The ceremonial distinction established between the ruler and those nearest him in rank, was indicated by the number of canopies under which they sat. The ruler himself was shaded by three, of graded sizes, the uppermost being the largest. The heir-apparent was privileged to support two, and the third from the king but one. These canopies were elaborately worked in the beautiful feathers of the quetzal, and other brilliant birds, and bore the name of muh, literally "shade" or "shadow," but which metaphorically came to mean royal dignity or state, and also protection, guardianship.[1]
The seat or throne on which he sat was called tem, ꜭhacat, and ꜫalibal, and these words are frequently employed to designate the Supreme Power.
The ceremonies connected with the installation of a king or head chief, are described in an interesting passage of the Annals, Sec. 41: "He was bathed by the attendants in a large painted vessel; he was clad in flowing robes; a sacred girdle or fillet was tied upon him; he was painted with the holy colors, was anointed, and jewels were placed upon his person." Such considerable solemnities point to the fact that these people were on a much higher plane of social life than
- ↑ It is interesting in this connection to observe how widespread was the symbolic significance of the canopy, or sun shade, as a mark of dignity. The student of Shakspeare will recall the lines in his 125th sonnet—
"Were it aught to me I bore the canopy.
With my extern the outward honouring;"while the ethnologist may consult Richard Andree's suggestive essay, Der Schirm als Würdezeichen, in his Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche, p. 250 (Stuttgart, 1878).
