The Glyphic Corpus from Ek’ Balam, Yucatán, México

Monumental Inscriptions

   
Click on image to enlarge.

Click on image to enlarge.

Stela 1

Location: It was found fragmented into three large pieces, associated with the platform of the South Plaza by Strucuture 14, facing Structures 15 and 16
Drawing: A. Lacadena (Figure 2a and Figure 2b)
Dating: 10.0.10.0.0  6 Ajaw 8 Pop (January 18, A.D. 840)
Text: It contained 64 glyphic blocks in total. Four different texts can be recognized: the first one would include AB1 to B9 and was found at the back of the monument; the second text comprises C1 to F10 and unfolds on the left and right laterals of the monument; the third one goes from G1 to G6 and is associated with the primary individual represented at the front; the fourth text comprises H1 to H4 and is associated with the character depicted in the front upper portion of the stela.

Comments:

Text 1 in this Stela reproduces an Initial Series, with a Lunar Series and one mention of a fire ceremony. Although heavily eroded, the date can be reconstructed as 10.0.10.0.0  6 Ajaw 10 Pop (January 18, A.D. 840) (vid. infra "Datings from Ek’ Balam").

Text 2 is heavily eroded. On its left side, the remains of a second Initial Series with its Lunar Series can be identified, though reconstruction is not possible. As the text on the right side of the monument, some passages may be rescued:

–In E2-F2, there might be a Short Count expressed as follows:

[X]-## [ta]-V-[AJAW]
10 [tuun] ta 5 Ajaw

which would correspond to 10.0.10.0.0, the same date indicated in the Initial Series at the back of the monument.

–In F5-F6 a deity appellative has been identified, corresponding to the individual who possibly was named in the preceding blocks, perhaps …K’uh…nal, the ruler represented at the front of the Stela:

[VERB•OF•FIRE]-[la/wa] CHAN-[na] [K’AWIL]
…l/w Chan K’awiil

–Fortunately, as of E7, we are able to identify the phrase that conveys the monument's dedication:

u-tz’a-pa-[wa] [AJ]-CHAN-[na]-[NAH] u-K’AB’A’-b’a [u]-[LAKAM] [TUN]-[ni]
utz’apa[’]w Ajchan Naah uk’ab’a’ ulakam tuun
"he carved the <Ajchan Naah>, (which) is the name of his stela"

The name of this individual, owner of the stella and simultaneously subject of the verb utz’apa’w was probably written in tablets E9-F10, now lost. However, and again, the character depicted at the front of the monument could well be …K’uh…nal. Interestingly, the monument bears a name, Ajchan Naah, "he-from-the-house-in-heaven", as we have suggested in Vargas et al. (1999). This could possibly be the reference to the character represented in the front upper portion of the stela, inscribed in an ancestor’s cartouche, sitting on a heavenly throne.

Text 3 identifies the character represented at the front. The text may be transcribed and translated as follows:

u-[b’a]-[hi] KAL-ma-[TE’] [##] [##] K’UH-#-NAL K’UH [TAL]-lo AJAW
Ub’aah Kal[o’]mte’… K’uh…nal, k’uh[ul] Tal[o]l ajaw
"This is the image of the Kalo’mte’ …K’uh…nal, sacred king of Talol"

Finally, Text 4 identifies the character depicted on the upper front part of the stela, inscribed in a cartouche of ancestry. The transcription and translation thereof would be as follows:

u-b’a-[hi] [K’UH] KAL-ma-[TE’] u-[ki]-[ti] [IV]-[le]-ku
Ub’aah k’uh[ul] Kal[o’]mte’ Ukit Kan Le’k
"This is the image of the sacred Kalo’mte’ Ukit Kan Le’k"

Western Hieroglyphic Serpent

Location: Central stairway, Structure 1 (Acropolis)
Drawing: A. Lacadena (Figure 3)
Dating: No dating

  
Click on image to enlarge.

Comments:

The text is read horizontally, following an arrangement A1-C1, A2-C2, A3-C3, A4 and C4. The transcription and translation of the text may be as follows:

K’IN-ni-T565-ja yu-#-li WIN?-UH u-K’AB’A’-a ye-b’a KAL-ma-TE’ u-ki-ti IV-le-ku to-TOK’ K’UH TAL-lo AJAW-wa a-AL-ya
K’in…j yuCVl Win Uh uk’ab’a’ ye[h]b’a[al] ²   Kal[o’]mte’ Ukit Kan le’k Tok’ k’uh[ul] Tal[o]l ajaw, al[ii]y ³  
"It is … ⁴   the sculpture of the <Win Uh> (which) is the name of the stairway of Kalo’mte’ Ukit Kan Le’k Tok’, sacred king of Talol, (so it) says"

At the end of the text, and usually appearing in dedication patterns as an Introductory Glyph is found; such syntactic placement is by all means an anomaly. Aliiy or alay are the possible readings of this composite, which might be related to the verb al  "to say", or more probably with adverbial/demonstrative forms such as "here, then, this one", connected with expressions such as lay, li, ali, documented in the Mayan tongues from the lowlands, according to what B. MacLeod has been suggesting in the past few years.

The text, matching the one from the Eastern Hieroglyphic Serpent and whose texts reproduce with little variation an identical pattern, is a part of the dedicatory inscription present in the central stairway of the Acropolis that commemorates the major architectural remodelling of the main access to the Royal Palace, probably in relation to the construction of the ten large rooms–1-5 and 6-7–that flank it.

Eastern Hieroglyphic Serpent

Location: Central stairway, Structure 1 (Acropolis)
Drawing: A. Lacadena (Figure 4)
Dating: No dating

  
Click on image to enlarge.

Comments:

Like the Western Hieroglyphic Serpent, the text is read horizontally: A1-C1, A2-C2, A3-C3, A4-C4. The transcription of the text and the translation may be as follows:

[##] [##] [##] TUN-ni u-K’AB’A’-a ye-b’a KAL-ma-TE’ u-ki-ti KAN-le-ku TAL-lo AJAW-wa a-AL-ya
… tuun uk’ab’a’ ye[h]b’a[al] Kal[o’]mte’ Ukit Kan Le’k, Tal[o]l ajaw, al[ii]y
"…. <… of stone> is the name of the stairway of Kalo’mte’ Ukit Kan Le’k, king of Talol, (so it) says"

The text matches that of the Western Hieroglyphic Serpent.

Column 1

Location: Demolition associated with Level 3 of the Acropolis, in the sector located between rooms 42, 43, 25 and 26
Drawings: Sketches by V. Castillo (iconography) and A. Lacadena (hieroglyphic texts) (Figures 5a, 5b, and 5c)
Dating: 10.0.0.0.0  7 Ajaw 18 Sip (March 11, A.D. 830)
Text: The monument includes three texts. The first and primary text unfolds along the upper band (A1-D2) and continues throughout the lower band (E1-H2). The second text (I1-I6) is situated at the left of the individual represented on the upper portion of the representation. Finally, the third text (J1-K) is found at the right of the seated individual depicted in the second fringe of the column.

Click on image to enlarge.

Text 1:
A1	GISI (patron of the month Sip)
B1	PAT-JOL-PIH
A2	mi-WINAKHAB’
B2	mi-HAB’-mi-WINIK
C1	mi-K’IN-ni
D1	XI-ji-HUL-li-ya
C2	u-II-K’AL?-ja-SKULL
D2	III-K’UH-#-#
E1	[…]
F1	[WINAK]-[ki]-X
E2	[…]
F2	jo-ch’o-li-K’AHK’
G1	##-na
H1	VII-AJAW
G2	XVIII-CHAK-AT
H2	WAL-la-ja
I1	u-SAK-a-ku-b’a-li
J1	TUN-ni
I2	u-ki-ti-IV-le-ku
J2	TAL-[lo]-[AJAW]-[wa]
Text 2:
J1	[u]-wo-jo-le
J2	u-ki-ti
J3	IV-le-ku
J4	VERB•FIRE-li
J5	ku-lu-a
J6	KAL-ma-TE’
Text 3:
K1	u-b’a-hi
K2	u-ki-ti
K3	JOL-a-ku-lu 5
L	K’UH-TAL 6  -AJAW

Comments:

Most part of Text 1 consists of an Initial Series and a complete Lunar Series, including one reference to a fire ceremony. In addition to containining a date of Long Count which poses no reading problems (vid. infra "Datings from Ek’ Balam"), consistent with the 10.0.0.0.0  7 Ajaw 18 Sip (March 11, A.D. 830), Text 1 is particularly interesting because of its final passage, where the dedicatory phrase of the monument is found:

WAL-la-ja u-SAK a-ku b’a-li TUN-ni u-ki-ti IV-le-ku TAL-[lo]-[AJAW]-[wa]
wa’laj usak a[h]k b’aal tuun Ukit Kan Le’k, Tal[o]l ajaw
"The Sak Ahk B’aal Tuun of Ukit Kan Le’k, king of Talol, was built"

Sak Ahk is the Yucatecan name for a "galápago" (Barrera 1980: 4), a type of giant water turtle; b’aal could possibly be analized as b’aah-il, meaning an "image"; tuun stands for "stone". Therefore, Sak Ahk B’aal Tuun could be translated as "the stone image of the water turtle". Evidently, this name is closely related to Column 1, in the lower part of which the turtle of the mythical resurrection of the Maize God is represented, with the K’an cross on its shell, an inverted K’awiil head emerging from one of the openings, and a serpent-like body emerging from the other one. Like K. Taube has indicated (personal communication, June 2002), the aquatic nature of the turtle is defined by its flipper-shaped legs and by the water vegetation motifs present in the representation.

Text 2, which mentions by name the individual coming out from the open fauces of the serpent-like being that emerges from the water turtle’s shell, a convoked ancestor, may be transcribed and translated as follows:

[u]-wo-jo-le u-ki-ti IV-le-ku VERB•OF•FIRE-li ku-lu-a KAL-ma-TE’
Uwo[’]jole[’] ⁷   Ukit Kan Le’k, …l, Kula ⁸ , Kal[o]’mte’
"These are the glyphs of Ukit Kan Le’k, …l, Kula, the Kalo’mte’ "

In turn, Text 3, which identifies the character sitting at the center of the monument surrounded by the body of the serpent-like being, and who is performing the convoking ritual, may be transcribed and translated as follows:

u-b’a-hi u-ki-ti JOL a-ku-lu K’UH TAL AJAW
Ub’aah Ukit Jol A[h]kul, k’uh[ul] Tal[ol] ajaw
"This is the image of Ukit Jol Ahkul, sacred king of Talol"

Endnotes

2. In Vargas et al. 1999 we take ye-b’a for yehb’. After some evidence from southern texts where it has been written as ye-b’a-li, ye[h]b’aal, I consider that ye-b’a in Ek’ B’alam could be an abbreviation of ye[h]b’a[al], analyzable as y-ehb’-aal.

3. The transcription for a-AL-ya is unclear. The alternatives are either Al[ii]y or al[a]y.

4. The expression K’IN-ni-T565-ja and the variants thereof are lacking so far a satisfactory reading. Most probably, as we have pointed out some time ago, it is a dedicatory expression.

5. The glyphic composition is extremely complex: one syllable a prefixes a logogram JOL which has two infixed signs, one in the eye, ku, and another one at the back of the face, possibly lu. According to the RRAMW transliteration system, it would result in: a-JOL[ku-lu]; the form we have followed here considers that the desirable sequence is JOL-a-ku-lu, jol a[h]kul, and we have transcribed it that way. The forms a-ku-la and a-ku-lu, possiby related to ahk "turtle", are well documented in people’s names from the Maya lowlands.

6. The logogram TAL is infixed in the body of the full form of the AJAW logogram.

7. The glottal reconstruction in wo’j "letter, glyph", is given by the epigraphic evidence of wo-ja, wo-o-ja and the colonial Yucatecan forms uooh, showing a double vowel that possibly reflects a re-articulation (vid. Lacadena and Wichmann, in press).

8. Kula or Kulua (or either Kula[’] or Kulua[’]). I’m following the recommendations made to me by M. Zender (personal communication, June, 2002) and by D. Stuart (personal communication, June, 2002), who have identified this title with a similar one (usually written with the juxtaposed ku and lu signs).

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