What is the Dresden Codex made of?
Like all other pre-Hispanic books from Mesoamerica, the Dresden Codex takes the form of a screenfold. The pages consist of a paper made from the pounded inner bark of a wild species of Ficus (hu'un in Maya—a word that became semantically equivalent to “book”).
Who wrote the Dresden Codex?
The Dresden Codex, which is also known as the Codex Dresdensis, is a pre-Columbian Mayan book of the eleventh or twelfth century created by the Yucatan Maya. It is believed to be a copy of an original text produced between three and four hundred years earlier.
What key purpose has the Dresden Codex served?
What key purpose has the Dresden codex served? Helped the difficult job of deciphering Mayan hieroglyphs.
Why did the Spanish destroy Mayan books?
Having determined that the precious and zealously guarded Mayan books he had been shown with great pride—precisely because of his evident empathy—contained “nothing in which there was not to be seen superstition and lies of the devil,” he ordered all of the books to be burned “…which [the Maya] regretted to an amazing ...
How many Mayan books are left?
four Maya codicesIn the mid-sixteenth century, Franciscan missionaries burned nearly all of the Maya's written records in an effort to eradicate their religion. Today, only three or four Maya codices remain.
Who decoded Mayan language?
No less fundamental of those was Yuri Knorozov, who became the first linguist to decipher the enigmatic Maya script — the writing system used by the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica — in the early 1950s.
Can we read Mayan writing?
The hieroglyphic writing of the Maya has not been completely deciphered, however, and can still only be interpreted, rather than read. To date nearly 85 percent of known Maya hieroglyphics have been decoded.
What is the Dresden Codex choose all that apply quizlet?
What is the Dresden Codex? - Piece of Mayan Literature. - All of these are correct. - A history written by the Spanish. - The best preserved Mayan account of dates and historical accounts.
Who has the Mayan codex?
Maya Codex of Mexico The codex has been housed at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, Mexico, since 2016, and is the only of the four Maya codices that still resides in the Americas.
Who invented the Mayan calendar?
Against popular belief, the Mayan calendar was not invented by the Mayans. Rather, the calendar is based on a system that had been in use since the 5th century BC, and the Mayans helped to develop it. Many civilizations such as the Olmec and the Aztecs were already using this system, before the Mayans.
When was the Codex Borgia made?
Mesoamericans made screenfold manuscripts of great artistic beauty. One of them is the Codex Borgia, an Aztec manuscript made during the late Post-Classic period, which stretched from about 1250 until about 1521.
How did the Mayans write?
The Maya writing system is considered by archaeologists to be the most sophisticated system ever developed in Mesoamerica. The Maya wrote using 800 individual signs or glyphs, paired in columns that read together from left to right and top to bottom.
What is the name of the four codices that survived the Spanish Inquisition?
The Dresden Codex is one of four hieroglyphic Maya codices that survived the Spanish Inquisition in the New World. Three, the Dresden, Madrid, and Paris codices, are named after the city where they were ultimately rediscovered. The fourth is the Grolier Codex, located at the Grolier Club in New York City.
Which codex contains accurate astronomical tables?
The Dresden Codex contains accurate astronomical tables, which are recognized by students of the codex for its detailed Venus tables and lunar tables.
How many pages are there in the Dresden Codex?
The Dresden Codex contains 78 pages with decorative board covers on the front and back. Most pages have writing on both sides. They have a border of red paint, although many have lost this framing due to age deterioration. The pages are generally divided into three sections; students of the codex have arbitrarily labeled these sections a, b, and c. Some pages have just two horizontal sections, while one has four and another five sections. The individual sections with their own theme are generally separated by a red vertical line. Sections are generally divided into two to four columns
What is the relationship between the lunar and Venus?
The lunar series has intervals correlating with eclipses, while the Venus tables correlate with the movements of the planet Venus. The codex also contains astrological tables and ritual schedules. The religious references show in a cycle of a 260-day ritual calendar the important Maya royal events.
When was the Dresden Codex written?
British historian Clive Ruggles suggests, based on the analyses of several scholars, that the Dresden Codex is a copy and was originally written between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. Thompson narrows the date closer to 1200 to 1250.
Why were the sheets 6/40, 7/39 and 8/38 reversal?
The reversal of the sheets 6/40, 7/39 and 8/38 is due to an error when the sheets were returned to their protective glass cabinet after drying from the water damage due to the bombing of Dresden in 1945.
Where did the Arkoos come from?
The Arkoos history is described by historian J. Eric S. Thompson as writings of the indigenous people of the Yucatán Peninsula in southeastern Mexico. Maya historians Peter J. Schmidt, Mercedes de la Garza, and Enrique Nalda confirm this. Thompson further narrows the probable origin of the Dresden Codex to the area of Chichen Itza, because certain picture symbols in the codex are only found on monuments in that location. He also argues that the astronomical tables would support this as the place of origin. Thompson claims that the people of the Yucatán Peninsula were known to have done such studies around 1200 A.D. Thompson also notes the similar ceramic designs in the Chichen Itza area which are known to have ceased in the early thirteenth century. British historian Clive Ruggles suggests, based on the analyses of several scholars, that the Dresden Codex is a copy and was originally written between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. Thompson narrows the date closer to 1200 to 1250. Maya archaeologist Linton Satterthwaite puts the date when it was made as no later than 1345. It is the oldest surviving book from the Americas.
Where did the Maya codex come from?
The Ancient Maya Codices. THE DRESDEN CODEX. We first learn of the Dresden Codex when we hear that Johann Christian Götze, Director of the Royal Library at Dresden, obtained the codex from the private owner in Vienna in 1739. In 1744, Götze gave it to the Royal Library, where it still resides. (The library's current name is ...
When was the Dresden painted in color?
Lord Kingsborough had Aglio’s rendition of the Dresden prepared in color for Volume III, in 1830 or 1831. Apparently it was colored by hand--for not all of the same-numbered pages from the different copies are identical (Justin Kerr's Photographs of the Kingsborough are available below). 3.
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Who published the Dresden Codex?
In 1880, and again in 1892, Ernst Förstemann published the Dresden, in photochromolithographic editions, with perhaps only 60 copies produced in each edition (Gates, booklet with "The Dresden Codex", 1932). These have, of course, become extremely rare, and I have never seen an 1880 or 1892 copy for sale. Fortunately, the late Linda Schele attempted ...
Is the Graz Dresden book good?
It is remarkably good, and the worst of the damaged pages have been reproduced again from Förstemann in a separate accompanying booklet. The Graz Dresden, and its Chiapas copy (within the book of Thomas A. Lee, Jr., "Los Códices Mayas", 1985) have been used as important stand-bys by Mayanists since their publications.
Who gave Linda Schele the Dresden book?
Fortunately, the late Linda Schele attempted to have her copy, a gift from Floyd Lounsbury, become readily available. She not only provided a copy of Förstemann’s Dresden to FAMSI, but also to Cholsamaj Press, in Guatemala.
Was the Dresden a smooth sailing ship?
But not all has been "smooth sailing" for the Dresden ; it sustained heavy water damage during the Dresden Fire Storms of WWII. Therefore, pre-WWII facsimiles are still very informative for study purposes. The following list includes some of the more interesting copies and facsimiles that have been produced: 1.
Heavenly Bodies
As usual, Shakespeare (or Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons) said it all: “…the moon … new-bent in heaven, shall behold the night of our solemnities.”
Xultun Number A and the 819-Day Count
Within a few hours of the publication in the 11 May, 2012 issue of Science of “Ancient Maya Astronomical Tables from Xultun, Guatemala”, by William Saturno, David Stuart, Anthony Aveni and Franco Rossi, Hutch Kinsman contacted colleagues who regularly correspond by email, pointing out that Number A—1,195,740—is evenly divisible by 819.
On-line Dresden Codex
The Saxon State Library (Sächsische Landesbibliothek) of Dresden recently posted high-resolution photographs of the Dresden Codex on its website. They are extremely good images, very useful to any student of Maya glyphs and iconography.
Overview
History
The Dresden Codex is described by historian J. Eric S. Thompson as writings of the indigenous people of the Yucatán Peninsula in southeastern Mexico. Maya historians Peter J. Schmidt, Mercedes de la Garza, and Enrique Nalda confirm this. Thompson further narrows the probable origin of the Dresden Codex to the area of Chichen Itza, because certain picture symbols in the codex are only fou…
Description
The Dresden Codex contains 78 pages with decorative board covers on the front and back. Most pages have writing on both sides. They have a border of red paint, although many have lost this framing due to age deterioration. The pages are generally divided into three sections; students of the codex have arbitrarily labeled these sections a, b, and c. Some pages have just two horizontal sectio…
Deterioration and pagination
Italian artist and engraver Agostino Aglio, starting in 1826, became the first to transcribe and illustrate the codex completely for Lord Kingsborough, who published it in his nine volumes of Antiquities of Mexico in 1831–1848. The codex then had some damage due to handling, sunlight, and moisture. It received direct water damage that was significantly destructive from being ke…
See also
• Aztec codices
• Popol Vuh
Bibliography
Further reading
• Bricker, V.R. (2007). Literary continuities across the transformation from Maya hieroglyphic to alphabetical writing. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 151(1), 27-42.
• Houston, Stephen D. (2001) - The Decipherment of Ancient Maya Writing, University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 978-0-8061-3204-4
External links
Media related to Dresden Codex at Wikimedia Commons
• The complete codex (high resolution PDF)
• Facsimiles of the codex at the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc., with PDF downloads
• The Dresden Codex Lunar Series and Sidereal Astronomy
The Mesoamerican Screenfold
- Despite its nickname, the Codex Dresden, like most pre-Columbian books, is a screenfold manuscript, a long strip folded accordion style. When fully extended, it measures 20.5 x 340 cm. The support is amate paper (amatl in Nahuatl, hu'un in some Maya languages) formed from the inner bark of the fig tree. Thin strips of animal skin piece the paper se...
Astronomy, Prognostication, and Ritual Presented in Grids
- The contents of the Codex Dresden include almanacs according to the 260-day Maya calendar, tables for calculating the movements of the planets and lunar and solar eclipses according to the solar year, instructions for rituals, and a representation of the end of the universe in a great flood. Much of this content is presented on pages divided into two, three, or four registers, and many o…
Regional Artistic Influences
- The art of the Codex Dresden reveals a variety of regional influences. The Venus pages reveal Aztec influences dating to the pre-Maya era of the Yucatán region. Images of spear throwers using the atlatlare not typical of Maya art of this age and may betray another regional influence.
Many Artisans
- The painter-scribes of the Dresden Codex were probably responsible for the compilation of its contents and also served as priests. They were, therefore, both the creators and the first users of the manuscript. Scholars have identified the work of eight painter-scribes in the Codex Dresden. Some of the painter-scribes were more careful in their planning than others, with some pages m…
from Conquest Treasure to Dresden
- Hernán Cortés may have obtained the Codex Dresden on the island of Cozumel, a religious pilgrimage center off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, in 1517. It could have been part of "the royal fifth," twenty percent of acquired valuables required to be given to the royal treasury in Madrid, but there is no direct evidence for the manuscript's whereabouts until the eighteenth cen…