|
Tōnalpōhualli
The (), meaning "count of days" in Nahuatl, is a Mexica version of the 260-day calendar in use in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. This calendar is solar and consists of 20 13-day () periods. Each is ruled by a different deity. Graphic representations for the twenty day names have existed among certain ethnic, linguistic, or archaeologically identified peoples. Description The basis of the is unknown. Several theories have been advanced for this calendrical period: that it represents a Venusian cycle, that it represents the human gestation period, or that it represents the number of days between the zenithal passage of the sun in the tropical lowlands. On the other hand, some scholars including J. E. S. Thompson suggest that the was not based on natural phenomena at all, but rather on the integers 13 and 20, both considered important numbers in Mesoamerica. The other major Mexica calendar, the , is a 365-day year, based on 18 months of 20 days and five nameless days. A was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Codex Magliabechiano 11R
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with handwritten contents. A codex, much like the modern book, is bound by stacking the pages and securing one set of edges by a variety of methods over the centuries, yet in a form analogous to modern bookbinding. Modern books are divided into paperback or softback and those bound with stiff boards, called hardbacks. Elaborate historical bindings are called treasure bindings. At least in the Western world, the main alternative to the paged codex format for a long document was the continuous scroll, which was the dominant form of document in the ancient world. Some codices are continuously folded like a concertina, in particular the Maya codices and Aztec codices, which are actually long sheets of paper or animal skin folded into pages. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cipactli
Cipactli ( nci, Cipactli "crocodile" or "caiman") was the first day of the Aztec divinatory count of 13 X 20 days (the '' tonalpohualli'') and ''Cipactonal'' "Sign of Cipactli" was considered to have been the first diviner. In Aztec cosmology, the crocodile symbolized the earth floating in the primeval waters. According to one Aztec tradition, ''Teocipactli'' "Divine Crocodile" was the name of a survivor of the flood who rescued himself in a canoe and again repopulated the earth. In the Mixtec Vienna Codex (Codex Vindobonensis Mexicanus I), Crocodile is a day associated with dynastic beginnings. In Aztec mythology, Cipactli was a primeval sea monster, part crocodilian, part fish, and part toad or frog, with indefinite gender. Always hungry, every joint on its body was adorned with an extra mouth. The deity Tezcatlipoca sacrificed a foot when he used it as bait to draw the monster nearer. He and Quetzalcoatl created the earth from its body. Karl A. Taube has noted that among the F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
