The Talking Glyphs
In the Maya lands south of the Altiplano of Central Mexico, there are many references, both of architectural features and various glyphs, to Teotihuacán and Tenochtitlan. It has been assumed that these features are due to political incursions of the governments of the Altiplano. The goggle eyes of Tlaloc, together with square shields on monuments and tablero-type sidings to the steps of the pyramids are just some of the artistic Aztec elements found in the Maya area.
Yet, there is another reason found in the glyphs, overlooked because of the quasi-isolation of the Maya glyphs from northern Aztec/Mixtec/Otomi cultures. It is a quasi-isolation, created because of the need to clarify every aspect of the Maya glyphs and what their relationships are to the vocabularies found in the general areas of the Yucatan, Guatemala and Central America. In using this microscopic approach to the glyphs, several elements pertinent to different events are lost.
In this segment, I will show two glyphs, each of which actually tell a complete story within itself. The first glyph is found in the Temple of the Inscriptions, Central Panel as H-09. This glyph shows a man who is sitting on a glyph that reads "naab"; with his knees up and his head is in his arms. He appears to be sleeping, or weeping. Behind him is a glyph of the Moon.
In theMadrid Codex, Plate 75, this gentleman is shown with "fire" dots around his head. The presence of the dots may indicate that the man is a representation of a volcano. If the man is a volcano, there is only one weeping volcano in the whole of Mexico. Popocatepetl, tall and conical sits next to Ixtacuihuatl, the Sleeping Princess, who, as another volcano, is dead.
It is a story well-known in Mexican schools about a princely warrior who wanted to marry the daughter of a ruler. The ruler decided that the warrior should conquer his enemies before such a union could take place. The warrior went to the battlefields to comply. He was very much in love with the princess. When he returned victorious, the princess was dead. He sat by her tomb, mourning his loss.
It might be a modern story. The poem that tells the tale was created in Peru. Nevertheless, every school child in Mexico, both north and south knows the story of the mountains. The glyph actually tells the story of the man weeping by the tomb of the white lady and both could be found in the "naab" salt water lake called Texcoco. It is the identification of a geographical or a geological aspect of the land. Brought into the Maya area by merchants or conquerors who traveled to the south, or by people who actually visited there for other reasons. A piece of geography, not as a word, but as a story format, that was known by all.
Even by those found deep in the Amazonian jungles. In a book called
Amazonian Cosmos: The Sexual and Religious Symbolism of the Tukano Indians (1971 )
Reichel-Dolmatoff tells us about the Sun father god as he attempts to revive his dead daughter.
He blows smoke into her mouth and she reacts by moving. The story is not possible, of course,
but if one relates it as geography, the father is Popocatepetl and the daughter is Ixtacuihautl.
When Popocatepetl smokes and moves as with earth tremors, i.e., becomes semi-active; at times,
Ixtacuihautal also smokes and has earth tremors. It is the same story dressed up
for the more primitive tribes on the Amazon River.1
The second glyph is found on the walls of Atetelco. A double ladder with a head and a rope is part of a picture/glyph found near the drawing of a man who is expounding something.
Such a double ladder is found at a major outpost of Tenochtitlán called Tepoztlan. From this vantage point, one can see the land for miles south of the Altiplano. Any army attempting to approach would have been spotted. Those on the mountain top would have been able to notify Tenochtitlán immediately with mirrors or with smoke. But, in order to appreciate the presence of such a ladder, one must climb to the top of that mountain path. The double ladder is so distinctive in shape that it is easily recognized as a picture/glyph on the walls of Atetelco. Now, it is of metal. But a long time ago, it was apparently made of wood and much easier to lift clear of the cliffside entry to the top of the escarpment.
The incorporation of the ladder into a picture/glyph as a well-know piece of equipment is similar
to our George Washington who is remembered by a picture of him standing in a rowboat, crossing the river;
or Abraham Lincoln, by his stove-pipe hat, with or without a beard. Thus this picture/glyph of the
ladder is a piece of an Aztec historical conquest. history for the masses: those that do not know
how to read and write; those who do not take the time away from their household chores to learn.
The Greeks called it "Climax" because they knew the spelling of the word. The Aztecs only drew the picture.
1
Reichel-Dolmatoff, p. 24: Incestuous Sun [Popocatepetl] married
his daughter
p. 29: daughter [Ixtacuihuatl] became a rock but Sun could
revive her by smoking tobacco.
p. 35: Daughter of sun invented fire. Pubic hairs of vagina
burned, hence lust of Father Sun
p. 38: She was too young. Blood (red lava fire) flowed
when hymen was ruptured.