One of the most important things that must be remembered about the glyphs found on Maya monuments that are so easily spelled out as words, even those that can not yet be translated is that a "spelled-out word" is actually a convention of the educated. The glyphs were not created for those who knew how to read. They were created for the general public, the women who ground maize for the tortillas early in the morning, the children who might never go to school because they were not of the upper class; the merchants in the market places who spend more time hoeing their corn rows, carting their merchandise to market, sitting all day in the broiling sun as vendors or attending to their crafts than on "formal education." The glyphs were made for these people of the community, but it was also made for "tourists" from neighboring areas, like the Peten, Quintana Roo, Chiapas, Guatemala, and other areas of the country who come to visit a monument because "they are in the vicinity" for whatever reason, even common tourism.

For an archaeologist or anthropologist to assume that all glyphs are spellable words, because they can read books is not very valid. The English writer who wrote Tarzan assumed that without language, Tarzan could learn to pronouce the word "apple" that was associated with a picture of an non-African jungle fruit is about where we stand today when we attempt to "read" the glyphs as words and sentences about many varied sub-cultures who were without radios, television, mass transportation, and even newspapers and magazines. Even learning the languages and creating a proto-variation as one basic to all areas is a bit much. Familiar animals in one area ma not be present on a monument in a different location where these animal forms do not exist.

The glyphs then, should be read just like our traffic glyphs, restroom glyphs, and commercial sign glyphs. Words are there, but also pictures that illustrate what is inferred or implied. Because our advertising techniques are so glitzy, we tend to forget that we also create "monumental" ads that use the very same techniques that the Maya did. Both words AND pictures, created for both the educated and those who cannot read formal texts or for those educated souls that come from different areas where common languages have shifted into a great variety of dialects.

It has been said that the Initial Series Glyph, being the largest glyph set that begins each text on monuments of the Maya world, does nothing but announce that the glyphs are to be read across as many columns as is covered by this large impressive glyph.

However, while laying out the glyphs for the Temple of the Sun of Palenque, I made an interesting discovery. The fancy drawing above the main glyph, that changes with each monument, is actually the title of the text. The whole first four columns and the next two on the other side of the figures, appear to be all the mythological background needed for the young son of Pacal, to assume the role of ruler, when and if, his father should die. The title glyph, sitting above the Intial Series glyph should read:

The Origins of Your Ancestors (learned before
this youngster took the throne title of Makina.)


C-4 is a skull with buck teeth. To me that would indicate a "dead" or new Moon, because a rabbit who imhabits the moon has buck teeth. And sure enough D-4 shows a strange birth glyph, sitting on a torch of fire. The Entity in C-5 seems to be saying (future) "then came the Dragon Star Eater." with the snaggle toothed entity, GI (C-6, not shown here)

The Square Nosed Dragon is (D-5) Still part of the sky sequence, he can be found by clicking on his name here. On my previous web page, I identified him as a star eater. . . taken from three different locations in the Nuttall Codex.

The iconography there indicates that the Square Nose entity is connected to the ball court of the Popol Vuh. C-5 tells us that it is a later event than the preliminary date sequence in the Temple of the Cross at Palenque while D-5 implies that the Dragon is the active agent. C-6 tells of his involvement with G-I, who threw the heart of the Death God into the Ocean Sea, (O-11 to P-12 is located in the West panel of the Temple of the Sun in Palenque.)



The text then gives the dates of the monument and drops back into an ancestor's era, that of Lady Beastie. I was pasting down the glyphs when I notices that the Lady had two glyphs alsmost identical next to each other. (C-12 to D-13)

This would be fine, if the double phrase was readible. Here the second had "apo-hel" glyph set was attached to it with a generation leaf in front of her nose. What seems to be occurring is that:

"Sa" (with three "cotton balls" appear to say that)
Lady Beastie comes from the Salt Sea,
and that she comes from the Beastie clan or ancestor branch."

"Apo-Hel" has always been thought to indicate the ruler of the kingdom, but here it appears to indicate the clan or ancestor geneology that Lady Beastie came from, not her or anyone else's rulership role.



The next glyph set that I questioned as I placed them in sequence was C-16-D-16. It appears to tell us that the 9th Baktun has ended (613 AD) at the time of year when the Ecliptic crossed the Celestial Equator, as seen by the astronomers of the Rat clan (in Teotihuacán.) Because we are so earth-bound, in spite of all our knowledge, we tend to ignore the astronomical aspects of the more "primitive" cultures. Our Hubble telescope does what no one can do visually, so therefore the ancient cultures were not astronomers of any importance. How could they possibly know about our galactic and ecliptic designations! This is the most common error of many who translate. . . "we know more than the authors." Instead, we should be inquiring "What did the authors know that we have yet to learn."



The fifth set of glyphs surprised me. I did not notice them until I had finished the project and was looking at a mini-copy. N-9 and O-9 stood out from the glyphs as a sore thumb. It was all wrong. It actually had two thumbs!! The sun was below the thumbs and then next glyph was a macaw which indicates a morning sun or the break of day.

The two hands are in a small motif on the walls of Cacaxla. The two hands of "god" held open the opening for the famous, but erroneously named "Venus" glyph action of the errant "false sun" in the sky.

This would indicate the advent of a comet or blazing star, currently called the "Venus" glyph that is mentioned in several codices of the Mixtec, the Maya and the Aztec. The above schematic is found on the South Mural wall in Cacaxtla (Color version facing p. 87 in de Molina, Marta Foncerrada, (1993) Cacaxtla: La Iconografia de los Olmeca Xicalanca Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.)

The following glyph of the Macaw can then be no other than Seven Macaw of Popol Vuh fame, whose teeth were knocked loose by the Celestial Twins, Hunahpu and Ixbalenque. This bird as a wing form is also shown next to the Cacaxtla glyphic representation of the sky hands.

The last set of glyphs that I took special notice of, were the very last ones L-5 to M-6) in the title segment in the middle of the monument. It was not part of the long mythological text, but instead a short note about the boy in center.



It seems to be identifying, not the boy as the son of Pacal I, since that had been done earlier in this text set, but instead his current heritage, not necessarily his mother, but instead, the ancestral elements on his mother's side of the family: the name of his mother's clan or heritage "The Bak" or "The Bone," definitely not the name of Palenque, the city. It was the boy's official "ticket" to rulership, since his father had no family ties in the land. Those four glyphs probably reads:

This child is assuming the Makina of Pacal,
by reason of his mother's lineage in the "Bak" clan.

Apparently, the "Bak" clan arranged the marriage of their female child to the astronomer Pacal I, who was honored with a prophetic speaking tomb because his prophecies and predictions were very helpful to the people.

Where were the people of the "Bone?" One must look to Xaltetelco, where the railroad yards of Mexico City are now located. It was the temple of Huitzilopochtli, whose symbol was the bone (bak) of the Rat on the blue turquoise cloth of his regalia. (Marcus, Joyce (1992) Mesoamerican Writing Systems. Propaganda, Myth and History in Four Ancient Civilizations Princeton University Press, p. 309)

Here are stated only observations that I noticed as I pasted down the sequence of dates or events. What seems to be elements that have ( i.e. numbers, events) the very same components, many times have a different set of earplugs, or a different cheek marks or head marks. Each element must be considered in the translations. At that time, the glyph cannot always be spelled out as a complete word, but instead, it can be considered as a complete conceptual element in the overall story.

It should be noted also, that the G-I band under the feet of the figures on the monument are NOT the same either. They probably tell of four seasons (that is the time it took for the boy to prepare for this great event of receiving the "Makina" title. David Kelley found that the second glyph after the mask in that bar had a ceiba seed pod. Later (probably after some erosion took place) it was changed to a water element. The ceiba seed pod seems more correct for the emerging dynasty.