Etz'nab Meaning: The Flint Day Sign of the Maya Calendar
AURYN Editorial
Etz'nab is the eighteenth of the twenty day signs of the Maya 260-day calendar, the tzolk'in. It is associated with flint, the hard stone the Maya shaped into blades, and its glyph shows the characteristic pattern of a knapped flint.
Flint in the Maya world
Flint and obsidian were the Maya's cutting tools, used for everything from farming to warfare to ritual bloodletting. Maya craftsmen also made spectacular "eccentric flints", intricately chipped ceremonial objects that were buried as offerings in temples and tombs.
The day sign
In the Aztec calendar the corresponding sign is Tecpatl, "flint", and among K'iche' Maya daykeepers today the day is called Tijax, often associated with obsidian and with cutting away what is harmful.
Etz'nab in jewellery
An Etz'nab design references flint, the Maya calendar and a birth date in the 260-day count.
