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SSOOMMEE OOBBSSEERRVVAATTIIOONNSS OONN TT558855 ((QQUUIINNCCUUNNXX)) OOFF TTHHEE MMAAYYAA SSCCRRIIPPTT11

Brian Stross

University of Texas at Austin

AABBSSTTRRAACCTT

The Maya glyph IK (ik') is found in structurally similar positions to the Maya quincunx

glyph, which is known to have a phonetic value bi or be. Since ik' is 'life, spirit, breath,

wind' in Mayan languages, it is noteworthy that bi/be means 'life, breath, spirit' in

Zapotecan languages, posssible descendents of the language of Monte Alban in the Valley of

Oaxaca, where the quincunx glyph is found quite early. Thus, it is conceivable that the

Maya quincunx glyph with its sound value be was borrowed in both form and sound value

from Zapotecans, suggesting that be is also the sound value of that glyph in the "Zapotec"

script. It is further suggested that in Zapotec the quincunx was a logogram representing be

'life, breath, wind' whose meaning carried over into at least the quincunx part of a "death"

expression in the Maya inscriptions, and perhaps elsewhere in the Maya script. Pursuing

these suggestions has led to the additional insight that the Maya day Eb may be related both

to Venus as Evening Star and to the quincunx. The Maya quincunx glyph may substitute

for a toothy skull as Evening star (though it may also stand for Venus in both Morning and

Evening aspects), while the IK glyph may represent Venus as Morning star in some

contexts.

IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN

The Maya script includes a glyph, called the quincunx or 'Q' glyph and numbered T585 for

its place in Thompson's (1962) glyph catalog. It is a square of four circlets surrounding a central

and often somewhat larger fifth circlet, or sometimes two concentric circlets in the center (figure

1). A formally identical glyph occurs in the "Zapotec" script found in the valley of Oaxaca (Caso's

glyph E; figure 2), and the same form occurs in proto-Classic Maya iconography (e.g. the earplugs

of the mask facades at Cerros, see figure 3). The quincunx glyph is also found in the inscriptions

of the sarcophagus from the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque (figure 4). Furthermore the

quincunx glyph is part of the iconography of the sarcophagus sides, occurring on the pectorals of

some of the figures emerging from the earth; figures presumed to be former rulers in the descent

line of the ruler Pacal whose body was found in the sarcophagus (figure 5).

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While a phonetic value of bi, be for the quincunx in the Maya script is already accepted by

a number of scholars, the purpose of this essay is to propose a semantic reading of 'wind, life,

breath' for the glyph and to suggest its introduction to the Maya from the earlier Zapotec script,

where it may have had a phonetic value of bi or be as well as the meaning 'wind, breath, life'.

Whittaker (1980) has already concluded that there was Zapotec (Monte Alban) influence

on the Maya hieroglyphic script, including Maya borrowing of the Zapotec quincunx glyph with

a phonetic value of bix. He identifies the Zapotec quincunx as a rattle in order to establish a

motivated iconographic source with a phonetic value of bix, which is similar in turn to an

apparently non-iconically motivated phonetic value of bix, a value suggested for the quincunx in

Maya script by Thompson (1971). Justeson et al reject the bix reading for the Maya glyph, and in

a consideration of several data, conclude that a derivation of Maya writing from Zapotec writing is

not supported by the evidence; evidence which they explain is in fact "inconsistent with such a

hypothesis" (Justeson et al 1985:51). They conclude that Whittaker's four examples of phonetic

transfer:

cannot be pertinent to the origins, but only to the later use of

the Mayan script. This again points to the pertinence of Maya

knowledge of a Oaxacan language more than of a Zapotec script.

The greater similarity among sign forms and among text formats of

Mayan and other Southeastern scripts...than among Mayan and

Zapotec signs and formats, suggests that the late Preclassic to

early Classic impact of the Zapotec script on Mayan writing

was weak compared to the impact of Mixe-Zoquean writing"

(Justeson et al 1985:51-2; cf. Stross 1982)

MMAAYYAA QQUUIINNCCUUNNXX AASS ''WWIINNDD,, BBRREEAATTHH,, LLIIFFEE,, SSPPIIRRIITT''

SSttrruuccttuurraall SSiimmiillaarriittiieess bbeettwweeeenn qquuiinnccuunnxx aanndd IIKK

On the sides of the Palenque sarcophagus found beneath the Temple of the Inscriptions, the

individuals depicted in association with various trees have pectorals/breastplates inscribed with

one or another of two glyphs. One is the IK glyph (T5O3) and the other is the quincunx glyph

(figure 6). We know that the Maya IK glyph means 'wind, breath, life'. The IK glyph has as a

referent the day Ik in the Maya 2O day cycle, and the meaning of ik' in most Mayan languages is

'wind, breath'.

Although hands cover the sign on some of the pectorals, there appears to be an association

of the IK glyph with females and of the quincunx with males. It is not possible, however, to ascribe

the meaning 'male' to the quincunx and the meaning 'female' to the IK symbol.2 Possibly the sexes

are implied by these pectoral symbols, but 'male' and 'female' would seem not to be their focal

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meanings. For one thing, there is no sonic basis in Mayan terms for 'man' and 'woman', which

resemble neither ik nor be, so it seems unlikely that the two would refer directly to the sexes.3 For

another, on the Oval Palace Tablet at Palenque, there is a male depicted with an IK pectoral (figure

7), while on the Tablet of Temple XIV at Palenque a female is shown with an IK pectoral and with

quincunx belt decorations, apparently part of a "sky band" motif (figure 8). Additionally, Schele

1983:121) classifies one of the persons having an IK pectoral as a male. Furthermore, the strategic

location of the pectorals in front of the heart area suggests that the 'life, breath, wind' interpretation

for IK which we know is valid with respect to the day name may be applicable here at least for the

IK pectorals.4

Given the occurrence of both the quincunx and the IK symbols on the sarcophagus

pectorals, the context implies a structural similarity and thus a potential semantic similarity

between the IK and the quincunx symbols. If the IK can be given the meaning 'wind, breath, life',

then it is possible that the quincunx has either the same meaning or a closely related meaning.

We find another structural parallelism in glyphic usage itself. Both the IK glyph and the

quincunx occur in parallel positions with other glyphic elements in glyph

collocations/combinations that appear to represent death expressions (cf. Schele 1979:23; cf.

figure 9).5 The quincunx in this context has been discussed by Lounsbury, who concluded that

while the glyph collocation including the quincunx glyph refers to 'death' or some other "terminal"

event in a person's lifetime, the quincunx glyph alone could not be said to have that meaning

(1974:18).

The same could be said of the IK glyph in the 'death' expression in which it figures. One

reason is that it seems certain that alone the IK glyph refers to 'wind, air, breath, life, spirit'; and in

combination with other concepts it is not difficult to conceive of a "death" expression on the order

of "he lost his life" or some similar locution that could incorporate the currently known meaning

of the IK glyph. Thus both the IK glyph and the quincunx could have meanings such as 'life,

breath, wind' while participating in glyphic constructions meaning 'death'.

The "Q death" glyphic expression, crucially includes a quincunx, and the quincunx very

likely represents the syllable bi or be (cf. Schele 1979, Justeson et al 1985:47-8 ).6 The be value

of the quincunx is an anagram of the day name Eb, the Quiche counterpart of which is Eh, a day

name strongly associated with the sound and meaning of Quiche' be 'road, path' (Tedlock

1982:117). In divination this Quiche' day refers in fact to the "road of life" (Tedlock 1982:118).

Joanne Spero (p.c.) notes that among Yucatecs of Quintana Roo the word be 'road, path, way'

seems to have a natural association with and common reference to the "road of lliiffee".7

It is not only the anagram relationship between the quincunx's phonetic value be and the

Yucatec day name Eb that lends significance to these observations about the "road of life". More

important is the structural relationship between the day names Ik and Eb. These two days, ten days

apart, are structurally in paired opposition to one another in the 2O day ritual and divinatory cycle,

sharing several elements of meaning, as I have argued elsewhere (Stross 1983:239-243). To the

extent that phonetic be or bih and/or the meaning 'life' is related to the day named Eb, then

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structural parallelism between IK and the quincunx is again demonstrated. Additionally, it is

suggested below that the glyphs for the days Eb and Ik both are significantly associated with Maya

symbolism involving the planet Venus.

There is another structural parallism that crosses the boundary between the Zapotecan and

the Mayan iconography (and epigraphy). In the Zapotec inscriptions a quincunx is found infixed

in the head of what has been identified as a musical instrument, the rattle. In the Maya city of

Copan, there is a sculpted personage called by some "the magician" holding aloft an apparent rattle,

and in the head is infixed not a quincunx, but a perfect IK glyph (figure 1O). The Zapotec quincunx

corresponds structurally in this case to the Maya IK sign. To complete the circle of coinciding

signs from different cultures in Mesoamerica, it may be noted that the Aztec Venus god,

Quetzalcoatl, known as Nine Wind and transfigured as Ehecatl 'Wind'--which names the day

corresponding to Maya Ik--can be seen in the Mixtec Codex Vindobonensis carrying what looks

like a "rattle" with an infixed quincunx (recalling the "rattle" of the Zapotec inscriptions with its

quincunx, and the "rattle" of the Maya sculpture an IK sign)(figure 11).

ZZaappootteecc aass aa DDoonnoorr LLaanngguuaaggee

It is possible that Zapotec of today reflects an earlier loan to a Mayan language of a sound

combination approximating bi or be with a meaning similar to 'wind, breath, life'. The argument,

simply put, is this:

The Maya glyphs IK and quincunx (bi, be) share structurally similar positions in glyph

collocations of the Maya script as well as in Maya iconography. This structural similarity and

some other evidence suggests that they have the same, similar, or semantically related meanings

(e.g. both might mean 'wind, breath, life'; or one might designate the moon and the other the sun;

or one the sun and the other venus, or one might be Venus as Morning Star and the other Venus as

Evening Star).

If the quincunx glyph and the IK glyph have the same or similar meanings, then in at least

some contexts the quincunx glyph with a rather well established phonetic value of bi/be could

plausibly be seen to have a semantic value of 'wind, breath, life', and since Mayan languages have

no words sounding like bi, be with such meanings of 'wind, breath, or life' this semantic value

would likely have to be a borrowed one.

Zapotec would be a good candidate as a donor language to a Cholan language for a concept

of 'wind, breath, (life)' associated with a sound value similar to bi, be. According to Marcus:

Perhaps the most crucial concept in Zapotec religion was that

of pe (written pee in the sixteenth century, pronounced be by today's

Zapotec). Variously translated as 'wind,' 'breath', or 'spirit,' pe was

the vital force that made all living things move. Anything that moved

was thus alive, to some degree sacred, and deserving of respect:

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animals, human beings, clouds, lightning, earthquakes, the 26O-day

ritual calendar and the foam on the top of a cup of stirred hot chocolate

are examples of things which possessed pe (1978:299).8 (see Table 1)

Table 1

Early Colonial Zapotec pee 'wind, breath, spirit (life)'

Zapotec of Sierra de Juarez be? 'wind, breath (life)'

Isthmus Zapotec bi 'wind, air, breath'.

Zapotec would be superior to Mixe, a probably descendant of the language of the Olmecs, as a

candidate for donor in terms of sound similarity See for example Totontepec Mixe pOh 'wind,

air (life)'

ZAPOTEC GLYPH E AS /PI, PE, BI, BE/ 'WIND, BREATH, SPIRIT'

The Oaxaca valley script, attributed to "Zapotecs", preceded the Maya script by some 5OO

years and began at or near the 55O B.C. date that is Bricker's suggested origin point of the Maya

vague year or haab (1982:1O3). This script has a quincunx glyph (Caso's Glyph E), for which

available evidence indicates a possible phonetic value of bi, pi, be, or pe. This evidence does not

strongly indicate the notion of 'wind, life, spirit' by itself, and is as follows.

1) Caso (1928:31-2) suggests that the quincunx glyph, one of two variant forms for his

Glyph E, represents the sun,1O which in Zapotec significantly includes a component bi or pi: cf.

Colonial Zapotec pija 'sun'; Zapoteco of the Sierra de Juarez bbiitsa 'sol/sun'; Isthmus Zapotec

[gu-bidxa, u-bidxa].

2) The quincunx in the Zapotec script (as Caso's Glyph E) is presumed to be a day name

(Caso 1928:27); and there is a Zapotec day name, from which a sound value pi, bi or something

similar might be drawn; i.e. Zapotec ppiija 'sun, drought' which corresponds to Maya Eb,

Parenthetically, it may be worth noting the shared bilabial stop and high front vowel possessed by

these equivalent day names in the two languages, and also the fact that Highland Mayan variants

of Eb can be related to the concept 'life' (cf. above).

3) The quincunx occurs on occasion infixed in what has been identified as a 'rattle' (a

musical instrument) which would seem to be called piso or pixo in early colonial Zapotec

(Justeson et al 1985:47), again indicating a phonetic value of pi or something similar. Although

Justeson et al see the rattle (with the infixed quincunx) as a "semantic indicator for 'song'"

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(1985:47), it seems at least equally plausible to view the quincunx as a phonetic complement

specifying the rattle by indicating phonetically a portion of its name. The two possibilities are, of

course, not mutually exclusive.

Though this evidence that the Zapotec quincunx may have had a phonetic value similar to

bi, be does not by itself implicate 'wind, breath, spirit' as a necessary referent for the Zapotec glyph,

the sound value is appropriate, and rebus usage allows for the possibility that 'sun' could be the

referent in some contexts. What does implicate 'wind, breath, spirit' as the referent of the Zapotec

quincunx is the motivated hypothesis that the Maya script borrowed the quincunx glyph along with

a phonetic value of bi/be from the Zapotec script, and paired it in structurally similar contexts with

the Maya IK glyph, which is known to refer to 'wind, breath, life'. This as well as the significant

fact of Zapotec words similar to bi, be meaning 'wind, breath, spirit'.

WWIINNDD OORR SSUUNN OORR SSTTAARR

There is another possibility to be considered here as well. What if the IK and quincunx

glyphs on the pectorals at Palenque refer not to 'vitality' or 'spirit' but to something gender-related

or title-related, such as the 'moon' and the 'sun' (recalling Caso's identification of the Zapotec

quincunx as the 'sun'); or perhaps Venus as Morning Star and as Evening Star (recalling the

quincunx as the badge of Venus as Morning Star --Tlauizcalpantecuhtli--for the Aztecs). Let us

consider here some of the possibilities.

Carlson (1981), in a discussion of mirrors worn as pectorals by Olmec and Maya rulers,

associates mirror pectorals as symbols of power with a cosmological framework in which rulership

is bestowed by descent from a Fire God and four world-directional gods (labeled

Tezcatlipocas--four gods in one--by the Aztecs). This already gives us the number 5 after which

the quincunx glyph is named. Then it is noted that the Fire God for the Olmecs is identified as the

same God I whose characteristic symbology includes the "four dots and bar motif" (Joralemon

1976:47), again suggesting the quincunx.

The concave mirror can generate fire from the sun (Carlson 1981:126), and there is little

doubt that the mirror can symbolize the sun itself as it does for the Huichols of Mexico (cf. Carlson

1981:141). The mirror symbolizing the sun is consonant with at least some Maya pectoral (and

forehead ornament) usage. For example at Yaxchilan, Lintel 24 shows Lady Xoc's pectoral with

the sungod's face, and even includes a KIN glyph on the sungod's forehead. Carlson, in fact

produces several compelling arguments demonstrating "a series of Maya structural associations of

sun, mirror, rulership, dynastic lineage, and cosmology" (1981:129).

The mirror also can relate directly to one's spirit, soul, or inner self, as well as being known

in Mesoamerica as a powerful tool in divination and curing; and we have seen above that the notion

'spirit' is associated with the word for 'wind' in Mayan and Zapotec languages. If the quincunx and

the IK glyph are two ways of augmenting a pectoral mirror or mirror substitute, and if the mirror

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or its substitute can symbolize the sun or some of its power properties while relating also to the

spirit or inner self, then both quincunx and IK have possibly close semantic relations with both the

sun and with wind (which is often associated in Mesoamerica with the four directions). It is worth

noting in this context that Copainala Zoque hama 'sun, nahual' and Nahuatl toona-(tiw) 'sun,

tonal' show the word for 'sun' being the same as the word for the 'animal spirit familiar'.

The moon and stars, as bright bodies, may also have some kind of relationship with the

mirror, but even without this being demonstrated, it is possible to say that the sound sequence ik'

or something like it can in Mayan languages be associated with 'wind', 'moon', or 'star', and near

homophony of 'moon' and 'wind' can also be found in Mixe-Zoquean languages (see table 2).

TTaabbllee 22

Kekchi iq' 'wind'

Quiche kaq-iq' 'wind';

Proto-Mayan *iiq' 'wind'

Quiche iik' 'moon'

Proto-Mayan *iik' 'moon',

Yucatec ek' 'star'

Chol ek' 'star'

Totontepec Mixe pO'O 'moon'

Proto-Mixean *po' 'moon'

Totontepec Mixe pOh 'wind'

Proto-Mixean *poh 'wind'

Likewise, the sound sequence bi or be or pi or pe or something similar can in Zapotec

languages be associated with 'wind', 'sun', 'moon', and 'light', and near homophony of 'sun' and

'wind' can also be found in Mixe-Zoquean languages (see table 3).

TTaabbllee 33

Colonial Zapotec pee 'wind'

Zapotec of Sierra de Juarez be' 'wind'

Isthmus Zapotec bi 'wind'

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Colonial Zapotec [pija] 'sun'

Zapotec of Sierra de Juarez bitsa 'sun'

Colonial Zapotec [pihe, piye] 'day-count cycle'

Zapotec beeu 'moon'

Zapotec biaani' 'light, brightness'11

Proto-Mixean *xaw 'wind'

Proto-Mixe-Zoquean *sawa 'wind'

Proto-Mixean *xAw 'sun'

Totontepec Mixe xAA 'sun'

TThhee SSuunn

In the Maya glyphic script there are indications of the sun being related to both the

quincunx and the flower.12 "The quincunx is frequently set on the regular four petaled k'in glyph

[the KIN glyph represents the sun] apparently without altering its value in any way" (Thompson

1971:142; fig. 26,51; 3O,54)(Figure 12).13

Additionally, as Thompson points out, in the sacred Yucatec Maya book the Chilam Balam

of Chumayel, not only is the sun said to have been set in the center of a flower; the moon is

described as "the five petaled flower" (1971:142), incorporating thus also the notion of a quincunx.

"The sun and moon are very closely connected with the plumeria [flower], presumably because

they were the first people to cohabit.." (Thompson 1971:142).

Although he also sees some relationship between the quincunx and Venus, Thompson

points out the Maya use of the quincunx as a variant of the KIN 'sun, day' glyph, for example in a

distance number of seven days on the Palenque Tablet of 96 glyphs. He also mentions its

appearance together with the skull headdress in conjunction with Glyph D of the lunar series as

well as forming Glyph Y of the lunar series, noting that it seems to occur with only coefficients of

5 and 7 and to refer to 'days' or literally "suns". In addition the skull may be suppressed, being

replaced by the quincunx alone (1971:17O).

Another way to cognitively connect the quincunx to the sun is to tie the phonetic value

bi/be to the sun, for that phonetic value is already rather securely established for the quincunx. For

example, in several Mayan languages of today, the word for the "day counter", or diviner, is based

on the word for 'sun, day' (e.g. Chorti ah k'in). In Jacaltec, however, the word for 'diviner/zahorin'

9

ah be, including thereby one of the phonetic values assigned to the quincunx.

Another bit of evidence connecting bi/be to the sun is due to the fact that in quite a few

languages of Mesoamerica, the word for 'sun' is also the word for 'name'. In fact reconstruction of

proto-Mixtecan suggests a relationship between words for 'name' and 'day' (Longacre and Millon

1961), perhaps indicating that as early as hundreds of years B.C. children might have been named

for the day on which they were born, such being their "sun names". Totontepec Mixe xAA 'sun,

day, name, festival' and Oluta Popoluca xAwA 'sun, name' both equate the notions 'sun' and

'name' in a single word. Therefore, noting the semantic relationship between the two concepts, it

is significant that *bih 'name' has been reconstructed for proto-Mayan.

In the Zapotec glyphic script, Caso identifies glyph E as a day name and as one of the

commonest Zapotec glyphs, having both the quincunx and the cruciform variants. He suggests that

the 'sun' is a referent for this glyph (1928:31-2). This identification as 'sun', it should be noted, is

based in part on the Maya glyphic system, but not exclusively.

The Zapotec day name corresponding to Maya Eb (cf. Aztec Malinalli 'Twisted Grass') is

Pija 'sun, drought'. If the quincunx represented a Zapotec day name with a sound value similar to

bi/be, the meaning 'sun' coincides well with Caso's identification. Moreover we may recall here

that Maya Eb is a structural counterpart of the Maya day Ik.14

VVeennuuss

The quincunx glyph is associated with a skull glyph in various contexts in the Maya script,

and the contexts involved allow for the possibility that the two might represent different aspects of

Venus; QUINCUNX could represent the Morning Star aspect, and the SKULL could represent the

Evening Star aspect.

Concerning Venus representation on the Mexican plateau, Thompson remarks that the

quincunx "was the badge of Venus as morning star (Tlauizcalpantecutli). In the pages of Borgia

and Bologna dealing with Venus, this deity has a skull, whereas in Vatican B he has a normal head

with a quincunx painted on it" (1971:171).

The Maya also represented the planet Venus with a "Lamat-Venus" glyph quite similar to

the quincunx.15 We now know that in addition to the "Star" glyph with which Venus is represented

by the Maya, there is also a "toothy skull with distinctive markings". This "toothy skull" rendition

of Venus appears to coincide with the appearance of Venus as Evening Star (Lounsbury 1982:157).

The "toothy skull" glyph that apparently refers to this event, is found elsewhere; for example, in

the history of Katun 11 on the Tablet of Inscriptions at Palenque (middle panel at A5) and in the

history of Katun 12 (on the same tablet and panel at H6)(Carlson 1983; Lounsbury 1982). It has

the IK sign prominently displayed in the cranial section (Figure 13).

The Maya Codex Grolier also depicts a long-lipped or long nosed being as an aspect of

Venus which resembles the codical Maya raingod (God B) and may have its counterpart in the

10

Aztec god Ehecatl (a guise of Quetzalcoatl-Venus; cf. Brundage 1979:104) whose name is also the

second Aztec day, corresponding to Maya Ik,16 and whose "long-lipped" appearance prompts the

comparison.17

The toothy skull, found as an aspect of Venus on the Grolier Codex as well as in the

inscriptions of the Classic period, not only resembles various versions of the glyph for the day Eb,

it is sometimes associated with a large circular form recalling the "eye...on the end of a...tenon

which rises from the jawbone" (Thompson 1971:81) of the Aztec glyph for Malinalli, counterpart

of the Maya day Eb. Again we see a relationship between Eb and the quincunx (Figure 14),

recalling once more the paired opposition of Eb with the day Ik.

Since the day Eb is in paired opposition to Ik, and Ik is one of the glyphs on the pectorals

of the Palenque sarcophagus, then the quincunx would appear, by this reasoning in addition to the

iconography, to represent some element in common with the Evening Star aspect of Venus while

Ik might then be seen as embodying some element in common with the Morning Star aspect of

Venus; that is, if indeed Venus can be related in fact to the Ik and Quincunx that we are considering

here. Let us note here that independantly Tedlock sees a special relationship between the day

names Ik and Eb and the planet Venus, observing that "they occur in the fourth and (more

markedly) in the fifth and final cycle of Venus, just as the solar dimension of the story of Hunahpu

and Xbalanque begins to manifest itself in the final episodes" (1985:236).

Thompson refers also to the "long-snouted"18 and the quincunx variants of KIN, noting

that they have a marked tendency to display symbols of death, though these are not always present

(1971:172). These variants can be seen from the above discussion as relating to, if not specifically

signifying, Venus.19 Thompson's discussion of the reason for the death symbols helps to explain

some of the ambiguity involved with relating the quincunx to both the sun and to Venus:

In Mexican and Maya traditions, the sun, after setting, traveled

during the night through the underworld, land of the dead, so as to

emerge next morning once more in the east...As Venus as morning

star is frequently depicted with death symbols, one may assume that

he obtained these in his journey through the underworld during the

eight days between his disappearance in the west as evening star and

reappearance as morning star in the east...There is therefore evidence

that both the sun and Venus were believed to take on characteristics

of death during the passage through the underworld...(1971:172).

Venus and the sun are even more closely linked than this, however, as the Maya were well

aware. This fact is:

apparent in inscriptional computations and myths and names for Venus

that suggest a kind of dependency of Venus on the sun's behavior.

For example, one name for Venus in Tzotzil is "sweeper of the path

of the sun"...which is suggestive of Venus' role as Morning Star...The idea

11

of Venus carrying the sun's burden is seen in Cakchiquel...(Stone 1983:232)

And from this Cakchiquel metaphor of Venus carrying the sun we can recognize perhaps that "the

deity with skeletal features and the four-petaled kin on his forehead, who frequently forms [the

"rear head" (or "tail end")] of the celestial dragon or emerges from it" (Thompson 1971:173)

represents the sun in the context of a celestial monster that is a manifestation of Venus carrying the

burden of the sun; possibly at the moment of sunrise in a metaphorical reference to the creation of

the world (Stone 1983:242-251).

It is clear, then, that an identification of the sun with the quincunx and an identification of

Venus with the quincunx are not mutually exclusive in Maya iconography. the two celestial bodies

are linked by a cosmological monster, a celestial dragon.

CCOONNCCLLUUSSIIOONN

Let us return now to the 'wind, breath, life' concept that opened this discussion and that

needs consideration along with the sun and Venus. After all, the suggestion dominating this essay

is that the quincunx glyph embodying a sound value of bi, be and a meaning 'wind, breath, life' was

transmitted from the earlier Zapotec script to a later Maya script. We have seen, however, that

there are also connections in various parts of Mesoamerica, including the Mayan area, between the

quincunx and the sun as well as between the quincunx and venus. A sun and venus association in

Maya thought is completely natural and comprehensible, based at least on the linkage of these

bodies during the times of Venus' heliacal rising and setting, and perhaps due also to the role that

Venus may well have played in creating the sun and bringing it to life at the time of the creation of

the world.

We have also seen striking sound similarities between words for 'wind' and 'moon' (and

'star') in Mayan languages, between 'wind' and 'sun' in Mixean languages, and between 'wind' and

'sun' and 'moon' in Zapotec languages. These celestial phenomena, deified in many cultures of

Mesoamerica and elsewhere, are in Mesoamerica associated with the four directions--particularly

the wind and the sun. A quincunx is an unusually apt way to represent these four directions with

reference to a central axis (the central circlet) around which the directions rotate through the

seasons. In a sense, then, the quincunx makes an excellent representation of the way in which the

earth's surface relates to the heavens--and to the underworld--so it is not surprising that some have

seen the quincunx as representing the earth.

According to Morris, who investigated patterns in Classic Maya weaving, "the Earth is

shown as a quincunx, which represents the four corners and four sides of the Earth with life (and

death) in the center" (1985:75). He also suggests that the reptilian "Cauac monster" that

symbolizes the earth is represented by the quincunx that descended from an Olmec design.

Cauac developed from the Olmec design; it retained its quincunx

form in being four-headed, with quincunx earplugs, and by always

12

having a curly half-quincunx design in its forehead (Morris

1985:75).2O

Oddly, E. A. Wallis Budge, keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities in the British

Museum during the early years of this century, supplies an economically stated linkage between

'wind', 'sun', and 'Venus' in terms that were appropriate to the day:

Columbus was amazed to find the cross in America... authorities

on Peruvian and Mexican archaeology say that these crosses are

"wind crosses" and that originally they represented the four main

directions whence came the winds and rains, and that at a later

period they were assumed to possess a solar or stellar character

(Budge 1930:339).

We see that the concepts can be related to one another, and further that they can be connected with

the cross shape, of which the quincunx is something of a representative.

This essay has considered a semantic coincidence in the context of an apparent structural

parallelism of occurrence in Maya script and iconography as a basis for generating and providing

some support for several hypotheses implied about the quincunx glyph. These hypotheses include:

1) In the Maya script the quincunx may have had a semantic value of 'wind, breath, life' and/or

possibly 'sun' and/or perhaps 'Venus'. 2) The quincunx in Zapotec script may have had a semantic

value of 'wind, breath, life' and/or possibly 'sun'. 3) In Zapotec script the quincunx is likely to have

had a phonetic value of be, bi, pe, or pi, and this is so even if Zapotec and Maya scripts borrowed

glyph and sonic value from some third party. 4) The IK glyph could possibly have had another

semantic value in the Maya script, in addition to that of 'wind, breath, life'; if the quincunx refers

to 'sun' in the Zapotec script, then Maya IK might refer to 'moon' on the contingent assumption that

Maya quincunx could refer to 'sun' 5) Zapotec loaned the quincunx glyph and a phonetic value of

bi, pi, be, pe associated with it, to the Maya, whether directly or indirectly. 6) Zapotec script may

have used the quincunx as a phonetic complement on occasion. 7) The Maya day Eb may be

related to Venus as Evening Star and also to the quincunx. 8) More tentatively, The Maya

quincunx glyph may substitute for a toothy skull as Evening star--though it may also stand for

Venus in general--and Ik might represent Venus as Morning Star, or Venus in general.21

NOTES

1 Joanne Spero has kindly provided useful comments and criticisms of a previous draft.

2 Among other reasons, the Oval Palace tablet at Palenque depicts a male sporting an IK pectoral

3 The sexes of individuals in Maya depictions are differentiated, among other things, on the basis

of associated glyphs--specifically the "NA" glyph, T1000a, 1002a, and others means 'Lady' or

13

'woman'.

4 Note that ik' means 'wind, air, breath' in Cholan and Yucatecan languages, and that by extension,

as seen by Cholans and Yucatecans it means 'life' (cf. Thompson 1971:73; cf. Stross (1983:241),

where the IK and quincunx are noted to be paired in alternation as pectoral symbols on Pacal's

sarcophagus. It is also notable that ik' and be are prominent in root position in Mayan words for

'rich man'; for example:

CHOLTI ay ik'al [aical] 'rich'

YUCATEC ah yik'al 'rich'

MOPAN ay ik'al 'rich'

TZOTZIL ay ik'al 'rich (person)'

USPANTEC biiyoom 'rich'

QUICHE beeyoom 'merchant (obsolete), rich'

TZUTUJIL biiyoom 'rich'

CAKCHIQUEL beyoom 'rich'

POCOMCHI bihom, beehoom 'rich'

KEKCHI bihom, behom 'rich'

cf. also JACALTEC ah be 'native priest, diviner'

The Yucatec form k'in 'sun' is derivationally related to Yucatec k'in-il 'priest's dignity,

prosperity, rule' and also to Yucatec k'in-am 'strength, vigor, fortitude, endurance', which suggests

connections between the sun and meanings like 'rich' and 'endurance' that in some other languages

is expressed in words sounding like ik' or be (cf. Totontepec Mixe ii?k 'to endure'.

One might expect that if gold is "excrement of the sun", then silver should be "excrement of the

moon". In Yucatec gold and silver are both "excrement of the sun" (tak'in), and lead is the

"excrement of the moon" (ta ?uh [taau]) (as is the case with Nahuatl). Earlier times might have

seen a different alignment.

5 Note that with similar prefixes (ahau infixed "white" on IK)(mu infixed "white" on quincunx),

the IK and the quincunx are in structurally similar positions in the glyph collocations that help

comprise the "wing-shell" death and "Q" death expressions.

6 Evidence for the be, bi phonetic value of the quincunx comes from the second B of the Landa

"alphabet", which depicts a variant of the quincunx glyph. The first B of Landa's "alphabet"

depicts a footprint on a road or path (cf. Yucatec be 'road, path', Chol bih 'road, path')

7 Yucatec ch'a be 'office' provides a title with an included be which presumably refers to 'road', as

perhaps does Yucatec beeltahbeel 'administer (a term of rulership)', and there is a glyphic title

incorporating the quincunx glyph. See also Quiche nabey 'title'

14

8 Joanne Spero (p.c.) notes the awe and respect with which the wind is viewed by the modern

Yucatec, recalling the anger of a Yucatec friend when she sounded disrespectful of a gusty wind

blowing sand in her eyes, and recalling his reminder that "the wind is life".

9 The other form of Caso's Glyph E, besides the quincunx, is a cross.

1O Caso also suggests that Glyph E may indicate 'turquoise, precious stone'.

11 Compare also Proto-Uto-Aztecan *pe, pepe 'lightning' (elements of 'light', suggesting

possibility of 'sun' or 'moon'; Isthmus Zapotec piipi? 'lindo/pretty' (cf. the accidental coincidence

of Japanese bi 'pretty, beauty')

12 Note the anagram relationship between Mayan words for 'sun' and 'flower'

Quiche q'iij 'sun' jik 'flower'

Proto-Mayan *q'iiN 'sun' *Nik 'flower'

Yucatec k'in 'sun' nik 'flower'

13 It could be noted that quincunx earplugs occur on the KIN headvariant (cf.Thompson 1971:fig.

27:55-57), but they also show up on the UINAL headvariant (fig. 27:43). Quincunx earplugs in

Maya iconography go back as far as Cerros in the late preclassic -- 5O AD--being found on temple

masks.

We may note here that while the Chorti word ah k'in for 'diviner, (native priest, day-keeper)' is

based on the word for 'sun, day' (as are the terms in many other Mayan groups), the Jacaltec word

for 'native priest, diviner' is ah be (La Farge and Byers 1931:153). Thus there is some evidence,

though admittedly quite indirect, for connecting 'sun' and be in at least one Mayan language.

14 Mixe Zoquean languages have some words, with sounds similar to the bi/be known to be the

Maya phonetic value of the quincunx, that relate directly or indirectly to 'sun' and 'flower'. Note,

for example, Copainala' Zoque pihu 'It heated up'; pihpa '(aj) hot'; Totontepec Mixe pih 'to

blister, blister'; pUh 'flower'; Proto-Mixean *pAhi 'flower'. (cf. also Totontepec Mixe piixtUk 'to

blow' (recalling the 'wind, breath' meaning suggested for the quincunx)(also cf. Totontepec Mixe

xAA 'sun', xeh 'to breathe, breath')

15 Thompson has remarked upon the resemblance. "The complete Maya glyph for the planet Venus

resembles a quincunx, consisting of four circles, one at each corner of the glyph, and a central

element" (Thompson 1971:172), and Joanne Spero points out in addition that there is a be in the

Jacaltenango Jacaltec word for Venus (Morning Star), saj-bes (La Farge and Byers 1931:334).

With the j in the word it could be analized either as 'white"bes"' or as 'dawn "bes"', and in either

case the word 'sun' for "bes" might be appropriate.

The central element of the Lamat-Venus glyph recalls in some measure the bar in the Olmec

"four dots and bar motif" (Joralemon 1976:54) that is found on the left side of a clay stamp from

Tlatilco (Figure 15). This is flanked by a distinctly Maya looking flower-like KIN ('sun') symbol

with infixed quincunx as well as by a profile face with a protruding front tooth and a near replica

15

of the Venus "star" element at the back of the head, just as we find in the "toothy skull" version of

Venus (cf. Figure 13).

The buried "jaguar mask" from La Venta (Figure 16) is basically the same thing as the leftmost

of the three designs on the Tlatilco clay stamp, which in turn not only seems to have a possible

variant of the quincunx within it, but also shares the quincunx-like "four dots and bar motif" with

the headdress back of a jade figurine from Arroyo Pesquero (cf. Joralemon 1976:34c)(Figure 17).

In the structurally corresponding position at the front of the figurine's headdress one can make out

a strong likeness to the Maya IK glyph (composed of two eyes and a nose). Just below the IK, this

figurine also has an apparent replica of that large "eye" that seems to be above the Tikal Venus as

Evening Star headdress and that was compared above with the "eye on a tenon" found in Central

mexican vesions of the Maya day Eb. It is entirely possible that the Olmec "four dots and bar

motif" was intended to signal the number 'nine', as would four dots and a bar in the Maya script.

This quincunx-like symbol could then, in combination with the IK (Mayan 'wind') be read as Nine

Wind, a name of as well as the birthday of the Aztec Venus god Quetzalcoatl and his Maya

counterpart.

16 Recalling the long-lipped being that is one aspect/guise of Venus in the Grolier Codex and in

Aztec iconography, note that the Old Zoque word for 'morning star', tsuki matsa (matsa 'star') when

viewed from the perspective of the closely related Copainala Zoque tsuki 'tapir' suggests a

relationship between the tapir and the Morning Star. This recalls in turn the fact that Aztec Xolotl

as the twin of Quetzalcoatl may represent the Evening Star aspect of Venus, and that "the tapir is

called in Zapotec peche-xolo, and the native hairless dog peco-xolo. Dog and tapir, then, the two

animals darting from heaven, who carry lightning and thunderbolts in their hands, are brought

together here in the common designation xolo" (Seler 19O4:46). It remains only to mention the

death symbolism that accompanies depictions of the dog in Maya codices and sometimes in Aztec

depictions of Xolotl, the canine deity, in suggesting that these two animals may symbolize aspects

of Venus, the Morning and Evening Stars.

Since a Classic Maya glyphic version of Venus as Evening Star (a skull with big teeth) has IK

in its forehead (Figure 13), and because *iik' meant 'moon' in proto-Mayan times, and uuh 'moon'

was a Classic Maya innovation reflected for example in Yucatec uuh 'moon', one could conclude

that uuh used to be 'Venus' (sharing the word perhaps with the meaning 'necklace', only to change

referents and became the 'moon' during the Classic. Without going into explanations here, it could

be said that Totontepec Mixe namtsAm 'necklace', which recalls the Maya day name Lamat

(Venus) supports such an inference.

17 "The Aztecs never confused Ehecatl with Tlaloc even though both had to do with rain...As the

wind, Quetzalcoatl never loses his connection with the sky...This sharp differentiation is further

evidenced in the description the Aztecs gave of Ehecatl as the forerunner or "ambassador" of

Tlaloc. Ehecatl came ahead of the rain god, sweeping his path before him, this identifying him

especially with the darkness, the swirling dust, and the heightened winds that precede the storm

(Brundage 1979:1O8). Compare this metaphor of a venus deity as sweeper of the path of the

16

lightning deity with the Tzotzil metaphor of venus as "sweeper of the path of the sun".

18 Thompson favors an identification of the "long-snouted head" variant of the KIN glyph as a dog,

recognizing that others have called it a jaguar. Still others prefer to call it a brocket deer, while in

some instances it more closely resembles a peccary or tapir

19 Of relevant Zapotec words it is possible only to cite Zapoteco de Juarez beelia hue? diila 'Venus

(planet)' and Isthmus Zapotec biaani? 'light/luz'

2O Morris presents ideas that are not immediately relevant here, but which demand further

consideration.

The Cauac monster was also used to represent the doorway between

the underworld and the world of the living. Dead ancestors are

shown emerging from the half quincunx in the forehead of the Cauac

monster on Copan Stela B, Bonampak Stela 1, and Caracol Stelae

6, 14, and 16, and from a full quincunx on Tikal Altar 4, the

Copan tomb, and the Altun Ha jade plaque (Tate 198O). (Morris

1985:75)

The quincunx does not appear as a weaving design because in the

Classic period it was made by cutting the cloth. The complete

form of the brocaded Tzotzil ceremonial huipil, however, is a

quincunx, with the wearer's head at the center. The Earth monster

is not shown as a quincunx, but as a toad (Morris 1985:76).

21 Note the similarity between the IK glyph shape and the "nose" (face on) of Aztec and Maya

representations of the long snouted Venus deity.

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_______, 1983 "The Grolier Codex: a preliminary report on the ontent and

17

authenticity of a 13th-century Maya Venus almanac." in A.F. Aveni and

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FIGURES

Figure 1. The quincunx glyph

Figure 2. Caso's Glyph E, from Caso 1928:32

Figure 3. Quincunx earplugs on Cerros mask

Figure 4. Quincunx from inscriptions on sides of sarcophagus at Palenque

Figure 5. Sarcophagus, Temple of Inscriptions Palenque.

Figure 6. Quincunx and Ik from pectorals on figures from side of sarcophagus at Palenque.

Figure 7. Oval Palace Tablet, Palenque.

Figure 8. Tablet of Temple XIV, Palenque

Figure 9. Death expressions in the Maya inscriptions.

Figure 1O. IK sign in "magician's rattle"

Figure 11. Quincunx in "rattle" of Nine Wind (Quetzalcoatl), in Codex Vindobonensis.

Figure 12. KIN glyph with inset quincunx. Figure 13. Katun histories 11 and 12 at Palenque's

19

Temple of Inscriptions.

Figure 14. Tikal Stela 16, with the "toothy skull" Venus as part of the

headdress of Ruler A (the "Star" version of Venus is at the

back of the skull)

Figure 15. Clay stamp from Tlatilco

Figure 16. "Jaguar mask" from Olmec La Venta

Figure 17. Figurine from Arroyo Pesquero.

This paper was published as:

Brian Stross.1986. "Some Observations on T585 (Quincunx) of the Maya Script."

ANTHROPOLOGICAL LINGUISTICS 28:283-311.