Part 9

As might be expected from the foregoing, there are abundant evidences in the manuscripts of the presence of the dog in the various religious rites and especially those which have to do with the other world, the Kingdom of the Dead. In Tro-Cortesianus 35b, 36b, 37a, 37b, the pages showing the rites of the four years, the dog appears in various attitudes. In 35b and 36b, it bears on his back the Imix and Kan signs, in 37a (Pl. 37, fig. 8) it is shown as beating a drum and singing, in 37b (Pl. 36, fig. 2) it is beside a bowl containing Kan signs. In all of these places, the dogs seem to be represented among the various birds and animals which are to be sacrificed for the new years. Landa (1864, p. 216)[361-*] states that in the Kan year a dog was sacrificed. In the Muluc year, Landa (1864, p. 222)[361-[+]] records that they offered dogs made of clay with bread upon their backs and a perrito which had black shoulders and was a virgin. It has already been noted that two of the dogs represented in Tro-Cortesianus 35b and 36b have a Kan and Imix sign fastened to the back. Moreover, we have also pointed out that the Kan sign frequently seems to have the meaning of maize or bread. It will be noted that in Tro-Cortesianus 36b two human feet are shown on each of which is a dog-like animal.[361-[++]] These may indicate the dance in which dogs were carried as noted by Landa. Cogolludo (1688, p. 184)[361-§] also mentions a similar dance. Still another reference in Landa (1864, p. 260)[362-*] mentions that in the months Muan and Pax dogs were sacrificed to the deities.

Reference has already been made to the identification of the four priests at the top of Dresden 25-28 as having the heads of dogs rather than of opossums. It may be suggested that in the rôle of the conductor to the other world the dog is represented as carrying on his back in each case the year which has just been completed and therefore is dead. This, of course, would necessitate the identification of god B, the jaguar, god E, and god A as representing in turn the four years.

The dog, according to Sahagun's account (p. 360) was looked upon as the "Fire God's animal," and as an emblem of fire. This idea is seen frequently in the Maya manuscripts where the dog with firebrands in his paws or attached to his tail is coming head downward from a line of constellation signs, as in Dresden 36a (Pl. 37, fig. 3), 40b (Pl. 37, fig. 1) or is standing beneath similar signs as in Dresden 39a (Pl. 37, fig. 2) and probably in Tro-Cortesianus 13a. His tail alone has the firebrand in Tro-Cortesianus 36b. Firebrands are carried by figures which have been identified by us as dogs in Tro-Cortesianus 24c (Pl. 37, fig. 6), 25c, and 90a. Here the animal is represented as in the air holding his firebrands over a blazing altar beside which god F is seated. In two out of the four cases, F is shown as dead. The dog in these latter examples has his eye composed of the Akbal sign. This same glyph can also be made out with difficulty on the forehead of the dog shown in Dresden 36a (Pl. 37, fig. 3). As has been noted, Akbal means night and possibly death as well. It is certain that destruction is indicated in the preceding examples as well as in Tro-Cortesianus 87a and 88a (Pl. 37, fig. 4) where the dog is holding four human figures by the hair.

Beyer (1908, pp. 419-422) has identified the dog as the Pleiades and various other suggestions have been made that the dog represents some constellation. The more common form of spotted dog is shown as a single tonalamatl figure in Tro-Cortesianus 25d and 27d (Pl. 36, fig. 14) and an unspotted variety in Dresden 7a (Pl. 37, fig. 10). The dog is frequently shown as copulating with another animal or with a female figure. In Dresden 13c (Pl. 37, fig. 7) the second figure is a vulture, in Dresden 21b (Pl. 37, fig. 5) it is a woman and also in Tro-Cortesianus 91c (Pl. 36, fig. 12).

The same animal appears also in a number of scenes not included in the preceding. In Tro-Cortesianus 88c (Pl. 36, fig. 1) a dog is seated on a crab and seems to be connected with the idea of the north as this sign is noted above the figure; in Tro-Cortesianus 66b (Pl. 36, fig. 3) a dog and another animal (Pl. 32, fig. 3) are seated back to back under a shelter; in Tro-Cortesianus 30b a dog is seated on the right foot of the woman from whose breasts water is streaming; in Dresden 29a (Pl. 37, fig. 12) god B is shown seated on a dog; and, finally, in Dresden 30a (Pl. 37, fig. 9) god B holds the bound dog by the tail over an altar.

The dog appears from numerous references to be used in connection with a prayer for rain. Comargo (1843) in his history of Tlaxcallan states that when rain failed, a procession was held in which a number of hairless dogs were carried on decorated litters to a place devoted to their use. There they were sacrificed to the god of water and the bodies were eaten.

The glyphs associated with the dog are interesting as we have, as in the case with the deer, one showing a realistic drawing of a dog's head in Tro-Cortesianus 91d (Pl. 37, fig. 13) and several others far more difficult of interpretation. Pl. 37, fig. 11, seems to stand for the dog as it is found in several places where the dog appears below, Dresden 21b, 40b. It is thought by some to represent the ribs of a dog which appear in somewhat similar fashion in Pl. 37, fig. 8. Some of the glyphs in the codices for the month Kankin show the same element (text figs. 8-10).

The Nahua day sign Itzcuintli signifies dog and corresponds to the Maya Oc (Pl. 36, figs. 9-11). This in turn is considered by many to stand for the dog as the animal of death and signifies the end. The sore, cropped ears of the domesticated dog are supposed to be represented in this sign, Oc. Nahua and other day signs for Itzcuintli (dog) are shown in Pl. 36, figs. 4, 6, 13.

BEAR (Ursus machetes; U. horriaeus). In northern Mexico, in Chihuahua and Sonora, occur a black bear (Ursus machetes) and the Sonoran grizzly (U. horriaeus). It is unlikely that the Mayas had much acquaintance with these animals since they range more to the northward than the area of Maya occupation. Stempell has identified as a bear, a figure in Dresden 37a (Pl. 35, fig. 3). This represents a creature with the body of a man walking erect but with the head apparently of some carnivorous mammal, as shown by the prominent canine tooth. This appears as a tonalamatl figure. The resemblance to a bear is not very clear. Less doubt attaches to the figure shown in Pl. 35, fig. 4, which seems almost certainly to depict a bear. The stout body, absence of a tail, the plantigrade hind feet, and stout claws, all seem to proclaim it a bear of one of the two species above mentioned. This picture is found in connection with one of the warriors shown in the bas-relief of the Lower Chamber of the Temple of the Tigers at Chichen Itza. It seems clearly to designate the figure in much the same way as figures are named in the Mexican writings, i.e., by having a glyph showing this nearby. Attention has already been called to the fact that here at Chichen Itza, and, especially on this bas-relief, there is much which shows a strong influence from the north. The two figures in Tro-Cortesianus 43a are probably bears. Förstemann (1902, p. 68) considers that they are men masked as Chacs or Bacabs.

LEAF-NOSED BAT (Vampyrus spectrum; Artibeus jamaicensis; or Phyllostomus hastatus panamensis). Several remarkably diabolical representations of bats (Maya, so, usually written zotz) occur among the Maya remains. These all show the prominent nose leaf distinguishing the family Phyllostomatidae and, as the Mayas probably used the largest and most conspicuous of the native species for artistic representation, it is likely that some one of the three species above mentioned is the one here shown.

The bat had a place in the Maya pantheon. One of the months of the Maya year (Zotz) was named after this animal and the glyph for this month shows the characteristic nasal appendage. This is to be seen more clearly in the glyphs selected from the stone inscriptions (Pl. 38, figs. 1, 2, 4-6) than in those from the codices (text figs. 11-14) although the nose leaf is still visible in the latter. The day sign Akbal (night) occurs as the eye in the figures from the manuscripts. A carving showing the whole body of the bat is used as a glyph in Stela D from Copan (Pl. 38, fig. 3). This may also represent the Bat god who is associated with the underworld, "the god of the caverns." This god is pictured on the "Vase of Chama" (Pl. 38, fig. 7) figured by Dieseldorff (1904, pp. 665-666) and by Gordon (1898, Pl. III). Seler (1904a) has discussed the presence of this god among the Mayas, the Zapotecs, and the Nahuas. The bat does not seem to occur in the Maya manuscripts as a god, although there are glyphs which seem to refer to this god (Dresden 17b), as pointed out by Seler, when there is no other representation of this deity.

No doubt in the times of the Maya civilization, these bats haunted the temples by day as they do now, and thus became readily endowed with a religious significance.

CAPUCHIN MONKEY (Cebus capucinus,--C. hypoleucus Auct.)[TN-10] With the possible exception of one or two figures, monkeys (Maya, maa or baa) are not represented in the Maya codices examined. In Tro-Cortesianus 88c (Pl. 39, fig. 4) occurs a curious nondescript animal with what seem to be hoofs on the forefeet, a somewhat bushy tail of moderate length, and a head that appears to be distinctly bonneted, somewhat as in the representations of the capuchin. Stempell regards this as a monkey, though recognizing that the short bushy tail is unlike that of any Central American species. The figure seems quite as likely a peccary or possibly a combination of a deer with some other animal. A glyph (Pl. 39, fig. 5) found directly above the figure just referred to, suggests a monkey, though it cannot be surely identified. A pottery whistle from the Uloa Valley (text fig. 15) shows two monkeys standing side by side with a posterior extension for the mouth piece. Their heads are shaped as in other representations of this monkey with a distinct cap or bonnet and facial discs. A pottery stamp from the same locality shows a monkey with a long tail (Gordon, 1898, Pl. 11, fig. f). It recalls the drawings of monkeys given by Strebel (1899, Pls. 1-4).

In the Nuttall Codex are numerous heads and a few other figures of a monkey, which from the erect hair of the crown, curling tail, and distinctly indicated facial area must be the common bonneted or capuchin monkey of Central America. This species does not occur in Yucatan. What is undoubtedly the same animal is shown as a head glyph in Pl. 39, fig. 8, from the Aubin manuscript. The identifications of the head-forming glyphs in the Nuttall and the Aubin manuscripts are certainly correct as the Nahua day sign (Oçomatli) means ape.

Text figs. 16-19, show some of the signs for the day Chuen from the Maya codices. This is the day corresponding to the day Oçomatli of the Nahuas. There is little resembling an ape in the Maya signs although it has been remarked that the sign may show the open jaws and teeth of this animal.

Förstemann (1897) as noted by Schellhas (1904, p. 21) alludes to the fact that the figure of god C, which occurs also in the sign for the north, in the tonalamatl in Dresden 4a-10a occurs in the day Chuen of the Maya calendar, and this corresponds to the day Oçomatli, the ape, in the Nahua calendar. This would suggest a connection between god C and the ape and this may be seen in the glyphs for god C (text figs. 20-24). Förstemann sees "an ape whose lateral nasal cavity (peculiar to the American ape or monkey) is occasionally represented plainly in the hieroglyph picture." He also associates god C with the constellation of Ursa Minor.

It will be seen from the detailed examination of the fauna shown in the codices that after all a comparatively small part of the animal life of the country occupied by the Maya speaking peoples is represented. The drawings in some cases are fairly accurate, so that there is little difficulty in determining the species intended by the artist. At other times, it is hazardous to state the exact species to which the animal belongs. It is only in a comparatively small number of cases, however, that there is any great doubt attached to the identification. It will be noted that the drawings of the Dresden manuscript are much more carefully and accurately done than those of the Tro-Cortesianus. A greater delicacy and a more minute regard for detail characterize the Dresden drawings in general.

In the animals selected for reproduction by the Mayas, only those were taken which were used either in a purely religious significance for their mythological character (and here naturally there is to be noted an anthropomorphic tendency) or animals were chosen which were employed as offerings to the many different gods of the Maya pantheon. The religious character of the whole portrayal of animal life in the codices is clearly manifest, and it is this side of the subject which will come out more clearly as the manuscripts are better known.

FOOTNOTES:

(Muluc year) "Y despues degollavanle la gallina como al passado."

(Ix year) "Y degollavan la gallina ... a la estatua de Kac-u-Uayeyab ofrescian una cabeça de un pavo, y empanados de codornices y otras coasa[TN-11] y su bevida."

(Cauac year) "Coma solian y degollavanle la gallina ... un hombre muerto y en cima un paxaro cenicero llamad kuch, en señal de mortandad grande, ca por muy mal año tenian este."

Relacion de Cotuta y Tibolon (1898, p. 105). "Un dios que dezian que eran benados en matando un yndio un benado benia luego a su dios y con el coraçon le untaba la cara de sangre y sino mataba algo aquel dia ybase a su casa aquel yndio le quebraba y dabale de cozes diziendo que no era buen dios."

Cogolludo (1688, Book I, Chap. VII, p. 43) "Correan tan poco los venados, y tan sin espantarse de la gente, que los soldados de á cavallo del exercito los alcancavan, y alançeavan, muy á su placer, y de esta suerte mataron muchos de ellos, con que comieron algunos dias despues ... Que en que consistia aquella novedad, de aver tanta maquina de venados, y estar tan mansos? Les dieron por respuesta; Que en aquellos Pueblos los tenian por sus Dioses á los venador; porque su Idolo Mayor se les avia aparecido en aquella figura."

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Aubin Manuscript, See Seler 1900-1901.

Beyer, Herman. 1908, The symbolic meaning of the dog in ancient Mexico; in American Anthropologist (N. S.), Vol. X, pp. 419-422, Washington.

Bologna Codex, See Cospiano Codex.