The Glyphic Corpus from Ek’ Balam, Yucatán, México

Miscellaneous Texts

Miscellaneous Text 1

Location: Midden located in a small patio between Structures 16, 17, and 18 (vid. Vargas et al. 1999)
Drawing: A. Lacadena (Figure 23)
Dating: No dating

Click on image to enlarge.

Comments:

The text contains a typical form of object being possessed by some person, with the indication of the name of such object possessed by an ergative pronoun and the name of the owner. The name of the object is found in blocks A1-A3, which is written as follows:

u-b’a-li pi-[TUN]-ni
Ub’aal pi[tz] tuun
"This is the stone ballgame protector of"

This text has been previously referred to in Vargas et al. 1999, while the value of b’a-li, b’aal as "protector" has been already discussed. The transliteration of the text and the transcription have been slightly changed. In the work mentioned, we consider the name of the object as b’aal "protector", being pi the beginning of the owner’s name. Even though this might still be the right solution, I want to convey the alternative I’m inclined to support, with pi being an abbreviation of pi[tz] "ballgame", and with [TUN]-ni written in A3.

The name and titles of the owner come next:

##-lo nu-# K’AWIL-wi-la AJAW-wa
…l Nu… K’awiil ajaw

The final portion of the text is ambiguous. Due to the poor preservation of tablets A4 and A5, we are unable to know whether the title of ajaw closing the text is a part of an expression of the Emblem Glyph or not. The ballgame protector could well belong to a king named …l Nu… K’awiil, or else, to an individual who ruled in kingdom with a name ending in K’awiil.

Miscellaneous Text 2

Location: Midden 2, located in the southwestern corner of Structure 1 (vid. Vargas et al. 1999)
Drawing: A. Lacadena (Figure 24)
Dating: 9.18.2.0.19  9 Kawak 7 K’ank’in  (October 19, A.D. 792) / 10.0.14.13.19 (October 6, A.D. 844) / 10.3.7.8.19 (September 23, A.D. 896)

Comments:

Transcription and translation of the text are as follows:

IX KAWAK VII UN-[wa] [u]-#-lu-[na]-ja u-K’AN-[na] chu [u]-## AJAW ma[…
9 Kawak 7 Un[ii]w uCVlnaj uk’an Chu U… ajaw [Kalo’]m[te’]
"(On) 9 Kawak 7 Uniiw, Chu’s, king of U…, the [Kalo’]m[te’ jewel was cut… "

Because of the position where it has been placed, I feel that the sign ma, written in the block that follows the one including the Emblem Glyph, was a part of the Kalo’mte’ title, and I have thus reconstructed it in the transcription.

The identification of the pendant’s owner as Chu is not satisfactory. E. Boot (personal communication, January 2002), has suggested that chu is a part of the object’s name, which would then be k’anchu.

Miscellaneous Text 3

Location: Collapse associated to Structure 17 (vid. Vargas et al. 1999)
Drawing: A. Lacadena (Figure 25)
Dating: No dating

Comments:

The following transcription has been considered:

…]pi-ya-ja[…
…]piyaj[…

Even though the fragmentary condition of the text allows only for a limited comment, there are two possible alternatives, considering in both of them that the three preserved signs correspond to the same word:

• The first one would link the sequence …]pi-ya-ja[… with the dedicatory expression of the vessel, by using the root pi(y), assessed as pi-ni and pi-ja in some examples of the Standard Primary Sequence of the Chocholá vases. The root of the verb may be related to the Ch’olan form piyicña "smooth and glittering". Given that the Ch’olan suffix–Vcña derives adjectives from nouns, we find a root pi(y)–the /y/ could probably be epenthetical to avoid the diphthong–that may stand for "smoothness, glitter". The derivation using the signs –ni and –ja is related to inchoative Cholan forms, meaning "making it or turning into that which the root is indicating", assessed in forms such as AJAW-ni and AJAW-ja. Should this be the case, the form pi-ya-ja may have expressed the epenthetic semiconsonant /y/ and could have corresponded in the beginning of the text in the vessel, to the verbal dedicatory expression "it has been smoothed (polished)".

• The second possibility could be relating the sequence …]pi-ya-ja[… with a name assessed in southern texts such as those from Yaxchilán, in the name K’AK’-yi-pi-ya-ja, so that we would then have in the fragment of the alabaster vase a part of the nominal sequence for one individual, most probably its owner.

Miscellaneous Text 4

Location: Collapse, elevated West Plaza, Structure 1 (Acropolis)
Drawing: A. Lacadena (Figure 26)
Dating: No dating

Comments:

This is a fragmentary text. Two names may be idenified, Ukit Kan Le’k and K’an B’ohb’ Tok’, plus an appellative surname for a deity, FIRE•KIB’ Chan K’awiil, which would correspond to K’an B’ohb’ Tok’. The name of Ukit Kan Le’k presents the epigraphic peculiarity of being written with the syllable ki infixed in the body of syllable ti.

Little can be said about the sequence ku/TUN-na/TE’ and lu, as they are separated and do not evidence any phraseological connection with the names from the columns.

The event or events with which these names were related are lost. The sequence of both names could indicate that the two of them are the subjects of one verb, or perhaps that Ukit Kan Le’k is the syntactic object of a transitive verb, the subject of which was probably K’an B’ohb’ Tok’. With the purpose of considering all the possible alternatives, we may think that Ukit Kan Le’k was a part of K’an B’ohb’ Tok’s name, who might have assumed his ancestor’s surname, a practice already documented in other southern cases. For the identification of the individuals Ukit Kan Le’k and K’an B’ohb’ Tok’, vid. infra "Kings from Ek’ Balam".

Miscellaneous Text 5

Location: Tomb 1, Room 49, Structure 1 (Acropolis)
Drawing: A. Lacadena (Figure 27)
Dating: No dating

Click on image to enlarge.

Comments:

The text is distributed in two sections (columns A-B and columns C-D), one on each opposite side of the vessel, flanked by two incised iconographic scenes. It presents a Standard Primary Sequence, with a reference to the finishing technique, the name of the vessel, the liquid it was supposed to contain, and its owner.

The text reads:

K’IN-565-ja-la yu-#-lu-li yu-k’i-b’i ka-ka-wa u-ki-ti IV-le-ku FIRE•KIB-la-ja CHAN-[na] -K’AWIL-la AJ-[ma]-na o-cho-ma STRING-i-tz’i CH’AK-ka-OL-la b’a-TE’ pi-tzi-la b’a?-ka-KAB’ K’UH-lu TAL-lo AJAW-wa

K’in…jal yuCVluul yuk’ib’ kakaw Ukit Kan Le’k …laj Chan K’awiil, Ajman, Ocho’m, STRING-i-tz’i, Ch’ak O’hl B’a[’]te, Pitzil, B’a[ah] Kab’, k’uh[u]l Tal[o]l ajaw

"… The engraving of Ukit Kan Le’k’s cocoa vase was …laj Chan K’awiil, from Man, Ocho’m, STRING -i-tz’i, the Warrior who Cuts Hearts, the Handsome One, Head/Prince of the Earth, sacred king of Talol"

Miscellaneous Text 6

Location: Tomb 1, Room 49, Structure 1 (Acropolis)
Drawing: A. Lacadena (Figure 28)
Dating: No dating

Comments:

The object on which this hieroglyphic text appears is a finely carved shell in the shape of a fish. Two perforations above its upper portion suggest it was a pendant, and, actually, this piece was found on the chest area of the individual buried in Tomb 1 (Vargas and Castillo, personal communication). On the back of the fish there is a short incised hieroglyphic text, common in these portable objects, which identifies the item and its owner.

The text consists of three glyphic blocks. My suggested transcription and translation are as follows:

[yu]-sa-# u-ki-ti IV-le-ku
yu’s… Ukit Kan Le’k
"This is Ukit Kan Le’k’s corvina"

In his Relación de las cosas de Yucatán, Landa refers to a type of fish which could well correspond to the one shown in the pendant. In Chapter XLV of his account, where Landa discusses the "Fishes from Yucatán", the Franciscan priest states:

’[there are] trouts, just [like those from Spain] of an identical color and spots and flavor, and they are stouter and tasty to eat, and their name in the local tongue is uzcay’ (Landa 1985).

The "spots" Landa refers to, typical of this fish, might well be those represented with the tiny perforations on the head of the shell fish. In turn, Bustos (1988: Chart II), mentions the same term used by Landa, uzcay, and identifies it with the ’corvina’ (Perca fluvicitilis). On the other hand, in Colonial Yucatecan, there is also a term usku, which also stands for ’corvina’. Thus, what we have here is a type of fish, uskay (uzcay) or usku, ’corvina’.

The sequence yu-sa- for the name segment u’s… is unusual, and presents a particular pattern corresponding to V’. The etymology of uzcay may well be uz-cay, that is us ’fly’ and cay ’fish’. The ’fly-fish’ or ’fish-of-the-fly’ would be appropriate for this species, as it partially feeds from insects flying or lying on the water surface. The pattern Cu-Ca it presents points to a form u’s, according to the rules of transcription (vid. Houston, Robertson, and Stuart 1998, in press, Lacadena and Wichmann, in press). Even though in different Mayan tongues "fly" is reconstructed as us, with no glottal evidences, Wisdom (1950), in his materials on the Ch’orti’, invariably presents the form u’s "fly" with a glottalized vowel.

Miscellaneous Text 7

Location: Tomb 1, Structure 1, Room 49
Drawing: A. Lacadena (Figure 29)
Dating: No dating

Click on image to enlarge.

Comments:

The inscription is engraved on a carved bone–a human thigh-bone–cut in sections and sharpened in the shape of a perforator.

The bone contains two texts independent from one another: the first is written in a double column and goes from A1 to B15. The second text, separated from the latter one and situated at the edge of the bone, comprises tablets C1 to C6. The existence in the text of abundant undeciphered signs does not allow for a coherent transcription and translation. However, the structure of the text and its contents may be quite easily understood.

Text 1:

• A1-A4: a dedicatory expression of the text, partially lost but reconstructable. A1 possibly included an Introductory Glyph; in B1 is the verb; the expression in A2-B2 is consistent with the expression "the carving of", with the final sign li, well preserved.

• In A3-A4 the object is mentioned, written as u-ALA-ki B’AK. This expression is present in other texts, most of them in objects in the shape of perforators. No productive reading results by giving the sign ALA the value of k’i. However, when assigning to it a value of ch’i, interesting entries are found in the lowland languages, as for instance CHN ch’ique’  "to pierce" (Seller and Luciano 1997: 103), or YUC ch’iik, "to nail, to sow, to fasten or to brooch with pins or sharp-pointed objects" (Bastarrachea et al., 1992: 86). If in this case the sign ALA is read as ch’i, then we would have a truly descriptive name of the object: u-ch’i-ki B’AK, uch’ik b’aak "the bone perforator of".

• From B4 and through the end, B15, a lengthy and complex clause unfolds, which includes the name and titles of the individual who owns the bone perforator. This clause begins with the Kalo’mte’ title in B4, followed by a possible deity appellative which probably begins in A5-B5 and undoubtedtly in A6-B6, where the sequence -[CHAN]-[na] K’AWIL-la is identified. In A7-A8 we find the proper noun of the individual who owned the bone and the titles, u-ki-ti IV-le-ku, Ukit Kan Le’k. In B8-A9, a well-known expression, u-B’AH-AN, gives way to a lengthy clause personifying a deity which extends, probably, up to B14 or A15. Little can be said concerning this clause, except outlining the similarities of blocks A11-A12 and B12-B13,

HEAD #-ka-ja AK’AB’-la
HEAD #-ka-ja K’IN-ni,

and the presence in B14 of the sign of the decapitated jaguar also documented from other sites, like Palenque for instance, though its significance remains unclear. The end of the clause and of this first text appears in B15, where we have identified in the sequence [TAL]-lo-AJAW-wa the royal title of Ukit Kan Le’k, Tal[o]l ajaw "king of Talol".

Text 2:

The second text that integrates the bone inscription is found at the end of it, written in blocks inscribed in round cartouches. In this case we are in a position to risk a transcription and translation:

u-B’AK-le u-ki-ti a-AKAN AJ-K’UH AJ-# […
ub’aak[e]l Ukit Ahkan, ajk’uh, aj…
"It is Ukit Ahkan’s bone, the priest, the…"

In spite of its briefness, this text is remarkably interesting. The presence of the suffix –el in the expression ub’aakel (u-b’aak-el, 3SE-bone-POS•IN) is indicating that Ukit Ahkan was the physical owner of the bone; this means that the femur came from the body of this individual (for a discussion about the suffix –el, vid. Houston et al. 2001).

Also, the title ajk’uh (aj-k’uh, AG-god) exhibited by this character is interesting. This title, present elsewhere in classic texts in pottery and monumental inscriptions, could be translated as "priest", based on the similarities with the title acchu (ajch’uh, in modern writing), documented, as accounted for by Martín Alfonso Tovilla in his Relación, with an identical meaning, in the first third of the XVII century among the Chol-Manché. For a comment on his identity as Ukit Ahkan, vid. infra "Other characters mentioned in Ek’ Balam".

Endnotes

21. Although another sign or signs could be present at the left side of the block, it is my belief that the continued rounded upper rim suggests we are in presence of syllable pi in its complete form.

22. I reconstruct TUN because of the remains of the lines preserved, the presence of the syllable ni at the right of the sign acting maybe as a phonetic complement, and the context of the phrase, which in this position would be favoring tuun, "stone" (vid. infra "Comments").

23. There is enough space for one sign below the logogram CHAN, "heaven". Because of the context, the probable sign would be na, the usual phonetic complement, and I have thus reconstructed it.

24. The portion of the sign which would unequivocally identify the sign as ma, b’a or HA’ has been lost with the fracture and erosion in that zone. However, I’m reconstructing the syllable [ma] because ajman, "the one from Man", is a well known title assigned to Ukit Kan Le’k Tok’, already known from the Mural of the 96 Glyphs.

25. I am reading this sign as b’a and not B’AH (b’aah) due to its performance in the Mural of the 96 Glyphs, with a syllable value b’a in the title b’a-ka-b’a.

26. The identification of the sign is uncertain, as opposed to the reading of the compound, which most probably reflects the title of B’aah Kab’  "Head of the Earth", or "Prince of the Earth". Considering we have -ka-KAB’, the first sign must correspond to a /b’a or /b’aah/. This could be a diminished and simplified version forced by the limited writing space available in T567 B’AH/b’a.

27. The sign opening the brief text is almost lost, due to erosion and the fractured corresponding zone from the base. Considering the structure of the phrase, a plain possessive formula, the sign may have been a syllable expressing the ergative pronoun of the third person singular u-/y-. Among the syllables fit to accomplish this function–u, ya, ye, yi, yo, yu and the variants thereof–, yu is the sign that best fits the preserved traces of the sign. Therefore, I am reconstructing the syllable [yu].

28. I have decided to represent with an # the presence of an indeterminate sign. Because of the irregular arrangement of the glyphic tablets, there is no way we can know whether there was space for some other sign or not.

29. Due to the presence of syllable li in block B2 and the context of the phrase, the missing block may have included the signs [yu-#-lu].

30. The presence of this block is uncertain, and the round contour observed is consistent with the bone fracture in that zone. However, there would be enough space for this block.

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