[Aztlan] Water Over the Earth

[Barb MacLeod]

Thanks to both Christian Prager and Randa Marhenke (offlist) for reminding me of Erik Boot's original proposal. I had a vague memory of it rattling in the back of my head, but it was eclipsed by other suggestions such as the proposals TZ'AY and 'EK'MAY. Randa had sent me (and has just resent) Erik's unpublished paper proposing HAY KAH for the glyph, and she and I had a brief email exchange on March 22, 2004, in which I said:

Hi, Randa,

Thanks for sending this! I had a chance to discuss it with Erik a couple of nights

ago, and looked at the Motul entries (vs. Cordemex) which contrast /j/ and /h/ in

initial position. This root is *hay. I really like this suggestion of Erik's. I don't think

he still regards the 'earth' sign as KAH, but rather as KAB'...and haykab' appears

in the dictionaries as 'destroy the world, flatten'. It is the best suggestion so far,

and it may be that the "water stacks" cue a ha syllable.

Barb

**********

It seems I still agree with my former self about Erik's suggestion, now reiterated in part by Prudence Rice. I have to wonder whether Erik (c'mon, Erik!) still likes it, and whether the 'EK'MAY proposal (which I believe is Dave Stuart's) is still in the running. Which of these--if either--also satisfactorily explains some of the other contexts--the Tikal "canoe bones" (where it is the main verb accompanying the scenes) and the Vases of the Seven (K7750) and Eleven (K2796) Gods (where it appears in a central bundle with a coefficient of nine)? Is this a reference to nine "earth-destructions" associated with 4 Ajaw 8 Kumk'u? What about the canoe scenes? Is this another iteration of destruction, rendered as a capsizing canoe full of woeful deities?

It is important to excavate these layers, to restore the timeline of proposals, and to always give due credit. The more elusive glyphs often receive multiple proposals, sometimes from the same proponent. From the outside, Maya epigraphy must at times seem like fragile guesswork. But there are degrees of confidence, with many, many decipherments being solid and reliable. And there are the headbangers like this one, which are the subjects of ongoing epigraphic forensics.

Barb



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christian M. Prager" <pusilha at gmx.net>
To: "Barb MacLeod" <bmacleod at austin.rr.com>; <aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 4:28 PM
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Water Over the Earth


> Hi all,
> 
> just a short comment. 'Hay kab' has been a proposal by Erik Boot in the mid-90s. This is contained in an unpublished paper (Notes on Maya Hieroglyphic Writing, 3; February 4, 1997) he distributed among fellow epigraphers. Many other readings have been proposed since (tz'ay, tz'oy, ch'ay, ek'may, hub'uy, etc. etc.). Maya epigraphy has become an archaeology of interpretations ...
> 
> Best, Christian