·       No glyphs given in K&H, K&L.

·       Grube&Nahm-ACoX.p688.c1.para1.l+7:

o Refers to PAL TS C2-D2 without giving a drawing and reads it as <<K’IN:ni>.<TAHN:na>> <?:<yu.la>>.

o Does not attempt a reading of TIK Stela 3 C3-D3 despite citing it as an example.

·       I have accepted the reading K’EW(EL) as superseding BOLAY because three very recent sources cite it: TOK (2017), BMM9 (2019), 25EMC (2020). This is perhaps based on arguments presented in ZenderEtAl-SSw (2016).

·       A.k.a. “headless jaguar”. This is its nickname as a logogram, among epigraphers, not its meaning, which is “pelt”.

·       Meaning: The text-based parts of K&H, K&L, BMM9, 25EMC all give the meaning as “pelt”. ZenderEtAl-SSw is the paper which explicitly points out that this glyph does not write the word for jaguar pelt but instead for any pelt – i.e. that the image of a jaguar pelt is being used to write a word with a more general meaning. The paper points out a few other known instances of a specific object representing a more general one (among which NEH – the image of a jaguar tail – for any tail).

·       Pronunciation: the uncertainty between k’ew and k’ewel is probably due to the we and la (or both) sometimes found after the logogram. If treated as an end phonetic complement (without la), then the reading is k’ew, but if treated as a valid syllable (when la is present), then the reading is k’ewel (with an underspelled -l when the la is absent).

o Note that ZenderEtAl-SSw.p51.pdfp17.c2.para3 also discusses <k’e/ch’e>-we-le PECH? è K’ewel Pech (a captive of K’inich Tatbu Skull I) on YAX Lintel 49 C3-D3. This however is believed to be related to Chuj chew- (a positional verb) “to have protruding lips, be lippy”, rather than to k’ew(el) = “pelt”.

·       History of decipherment:

o [1962] T832.

o [1976] Schele-AIoCB.p11.col2&fig2: Kelley (personal communication) has pointed out the headless jaguar at D2 in the TS (Fig. 2). The glyph is within a passage which seems to be the 819 augury for the birth of Chan-Bahlum [Sim: presumably Kan Bahlam]. The glyph at D1 is one of Chan-Bahlum's most consistent titles; it may be read as Ahau Balam or "lord jaguar" [Sim: curious!]. Chan-Bahlum is the only post-Pacal Palenque ruler to carry a jaguar variant name [Sim: actually, there was also a Kan Bahlam III, who was one of the last rulers of Palenque, but perhaps his name hadn’t been discovered at the time]. The jaguar-spotted ahau is a title exclusively associated with his name [Sim: now known to be WAY?]. I believe the title and perhaps the headless jaguar are specifically related to the TS jaguar shield motif and to the figures of Pl. 45 and 49. [Sim: all this seems very outdated now – D1 appears to be K’INICH.<HUUN:WAY[bi{l}]>, whatever that means.]

o [1994] Grube&Nahm-ACoX.p688.c1.l+4. First proposal for bolay: The suffix under the beheaded Jaguar glyph on Yaxchilan Lintel 47 is an unknown sign combined with the syllable bu. While in Palenque, it is a combination of yu and la. Perhaps these suffixes as phonetic complements want to stress the reading bolay "jaguar" (cf. Proto-Cholan *b'o'lay "spotted: jaguar". Kaufman and Norman 1984: 117).

o [2009] Helmke&Nielsen-HIaPiAM.p55.pdfp7.fig2. BOL: Example of a wahy entity in Classic Maya iconography with associated glyphic caption. The caption informs us that the wahy was named K'in Tahnal B'ola'y 'Sun-chested Predatory Beast' and it is said to belong to a 'Godly King of Calakmul' (K‘uhul Kaan Ajaw). [Sim: the glyph itself is transliterated in the figure as B’OL?-[la]yu. The circular element (“washer”) of what is now known to be we is apparently considered to be an eroded *la, and the circle itself and the element to the right is considered to be the yu, with the headless jaguar glyph itself considered to be BOL.]

o [2014] Gronemeyer-OCoMHW.p365.pdfp387.fn765&fig95.g. BOL. Citing Grube&Nahm-ACoX, and Helmke&Nielsen-HIaPiAM: It is the name of a way (Grube and Nahm 1994: 687). This feline creature features a large sun symbol covering the ventral side. Because of the =la suffix, ta[h]n is to be understood here as “chest” and must be compounded with k’in, because otherwise the suffix cannot be explained with the preposition ta[h]n, “amidst” that is derived from the noun. The name can be analysed as k’in+ta[h]n-[a]l bolay?, “sun-chested feline”. See Grube and Nahm (1994: 688) for the rationale to read bolay and Helmke and Nielsen (2009: fig. 2) who propose the value BOL to the HEADLESS.JAGUAR grapheme AT6. Other attestations similarly spell K’INⁿⁱ TAN^na JAGUAR.BODY-la-bu/yu (cf. TIK St. 3, C3-D3, YAX Lnt. 47, C3-D3, YAX St. 18, C1-B2, PAL TS, C2-D2), but without a =la suffixation of ta[h]n. It is either an underspelling, or a different analysis of the name with a stative predicate and a prepositional phrase as k’in-Ø ta[h]n bolay?, “it is the sun amidst the feline”.

o [2015] WagnerEtAl-TNNT.p5.pdfp5.fn6: This feline creature features a large sun symbol covering its ventral side. On K531, the spelling is K’IN-TAN-la T832-la-bu, and because of the -la suffix, ta[h]n is to be understood here as “chest” and must be attributive to k’in; otherwise, the suffix cannot be explained with the preposition ta[h]n “amidst”, which is derived from the noun. The name can be analysed as k’in+ta[h]n-[a]l bolay? “sun-chested feline”. See Grube & Nahm (1994: 688) for the rationale behind the proposed reading bolay and Helmke & Nielsen (2009: Fig. 2) for their proposal of the value BOL for the HEADLESS.JAGUAR grapheme. The regular spelling as attested in Palenque may be an underspelling, but is more likely a simple nominal compound k’in+ta[h]n+bolay. Alternatively, a different analysis of the name could apply, with a stative predicate and a prepositional phrase constituting k’in-Ø ta[h]n bolay? “it [is] the sun amidst the feline”.

o [2016] ZenderEtAl-SSw.p47.pdfp13.c2-p51.c1. K’EW:

§ The primary conclusion of this paper was the decipherment of syllabogram we (in particular, distinguishing it from logogram TE’).

§ However, one other very significant conclusion is the reading of K’EW for T832 – the headless jaguar, with the meaning “pelt” – in the Late Classic K’EWEEL.

·       Usage:

o PAL TS D4: part of the full name of God-GIII of the Palenque Triad (D1-D6): K’inich Tajal Wayaab, K’in Tahn K’ewel, Tz’atz’ Naah, Sak Baak Naah Chapaat, Atin K’ahk’ T’i Miin, K’inich “CHEQUERBOARD” Ajaw.

o Other occurrences on monuments are for “K’in Tahn K’ewel”, the short version of the theonym.

o Two occurrences on ceramics: probably also “K’in Tahn K’ewel”?.