The Maan Polity in Maya Inscriptions

TheMaanPolityinMayaInscriptionsLu´ısLopesFebruary3,20031IntroductionAccordingtorecentsurveysintheMayanLowlands,thousandsofancientmayasitesliehiddenunderthelushtropicalforest.Mostofthesesitesaresmallandperhapscompar-ativelyunimportantintheintricaciesofClassicPeriodpolitics.Formostofthese,andmostlybecauseoftheirlackofmonumentaloutput,theidentificationwithsitesknownfromtheCorpusofInscriptionswilllikelyproveimpossible.Therearehoweversomesitesthat,althoughclearlyimportantintheClassicPeriodpoliticallandscape,stillescapeidentificationwithknownarchaeologicalruins.Agoodindicatorofpoliticalimportanceisthepresenceofanemblemglyph,indicatingthatsuchasitehadsomelevelofregionalpoliticalautonomy[14].Anothergoodindicatoristheoccurrenceofreferencestoindividualsofsuchsitesinthemonumentsofforeignpolities.InthisnoteIwilllistandcommentonalltheknownreferencesintheCorpusofInscriptionstoonesuchpolity:Maan.2ThePolityandEmblemGlyphTherearefewreferencestotheMaanpolityintheinscriptions.Nocarvedmonumentsthatmaybeattributedtothesiteareknown.Assuchallknownreferencesoccurinmonu-mentsfromothersites(e.g.,PiedrasNegrasandYaxchilan)andfromtextsinpolychromeceramics,mostofwhichareunprovenanced.TheidentificationoftheMaanemblemglyphwithaknownarchaeologicalsiteisisdifficulttoestablishwithcertainty.AsearlyastheeightiesDavidStuartandStephenHoustonamongothers,arguedfortheidentificationofMaanwiththesiteofLaFloridainGuatemala.LaFloridaisclosetothecommunityofElNaranjo,intheSanPedroMartirriver,neartheMexicanborder(figure3).Themajorstructuresofthesiteareprotectedbyamilitarybaseandtherearesomepyramidsthathaveanunusualmonumentality,withextremelysteepsides.Thelocationagreesverywellwiththeknownreferencestothesiteinprovenancedclassicinscriptions,namelyfromYaxchilan,PiedrasNegras,PomonaandElPeru.1LaterworkbyStanleyGuenter[7]andDmitriBeliaev[8]restatedthisearlyassociationwithLaFlorida.ThispossibilityhasgainednewstrengthwiththerecentidentificationbyStanleyGuenterandAlexandreSafronovoftheMaanemblemglyphinalocalcontextinoneofthestelaefromLaFlorida.TheemblemglyphoftheMaanpolityclearlyrepresentsasectionofthebodyofasnake,withthelargebellyscalesandskindecorationeasilymatchedagainsttheiconographicrepresentationsofsnakes.TheemblemglyphisalternativelywrittenasT504andT566(figure1).Figure1:Themainsign:T504,T566andT566variantEarlyreadingsassignedthevalueofmanforthelogographsT504andT566basedonavailablephoneticcomplementationandtheoccurrenceofT566inthespellingsofthewordxaman(“north”).Inthiscontextitisimportanttonotethattherearespellingsxa-ma-T566-na,xa-T566-naandatleastoneexamplefromNaranjowherewehaveafullphoneticreadingxa-ma-*na.Anotherexample,asculptor’snamefromElPerustela34,givestheemblemglyphphoneticallyasma-na(seebelow).Theoccurrenceofafinal-nisyllableinseveralexamplesofT566impliesanoriginallylongvowelasinmaan.However,towardsthelateclassiclossofvowellengtheventuallyresultedinman,thusexplainingtheexampleswith-nasuffixes.Semantically,manisbelievedtoberelatedtovisionquestserpentsseensoofteninMayaiconography.Thefollowingentriesarerelevant:ColonialYucatec[1]:1.MANAB1,2,5,7,8:visi´onofantasma1:estantiguaymalavisi´onytrasgooduende3:duendedelacasa,atrevidopormet´afora7,8:duende11:trasgo;espectro,fantasma2.MANABCHI’6:visi´onofantasma3.MANABTSIL1:cosaabominableycosaespantosayqueespanta,comoestantiguaofantasma;manabtsilyilabalabeele’ex:abominablessonvuestrasobras,espantosasdeverse2,3:espantablecosaqueponeocausaespanto8:cosaabominable4.MANABYA’N2:fantasma[...]1.MANAB2:fantasmaver3:espantarseunodeotroysantiguarse8:vervisionesoespantarsedealgo9:vervisiones,alg´unmalaguero2.MANABTAH1:vervi-sionesyfantasmasoalgunmalaguero,yagoraryespantarsedesemejantesvisiones;manabnen:viunamalavisi´onquesedesapareci´o[...]2Ch’ontal[5]:MANAP:devil(1927);However,closerinspectionrevealedthatinthecontextoftheMaanpolityemblemglyph,themainsignsoftenappearedprefixedwithna-syllables.Infact,theemblemglyphoftenappearsasna-T566-ni,na-T566,T566-na,na-T504andT504-na.Once,instela19fromYaxchilan,itoccursasT566-ma-na.Thispointstothepossibilitythat,atleastinthiscontext,themainsignmayreadnamaan.Curiously,thewordnamaanmayprovideaninterestingsemanticcontext.Observingseveralsourceswefindthatnamisanattestedrootwiththespecificmeaningof“tovanish,todisappear,toforget”:ColonialYucatec[1]:1.NAMCHAHAL1:perdersedelamemoria,olvidarse;namchahi’upektsil,yanumalJuan:nosesabedeJuancosaninguna,nohainuevasde´el,olvidadoest´a;perdersedevista;namchahi’chem:seperdi´odevistaelbarco2.NAMCHALAK1:cosaqueas´ısepierdedevistaydelamemoria3.NAMK’AHAL1:lomismoquenamchahal4,8:olvidaroperdersedevista.Ch’orti’[2]:Namdisappearance,waning,vanishing,dearth,lack;Namihide,putoutofsight;Na-matz’disappearance,awaning;Namtz’ahdisappear,wane,gooutofsight;Namtz’aardisappearing,waning,adisappearing;Namtz’escausetodisappear,hideathing;Namtz’iixset,waned,disappeared;Ch’orti’[3]:Namao’yt(vr.)Unamiu’t,nanb’iru’t.Desaparecer(se).Usitz’eP´eyruunamiu’takb’i.ElhijodePedrosedesapareci´oayer.Ra´ızvt.Nam.Ra´ızsr.U’t.Namtz’a,anamtz’a(vi)Ponerseelsol.Waranamtz’aek’inyo’p’entachinam.Poni´en-dos