Haab Month 'Pax'

Pax is the 16th month of the Haab calendar. The word pax means 'drum'. X is pronounced 'sh'. It sounds like the English word 'posh'. This glyph can be thought of as a drum made from a split log. To be 'pax' rather than 'tun' (a similar glyph) it requires the opening at the top and the base of three circles at the bottom which are usually black (here they are white).

In general, I think glyphs look like corn kernels. In pax I see a kernel of corn breaking open to let the shoot come up. Here is a sample of the Dresden Codex from FAMSI:

Can you see the glyphs as corn kernels? Or do I just think that because I live where corn is almost as important as it was to the ancient Maya?


Related posts:
The current MY2K article.