The T579 Water Scroll sign as logogram YAAM

The reading of the T579 ”Water Scroll” sign as YAAM - published 26th of March 2019 on www.academia.edu - by Jens S. Rohark independent researcher Fig. 1: Example of glyph T579. (All drawings by the author unless indicated otherwise.) The hieroglyph T579 in the Thompson catalogue, ZUP in the catalogue of Macri and Looper, is not very frequent in Maya hieroglyphic writing. It occurs basically only in three secure contexts. First, in the emblem glyph of Altun Há (and its place name), second in connection with the STAR glyph and the MOUNTAIN glyph, where it seems it has the same meaning in both examples, and third in connection with a feline animal. There are also some mentions on fragments, where the context is not clear. The same glyph also appears as an iconographic symbol, however, it is not very frequent in iconographic contexts either. The most comprehensive study about the Water Scroll symbol, I could find, appears in the article “Kings of the East: Altun Há and the Water Scroll Emblem Glyph” by Christophe Helmke, Stanley P. Guenter and Phillip J. Wanyerka from 2018. This excellent article focuses on the appearances of the Water Scroll emblem glyph, which very likely is connected with the Altun Há royal family, as they argue, and stresses the importance of Altun Há despite of its seemingly small size. They mention shortly the possible phonetic reading of this glyph: “... in the absence of a fuller understanding of the semantics of this sign, we are not yet closer to proposing a decipherment. Yet, the iconography does, however, make it clear that the sign marks bodies of water, perhaps specifically freshwater, and may, in fact, represent a wave (see Hellmuth 1987:Figures 179–182, 189; Matteo 2015; Schele and Miller 1986:47).” (“Kings of the East”, page 115). They also mention proposals of a phonetic reading: “Marc Zender (1998:11, 14) initially suggested the value of HA’ for the Water Scroll sign, based on its association with aquatic motifs and connotations. Similarly, in the monumental report of the Southern Belize Epigraphic Project, Phillip Wanyerka (2003:37) suggested the reading of JA’ for this same logogram. More recently, Sebastían Matteo (2015) has proposed the reading of OM ‘froth’ for the same sign on the basis of the same pattern of complementation. These suggestions, however, fail to account properly for the accompanying syllabograms, particularly the ni complement seen on the jadeite plaque.” (“Kings of the East”, page 115, footnote 2). 1 – Jens Rohark: The T579 Water Scroll sign as YAAM (b) (a) (c) (d) Fig. 2: Examples of the Water Scroll glyph in the Altun Há emblem glyph and place name. (a) The Emblem Glyph on the jadeite plaque found in Tomb B-4/6. (b) Drawing 34 from Naj Tunich cave. (c) Carved bone pin found in Burial 116 at Tikal. MT42A. (d) Carved bone pin found in Burial 43 at the site of Chau Hiix. (a) (b) Fig. 3: Examples of the Water Scroll glyph in connection with STAR and MOUNTAIN. (a) The name of Lady Shining Star of Yaxhá on a Chinos Black-on-cream vase produced at Naranjo (K635). (b) The name of a supernatural mountain rendered on the wall of Tomb 25 at Río Azul. Fig. 4: Example of the Water Scroll glyph in connection with a feline animal spirit rendered on a Codex Style vase (K771). (a) (b) Fig. 5: Example of the Water Scroll sign on fragments. (a) Detail of Monument 133 at Tonina. (b) Example of the logogram with -ma syllabogram on a vase in a private collection (after Matteo 2015:Figure 7), reproduced in “Kings of the East”, page 115. 2 – Jens Rohark: The T579 Water Scroll sign as YAAM Fig. 6: Example of the Water Scroll glyph as an iconographic symbol. (Schele and Miller, 1982: 270-271). Any suggested phonetic reading of the Water Scroll sign must obviously account for all the above mentioned occurrences. The phonetic complements must be explained and the translation of its reading must make sense in each context. This is not the case for a reading of HA´ and OM; “water star” or “foamy star” does not make sense, neither does “white water mountain” or “white foamy mountain”. Also, “water jaguar” does not sound right, unless it were “waterlily jaguar”. Not to mention “foamy jaguar” or something like that. Also, the phonetic complements of -ni and -ma are unaccounted for, with the exception that OM ends with -m. One example shows -la as a complement, however this suffix is unlikely to be a complement of the word stem. The authors of “Kings of the East” write: “The presence of the –la sign may cue a –Vl derivational suffix, such as an abstractive, and is thereby unlikely to serve as a phonetic complement and can therefore be set aside.” (“Kings of the East”, page 115. Footnote 2). Where does the Water Scroll symbol occur and not occur? It never replaces the WATER sign. It shows up in connection with water, but does not replace the WATER sign T556 HA´. There are few examples of foamy, frothy cocoa mentioned in ceramic inscriptions. However, the Water Scroll sign never occurs in front of the word “cocoa”. 3 – Jens Rohark: The T579 Water Scroll sign as YAAM (b) (a) (c) Fig. 7: Examples of foamy, frothy cocoa. (a) Ceramic bowl from the Naranjo area. MS0285. (b) MS1680. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (c) K4562. (c) K 4562 Generally speaking, the Water Scroll sign is quite infrequent. The water theme is very important, by normally, the ancient Maya are more focused on fresh water bodies. Therefore I do not agree with the idea that the sign in question has to do with freshwater, as the authors of “Kings of the East” suspect. I do find productive their idea that the sign represents a wave, specifically waves of rough water as one usually finds them at sea or at the sea shore. A consultation of various Maya dictionaries yields one promising entry: YAAM. YUCATEC (Calepino Maya de Motul): yam yam yaam u yaam kaknab entre, entremedias concavidad y espacio entre dos cosas, e intervalo o distancia de tiempo olas u ondas del mar las olas del mar YUCATEC (Diccionario Maya Cordemex): yaam yaam yaam yaam yaam-ankil intervalo, espacio olas u ondas de la mar ola, onda de agua olear, hacer olas YUCATEC (DICCIONARIO INTRODUCTORIO ESPAÑOL - MAYA MAYA -ESPAÑOL): yaam olas del mar CHOL (A HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF CHOL): yäm rinse; enjuagarlo 4 – Jens Rohark: The T579 Water Scroll sign as YAAM CHOLTI (Vocabulary in the Ch’oltí’ Language. 1695): yamanic yam oro riña CHONTAL (Diccionario Chontal de Tabasco) yamän repasar en el molino CHORTI (CHORTI DICTIONARY (from Wisdom 195O): yam uyam e k'ahk' yamchan round, circular, rounded surface or area rounded interior of the firebox (of the fireplace) ringworm TOJOLABAL (Diccionario Tojolabal-Español idioma mayense de Chiapas. Carlos Lenkersdorf): yama agarrar, pescar, detener K´ICHEE´ (Diccionario K’iche’ de Berlín. El Vocabulario en lengua 4iche otlatecas): yamanic abah esmeralda K´ICHEE´ (K’iche’ - English Dictionary. Christenson) yamanik to glitter, shine, to be brilliant MOPAN (Diccionario Maya Mopan/Español – Español/ Maya Mopan): yaam espacio, estancia 5 – Jens Rohark: The T579 Water Scroll sign as YAAM As we can see, YAAM has a meaning of “wave”, especially “wave of the sea”. The Altun Há emblem glyph, which uses the -ni phonetic complement, can now be read as k´ujul yaman ajaw, with the possible translation of “holy lord of the glittering waves”. The Topoxte´ locative can be read as chak yamnal, “place of great waves”. Fig. 8: Example of the Topoxte´ locative. Altar 5 of Tikal In a broader sense YAAM means “curved surface”. The entries in the Chorti dictionary can better be understood as “curved” instead of “round”. Another meaning of YAM(A) is “to grab, to fight”, (see K´ichee´ and Cholti. “Riña” is “fight”) which explains the occurrence with the HIIX glyph. The reading YAMA HIIX makes sense as “grabbing/ attacking feline”, whereas “foamy feline” does not. Furthermore, also the combination with the STAR sign makes perfect sense now. It is not “wave star”, but “brilliant star, shining star”. In that case, the likely reading is YAMAN EK´. “Foamy star”, of course, wouldn´t make any sense. The Cholti entry shows that YAMAN might occasionally have been the reading for T579. The translation “oro” (gold) refers to the glittering quality of gold, as is the case with the emeralds. YAAM has several meanings, as we have seen, however, all of those meanings can easily be combined into one semantic field. The waves are curved, obviously, moving around, thereby glittering in the sun. The may also grab us, if we are no too careful. Finally, also the concept of “space, interval”, both in terms of time and space, is interesting. If we take a look at a similar logograph, T574, we see something interesting. We know that its reading is HE´. Graphically it represents another kind of curl, similar to a wave. This graphic form may have been chosen for a good reason. Unlike foam, which is an amorphous thing, the wave creates a tiny space, a separation both in time and space. Therefore this HE´ glyph is used in the hieroglyphic inscriptions to represent a short distance in time, a distance of days passed, in the distance number. 6 – Jens Rohark: The T579 Water Scroll sign as YAAM Fig. 9: Example of glyph T574. Those four glyph blocks read: “0 days, cero months and 7 years later will come the date 13 Ajaw 18 Kumk´u”. Lintel 31 of Yaxchilán. A wave has a quite well-defined form with clear outline. A foamy mass does not. For this reason the Maya scribe depicted this WAVE sign carefully, with some space inside, just as a Japanese painter would also do it. The form of the glyph shows precisely the outline of a wave, with some small circles and dots representing water bubbles inside. Fig. 10: Example of the WAVE symbol as an iconographic element on a ceramic vessel. Line drawing by Culbert 1993:43d. From Tikal Burial 81, Structure 9, Group 4G-1. **** 7 – Jens Rohark: The T579 Water Scroll sign as YAAM Bibliography: HELMKE, Christophe, Stanley P. Guenter, and Phillip J. Wanyerka: Kings of the East: Altun Ha and the Water Scroll Emblem Glyph. Ancient Mesoamerica, 29 (2018), 113–135. Cambridge University Press, 2018 PENDERGAST, David M.: An Inscribed Jade Plaque from Altun Ha. Excavations at Altun Ha, Belize, 1964–1970, Volume 2. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. 1982 WANYERKA, Phillip J.: The Southern Belize Epigraphic Project: The Hieroglyphic Inscriptions of Southern Belize. 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Nueva York: Forth Worth, George Braziller, in C, Kimbell Art Museum, Chicago. 1982 CALVIN, Inga E.: Between Text And Image: An Analysis Of Pseudo-Glyphs On Late Classic Maya Pottery From Guatemala. Thesis. 1993 REENTS-BUDET, Dorie: Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period. Duke University Press. 1994 ROHARK, Jens: El sacrificio del jaguar celestial – Las fechas de Topoxté y Yaxhá. www.academia.edu ROHARK, Jens: Cuando el Balam se come al Sol. 2016. Free download. Or ask for it per email to lacambalam@yahoo.com.mx. www.academia.edu/25547896/Cuando_el_Balam_se_come_al_Sol. KRYGIER, Mario and Jens Rohark: Anatomie des Mayakalenders. Hein-Verlag. 2017. ISBN 978-3944828-03-9. www.mayavase.com www.facebook.com/lacambalam www.faszination-maya.de 8 – Jens Rohark: The T579 Water Scroll sign as YAAM