Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T13:08:26.009Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

THE “ECLIPSE GLYPH” IN MAYA TEXT AND ICONOGRAPHY: A CENTURY OF MISINTERPRETATION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 August 2017

Bruce Love*
Affiliation:
29709 104th Street, East Juniper Hills, California 93543
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]

Abstract

The “eclipse glyph,” as it is called by most people in our field, is not referring to eclipses, but rather to the darkened sun and moon associated with heavy rainfall or darkened skies. This glyph is composed of the sun sign or moon sign (occasionally others) between two flanking fields, usually one light and one dark, and is found principally in the Postclassic divinatory almanacs of the Maya codices. Evidence for this proposal comes from iconography as well as texts. Rain pours from “eclipse glyphs” in pictures accompanied by hieroglyphic captions explicitly dealing with rain; they also appear in calendrical sequences that could not possibly be referring to eclipses. Even in the lunar or eclipse pages in the Dresden Codex that deal with solar eclipses, the texts that accompany the “eclipse glyphs” are about rain. A search of Classic-period antecedents suggests a linguistic value yihk'in, meaning “darkened” or “darkening.”

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and Jiménez, Gabina Aurora Pérez (editors) 1992a Origen e Historia de los Reyes Mixtecos, libro explicativo del llamado Códice Vindobonensis. Boxed with color facsimile. Códices Mexicanos I. Sociedad Estatal Quinto Centenario, Madrid, Akademische Druck -und Verlagsanstalt, Graz, and Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and Jiménez, Gabina Aurora Pérez (editors) 1992b Crónica Mixteca: El Rey 8 Venado, Garra de Jaguar, y la dinastía de Teozacualco-Zaachila, libro explicativo del llamado Códice Zouche-Nuttall. Boxed with color facsimile. Códices Mexicanos II. Sociedad Estatal Quinto Centenario, Madrid, Akademische Druck -und Verlagsanstalt, Graz, and Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and García, Luis Reyes (editors) 1993a Los Templos del Cielo y de la Oscuridad: Oráculos y liturgia, libro explicativo del llamado Códice Borgia. Boxed with color facsimile. Códices Mexicanos V. Sociedad Estatal Quinto Centenario, Madrid, Akademische Druck -und Verlagsanstalt, Graz, and Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Anders, Ferdinand, Jansen, Maarten, and García, Luis Reyes (editors) 1993b Codice Borgia. Boxed color facsimile. Codices Mexicanos V. Sociedad Estatal Quinto Centenario, Madrid, Akademische Druck -und Verlagsanstalt, Graz, and Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Aveni, Anthony F. (editor) 1992 The Sky in Mayan Literature. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Aveni, Anthony F., Saturno, William, and Stuart, David 2013 Astronomical Implications of Maya Hieroglyphic Notations at Xultun. Journal for the History of Astronomy 44:116.Google Scholar
Bricker, Harvey M., and Bricker, Victoria R. 1997 More on the Mars Table in the Dresden Codex. Latin American Antiquity 8:384397Google Scholar
Bricker, Harvey M., and Bricker, Victoria R. 2011 Astronomy in the Maya Codices. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Bricker, Victoria R. 1986 A Grammar of Mayan Hieroglyphs. Middle American Research Institute Publication No. 56. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Bricker, Victoria, Aveni, Anthony, and Bricker, Harvey 2014 Deciphering the Handwriting on the Wall: Some Astronomical Interpretations of the Recent Discoveries at Xultun, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 25:152169.Google Scholar
Bricker, Victoria R., and Bricker, Harvey M. 1986 The Mars Table in the Dresden Codex. In Research and Reflections in Archaeology and History: Essays in Honor of Doris Stone, edited by Andrews, E. Wyllys V, pp. 5180. Middle American Research Institute Publication No. 57. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Bricker, Victoria R., and Bricker, Harvey M. 1992 A Method for Cross-dating Almanacs with Tables in the Dresden Codex. In The Sky in Mayan Literature, edited by Aveni, Anthony F., pp. 4386. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Caso, Alfonso 1996[1977] Reyes y Reinos de La Mixteca. 2 vols. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Closs, Michael 1989 Cognitive Aspects of Ancient Maya Eclipse Theory. In World Archaeoastronomy: Selected Papers from the 2nd Oxford International Conference on Archaeoastronomy Held in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, 13–17 January 1986, edited by Aveni, Anthony, pp. 389393. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Coggins, Clemency Chase, and Shane, Orrin C. III 1984 Cenote of Sacrifice: Maya Treasures from the Sacred Well at Chichén Itzá. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Dresden Codex (FAMSI) 2017 The Dresden Codex. Förstemann ed., 1880. Electronic document, http://www.famsi.org/mayawriting/codices/dresden.html, accessed October 14, 2012Google Scholar
Dresden Codex (SLUB) 2017 SLUB Dresden: The Dresden Maya-Codex. Electronic document, http://www.slub-dresden.de/en/collections/manuscripts/the-dresden-maya-codex/, accessed October 14, 2012.Google Scholar
Fash, William L. 2001 Scribes, Warriors and Kings: The City of Copán and the Ancient Maya. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Gates, William E. 1931 An Outline Dictionary of Maya Glyphs: With a Concordance and Analysis of Their Relationships. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore.Google Scholar
de la Garza, Mercedes 1984 El universo sagrado de la serpiente entre los mayas. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Graham, Ian 1978 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Volume 2, Part 2: Naranjo, Chunhuitz, Xunantunich. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Graham, Ian 1979 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Volume 3, Part 2: Yaxchilan. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Graham, Ian 2004 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Volume 8, Part 1: Coba. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Graham, Ian, and von Euw, Eric 1977 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Volume 3, Part 1: Yaxchilan. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Greene Robertson, Merle 1991 The Sculpture of Palenque, Volume IV: The Cross Group, the North Group, the Olvidado, and Other Pieces. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Guernsey, Julia 2006 Ritual & Power in Stone: The Performance of Rulership in Mesoamerican Izapan Style Art. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Guernsey, Julia, and Reilly, Kent (editors) 2006 Sacred Bundles: Ritual Acts of Wrapping and Binding in Mesoamerica. Ancient America Special Publication No. 1. Boundary End Archaeological Research Center, Barnardsville.Google Scholar
Helmke, Christophe G. B. 2009 Ancient Maya Cave Usage as Attested in the Glyphic Corpus of the Maya Lowlands and the Caves of the Roaring Creek Valley, Belize. Ph.D. dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, University College, London.Google Scholar
Houston, Stephen 1993 Hieroglyphs and History at Dos Pilas. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Houston, Stephen, Mazariegos, Oswaldo Chinchilla, and Stuart, David (editors) 2001 The Decipherment of Ancient Maya Writing. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Houston, Stephen, Brittenham, Claudia, Mesick, Cassandra, Tokovinine, Alexandre, and Warinner, Christina 2009 Veiled Brightness: A History of Ancient Maya Color. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Hull, Kerry 2000 Cosmological and Ritual Language in Ch'orti’. Report submitted to FAMSI. Electronic document, www.famsi.org/reports/99036/index.html, accessed October 14, 2012.Google Scholar
Jones, Christopher, and Satterthwait, Linton 1982 The Monuments and Inscriptions of Tikal: The Carved Monuments. Tikal Report No. 33, Part A. The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Justeson, John S. 1981 Appendix B: Interpretations of Maya Hieroglyphs. In Phoneticism in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing, edited by Justeson, John S. and Campbell, Lyle, pp. 315362. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies Publication No. 9. State University of New York, Albany.Google Scholar
John S., Justeson, and Campbell, Lyle (editors) 1984 Phoneticism in Mayan Hieroglyphic Writing. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies Publication No. 9. State University of New York, Albany.Google Scholar
Johnson, Scott J. A. 2013 Translating Maya Hieroglyphs. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Keber, Eloise Quiñones 1995 Codex Telleriano-Remensis: Ritual, Divination, and History in a Pictorial Aztec Manuscript. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Kelley, David Humiston 1976 Deciphering the Maya Script. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Kerr, Justin (editor) 2013 Maya Vase Database. Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies Inc. (FAMSI), and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles. Electronic database, http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya.html, accessed October 14, 2012.Google Scholar
Kettunen, Harri, and Helmke, Christophe 2010 Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs. Revised ed. Electronic document, http://mesoweb.com/resources/handbook/index.html, accessed October 21, 2012.Google Scholar
Linden, John H. 1986 Glyph X of the Maya Lunar Series: An Eighteen-Month Lunar Synodic Calendar. American Antiquity 51:122136.Google Scholar
Looper, Matthew 2007 Quiriguá: A Guide to an Ancient Maya City. Editorial Antigua, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Lounsbury, Floyd G. 1980 Problems in the Interpretation of the Text of the Temple of the Cross. In Third Palenque Round Table, 1978, Part 2, edited by Robertson, Merle Greene, pp. 99115. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Love, Bruce 1994 The Paris Codex: Handbook for a Maya Priest. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Love, Bruce 1995 A Dresden Codex Mars Table? Latin American Antiquity 6:350361.Google Scholar
Macri, Martha J., and Vail, Gabrielle 2009 The New Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs, Volume Two: The Codical Texts. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Macri, Martha J., and Looper, Matthew G. 2003 The New Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs, Volume One: The Classic Period Inscriptions. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Madrid Codex (Nojib'sa) 2007 Códice de Madrid (Tro-Cortesiano). Commentary by Daniel Matul and Federico Fahsen. Consejo Nacional de Educación Maya (CNEM), Amanuense Editorial, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Makemson, Maud W. 1943 The Astronomical Tables of the Maya. Contributions to American Anthropology and History, Vol. 8, No. 42, pp. 183221. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication No. 546. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Martin, Simon, and Skidmore, Joel 2012 Exploring the 584286 Correlation between the Maya and European Calendars. The PARI Journal 13:316.Google Scholar
Martin, Simon, and Grube, Nikolai 2000 Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Mathews, Peter 2001 Notes on the Inscriptions, Dos Pilas Stela 8. In The Decipherment of Ancient Maya Writing, edited by Houston, Stephen, Mazariegos, Oswaldo Chinchilla, and Stuart, David, pp. 394418. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Maudslay, Alfred Percival 1974 [1889–1902] Biologia Centrali-Americana, or, Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America, Vol. 3. Fascimile ed. Edited by Godman, F. Ducane and Salvin, Osbert, introduction by Francis Robicsek. R. H. Porter and Dulau and Co., London.Google Scholar
Meinhausen, Martin 1913 Über Sonnen- und Mondfinsternisse in der Dresdener Mayahandschrift. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 45:221227.Google Scholar
Miller, Mary, and Taube, Karl 1993 An Illustrated Dictionary of The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Montgomery, John 1990 A Glyph for Jaguar Paw on Piedras Negras Throne 1. In U Mut Maya III, edited by Jones, Tom and Jones, Carolyn, pp. 135139. Tom and Carolyn Jones, Arcata.Google Scholar
Montgomery, John 2002 Dictionary of Maya Hieroglyphs. Hippocrene Books, New York.Google Scholar
Nowotny, Karl Anton 2005 Tlacuilolli. Edited and translated by Everett, George A. and Sisson, Edward B.. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Paris Codex (Graz) 1968 Codex Peresianus (Codex Paris). Boxed facsimile. Codices Selecti, Phototypice Impressi, Vol. 9. Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz.Google Scholar
Pohl, John M. D. 2005 The Arroyo Group Lintel Painting at Mitla, Oaxaca. In Painted Books and Indigenous Knowledge in Mesoamerica: Manuscript Studies in Honor of Mary Elizabeth Smith, edited by Boone, Elizabeth Hill, pp. 109127. Middle American Research Institute Publication No. 69. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Polyukovych, Yuriy 2005 Cancuen Panel 1. Drawings presented at University of Texas Maya Meetings, Austin.Google Scholar
Prager, Christian 2006 Is T326 a logograph for NA:M “hide, to go out of sight”? Notes on Ancient Maya Writing. Electronic document, http://www.academia.edu/8219716/Is_T326_a_Logograph_for_NA_M_hide_to_go_out_of_sight_, accessed Octobeber 14, 2012.Google Scholar
Prager, Christian M., Volta, Beniamino, and Braswell, Geoffrey E. 2014 The Dynastic History and Archaeology of Pusilha, Belize. In The Maya and their Central American Neighbors: Settlement Patterns, Architecture, Hieroglyphic Texts, and Ceramics, edited by Braswell, Geoffrey E., pp. 245307. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Rossi, Franco D. 2015 The Brothers Taaj: Civil-Religious Orders and the Politics of Expertise in Late Maya Statecraft. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Archaeology, Boston University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Boston.Google Scholar
de Sahagún, Bernadino 1950–1982 Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain. 13 vols. Translated by Anderson, Arthur J. O. and Dibble., Charles E. School of American Research, Santa Fe, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Saturno, William A., Aveni, Anthony, Stuart, David, and Rossi, Franco D. 2012 Ancient Maya Calendrical Tables from Xultun, Guatemala. Science 33:714717.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda, and Grube, Nikolai 1997 Notebook for the XXIst Maya Hieroglyphic Forum at Texas, March 8–9, 1997. Department of Art and Art History and the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Smith, Virginia 1984 Izapa Relief Carving: Form, Content, Rules for Design, and Role in Mesoamerican Art History and Archaeology. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art & Archaeology, No. 27. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stone, Andrea, and Zender, Marc 2011 Reading Maya Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Maya Painting and Sculpture. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 2005 The Inscriptions from Temple XIX at Palenque. The Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 2006 Sourcebook for the 30th Maya Meetings, March 14–19, 2006. Department of Art and Art History, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Stuart, David, and Stuart, George 2008 Palenque: Eternal City of the Maya. Thames and Hudson, LondonGoogle Scholar
Stuart, David, and Graham, Ian 2003 Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions, Vol. 9, Part 1: Piedras Negras. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Tate, Carolyn E. 1992 Yaxchilan: The Design of a Maya Ceremonial City. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl A., Saturno, William A., Stuart, David, and Hurst, Heather 2010 The Murals of San Bartolo, El Petén, Guatemala. Part 2: The West Wall. Renderings by Heather Hurst. Special Supplement to Ancient America, No. 10. Boundary End Archaeology Research Center, Barnardsville.Google Scholar
Tedlock, Barbara 1999 Maya Astronomy: What We Know and How We Know It. Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy in Culture 14:3958.Google Scholar
Teeple, John E. 1931 Maya Astronomy. Contributions to American Anthropology, Vol. 1, No. 2, Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication No. 403. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1962 A Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1971[1950] Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: An Introduction. Reprint, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Originally published 1950 by Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1972 A Commentary on the Dresden Codex: A Maya Hieroglyphic Book. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Urcid, Javier 2012 The Meaning of Shell Ornaments from Northeastern Mesoamerica. In Children of The Plumed Serpent: the Legacy of Quetzalcoatl in Ancient Mexico, edited by Fields, Virginia M., Pohl, John M. D., and Lyall, Victoria I., pp. 133141. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Velásquez García, Erik 2016 Códice de Dresde: Parte 1. Facsimile ed. Arqueología Mexicana 67:891.Google Scholar
Willson, Robert W. 1924 Astronomical Notes on the Maya Codices. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 6, No. 3. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Zender, Marc, and Skidmore, Joel 2012 Unearthing the Heavens: Classic Maya Murals and Astronomical Tables at Xultun, Guatemala. Electronic document, www.mesoweb.com/reports/Xultun/html, accessed December 15, 2012.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, Günter 1956 Die Hieroglyphen der Maya-Handschriften. Universitat Hamburg, Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiet der Auslandskunde, Vol. 62. Cram de Gruyter and Co., Hamburg.Google Scholar