.	Examples of the first method of numeration, used almost exclusively in the inscriptions	105
57.	Signs for the cycle showing coefficients above 13	110
58.	Part of the inscription on Stela N, Copan, showing a number composed of six periods	115
59.	Part of the inscription in the Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque, showing a number composed of seven periods	115
60.	Part of the inscription on Stela 10, Tikal (probably an Initial Series), showing a number composed of eight periods	115
61.	Signs for the great cycle and the great-great cycle	118
62.	Glyphs showing misplacement of the kin coefficient or elimination of a period glyph	128
63.	Examples of the second method of numeration, used exclusively in the codices	131
64.	Figure showing the use of the "minus" or "backward" sign in the codices	137
65.	Sign for the "month indicator"	153
66.	Diagram showing the method of designating particular glyphs in a text	156
67.	Signs representing the hotun, or 5-tun, period	166
68.	Initial Series showing bar and dot numerals and head-variant period glyphs	174
69.	Initial Series showing head-variant numerals and period glyphs	183
70.	Initial Series showing head-variant numerals and period glyphs	186
71.	Initial Series on Stela H, Quirigua	193
72.	The tun, uinal, and kin coefficients on Stela H, Quirigua	194
73.	The Initial Series on the Tuxtla Statuette, the oldest Initial Series known (in the early part of Cycle 8)	195
74.	The introducing glyph (?) of the Initial Series on the Tuxtla Statuette	196
75.	Drawings of the Initial Series: A, On the Leyden Plate; B, on a lintel from the Temple of the Initial Series, Chichen Itza	197
76.	The Cycle-10 Initial Series from Quen Santo	200
77.	Initial Series which proceed from a date prior to 4 Ahau8 Cumhu, the starting point of Maya chronology	204
78.	The Initial Series on Stela J, Quirigua	215
79.	The Secondary Series on Stela J, Quirigua	216
80.	Glyphs which may disclose the nature of the events that happened at Quirigua on the dates: a, 9. 14. 13. 4. 17 12 Caban 5 Kayab; b, 9. 15. 6. 14. 6 6 Cimi 4 Tzec	221
81.	The Initial Series, Secondary Series, and Period-ending date on Altar S, Copan	232
82.	The Initial Series on Stela E (east side), Quirigua	236
83.	Calendar-round dates	241
84.	Texts showing actual errors in the originals	245
85.	Example of first method of numeration in the codices (part of page 69 of the Dresden Codex)	275

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aguilar, Sanchez de. 1639. Informe contra idolorum cultores del Obispado de Yucatan. Madrid. (Reprint in Anales Mus. Nac. de Mexico, VI, pp. 17-122, Mexico, 1900.)

Bowditch, Charles P. 1901 a. Memoranda on the Maya calendars used in the Books of Chilan Balam. Amer. Anthr., n. s., III, No. 1, pp. 129-138, New York.

—— 1906. The Temples of the Cross, of the Foliated Cross, and of the Sun at Palenque. Cambridge, Mass.

—— 1909. Dates and numbers in the Dresden Codex. Putnam Anniversary Volume, pp. 268-298, New York.

—— 1910. The numeration, calendar systems, and astronomical knowledge of the Mayas. Cambridge, Mass.

Brasseur de Bourbourg, C. E. 1869-70. Manuscrit Troano. Études sur le système graphique et la langue des Mayas. 2 vols. Paris.

Brinton, Daniel G. 1882 b. The Maya chronicles. Philadelphia. (No. 1 of Brinton's Library of Aboriginal American Literature.)

—— 1894 b. A primer of Mayan hieroglyphics. Pubs. Univ. of Pa., Ser. in Philol., Lit., and Archeol., III, No. 2.

Bulletin 28 of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1904: Mexican and Central American antiquities, calendar systems, and history. Twenty-four papers by Eduard Seler, E. Förstemann, Paul Schellhas, Carl Sapper, and E. P. Dieseldorff. Translated from the German under the supervision of Charles P. Bowditch.

Cogolludo, D. L. 1688. Historia de Yucathan. Madrid.

Cresson, H. T. 1892. The antennæ and sting of Yikilcab as components in the Maya day-signs. Science, XX, pp. 77-79, New York.

Dieseldorff, E. P. See Bulletin 28.

Förstemann, E. 1906. Commentary on the Maya manuscript in the Royal Public Library of Dresden. Papers Peabody Mus., IV, No. 2, pp. 48-266, Cambridge. See also Bulletin 28.

Gates, W. E. 1910. Commentary upon the Maya-Tzental Perez Codex, with a concluding note upon the linguistic problem of the Maya glyphs. Papers Peabody Mus., VI, No. 1, pp. 5-64, Cambridge.

Goodman, J. T. 1897. The archaic Maya inscriptions. (Biologia Centrali-Americana, Archæology, Part XVIII. London.) [See Maudslay, 1889-1902.]

—— 1905. Maya dates. Amer. Anthr., n. s., VII, pp. 642-647, Lancaster, Pa.

Hewett, Edgar L. 1911. Two seasons' work in Guatemala. Bull. Archæol. Inst. of America, II, pp. 117-134, Norwood, Mass.

Holmes, W. H. 1907. On a nephrite statuette from San Andrés Tuxtla, Vera Cruz, Mexico. Amer. Anthr., n. s., IX, No. 4, pp. 691-701, Lancaster, Pa.

Landa, Diego de. 1864. Relacion de las cosas de Yucatan. Paris.

Le Plongeon, A. 1885. The Maya alphabet. Supplement to Scientific American, vol. XIX, Jan. 31, pp. 7572-73, New York.

Maler, Teobert. 1901. Researches in the central portion of the Usumatsintla valley. Memoirs Peabody Mus., II, No. 1, pp. 9-75, Cambridge.

—— 1903. Researches in the central portion of the Usumatsintla valley. [Continued.] Ibid., No. 2, pp. 83-208.

—— 1908 a. Explorations of the upper Usumatsintla and adjacent region. Ibid., IV, No. 1, pp. 1-51.

Maler, Teobert. 1908 b. Explorations in the Department of Peten, Guatemala, and adjacent region. Ibid., No. 2, pp. 55-127.

—— 1910. Explorations in the Department of Peten, Guatemala, and adjacent region. [Continued.] Ibid., No. 3, pp. 131-170.

—— 1911. Explorations in the Department of Peten, Guatemala. Tikal. Ibid., V, No. 1, pp. 3-91, pls. 1-26.

Maudslay, A. P. 1889-1902. Biologia Centrali-Americana, or contributions to the knowledge of the flora and fauna of Mexico and Central America. Archæology. 4 vols. of text and plates. London.

Morley, S. G. 1910 b. Correlation of Maya and Christian chronology. Amer. Journ. Archeol., 2d ser., XIV, pp. 193-204, Norwood, Mass.

—— 1911. The historical value of the Books of Chilan Balam. Ibid., XV, pp. 195-214.

Ponce, Fray Alonzo. 1872. Relacion breve y verdadera de algunas cosas de las muchas que sucedieron al Padre Fray Alonzo Ponce, Comisario General en las provincias de Nueva España. Colección de documentos ineditos para la historia de España, LVII, LVIII. Madrid.

Rosny, Leon de. 1876. Essai sur le déchiffrement de l'écriture hiératique de l'Amérique Centrale. Paris.

Sapper, Carl. See Bulletin 28.

Schellhas, Paul. See Bulletin 28.

Seler, Eduard. 1901 c. Die alten Ansiedelungen von Chaculá im Distrikte Nenton des Departements Huehuetenango der Republik Guatemala. Berlin.

—— 1902-1908. Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur amerikanischen Sprach- und Alterthumskunde. 3 vols. Berlin. See also Bulletin 28.

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—— 1843. Incidents of travel in Yucatan. 2 vols. New York.

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Villagutierre, Sotomayor J. 1701. Historia de la conquista de la provinzia de el Itza, reduccion, y progressos de la de el Lacandon y otras naciones de el reyno de Guatimala, a las provincias de Yucatan, en la America septentrional. Madrid.