"And I went to the angel and said to him:" Give me a book. " He told me: “Take it and eat it; it will be bitter in your womb, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey."
(Revelation of John the Divine 10: 9)
Now let's talk about the ancient codes of the Aztecs and Mayans in more detail. Let's start with the "Code of Grolier" - a Mayan manuscript, which is kept in Mexico City, in the National Museum of Anthropology, but has never been exhibited publicly in this museum. The preservation of the code is poor. But it was shown in public for the first time in 1971 at an exhibition in the Grolier club in New York (although it was found even earlier!), Which is why it got this name. According to its owner, the manuscript was found in one of the caves in the jungle of Chiapas. Thus, it turned out that this is the fourth surviving Mayan manuscript book.
Damaged page of the "Codex Grolier".
The codex contains 11 paper (from the bark of ficus) fragments, measuring 18 × 12.5 cm; moreover, the images are placed only on their front side. It is possible that the original manuscript contained more than 20 leaves. The content of the manuscript is astrological, it is written in the Mayan language and shows the phases of Venus, and the content corresponds to the well-known "Dresden Code".
Colombino Codex.
In 1973, a facsimile of the manuscript was published, but doubts immediately arose that it was genuine. Radiocarbon analysis has shown that it dates back to about 1230, but skeptical scientists began to claim that it was a fake, made on sheets of paper found during excavations. The second examination was carried out in 2007, and those who carried it out stated that they could neither prove nor deny the authenticity of the Grolier Code. And only a 2016 examination conducted at Brown University in the United States confirmed that he was real. It should be added here that today it is practically impossible to forge an old document because of … the events of 1945 and the beginning of nuclear tests. Millions of tons of radioactive soil, ejected into the Earth's atmosphere, spread radioactive isotopes very widely, in particular, radioactive carbon saturated the vegetation around us. Therefore, if it is in wood or paper, or ink, then … it is a fake. But if not, then the original. Although the difficulty lies in the fact that you literally have to work with the atoms of this or that substance, which makes such analyzes extremely difficult and very expensive.
"Madrid Code" (replica). (Museum of America, Madrid)
In addition, the codex told about deities, which at that time, that is, half a century ago, were still unknown to science, but later learned about them. However, this codex has many differences from three other well-known Mayan codes from the museums of Dresden, Madrid and Paris. How can this be explained? There can be many reasons, because the "Tale of Bygone Years" is also not similar to the manuscript of John Skilitsa, although the drawings in them (some) are very similar.
Another proof that the code is genuine is that it was found along with six other ancient objects, such as a sacrificial knife and a ritual mask. Analyzes have shown that these artifacts are not fakes, and their age is exactly the same as the age of the manuscript itself. However, there are always those who speak Brito, although in fact they have a haircut … Such is the nature of some people!
The Colombino Codex belongs to the Mixtec codes and contains descriptions of the deeds of the Mixtec leader named Eight Deer (another name is Tiger's Claw), who lived in the 11th century, and a ruler named Four Winds. It also records the religious rites that were performed in their honor. It is believed to have been created in the 12th century, bought by the National Museum in 1891, and a copy made in 1892. Among the glorious feats of the leader of the Eight Deer, committed before the arrival of the Spaniards, the conquest of such important land holdings of the Mixtecs as Tilantongo and Tututepec. Thanks to them, as well as the beneficial marriage alliances that he entered into, the Eight Deer was able to unite the numerous possessions of the Mixtecs in the so-called post-classical period. The famous Mexican archaeologist and historian Alfonso Caso (1896-1970), who studied the peoples of Mexico before the Spanish conquest, was able to prove that this code, as well as the Becker I code (located in a museum in Vienna), are fragments of one code. Their general layout was published in 1996, and it itself was named "Code of Alfonso Caso" in his honor.
The Wamantle Code
The Codex of Huamantla was created to tell the story of the Otomi people of Huamantla. It depicted how the Otomi people from Chiapana (today the territory of the state of Mexico) in Huamantlu moved to the land of the present state of Tlaxcala. Otomi believed that in this migration they were patronized by the goddess Shochiketzal and Otontecuhtli - the god of fire himself. The names of the leaders who led the resettlement were named, and the pyramids of Teotihuacan were presented as covered with vegetation, i.e. at that time they were abandoned. Then, already in the 16th century, the Otomi culture completely dissolved into the material culture, language and mythology of Nahua. A second pictographic group was added by another artist on top of the first. It takes up less space and depicts the participation of the Otomi Indians in the conquest of Mexico and their life already in the era of Spanish rule.
The Florentine Codex.
The so-called "Florentine Code" or "General History of Things of New Spain" is also very interesting - a manuscript written by the Franciscan monk Bernardino de Sahagun (1499-1590). The work is truly encyclopedic in nature, and it was written eight years after Cortez completed the conquest of New Spain. The Florentine Codex fell into the hands of the Medici family around 1588, and is today kept in the Medici Laurentian Library in Florence. Sahagun decided to write his book in order … to understand the false Indian gods, to confidently debunk them, and to eradicate the belief in them gods for the sake of the triumph of Christianity. At the same time, he paid tribute to the aborigines, not hesitating to write that the Mexicans "are considered barbarians of little value, but in matters of culture and sophistication they are head and shoulders above other peoples pretending to be very courteous." He was supported by elders from many cities in central Mexico, Nahua students, and students from Santa Cruz College in Tlatelolco, where Sahagun taught theology. The elders collected materials for him, after which they were recorded in pictographic writing, which was thus preserved. Nahua students, on the other hand, were engaged in deciphering existing images, as well as complementing the text, phonetically transcribing the sounds of the Nahuatl language using letters of the Latin alphabet. Then Sahagun looked through the ready-made texts written in Nahuatl, and gave his own translation, made in Spanish. Such a complex work required almost 30 years of painstaking work and was finally completed sometime in 1575-1577. Then she was taken to Spain by the brother of Rodrigo de Sequera, the chief resident of the Franciscans in Mexico, who supported Sahagun all the time.
The Huexocinco Code even appeared in a Spanish court!
The code itself contains 12 books, divided into four volumes in separate bindings, but then three volumes were made from them. The text is presented in two vertical columns: on the right is the Nahuatl text, and on the left is its Spanish translation by Sahagun. The codex has 2468 (!) Superbly executed illustrations, located mainly in the left column, where the text portion is slightly shorter. Thus, in the illustrations, the ancient traditions of conveying information using the drawing of Nahua were preserved, to which external signs were added that were already characteristic of European painting of the Renaissance.
The Ueszinko Code page.
The "Codex of Huescinko" of 1531 is also very interesting, and above all because it was written on only eight sheets of paper amatl, which was made in Central America even before the appearance of European paper, but is a document that appeared in court! Yes, the Spaniards conquered and destroyed the Indian states. But only 10 years later, a trial took place in which the Indians, former allies of Cortez, opposed the Spanish colonial government of Mexico. Hueszinko is a city, and its inhabitants in 1529-1530, in the absence of Cortes, the local administration forced the Nahua Indians to pay disproportionate taxes in goods and services. Cortez, returning to Mexico, together with the Nahua Indians (who complained to him), began a lawsuit against Spanish officials. And in Mexico, and then in Spain, where the case was heard again, the plaintiffs won it (!), After which in 1538 the king of Spain issued a decree that two-thirds of all taxes named in this document were returned to the inhabitants of the city of Hueszinco.
The Scroll of Offerings page once again shows how developed the Aztec bureaucracy was and how well the accounting and control was organized!
The Scroll of Tributes described the amount and type of tribute to be paid to Mexico City-Tenochtitlan, head of the triple alliance of Mexico, Tezcoco, and Takuba, in the time preceding the Spanish conquest. Most likely, this is a copy of an older document that Cortez ordered to draw up, who wanted to learn more about the economy of the Indian empire. Each page of the scroll shows how much each of the 16 subordinate provinces must pay. The document is of great value, as it introduces us both to the arithmetic of the Indians, and to their economy and culture.
But this is the most interesting document for readers of the VO: "The History of Tlaxcala", from which just the majority of the drawings in the book "The Fall of Tenochtitlan" and taken. In some cases, they are given graphically, in others - in the form of colored miniatures. In any case, they very vividly show us many interesting details regarding clothing, weapons and the nature of hostilities between the Spaniards, their allies Tlaxcoltecs and Aztecs. Here is a 1773 reproduction taken from the original 1584 version.
The manuscript "Canvas from Tlaxcala" was created in the city of Tlaxcala by its inhabitants of the Tlaxcoltecs with the aim of reminding the Spaniards of their devotion and the role of Tlaxcala in the defeat of the Aztec empire. It contains a lot of illustrations showing the participation of the Tlaxcalan people in the battles with the Aztecs along with the Spaniards. The Spanish title of the document is "The History of Tlaxcala" and, what is most interesting, there was never a person among the Spaniards who would declare that all this is "Indian inventions and lies." And, it would seem, what is easier - to say that all this was invented by the unsuitable Tlashkalans, but in fact they did not help much, and the victory for the Spaniards was brought by the fortitude of spirit and piety! But no, The Story of Tlaxcala has never been questioned.
This is how Cortez and his companion, the Indian girl Marina, received the Indian deputations. "History of Tlaxcala".
"You will fight with us, and we will free you from the rule of the Aztecs!" - something like this said Cortes through his translator Marina with the Tlashkalans, and they listened to him.
The Spaniards and their allies in battle. Note the Spanish swords in the hands of the Tlaxcalan people.
Another Mayan manuscript is called the Codex Dresden and is kept in the Saxon State and University Library. It was bought in Vienna in 1739 by the Dresden Elector Library under the name "Mexican Book". In 1853 it was identified as a Mayan manuscript. It has 39 sheets, which are written on both sides, and the total length of the "accordion" is 358 centimeters. The famous amatl was used as paper. The codex contains hieroglyphs, Native American numbers and human figures, as well as calendars, descriptions of various rituals and calculations of the phases of the planet Venus, eclipses of the Sun and the Moon, "instructions" on how to conduct New Year's ceremonies, a description of the place where the Rain God dwells, and even a picture of the Flood on a whole page. A prominent scholar who studied Maya codices during the 19th century was Ernst Förstermann (1822–1906), the royal librarian and director of the Saxon State and University Library. He explained the astronomical systems described in the code and proved that the deities depicted in it, the numbers and names of the days of the week are directly related to the 260-day Mayan calendar.
Of great interest is the Codex Tovara (John Carter Brown Library), named after the 16th century Mexican Jesuit Juan de Tovar, which provides a detailed description of the rites and ceremonies of the Aztecs. It contains 51 full-page watercolors. These drawings have a direct connection with pre-Columbian Indian pictography and have rare artistic merit. The first part of the codex describes the travel history of the Aztecs before the arrival of the Spaniards. The second is devoted to the illustrated history of the Aztecs. In the third - there is a calendar of the Aztecs with months, weeks, days and religious holidays of the already Christian 365-day year.
One of the pages of the "Dresden Code". By the way, this is the only Mayan manuscript available to visitors for free viewing. (Book Museum of the Saxon State and University Library in Dresden)
Interestingly, the last five days of the calendar were called "nemontemi" and were considered useless and even unlucky days. For them, it was a dangerous time, and so much so that people tried not to leave the house unnecessarily and did not even cook their own food so as not to attract the attention of evil spirits.
"Accordion" of the "Dresden Code".
Thus, a comprehensive study of all these codes allows you to obtain a significant amount of information, both regarding the life of the Indians of Mesoamerica before the arrival of the Spaniards, and after the Spanish conquest. The textual information is supplemented by texts on the steles and drawings, including the famous Mayan drawings in the Bonampak temple. Thus, the statement that we know the history of the Indians "only from the Spaniards" is not true!
