Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices | Page 9

| |Lamat | 1| |
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Each of these eighteen columns forms one month, and the whole taken
together, with the 5 days added at the end of the eighteenth month,
form one continuous series, the second column following the first as
though placed at the end of it, the third following the second, and so on
to the end of the eighteenth. Whether or not it was the ancient custom
to include the 5 added days in the year, as asserted by the old Spanish
writers, is somewhat doubtful, at least in studying the Dresden Codex,
we shall find but few occasions, if any, to use them, for there are few if
any positive indications in this codex that they were added.
As stated, each column of the table forms a month, though the
numbering is carried to thirteen only; but at present the chief object in
view in presenting it is to use it in explaining the method of counting
the days and the intervals of time. The table is in truth a continuous
series, and it is to be understood as though the 365 days were written
in one column, thus:
1. Kan. 2. Chicchan. 3. Cimi. 4. Manik. 5. Lamat. 6. Muluc. 7. Oc. 8.
Chuen. 9. Eb. 10. Been. 11. Ix. 12. Men. 13. Cib. 1. Caban. 2. Ezanab,
&c.,

the 20 days being repeated over and over in the order in which they
stand in the table. This order is never changed; we may commence at
whatever point in the series occasion may require, but the order here
given must always be maintained, just as in our calendar the order of
our days is always Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, &c. In other words,
Chicchan must always follow Kan, Cimi must always follow Chicchan,
&c.
The method of counting intervals in the Maya calendar is very simple,
if these explanations are borne in mind, and may be illustrated thus:
Counting 14 days from 1 Kan--the first day of the year given in Table
I--brings us to 2 Ezanab (the day we count from being excluded); 12
days more bring us to 1 Oc, in the second column of our table; 17 days
more to 5 Manik, in the third column; and 17 days more, to 9 Kan, in
the fourth column.
The number of the day required is readily ascertained by adding
together the number of the day counted from and the number of days to
be counted, casting out the thirteens when the sum exceeds this number
(excepting where the remainder is thirteen); thus: 1 + 14 - 13 = 2, the
number of the day Ezanab given above. So 1 + 14 + 12 - 13 - 13 = 1,
the number of the day Oc, second column, Table I; and 1 + 14 + 12 +
17 + 17 - 13 - 13 - 13 - 13 = 9, the number of the day Kan, fourth
column. The reason for this is so apparent that it is unnecessary to
state it.
Suppose the day counted from is 11 Muluc of the eleventh month, and
the number of days to be counted (or the interval) is 19; by adding
together the numbers and casting out the thirteens the following result
is obtained: 11 + 19 - 13 - 13 = 4. Counting forward on the table 19
days from 11 Muluc (the sixth number in the eleventh figure column),
we reach 4 Lamat (the fourth day of the twelfth month). When the sum
of the numbers is a multiple of 13 the number obtained is 13, as there
can be no blanks, that is to say, no day without a number.
As the plates of the codices are usually divided into two or three
compartments by transverse lines, it is necessary to adopt some method
of referring to these in order to avoid the constant repetition of

"upper," "middle," and "lower" division. On the plan proposed by Dr.
Förstemann, in his late work on the Dresden Codex (Erläuterungen zur
Mayahandschrift der Königlichen öffentlichen Bibliothek zu Dresden),
these divisions are designated by the letters a, b, and c; this plan will
be adopted in this paper. The letter a joined to the number of a plate,
therefore, will signify that the division referred to is the upper one, as
Plate 12a; the letter b signifies the middle one where there are three
divisions or the lower one where there are but two; and the letter
csignifies the lowest or bottom division where there are three.
Where reference is made to the fac simile of the Dresden Codex,
Kingsborough's colored edition is always to be understood, except
where another is specially mentioned.
Running through Plates 36c and 37c is a continuous line of day
symbols and red and