Tablet 1: Mayan

Prophecy (image property of the WB; see www.aol.com/smallville)

Translation and Interpretation

First, note the symbols running down the center of this tablet.  There is a parallelogram at the top; KSite's Eh,Man?You-El? suggests it represents the Phantom Zone.  Beneath it is a side view of the spaceship.  Then, there's some sort of cracked urn... KSite's EricN68 suggests this is a broken vessel-- possibly Lionel-- and the fact that an upcoming episode is called "Vessel" seems to confirm this.  Below this, we have the Zod insignia.  This symbol was last seen on the lower back of invading female Kryptonian Aethyr in Season 5's premiere, "Crusade."  This symbol was also etched into the floor by Lionel Luthor.  Finally, there is what appears to be a side view of the Altar in the Kawatche Caves.

Second, note the code of dots, horizontal lines, and what look like little footballs... KSite's SupamanFan was the first to point out the symbols are Mayan numbers and translate as follows (image courtesy of KSite's SOnMyChest):

Tomb Raider informs us that this Mayan counting system, which is in base 20 (it was "defined as the proper system of the time based on a non-mutated human [with] the correct number of fingers and toes"), is known as "kal."  What a fun coincidence!

Let me preface the calculations below by saying so many people on KSite were involved in cracking the code that I am afraid to attempt to list everyone because I fear leaving someone out.  Please visit the Ezra Small Prophecies thread or the Project Mercury thread over at KryptonSite to see everyone's contributions for yourself.

The key to making sense of the numbers on this tablet is the set of numbers given to us in Part X of the Hidden Prophecy-- consider this set the key.  In the table below, the key is on the left, and the Mayan tablet numbers are on the right.

Each number can be split into two parts: the "tens" digit and the "ones" digit (e.g., in 28, the tens digit is 2 and the ones digit is 8).  Instead of just subtracting the key number from its corresponding Mayan tablet number, subtract the tens digit of the key number from the tens digit of the Mayan number, then do the same for the ones digit.  If either difference is negative, add 10 to that value.  Seems a little confusing?  An example:

Key number: 84, Mayan number: 93

Subtract the tens digit of the key from the tens digit of the Mayan number: 9 - 8 = 1

Subtract the ones digit of the key from the ones digit of the Mayan number: 3 - 4 = -1

The difference in the ones digits is negative, so add 10: -1 + 10 = 9

Final result: 19

Perform these operations on all the numbers of the tablet to achieve the following results:

A vessel will be filled in the end.

Season 5's finale, "Vessel," will reveal Lionel is a vessel for Jor-El... and Lex is a vessel of Zod.

In addition, KSite's GarThomas presents the following information:

The Whac Chan (a.k.a. Mayan Sacred Tree, Mayan World Tree or Mayan Tree of Life) represented the three levels of the Mayan universe. It was believed that all three universes were joined by a central tree.

The roots of the tree plunged into the Maya underworld and its branches reached into the Overworld or the Heavens. The central tree was associated with the color green and the four trees in the Middleworld were white, red, yellow, and black.

The white tree represented the ancestral dead and the North, the red represented the rising sun and the East, the yellow represented the South and right hand of the sun, the black represented the West and the Underworld.

A white tree of the ancestral dead and the North?  Could be a reference to the Fortress of Solitude and the deceased Jor-El...

© 2004-2006
shirkie

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