Vestiges of the Mayas Part 5

In Hindostan, for example, we find the Maya custom of carrying the children astride on the hips of the nurses. That of recording the vow of the devotees, or of imploring the blessings of deity by the imprint of the hand, dipped in red liquid, stamped on the walls of the shrines and palaces. The wors.h.i.+p of the mastodon, still extant in India, Siam, Burmah, as in the wors.h.i.+p of _Ganeza_, the G.o.d of knowledge, with an elephant head, degenerated in that of the elephant itself.

Still extant we find likewise the innate propensity of the Mayas to exclude all foreigners from their country; even to put to death those who enter their territories (as do, even to-day, those of Santa Cruz and the inhabitants of the Tierra de Guerra) as the emissaries of Rama were informed by the friend of the owner of the country, the widow of the _great architect_, MAYA, whose name HEMA means in the Maya language "she who places ropes across the roads to impede the pa.s.sage." Even the history of the death of her husband MAYA, killed with a thunderbolt, by the G.o.d _Pourandara_, whose jealousy was aroused by his love for her and their marriage, recalls that of _Chaacmol_, the husband of _Moo_, killed by their brother Aac, by being stabbed by him three times in the back with a spear, through jealousy--for he also loved _Moo_.

Some Maya tribes, after a time, probably left their home at the South of Hindostan and emigrated to Afghanistan, where their descendants still live and have villages on the North banks of the river _Kabul_. They left behind old traditions, that they may have considered as mere fantasies of their poets, and other customs of their forefathers. Yet we know so little about the ancient Afghans, or the Maya tribes living among them, that it is impossible at present to say how much, if any, they have preserved of the traditions of their race. All we know for a certainty is that many of the names of their villages and tribes are pure American-Maya words: that their types are very similar to the features of the bearded men carved on the pillars of the castle, and on the walls of other edifices at Chichen-Itza: while their warlike habits recall those of the Mayas, who fought so bravely and tenaciously the Spanish invaders.

Some of the Maya tribes, traveling towards the west and northwest, reached probably the sh.o.r.es of Ethiopia; while others, entering the Persian Gulf, landed near the embouchure of the Euphrates, and founded their primitive capital at a short distance from it. They called it _Hur (Hula) city of guests just arrived_--and according to Berosus gave themselves the name of _Khaldi_; probably because they intrenched their city: _Kal_ meaning intrenchment in the American-Maya language. We have seen that the names of all the princ.i.p.al deities of the primitive Chaldeans had a natural etymology in that tongue. Such strange coincidences cannot be said to be altogether accidental. Particularly when we consider that their learned men were designated as MAGI, (Mayas) and their Chief _Rab-Mag_, meaning, in Maya, the _old man_; and were great architects, mathematicians and astronomers. As again we know of them but imperfectly, we cannot tell what traditions they had preserved of the birthplace of their forefathers. But by the inscriptions on the tablets or bricks, found at Mugheir and Warka, we know for a certainty that, in the archaic writings, they formed their characters of straight lines of uniform thickness; and inclosed their sentences in squares or parallelograms, as did the founders of the ruined cities of Yucatan. And from the signet cylinder of King Urukh, that their mode of dressing was identical with that of many personages represented in the mural paintings at Chichen-Itza.

We have traced the MAYAS again on the sh.o.r.es of Asia Minor, where the CARIANS at last established themselves, after having spread terror among the populations bordering on the Mediterranean. Their origin is unknown: but their customs were so similar to those of the inhabitants of Yucatan at the time even of the Spanish conquest--and their names CAR, _Carib_ or _Carians_, so extensively spread over the western continent, that we might well surmise, that, navigators as they were, they came from those parts of the world; particularly when we are told by the Greek poets and historians, that the G.o.ddess MAIA was the daughter of _Atlantis_. We have seen that the names of the khati, those of their cities, that of Tyre, and finally that of Egypt, have their etymology in the Maya.

Considering the numerous coincidences already pointed out, and many more I could bring forth, between the attainments and customs of the Mayas and the Egyptians; in view also of the fact that the priests and learned men of Egypt constantly pointed toward the WEST as the birthplace of their ancestors, it would seem as if a colony, starting from Mayab, had emigrated Eastward, and settled on the banks of the Nile; just as the Chinese to-day, quitting their native land and traveling toward the rising sun, establish themselves in America.

In Egypt again, as in Hindostan, we find the history of the children of CAN, preserved among the secret traditions treasured up by the priests in the dark recesses of their temples: the same story, even with all its details. It is TYPHO who kills his brother OSIRIS, the husband of their sister ISIS. Some of the names only have been changed when the members of the royal family of CAN, the founder of the cities of Mayab, reaching apotheosis, were presented to the people as G.o.ds, to be wors.h.i.+ped.

That the story of _Isis_ and _Osiris_ is a mythical account of CHAACMOL and MOo, from all the circ.u.mstances connected with it, according to the relations of the priests of Egypt that tally so closely with what we learn in Chichen-Itza from the bas-reliefs, it seems impossible to doubt.

Effectively, _Osiris_ and _Isis_ are considered as king and queen of the Amenti--the region of the West--the mansion of the dead, of the ancestors. Whatever may be the etymology of the name of Osiris, it is a _fact_, that in the sculptures he is often represented with a spotted skin suspended near him, and Diodorus Siculus says: "That the skin is usually represented without the head; but some instances where this is introduced show it to be the _leopard's_ or _panther's_." Again, the name of Osiris as king of the West, of the Amenti, is always written, in hieroglyphic characters, representing a crouching _leopard_ with an eye above it. It is also well known that the priests of Osiris wore a _leopard_ skin as their ceremonial dress.

Now, Chaacmol reigned with his sister Moo, at Chichen-Itza, in Mayab, in the land of the West for Egypt. The name _Chaacmol_ means, in Maya, a _Spotted_ tiger, a _leopard_; and he is represented as such in all his totems in the sculptures on the monuments; his s.h.i.+eld being made of the skin of leopard, as seen in the mural paintings.

Osiris, in Egypt, is a myth. Chaacmol, in Mayab, a reality. A warrior whose mausoleum I have opened; whose weapons and ornaments of jade are in Mrs. Le Plongeon's possession; whose heart I have found, and sent a piece of it to be a.n.a.lysed by professor Thompson of Worcester, Ma.s.s.; whose effigy, with his name inscribed on the tablets occupying the place of the ears, forms now one of the most precious relics in the National Museum of Mexico.

ISIS was the wife and sister of Osiris. As to the etymology of her name the Maya affords it in I[C]IN--_the younger sister_. As Queen of the Amenti, of the West, she also is represented in hieroglyphs by the same characters as her husband--a _leopard, with an eye above_, and the sign of the feminine gender an oval or egg. But as a G.o.ddess she is always portrayed with wings; the vulture being dedicated to her; and, as it were, her totem.

MOo the wife and sister of _Chaacmol_ was the Queen of Chichen. She is represented on the Mausoleum of Chaacmol as a _Macaw_ (Moo in the Maya language); also on the monuments at Uxmal: and the chroniclers tell us that she was wors.h.i.+ped in Izamal under the name of _Kinich-Kakmo_; reading from right to left the _fiery macaw with eyes like the sun_.

Their protecting spirit is a _Serpent_, the totem of their father CAN.

Another Egyptian divinity, _Apap_ or _Apop_, is represented under the form of a gigantic serpent covered with wounds. Plutarch in his treatise, _De Iside et Osiride_, tells us that he was enemy to the sun.

TYPHO was the brother of Osiris and Isis; for jealousy, and to usurp the throne, he formed a conspiration and killed his brother. He is said to represent in the Egyptian mythology, the sea, by some; by others, _the sun_.

AAK (turtle) was also the brother of Chaacmol and _Moo_. For jealousy, and to usurp the throne, he killed his brother at treason with three thrusts of his _spear_ in the back. Around the belt of his statue at Uxmal used to be seen hanging the heads of his brothers CAY and CHAACMOL, together with that of MOo; whilst his feet rested on their flayed bodies. In the sculpture he is pictured surrounded by the _Sun_ as his protecting spirit. The escutcheon of Uxmal shows that he called the place he governed the land of the Sun. In the bas-reliefs of the Queen's chamber at Chichen his followers are seen to render homage to the _Sun_; others, the friends of MOo, to the _Serpent_. So, in Mayab as in Egypt, the _Sun_ and _Serpent_ were inimical. In Egypt again this enmity was a myth, in Mayab a reality.

AROERIS was the brother of Osiris, Isis and Typho. His business seems to have been that of a peace-maker.

CAY was also the brother of _Chaacmol_, _Moo_ and _Aac_. He was the high pontiff, and sided with Chaacmol and Moo in their troubles, as we learn from the mural paintings, from his head and flayed body serving as trophy to Aac as I have just said.

In June last, among the ruins of _Uxmal_, I discovered a magnificent bust of this personage; and I believe I know the place where his remains are concealed.

NEPHTHIS was the sister of Isis, Osiris, Typho, and Aroeris, and the wife of Typho; but being in love with Osiris she managed to be taken to his embraces, and she became pregnant. That intrigue having been discovered by Isis, she adopted the child that Nephthis, fearing the anger of her husband, had hidden, brought him up as her own under the name of Anubis. Nephthis was also called NIKe by some.

NIC or NICTe was the sister of _Chaacmol_, _Moo_, _Aac_, and _Cay_, with whose name I find always her name a.s.sociated in the sculptures on the monuments. Here the a.n.a.logy between these personages would seem to differ, still further study of the inscriptions may yet prove the Egyptian version to contain some truth. _Nic_ or _Nicte_[TN-33] means flower; a cast of her face, with a flower sculptured on one cheek, exists among my collections.

We are told that three children were born to Isis and Osiris: Horus, Macedo, and Harpocrates. Well, in the scene painted on the walls of Chaacmol's funeral chamber, in which the body of this warrior is represented stretched on the ground, cut open under the ribs for the extraction of the heart and visceras, he is seen surrounded by his wife, his sister NIC, his mother _Zo?_, and four children.

I will close these similes by mentioning that _Thoth_ was reputed the preceptor of Isis; and said to be the inventor of letters, of the art of reckoning, geometry, astronomy, and is represented in the hieroglyphs under the form of a baboon (cynocephalus). He is one of the most ancient divinities among the Egyptians. He had also the office of scribe in the lower regions, where he was engaged in noting down the actions of the dead, and presenting or reading them to Osiris. One of the modes of writing his name in hieroglyphs, transcribed in our common letters, reads _Nukta_; a word most appropriate and suggestive of his attributes, since, according to the Maya language, it would signify to understand, to perceive, _Nuctah_: while his name Thoth, maya[TN-34] _thot_ means to scatter flowers; hence knowledge. In the temple of death at Uxmal, at the foot of the grand staircase that led to the sanctuary, at the top of which I found a sacrificial altar, there were six cynocephali in a sitting posture, as Thoth is represented by the Egyptians. They were placed three in a row each side of the stairs. Between them was a platform where a skeleton, in a kneeling posture, used to be. To-day the cynocephali have been removed. They are in one of the yard[TN-35] of the princ.i.p.al house at the Hacienda of Uxmal. The statue representing the kneeling skeleton lays, much defaced, where it stood when that ancient city was in its glory.

In the mural paintings at Chichen-Itza, we again find the baboon (Cynocephalus) warning Moo of impending danger. She is pictured in her home, which is situated in the midst of a garden, and over which is seen the royal insignia. A basket, painted blue, full of bright oranges, is symbolical of her domestic happiness. She is sitting at the door. Before her is an individual pictured physically deformed, to show the ugliness of his character and by the flatness of his skull, want of moral qualities, (the[TN-36] proving that the learned men of Mayab understood phrenology). He is in an persuasive att.i.tude; for he has come to try to seduce her in the name of another. She rejects his offer: and, with her extended hand, protects the armadillo, on whose sh.e.l.l the high priest read her destiny when yet a child. In a tree, just above the head of the man, is an ape. His hand is open and outstretched, both in a warning and threatening position. A serpent (_can_), her protecting spirit, is seen at a short distance coiled, ready to spring in her defense. Near by is another serpent, entwined round the trunk of a tree. He has wounded about the head another animal, that, with its mouth open, its tongue protruding, looks at its enemy over its shoulder. Blood is seen oozing from its tongue and face. This picture forcibly recalls to the mind the myth of the garden of Eden. For here we have the garden, the fruit, the woman, the tempter.

As to the charmed _leopard_ skin worn by the African warriors to render them invulnerable to spears, it would seem as if the manner in which Chaacmol met his death, by being stabbed with a spear, had been known to their ancestors; and that they, in their superst.i.tious fancies, had imagined that by wearing his totem, it would save them from being wounded with the same kind of weapon used in killing him. Let us not laugh at such a singular conceit among uncivilized tribes, for it still prevails in Europe. On many of the French and German soldiers, killed during the last German war, were found talismans composed of strips of paper, parchment or cloth, on which were written supposed cabalistic words or the name of some saint, that the wearer firmly believed to be possessed of the power of making him invulnerable.

I am acquainted with many people--and not ignorant--who believe that by wearing on their persons rosaries, made in Jerusalem and blessed by the Pope, they enjoy immunity from thunderbolts, plagues, epidemics and other misfortunes to which human flesh is heir.

That the Mayas were a race autochthon on this western continent and did not receive their civilization from Asia or Africa, seems a rational conclusion, to be deduced from the foregoing FACTS. If we had nothing but their _name_ to prove it, it should be sufficient, since its etymology is only to be found in the American Maya language.

They cannot be said to have been natives of Hindostan; since we are told that, in very remote ages, _Maya_, a prince of the Davanas, established himself there. We do not find the etymology of his name in any book where mention is made of it. We are merely told that he was a wise magician, a great architect, a learned astronomer, a powerful Asoura (demon), thirsting for battles and bloodshed: or, according to the Sanscrit, a G.o.ddess, the mother of all beings that exist--G.o.ds and men.

Very little is known of the Mayas of Afghanistan, except that they call themselves _Mayas_, and that the names of their tribes and cities are words belonging to the American Maya language.

Who can give the etymology of the name _Magi_, the learned men amongst the Chaldees. We only know that its meaning is the same as _Maya_ in Hindostan: magician, astronomer, learned man. If we come to Greece, where we find again the name _Maia_, it is mentioned as that of a G.o.ddess, as in Hindostan, the mother of the G.o.ds: only we are told that she was the daughter of Atlantis--born of Atlantis. But if we come to the lands beyond the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, then we find a country called MAYAB, on account of the porosity of its soil; that, as a sieve (_Mayab_), absorbs the water in an incredibly short time. Its inhabitants took its name from that of the country, and called themselves _Mayas_. It is a fact worthy of notice, that in their hieroglyphic writings the sign employed by the Egyptians to signify a _Lord_, a _Master_, was the image of a sieve. Would not this seem to indicate that the western invaders who subdued the primitive inhabitants of the valley of the Nile, and became the lords and masters of the land, were people from MAYAB; particularly if we consider that the usual character used to write the name of Egypt was the sieve, together with the sign of land?

We know that the _Mayas_ deified and paid divine honors to their eminent men and women after their death. This wors.h.i.+p of their heroes they undoubtedly carried, with other customs, to the countries where they emigrated; and, in due course of time, established it among their inhabitants, who came to forget that MAYAB was a locality, converted it in to a personalty: and as some of their G.o.ds came from it, Maya was considered as the _Mother of the G.o.ds_, as we see in Hindostan and Greece.

It would seem probable that the Mayas did not receive their civilization from the inhabitants of the Asiatic peninsulas, for the religious lores and customs they have in common are too few to justify this a.s.sertion.

They would simply tend to prove that relations had existed between them at some epoch or other; and had interchanged some of their habits and beliefs as it happens, between the civilized nations of our days. This appears to be the true side of the question; for in the figures sculptured on the obelisks of Copan the Asiatic type is plainly discernible; whilst the features of the statues that adorn the celebrated temples of Hindostan are, beyond all doubts, American.

The FACTS gathered from the monuments do not sustain the theory advanced by many, that the inhabitants of tropical America received their civilization from Egypt and Asia Minor. On the contrary. It is true that I have shown that many of the customs and attainments of the Egyptians were identical to those of the Mayas; but these had many religious rites and habits unknown to the Egyptians; who, as we know, always pointed towards the West as the birthplaces of their ancestors, and wors.h.i.+ped as G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses personages who had lived, and whose remains are still in MAYAB. Besides, the monuments themselves prove the respective antiquity of the two nations.

According to the best authorities the most ancient monuments raised by the Egyptians do not date further back than about 2,500 years B. C.

Well, in Ake, a city about twenty-five miles from Merida, there exists still a monument sustaining thirty-six columns of _katuns_. Each of these columns indicate a lapse of one hundred and sixty years in the life of the nation. They then would show that 5,760 years has intervened between the time when the first stone was placed on the east corner of the uppermost of the three immense superposed platforms that compose the structure, and the placing of the last capping stone on the top of the thirty-sixth column. How long did that event occur before the Spanish conquest it is impossible to surmise. Supposing, however, it did take place at that time; this would give us a lapse of at least 6,100 years since, among the rejoicings of the people this sacred monument being finished, the first stone that was to serve as record of the age of the nation, was laid by the high priest, where we see it to-day. I will remark that the name AKe is one of the Egyptians' divinities, the third person of the triad of Esneh; always represented as a child, holding his finger to his mouth. AKe also means a _reed_. To-day the meaning of the word is lost in Yucatan.

Cogolludo, in his history of Yucatan, speaking of the manner in which they computed time, says:

"They counted their ages and eras, which they inscribed in their books every twenty years, in l.u.s.trums of four years. * * * When five of these l.u.s.trums were completed, they called the lapse of twenty years _katun_, which means to place a stone down upon another. * * * In certain sacred buildings and in the houses of the priests every twenty years they place a hewn stone upon those already there. When seven of these stones have thus been piled one over the other began the _Ahau katun_. Then after the first l.u.s.trum of four years they placed a small stone on the top of the big one, commencing at the east corner; then after four years more they placed another small stone on the west corner; then the next at the north; and the fourth at the south. At the end of the twenty years they put a big stone on the top of the small ones: and the column, thus finished, indicated a lapse of one hundred and sixty years."

There are other methods for determining the approximate age of the monuments of Mayab:

1st. By means of their actual orientation; starting from the _fact_ that their builders always placed either the faces or angles of the edifices fronting the cardinal points.

2d. By determining the epoch when the mastodon became extinct. For, since _Can_ or his ancestors adopted the head of that animal as symbol of deity, it is evident they must have known it; hence, must have been contemporary with it.

3d. By determining when, through some great cataclysm, the lands became separated, and all communications between the inhabitants of _Mayab_ and their colonies were consequently interrupted. If we are to credit what Psenophis and Sonchis, priests of Heliopolis and Sas, said to Solon "that nine thousand years before, the visit to them of the Athenian legislator, in consequence of great earthquakes and inundations, the lands of the West disappeared in one day and a fatal night," then we may be able to form an idea of the antiquity of the ruined cities of America and their builders.

Reader, I have brought before you, without comments, some of the FACTS, that after ten years of research, the paintings on the walls of _Chaacmol's_ funeral chamber, the sculptured inscriptions carved on the stones of the crumbling monuments of Yucatan, and a comparative study of the vernacular of the aborigines of that country, have revealed to us. I have no theory to offer. Many years of further patient investigations, the full interpretation of the monumental inscriptions, and, above all, the possession of the libraries of the learned men of _Mayab_, are the _sine qua non_ to form an uncontrovertible one, free from the speculations which invalidate all books published on the subject heretofore.

If by reading these pages you have learned something new, your time has not been lost; nor mine in writing them.