1 - Histomesoamericana
1 - Histomesoamericana
1 - Histomesoamericana
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
24<br />
4 Ahau was the eleventh in<br />
the Itza katun series. Chichen<br />
Itza was its seat. For both the<br />
Xiu and the Itza attended, and<br />
there was a plague. And KukuL<br />
Can came for the fourth Itza<br />
term. For the fourth time he<br />
ruled the katun. (400)<br />
4 Ahau<br />
5. Trials of the Itza<br />
(I7v) Can Ahau*<br />
U buluc tz'it<br />
Katun<br />
C u xocol<br />
T u Chi Ch'en Ytza<br />
U hetz' katun<br />
Ulom kuk<br />
Ulom yaxum*<br />
(I8r) Ulom Ah Kan Tenal<br />
Ulom xe kik*<br />
T u can uatz'<br />
Ulom Kukul Can t u pach Ah<br />
Ytzaob<br />
T u can ten<br />
U than katun ual e.*<br />
* mi í25>> ^ng> <br />
4 Ahau<br />
Was the eleventh part<br />
Of the katun<br />
390 To be counted.<br />
At Chichen Itza<br />
Was the seat of the katun.<br />
Come is the quetzal;<br />
Come is the blue bird;<br />
395 Come are the yellow deaths;<br />
Come is blood vomit.<br />
For the fourth time<br />
Come is Kukul Can after the Itzas.<br />
For the fourth time<br />
400 Is the word of the katun's return.<br />
387. This is probably a glyphic text of late 4 Ahau (1500) or a little after,<br />
transcribed in 9 Ahau (1559). Kukul Can continued as lord of the Itza katun,<br />
apparently without Xiu competition, an astonishing longevity in that office<br />
(ca. 1461-1500): even the author is amazed at what he describes as a fourth term.<br />
394. Kuk 'quetzal' (Pharomachrus) was the emblem of the Itza as uitzil 'hummingbird'<br />
[Archilochus, Náhuatl huitzitziUin) was for the Xiu. I believe yax um<br />
'blue bird' is a euphemism for the hummingbird, which had astonishingly ferocious<br />
theological implications for the Nahuas—Huitzilopochtli, for example. The<br />
couplet is frequent in the Tizimin.<br />
396. Kan tenal 'yellow deaths': jaundice? hepatitis? yellow fever? Barrera 1948:<br />
140 has 'he of the yellow tree'. There is still considerable controversy about<br />
preconquest diseases. Xe kik 'blood vomit': tuberculosis? smallpox? The latter,<br />
generally considered a European introduction, would hardly be expected before<br />
1500.<br />
400. Barrera 1948: 141 says 'the fourth time the katun speaks'.