PART 2/8: YEAR 378 IN MARCADOR MONUMENT

We now have examined the year 378 as written in Tikal Stela 31. Next we need to compare our findings to Tikal Marcador monument, which describes the same events. Both Marcador and Stela 31 were public monuments established during the reign of the same king in the same city, supporting the idea that their content should be comparable and not in conflict.

In Marcador, the first 10 glyphs (A1-B5), including the glyph at A7, meticulously set the date for the event. Long count (A2-B3) for the date is 8.17.1.4.12. The Lord of the Night at A4 is written as G5, but was actually G2; was this a mistake or deliberate, is unknown. Tzolkin date 11 Eb (B4) and H'aab date 10 Mac (A5) are written correctly. Moon phase glyph 8E (B5) sets the event two days before the New Moon, which can retroactively be confirmed to be correct as well. Final element of the date at A7 sets the lunar semester as 5C.

The narrative itself seems to start with three verbal expressions (A6-B7) ch'am k'al tzutzjom, "receive bind complete". The binding quite likely refers to stone-binding; we can compare this with the glyph D18 in Stela 31. Also the glyph expressing completion has its counterpart in Stela 31 (C20a). Rephrasing the section in proper English could be like "(it is) received: (stone-)binding is completed". Notable is also the "%" mark in the side of the completion glyph, staging the event as related to death.

Next we need to find out who was completing the stone-binding.

There have been attempts to read the glyph at B9 as a composite of sounds ju-ye making it huley, "arrives" or "spears". While somewhat far-fetched, it is not impossible as such, but difficult to reconcile with the rest of the text both preceding and following it. A further problem is the repetition of the same glyph on the other side of the monument (G5) in a context that appears to be Katun ending credits. Overall the glyph seems more likely to be a part of a nominal sequence than a verb.

Upon close inspection, Stela 31 seems to have a variant of the same glyph at A20. There it definitely is a part of a royal nominal sequence. Both glyphs present an elderly large-nosed male with mouth open, eye hidden, cap covering the head and a plume on the forehead, prefixed by what in Stela 31 clearly is k'uh. In Stela 31, the glyph precedes the name of king Siyaj Chan K'awil (B20) and his title (A21), just as it precedes Siyaj K'ak's name (A8) and title (B8) in Marcador.

Figure 2.1. Possible variants of the same undeciphered royal title. a) Tikal Stela 31 at A20. b) Marcador B7. c) Marcador G5.

The other instance of the glyph in Marcador monument at G5 follows the title and name of Siyaj K'ak'. It might just be that the writer only inverted the three-glyph sequence to make the text less repetitive. However, a more likely option is that also there the glyph indicates the start of another nominal sequence which follows it (H5-G7).

Assuming now that B9 is an undeciphered royal title or other noble attribute, we have a nominal sequence [UNKNOWN ROYAL TITLE] Siyaj K'ak' Kalomte at B7-B8, suitable as the subject for the narrative. The whole sentence goes then as follows: "(so it is) received: [UNKNOWN ROYAL TITLE] Kalomte Siyaj K'ak' completes the (stone-)binding." This is in line with the content in Stela 31 which tells how stone-binding is completed with Siyaj K'ak' seated on the stone.

We can continue to sort out the next sentence by starting a little further ahead at D2. The glyph reads yita[j], "in the company of". This expression would require someone being mentioned both before and after the glyph. Right after it at C3 we have a nominal glyph for the enigmatic Spearthrowing Owl, possibly but not necessarily spelled as Jatz'ma K'uh. Unlike the earlier mentioned Siyaj K'ak', the glyph appears here alone without title, attribute or introduction, leaving open the question if the glyph indicates a person or the supernatural being which it originally was (owls are not known to wield spearthrowers). 

The text continues with two glyphs which are currently regarded as those for "right hand" and "left hand" (D3-C4), respectively, followed by the glyph for Siyaj K'ak' (D4). At first glance, the names of Spearthrowing Owl and Siyaj Ka'k' seem to be linked together by a unique expression found nowhere else. However, deciphering this section probably is more simple than it looks like, or just as simple as it looks like. The text likely reads: "Spearthrowing Owl on the right hand (side), on the left hand (side) Siyaj K'ak'". Wary of repetition, the writer may just have switched the word order around. This fits well with the "in the company of" preceding it. So, Spearthrowing Owl and Siyaj K'ak' accompanied someone on his both sides.

Noteworthy is that Stela 31 has no mention of Spearthrowing Owl in relation to this event, nor does any other text about it either. This makes one wonder if his presence was indeed supernatural and only Siyaj K'ak was there in flesh and blood. We get back to this a bit later to clarify why was Spearthrowing Owl mentioned at all.

Who were they accompanying then? Before yita[j], we have a name of a location (C2) which can't be fully deciphered, but might read something like "ku-la?-pu Community". It is preceded at D1 by a verb bi-ni-ye or bi[x]niy, "went (to)". At C1 we finally have the subject, which does not yet reveal too much: "K'inich K'awiil". Continuing backwards we have Mutal Chan Ch'en at B9, "Tikal Community" or "Tikal City".

One more step backwards still. The glyph at A9 looks complex and takes some time to sort out. It clearly starts with aj, "he of". In the middle appears to be "ya-B'AH" or u b'ah, "the first". At the bottom there is TE' for "tree". Existence of the tree in the phrase gives an idea to compare the glyph with the manner Wi’ Te’ Nah is written at F5 in Stela 31. This place, the so-called "Root Tree House", was a mysterious location in Tikal, a seat of ascension events and related to acquisition of high ranking titles. In closer examination, the elements of Wi' Te' Nah appear to surround the u b'ah expression, making the whole glyph probably read aj u b'ah Wi' Te' Nah, "he the first of the Root Tree House".

Now, putting the whole sentence together makes it as follows: "He the first of the Root Tree House, K'inich K'awiil of Tikal, goes to [UNKNOWN] Community in the company of Spearthrowing Owl on his right side, on his left side Siyaj K'ak'".

We continue to the next sentence starting at C5. There appears to be the head of the Sun God, followed by a head of god GI at D5. Both heads act here as personified templates for other glyphs. The sounds fixed to the first head seem to read as u-ti-ya or uhtiy, "then it happened" while the second clearly reads as och ha, "enters the water". This same expression was in Stela 31 at D23, where the person entering the water was the late king Chak Tok Ich'aak.

At C6 there is a variant of ch'en, "cave" with och infixed, making the glyph read as och ch'en, "enters the cave". Again, we can compare this with a similar expression in Stela 31 at C26 where the dead king is said to have entered the mountain.

Resisting any attempt at deciphering, the unique glyph at D6 is followed by ajaw Chan K'uh (C7-D7), "the Lord Sky God" who apparently takes here some unknown divine action before the final event in the text.

The glyph at C8 contains a nice play with double meanings. Sharing the same och at the top, the lower part has both b'ih and k'in merged together into a single element. This is probably meant to read as och b'ih och k'in, "enters the road Western". Not just clever and stylish, the solution also saved the space of one glyph in the limited surface area of the stone. "Entering the road" is a common death related expression, probably meaning the last phase during a journey to the afterlife. "Western" is likely a part of the nominal sequence which follows.

Figure 2.2. Merger of T361:501 and T361:544 in Tikal Marcador monument at C8.

The last three glyphs (D8-D9) read as Waxaklaju'n Ub'aah Chan K'inich K'awiil, "Eighteen-Image-Serpent K'inich K'awiil". The Eighteen-Image-Serpent was a Mayan name for a recent acquisition from Teotihuacan, the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl. Using the word "Western" in front of it probably was a direct reference to Teotihuacan, since the great Mexican city was located 1000 km west of Tikal. The nominal sequence is thus constructed of three different god names, two of which were often used as elements in royal names in Tikal and one which was taken from Teotihuacan.

Overall, the last section on the front side reads: "Then it happens: enters the water, enters the cave; [UNKNOWN] Lord Sky God; enters the road, Western Eighteen-Image-Serpent Kinich K'awiil".

Notable is how the writer has tried to avoid visual repetition even if the content itself is repetitive. He has used three different glyphs for the same verb och, "to enter".

Let's now put the entire front side text together:

"On 8.17.1.4.12, [on this day] G5, 11 Eb and 10 Mac, two days before the New Moon, it is received: [UNKNOWN ROYAL TITLE] Kalomte Siyaj K'ak' completes the (stone-)binding. He the first of the Root Tree House, K'inich K'awiil of Tikal, goes to [UNKNOWN] Community in the company of Spearthrowing Owl on his right side, on his left side Siyaj K'ak'. Then it happens: enters the water, enters the cave; [UNKNOWN] Lord Sky God; enters the road, Western Eighteen-Image-Serpent K'inich K'awiil."

We can easily assume that the "Western Eighteen-Image-Serpent K'inich K'awiil" and "he the first of the Root Tree House, K'inich K'awiil of Tikal" are the same person. Comparing the text with the same section in Stela 31 makes it quite clear that he is none other than king Chak Tok Ich'aak, out of respect or for some other reasons masked here behind god-names.

To sum it up, the front text of the Marcador monument describes Siyaj K'ak' overseeing king's funeral and journey to the afterlife. This was the key moment in Siyaj K'ak's career as it established him as the regent of Tikal, a role he apparently held for decades. As both required and expected, the text is in line with the similar content in Stela 31.

A small revision of translation might still be appropriate. The translation above mentions the king (presumably deceased already) going or being taken to a certain location. Alternative translation might be that the "going" here is not physical movement to a location, but rather "passing away" in the said location, starting his travel to the afterlife there, accompanied by the all-powerful Kalomte and a supernatural guardian.