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1 - Histomesoamericana

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From the end of the Xiu cycle<br />

in 692 to 751, and then came<br />

the end of the Itza cycle in 771.<br />

(10)<br />

8 Ahau<br />

1. The First Chronicle<br />

(I8v) Uaxac Ahau*<br />

Uac Ahau<br />

Can Ahau<br />

Cabil Ahau<br />

Ca kal hab*<br />

Ca tac<br />

Hum ppel hab<br />

T u hum pis tun<br />

Ah ox lahun Ahau<br />

Ox lahun Ahau.*<br />

••'• i^-i > ^3><br />

= <br />

8 Ahau (692),<br />

6 Ahau (711),<br />

4 Ahau (731),<br />

Second Ahau (751)<br />

5 Forty years,<br />

And then followed<br />

One year,<br />

Which was the first tun<br />

Of 13 Ahau (771).<br />

10 It was 13 Ahau.<br />

1. This text, together with the two other early chronicles in the Mani and the<br />

Chumayel (Barrera 1948: 68 ff.; Roys 1967: 139 ff.), is unquestionably the oldest<br />

sketch of Mayan history we have. While the Chumayel contains one text that can<br />

be dated to 1556 (Edmonson 1976), it is likely that nothing in the Tizimin was<br />

transcribed from glyphs before 9 Ahau (1559). A glyphic version of this chronicle<br />

could have been composed in 13 Ahau (1539) but could also have drawn on<br />

glyphic predecessors. I consider the claim of the Itza to have ruled Chichen Itza<br />

(and that of the Xiu to have come from Tula) in 8 Ahau (692) to be legend or<br />

myth, but the tale seems to be substantially historical from the following 8 Ahau<br />

(948) on. See the appendix on chronology.<br />

All the earliest chronicles are preoccupied with the sequence and dates at<br />

which various cities became the seats of the cycle. Taken together, the sources<br />

provide us with the following outline.<br />

Date Xiu Itza Other<br />

8 Ahau (692)<br />

8 Ahau (948)<br />

2 Ahau (1263)<br />

8 Ahau (1461)<br />

11 Ahau (1539)<br />

4 Ahau (1752)<br />

Tula<br />

Uxmal<br />

Merida<br />

Chichen Itza<br />

Champoton<br />

Mayapan<br />

Valladolid<br />

Bacalar<br />

Tayasal<br />

5. Barrera 1948: 59 has eighty.<br />

10. The significance of this date is that it ends the Itza may, or cycle of thirteen<br />

katuns. The Itza counted from 11 Ahau to 13 Ahau; the Xiu count ran from<br />

6 Ahau to 8 Ahau, as does the Chumayel text. The Tizimin and Mani chronicles<br />

(note continued on following page)

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