What is Aztec codex?
codex) are Mesoamerican manuscripts made by the pre-Columbian Aztec, and their Nahuatl-speaking descendants during the colonial period in Mexico.
What might you find in an Aztecs codex?
The Aztecs had a complex writing system. They used a codex to compile all of their records into one book. The pages were made of bark or animal skin. A community of families that shared land, schools, and temples.
How many Aztec codices exist?
500 codicesThere are around 500 codices that were made after the Spanish conquered the Aztecs in 1521. You might ask why these books have survived if the Spanish were so eager to destroy them just a few years before!
Where is the Codex Mendoza now?
The codex is also known as the Codex Mendocino and La colección Mendoza, and has been held at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University since 1659.
Can we read Aztec writing?
Aztec Glyphs do not have a set reading order, unlike Maya hieroglyphs. As such, they may be read in any direction which forms the correct sound values in the context of the glyph.
Why are Aztec codices important to historians?
The Aztec codices are important to historians because they contain much information about the Aztec civilization.
Is the Aztec calendar still used today?
Answer: The Aztec calendar is not in use today except by scientists, archeologists, and paleontologists. Perhaps some Aztecs and Mayans still recognize the old naming conventions of the old calendar, but the Julian calendar is used today.
Why did the Mayans create codex?
According to archaeoastronomer Anthony Aveni, the codices were used to set dates for rituals, often by linking them to astronomical events. The pages of the codices usually depict a deity and include a series of glyphs describing what the deity is doing.
Why is the Mayan codex important?
The glyphs show roughly 40 times in the text, making eclipses a major focus of the Dresden Codex. The first 52 pages of the Dresden Codex are about divination. The Mayan astronomers would use the codex for day keeping, but also determining the cause of sickness and other misfortunes.
How was a codex made?
A codex is essentially an ancient book, consisting of one or more quires of sheets of papyrus or parchment folded together to form a group of leaves, or pages.
Who is the author of the Aztec codex?
The Codex Mendoza was created around 1542 and was commissioned by Antonio de Mendoza, the (first) viceroy of Mexico between 1535-1550. It was created just 20 years after the conquest of Mexico by Spanish forces, meaning that the creators were able to provide information about the pre-conquest Aztec Empire.
What country conquered the Aztecs?
After a three-month siege, Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés capture Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire. Cortés' men leveled the city and captured Cuauhtémoc, the Aztec emperor.
Famous Aztec Codices: Codex Borbonicus
Codex Borbonicus is one of the most famous of all Aztec codices and was compiled by Aztec priests around the time of the Spanish conquest. This codex consists of a 14.2 meter long sheet of amatl parchment. Originally, it consisted entirely of pictures but later on Spanish descriptions were added. This codex can be divided into three parts.
Famous Aztec Codices: Codex Mendoza
Codex Mendoza was created during the early colonial era in 1541 for Spanish king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. It consists of four sections with the first one dealing with the history of the Aztec people starting from 1325 when the city-state of Tenochtitlan was founded.
Famous Aztec Codices: Florentine Codex
Perhaps the most important Aztec codex which details Aztec life before the Spanish conquest is the Florentine Codex. This codex is a set of 12 books and was compiled under the supervision of the famous Franciscan friar, Bernardino de Sahagún, between 1540 and 1585.
Famous Aztec Codices: Codex Osuma
Codex Osuma is a set of seven separate documents created in 1565. These documents consist of evidence against the government of Viceroy Luis de Velasco during the 1563-66 inquiry by Jerónimo de Valderrama.
Famous Aztec Codices: Codex Aubin
Among the Aztec codices which deal with the history of the Aztecs, Codex Aubin is quite important. This particular codex is also in pictorial form and details the history of the Aztecs since migration from Aztlan through Spanish conquest and also the early colonial era, until 1607.
Famous Aztec Codices: Codex Magliabechiano
Religion was of supreme importance in the Aztec empire and various Aztec codices dealt with religious rituals and ceremonies. One such Aztec codex is the Codex Magliabechiano which was compiled during the early colonial era in the mid-16th century. In total, it consists of 92 pages which entirely deal with religious and cosmological elements.
Famous Aztec Codices: Codex Borgia
Among the Aztec codices written before the Spanish conquest, Codex Borgia is of particular importance. It is thought to have been compiled in the area of present-day southern and western Puebla. It is made of animal skins folded into 39 sheets.
Boturini Codex
The Boturini Codex was painted by an unknown Aztec author some time between 1530 and 1541, roughly a decade after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Pictorial in nature, it tells the story of the legendary Aztec journey from Aztlán to the Valley of Mexico.
Codex Mendoza
Part of the first page of Codex Mendoza, depicting the founding of Tenochtitlan.
Florentine Codex
The Florentine Codex is a set of 12 books created under the supervision of Bernardino de Sahagún between approximately 1540 and 1585. It is a copy of original source materials which are now lost, perhaps destroyed by the Spanish authorities who confiscated Sahagún's manuscripts.
Codex Osuna
Section of page 34 of Codex Osuna showing the glyphs for Texcoco, Tenochtitlan, and Tlacopán.
Aubin Codex
The Aubin Codex is a pictorial history of the Aztecs from their departure from Aztlán through the Spanish conquest to the early Spanish colonial period, ending in 1607.
Codex Magliabechiano
Reverse of folio 11 of the Codex Magliabechiano, showing the day signs Flint (knife), Rain, Flower, and Crocodile.
Codex Cozcatzin
The Codex Cozcatzin is a post-conquest, bound manuscript consisting of 18 sheets (36 pages) of European paper, dated 1572 although was perhaps created later than this. Largely pictorial, it has short descriptions in Spanish and Nahuatl.
Making screenfold manuscripts
Manufacturing screenfolds involved gluing long strips of leather or paper.
Describing the Codex Borgia
When completely unfolded, the Codex Borgia measures approximately 1,030 centimeters (more than 33 feet) in width. When folded, its nearly square pages, each measuring approximately 26.5 by 27 centimeters, can be individually appreciated. The screenfold consists of 39 double-sided pages or 78 single pages, though only 76 of these are painted.
Studying the Codex Borgia
Pre-conquest manuscripts like the Codex Borgia help us to understand indigenous thought before the arrival of Europeans and Africans; however, the writing is extraordinarily difficult to decipher as it consists entirely of images and glyphs (characters or symbols).
Structure
The symbol is built on a square grid with a bulls-eye pattern at its centre for locating the code. Data is encoded in concentric square rings around the bulls-eye pattern. The central bulls-eye is 9×9 or 13×13 pixels, and one row of pixels around that encodes basic coding parameters, producing a "core" of 11×11 or 15×15 squares.
Usage
Online ticket by Deutsche Bahn. Note that the Aztec barcode in this sample ticket is not readable with a normal app because the center is different.
Boturini Codex
Codex Mendoza
- The Codex Mendoza is a pictorial document, with Spanish annotations and commentary, composed circa 1541. It is divided into three sections: a history of each Aztec ruler and their conquests; a list of the tribute paid by each tributary province; and a general description of daily Aztec life.
Florentine Codex
- The Florentine Codex is a set of 12 books created under the supervision of Bernardino de Sahagún between approximately 1540 and 1585. It is a copy of original source materials which are now lost, perhaps destroyed by the Spanish authorities who confiscated Sahagún's manuscripts. Perhaps more than any other source, the Florentine Codex has been the major sou…
Codex Osuna
- The Codex Osuna is a set of seven separate documents created in early 1565 to present evidence against the government of Viceroy Luis de Velasco during the 1563-1566 inquiry by Jerónimo de Valderrama. In this codex, indigenous leaders claim non-payment for various goods and for various services performed by their people, including building construction and domestic help. T…
Aubin Codex
- The Aubin Codex is a pictorial history of the Aztecs from their departure from Aztlán through the Spanish conquest to the early Spanish colonial period, ending in 1607. Consisting of 81 leaves, it was most likely begun in 1576, it is possible that Fray Diego Durán supervised its preparation, since it was published in 1867 as Historia de las Indias ...
Codex Magliabechiano
- The Codex Magliabechiano was created during the mid-16th century, in the early Spanish colonial period. Based on an earlier unknown codex, the Codex Magliabechiano is primarily a religious document, depicting the 20 day-names of the tonalpohualli,the 18 monthly feasts, the 52-year cycle, various deities, indigenous religious rites, costumes, and cosmological beliefs. The Code…
Codex Cozcatzin
- The Codex Cozcatzin is a post-conquest, bound manuscript consisting of 18 sheets (36 pages) of European paper, dated 1572 although was perhaps created later than this. Largely pictorial, it has short descriptions in Spanish and Nahuatl. The first section of the codex contains a list of land granted by Itzcóatl in 1439 and is part of a complaint against Diego Mendoza. Other pages list hi…
Codex Ixtlilxochitl
- The Codex Ixtlilxochitl is an early seventeenth century codex fragment detailing, among other subjects, a calendar of the annual festivals and rituals celebrated by the Aztec teocalliduring the Mexican year. Each of the 18 months is represented by a god or an historical character. Written in Spanish, the Codex Ixtlilxochitl has 50 pages comprising 27 separate sheets of European paper …
Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis
- The Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis (Latin for "Little Book of the Medicinal Herbs of the Indians") is a herbal manuscript, describing the medicinal properties of various plants used by the Aztecs. It was translated into Latin by Juan Badiano, from a Nahuatl original composed in Tlatelolco in 1552 by Martín de la Cruz that is no longer extant. The Libellus is also known as th…
Other Codices
- Codex Borgia - pre-Hispanic ritual codex. The name is also given to a number of codices called the Borgia Group:
- Codex Telleriano-Remensis - calendar, divinatory almanac and history of the Aztec people
- Ramírez Codex - a history by Juan de Tovar
- Anales de Tlatelolco a.k.a. "Unos Anales Históricos de la Nación Mexicana" - post-conquest