Judsonia weekly advance., 1915-10-27

about 100 miles from Chichen Itza. writes Sylvanus C. Morley in Pan American Union. The derivation of the name UXmal or Oxmal. as some of the early historians wrote it. is rather obscure "Ox' is the Maya word for three, and "MaI' fn the same language to pass;"to pass thrice," therefore, would seem to be the meaning of the word, though why the Tutul Xiu should have applied this name to their capital is unknown.
 Concerning the foundation of Uxmal the fol- lowing tradition is related by Diego de Landa the second bishop of Yucatan, who wrote in the first generation after the conquest and who tves well yersed in fhe nst5g from na country: After the discovery and occupation of Shlchen ltza, which seems to have been the first place of any importance to be settled in Yucatan. cities sprang up everywhere, and there followed an era Of great prosperity. How long these diff ferent cities lived at peace with one another we are not told, but in time dssensons arose. and quarrels became so frequent that the different Ioros or the country found it necessary to take some concerted action in order to suppress ylo. fence and to restore order and peace It was then decided to build joint capital where all those Tn authority should reside, and from which each one agreed to administer the affairs of Sis own particular domain. Without loss of time these plans were carried out. A joint capital was built in a and unoccupied region and was called "Mayapan" meaning the standard of the MayaS. Thither all the lords assembled anu as the nnal step in the formation of the new confederaey an overlord, one Cocom was elected snd duly installed in the new capital as the supreme ruler. These cucuts laid the foundation TOT an era Of prosperity, which endured for many years. Later, after an interval not specified bv Landa Tn his history, there entered the country rom the south an alien people under the leader ship of their chief Tutul Xu. The newcomers previous to their arrival had wandered for 40 years In the wilderness without water other than that which had fallen from the skies This CO., incidence of "40-years' wandering in the wilder ness is sufficiently striking to arouse the susp cion that the worthy bishop, in this part of his narrative, has been at some pains to force pious coincidence with similar episode in the Old Testament. Immediately after their arrival the wanderers began building in the mountains not 30 miles distant from the capital new home for themselves, which they called Uxmal Far from being angered, however, by this appropria- tion of his territory at hand. Cocom the ruler of the Mayapan. welcomed Tutul Xiu and his people, and entered into an alliance with them Landa thus describes the event:
 "The people of Mayapan formed great friend ship with the Tutul Xiu rejoicing to see that they cultivated the land like themselves In this manner the Tutul Xiu became subject to the laws of Mayapan. and allied themselves with the older inhabitants of the country, and their lord highly esteemed by all"
 Judging from it's size and magnificence the Xiu capital must have played very important role in the history of Yucatan before the Spanish quest. Indeed. Landa says as much
 After time, are told the supreme power held by the Cocoon family to have turned their heads. They became successively and Smore oppressive each striving outdo his prede- cessors in acts of tyranny and violence. How }ever, there came day at last when the other chiefs of the confederacy could longer endure this despotic rule, and conspiracy was matched to overthrow the oppressor. With accord, 9the consprators turned to the then lord of tx mai, decendent of the original Tutu Xiu who had founded the city, as the natural leader in this movement for liberty. in spite of the fact that / he of foreign descent. He is described as having been a true friend of the public veal as his ancestors before him, all of whom had held reSolutely aloof from the tyrannies of the Cocoon family, On appointed day the consprators, led by the lord of Uxmal. met at Mayapan, and entering the palace of Cocoon slew him and all his progeny, only. who happened to be absent from the city at the time mis- sion to a distant province. After this sangun- ary reprisal which avenged at one blow the op pressions of many years. the property of the dead ruler was seized and divided among his murder ers and the capital was destroyed Whereupon each chief departed into his own country more and the confederacy dissolved After the destruction of Mayapan, the Tutul Xiu aban- doned Uxma and founded new capital some 30 miles distant which they called Mani meaning in Maya it is passed. emphasizing by this name that the old order over These events oc cured about the middle of the fifteenth century.