Olmec, Mayan, Mande, Writing, La Venta Offering No 4

In this chapter we will use the inscribed celts found at La Venta in 1955, at offering No.4, the inscribed jadeite celt from near El Sitio, and the Black Stone Serpent Sceptre of Cardenas, Tabasco as examples of the Olmec writing. All the translations of Olmec artefacts are based on the Manding dictionary of Delafosse (1921).

La Venta Offering No 4

 The celts of La Venta offering no.4, were discovered by Drucker in 1955. These celts show both the plain and cursive forms of the Olmec script. These inscribed celts were part of a collection of 16 figurines and jade and serpentine found in offering no.4 (Soustelle, 1984).

In La Venta offering no.4, fifteen figurines were arranged around a central figure. According to the inscriptions on the celts in this collection, the personage buried in this tomb was Pè. The bold head of Pè suggest that he was their cult leader. A pit had been dug over the incised celts and figurines, a hole leading from the earth's surface down to the burial cache suggest that this was used for pouring libations on the figurines.

This view is supported by the fact that the inscriptions written in the plain Olmec syllabic style ( Fig. 1), mentions the fact that Pè tomb was to act as a talisman or protective shrine for the faithful.

La Venta Offering No 4

 The six celts found in La Venta offering no.4, were arranged in a semi-circle. Four of the celts were engraved. The first and last celts in the semi-circle were not engraved. Moving from left to right two engraved jade celts when joined together depict an Olmec priest wearing an elaborate headdress and holding what appears to be a torch or baton in his hand.

This figure probably represented Pè. It is analogous to the figure engraved on a jade Breastplate (no. 13:583), now located in the National Museum of Anthropology at Mexico City ( Wuthenau, 1980).

The first two Laventa celts probably were originally joined together and served as a symbol of authority for the deceased priest while he was alive. The breakage of this celt into two parts probably symbolized the withdrawal of the priest's physical body, from the physical plane to the spiritual plane.

The placement in the tomb of Pè's "celt of power" was meant to hold his spiritual power at the grave site. The third engraved celt at La Venta offering no.4, was engraved in the cursive Olmec script (Fig. 2). In the text of the cursive script we find Pè's obituary.

 Transliteration of Symbols on Figure 1

Fè fè mi pè po gbè: without breath void consumed Pè pure/holy below (in), lu bè ma: the family habitation lay low the celebrity (the) Lord (in), yu ka-pè ba ko: the big hemisphere tomb Ka-Pè the Great (in) the back of, se yu we: (to) possess for posterity the big hemisphere tomb Hence, ta lu ba i: this place the family habitation great/strong thine, gba kyè be po: fixed in the ground inheritance/estate here pure/holy, mbe be: lay low the celebrity lay low the celebrity.

Translation
"Without breath. Void. Consumed (lies) the Hole Pè, below the family habitation. Lay low the celebrity, the Lord, in the hemisphere tomb. The Great Ka-Pè, in the back of the big hemisphere tomb, possesses (this place) for posterity. Thine inheritance (is) fixed in this ground. Here the pure celebrity lays low. Lay low the celebrity".

Vocabulary
fè, v. to be void, empty, without breath mi, v. consumed Pè, proper name; v. spacious, pin down po, adj. : superlative of white translated as holy, pure, the good gbè, v. lay low, below; virtue lu, family habitation bè, v: lay low the celebrity ma, it can be translated as "Great one" or "Lord"; it can also be a suffix joined to a substantive or a verb to show intensity. yu, the big hemisphere tomb Ka, a title given to Olmec elites ba, adj.: great ka, adv.: in the back of se, possess (this place) for posterity we, adv.: hence ta, this place, place, here lu, n.: the family habitation ba, adj.: great i, pronominal particle of the second person: thine, thou, you gba, transitive v.: fixed in the ground kyè, inheritance, estate be, here

Sources: Delafosse, Soustelle, Wuthenau, Drucker