·    The 8th day of the Tzolk’in calendar.

·    Variants (3):

o A. Abstract – full variant of EK’.

o B. Semi-abstract – a “face”, divided into a top and bottom half by a slightly curved horizontal line through the middle (lower in the middle than at the two ends):

§ Top:

·      Tiny non-touching dots along the ceiling, on the inside (= a ceiling with dotted reinforcement).

·      Vertical ticks / “grass blades” along the floor.

§ Bottom: the reduced (”m”, not “w”) variant of EK’.

o C. Representational:

§ The profile of a crocodile head, looking left, with:

§ An eye – a dot divided into a top and bottom half by a slightly curved horizontal line through the middle (lower in the middle than at the two ends):

·      Top: Vertical ticks / “grass blades” along the floor.

·      Bottom: a tiny semicircle, hanging from the centre of the ceiling.

§ A headdress.

§ A deer ear on the right.

§ Infixed in the deer ear is a reduced (“m”) variant of EK’ – the “bottom half” of a full EK’, rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise.

·    All day names consist of a blood cartouche framing the “glyph” distinguishing which day name is intended.

·    By MHD convention, MHD examples of day names are shown without the blood cartouche (the cartouche is coded separately, as XXX).

o This is why the AL9.1 example above (actually, all MHD examples, and hence, in particular, AL9.1) is shown without a blood cartouche.

o Stuart-TIfTXIX.p71.pdfp72.fig44a (CPN HS) shows AL9.1 in its full context with the blood cartouche.

·    In a calendrical context / with a blood cartouche, this is the day name LAMAT (Yucatec and English).

o Some epigraphers give the Classic Maya reading as LAMBAT. MHD supports this, but tentatively, as LAMBAT?, with a question mark.

o The distinction between LAMAT = day name and EK’ = “star” is precisely the distinction which MHD attempts to capture by the two codes MHD.AL9 (LAMAT) and MHD.ZQD (EK’). See EK’ for further information.

·    In a non-calendrical context / without the blood cartouche, the representational variant of LAMAT has the nickname “Starry Deer-Crocodile” (“SDC”)”

o The “star” part being the reduced (“m”) variant of EK’ in the top right

o The deer-crocodile being the animal head with deer ear.

o It is (probably) not read as LAMBAT in Classic Maya. See “SDC” for more information.

·    Caution: while there’s a close relationship between LAMAT = day name and EK’ = “star” – the former with a blood cartouche and the latter without – the relationship is complex and only completely equivalent in the case of the abstract variant of LAMAT and the full variant of EK’:

o The abstract variant of LAMAT corresponds exactly to the full variant of EK’:

§ Both are “the diamond with four washers”, with the latter writing the day name LAMAT in a calendrical context / in the blood cartouche.

o The semi-abstract variant of LAMAT sort of corresponds to the reduced variant of EK’.

§ This correspondence is approximate because the “face” of the semi-abstract variant of LAMAT has, in its lower half, the “m with two washers”, which is exactly the reduced variant of EK’.

§ The correspondence is not exact because the “face” of the semi-abstract variant of LAMAT has, in its upper half, a fringe (the “eyelashes”), which isn’t present in the reduced variant of EK’.

§ It writes the day name LAMAT in a calendrical context / in the blood cartouche.

o The representational variant of LAMAT doesn’t correspond to any variant of EK’.

§ This is because EK’ has only two variants – the full and reduced variant, corresponding, exactly and approximately, to the abstract and representational variants of LAMAT respectively (as described above).

§ There isn’t a representational variant of EK’. Instead, the representational variant of LAMAT (in a non-calendrical context / without the blood cartouche) is a glyph with the nickname “Starry Deer-Crocodile”, with no known reading.

§ This glyph, however, writes the day name LAMAT in a calendrical context / in the blood cartouche.

·    The whole of the semi-abstract variant and the eye of the representational variant are both vaguely reminiscent of HIX. All three are (to varying degrees) suggestive of a face, and all three share the vertical ticks / “grass blades” on the floor of the top half of a circle (conveniently described as “eyelashes” in Stuart-TIfTXIX.p71.pdfp72.para1). They are however quite distinct from one another, varying, specifically, in the bottom half of the circle:

o HIX: the bottom half has three non-touching dots in a triangular formation, triangle pointing down.

o The semi-abstract variant of LAMAT: the bottom half has the reduced (“m”) variant of EK’.

o The eye of the representational variant of LAMAT: the bottom half has a tiny semicircle, hanging from the centre of the ceiling.

·    MHD vs. MC:

§ The “abstract” form is given as examples MHD.AL9.3&4&5 (= MC example without the cartouche).

§ The “semi-abstract” form is given as example MHD.AL9.2 (= MC example without the cartouche).

§ The “representational” form is given as example MHD.AL9.1 (= approximately MC example without the cartouche).

·      In the MHD Catalog, the “picture” field describes the iconography of the glyph: crocodile (Crocodylus acutus and C. moreleti) with deer ear, star, netted headdress and shell ear ornament.

·      All these elements are to be found in the MHD.AL9.1 example but not necessarily in the MC example.

o    The MHD example does indeed look more crocodile-like than the MC example (which looks like a bird to me).

o    The deer ear is presumably the irregular outline shape around the reduced variant of EK’. This is probably what I initially thought of as a separate element with the shape of a “shepherd’s crook” in the MC drawing!

o    The star is the reduced variant of EK’ (the “m” variant), rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise and infixed in the deer ear. See EK’ for further information.

o    The netted headdress is clear. It’s either absent in the MC example, or the “forehead ornament” might be a reduced form of it.

o    The shell ear ornament is the spondylus shell in the bottom right, directly above the small (upside-down) la-face. The spondylus shell and la-face are absent in the MC example.