Chapter Five
LORD 9 WIND ‘STONE SKULL’
Two strong men emerged in Ñuu Dzaui after the demise of Monte Albán and the war with the Stone Men. First, there was Lord 9 Wind ‘Stone Skull’ (or
‘Death of the Stone Men’).1 It is probable that he, too, was a member of the Yuta Tnoho alliance; an individual with the same calendar name was among the offspring of the Sacred Tree, but confirmation of a coinciding given name is lacking, so we cannot be sure.2 His background is told by different codices:
he descended from the primordial couple Lord 10 House ‘Jaguar’ and Lady 1 Grass ‘Puma.’ Codex Tonindeye (22) suggests that this lineage in some way succeeded Lady 1 Serpent, associated with the spring of the Yute Coo,
‘Serpent River,’ in Ñuu Tnoo; she had married a prince from Monte Negro and was installed or confirmed as ruler by the prophet Lord 12 Wind. It is interesting that Lord 10 House and Lady 1 Grass seem to have been vener-ated as the numina, or Patron Deities, of this Serpent River and the lands around it. Their calendar names were combined into a sacred date: year 10 House day 1 Grass.3
Their son, Lord 3 Eagle ‘Eagle from the Serpent Place,’ had married Lady 4 Rabbit ‘Quechquemitl (Virtue) of Death Town.’ Her name suggests 5.1. The birth of Lady 1 Death from the Sacred Tree (Codex Ñuu Tnoo–Ndisi Nuu, 1-V).
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that she came from a place called Town of Death, either Ñuu Ndaya (Chal-catongo) or Dzandaya (Mitlatongo). The latter is the most likely because the couple’s second son, Lord 1 Monkey, became the Founding Father of the Dzandaya (Mitlatongo) dynasty. The Relación Geográfica of that town tells us that the name of the Founder was Ya co ñooy, in Nahuatl Ce Usumaczi, that is, Lord 1 Monkey, and that he had been born in Yuhui Yume Yucu Cuii, in Nahuatl Xoxotepeque, “Green Mountain,” within the territory of Ñuu Tnoo
5.2. Lord 4 Alligator fights the Star Warriors (Codex Tonindeye, 21).
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(Acuña 1984, II: 237–238).
Indeed, in Codex Ñuu Tnoo–Ndisi Nuu we find a Lord 1 Monkey sitting in front of a number of place signs, the first of which is Skull Mountain, which, we conclude, represents Dzandaya.
Lord 9 Wind ‘Stone
Skull’ was Lord 1 Monkey’s elder brother. He first ruled a Mountain of the Green Plant, probably the site of Yucu Cuii within the territory of Ñuu Tnoo, mentioned in the earlier-cited Relación Geográfica as the origin place of his brother.4 The given name of Lord 9 Wind seems to recall an epithet of the place of his Ancestors: Serpent River appears in Codex Tonindeye, page 23, as “River where the Stone Man was Defeated.”
Both brothers, Lord 9 Wind and Lord 1 Monkey, were recognized as local rulers. Three priests—Lord 1 Rain, Lord 10 Death ‘Cloud,’ and Lord 4 Dog ‘Serpent-Maguey’—offered them fire, quails, and branches. ‘Cloud’
or ‘Smoke’ occurs as the title of a member of the Supreme Council of four priests, which ruled Ñuu Tnoo. The Dzaha Dzaui word for “cloud” (huico) is homonymous with that for “feast” (apart from the tones), while “vapor”
or “breath” can be read as yoco, a term also used for “spirit” or “deity.” The serpent in combination with the maguey (yavui) may represent the fire serpent or yahui, the powerful nahual that symbolizes shamanic ecstasy.5
The fact that the calendar names of these priests were recorded suggests that they were important individuals and played a specific role in history.
Indeed, we can identify them with three important lords of earlier days. Lord 1 Rain may be the same as one of the Founding Priests of the neighboring town of Añute. In that context he is paired with Lord 1 Reed. In combina-tion with Lord 7 Rain, he participated in the founding of Quetzal Mountain, Mountain of the Pointed Object, Valley of the Spiderweb, and Rock of the Fly—which we interpret as Ñuu Ndodzo (Huitzo), Yucu Ndeque (Huauclilla), Andua-Chindua, and Yucu Tiyuq (Sayultepec), all relatively close to Añute and Ñuu Tnoo.6
Lord 10 Death and Lord 4 Dog appear among the Founding Fathers who were born from the Tree of the Sacred Valley in Apoala. They were present 5.3. The marriage of Lord 9 Wind and Lady 5 Reed (Codex Ñuu Tnoo–Ndisi Nuu, 4-V).
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when the culture hero Lord 9 Wind and the old priest Lord 2 Dog drilled the new fire for the great kingdom of Rain God Mountain (Yucuñudahui), in the time when the “sons” of the rulers of Monte Albán still had control over that area. In that scene it is Lord 4 Dog who has the title ‘Cloud.’7 Thus it seems that after the death of their two companions (princes and governors of Monte Albán), these two men, together with a priest of neighboring Añute, recognized the rulership of Lord 9 Wind ‘Stone Skull.’
This offering of royalty, then, was done by the main authorities of the Yucuñudahui realm, who had been instituted as part of the Monte Albán rulership before the war with the Stone Men broke out. They functioned as members of a Council of Four, which became the ruling body that assisted the ruler of Ñuu Tnoo.
To confirm his power in kinship terms, Lord 9 Wind ‘Stone Skull’
married Lady 5 Reed, one of the three princesses of Monte Albán whose life history we explained in Chapter 4. Together they became rulers of Ñuu Tnoo. The year of the marriage was 4 Rabbit (990), when the groom was forty-eight years old.8
The couple had three sons. In the year 6 Flint (992), Lord 10 Flower,
‘Jaguar with Burned Face,’ was born; that given name qualifies him as a jaguar warrior who won victories in a war with speakers of Nahuatl (the Toltecs).
Later followed Lord 13 Eagle ‘Precious Jaguar’ and Lord 3 Water ‘White Arrow.’
Summary: FirSt GenerationS oFthe Ñuu tnoo DynaSty (male lineaGe)
Lord 10 House + Lady 1 Grass (primordial couple, Yute Coo) Lord 3 Eagle + Lady 4 Rabbit (from Dzandaya / Mitlatongo)
Lord 9 Wind (b. 942) + Lady 5 Reed (from Monte Albán), married 990 Lord 10 Flower (b. 992)