Description
The codex is made of animal skins folded into 39 sheets. Each sheet is a square , for a total length of nearly . All but the end sheets are painted on both sides, providing 76 pages. The codex is read from right to left. Pages 29–46 are oriented perpendicular to the rest of the codex. The top of this section is the right side of page 29, and the scenes are read from top to bottom, so the reader must rotate the manuscript 90 degrees in order to view this section correctly. The Codex Borgia is organized into a screen-fold. Single sheets of the hide are attached as a long strip and then folded back and forth. Images were painted on both sides upon a coating of a whiteHistory
The Codex Borgia was brought to Europe at some point during the Spanish colonial period. The Codex seems to have been the property of the Giustiniani family before being donated to Stefano Borgia; indeed, an indigenous book from Mexico is mentioned as being part of the 1600-1611 inventories of the Guardaroba of Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani, although the identification of this catalogue entry with the Borgia itself is still unsure. It could have reached Europe even earlier, for, as noticed by Franz Ehrle, there is a gloss in page 68 of the codex in wrong Italian which suggest a 16th-century Spanish priest, which uses a manicule or hand sign typical of the era. The Borgia is first mentioned with certainty as forming part of the collections of Cardinal Stefano Borgia in Veletri, the ''Museum Borgianum Veliternum'', catalogue number 365, "Gran codice messicano in Pelle", valued in 300 scudi. After the death of Borgia, these objects became property of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, which created a Borgian museum of its own within its headquarters at the Palazzo di Propaganda Fide. Stories about the codex prior to its acquisition by Borgia are difficult to verify: oral tradition at the Congregation asserts that it was saved in 1762 from an Auto-da-fé in Mexico, while baron von Humboldt mentions that it belonged to the Giustiniani family, eventually falling into the hands of neglectful servants who damaged the manuscript with fire, only to be saved by Borgia. In 21 April 1902, Borgia's collection was moved to the Apostolic Library of the Vatican, where it is currently housed. It has been digitally scanned and madContents
The manuscript comprises 28 sections. Most of them are devoted to the different aspects of the '' Tonalpohualli'', the Central Mexican divinatory calendar. In general, the codex presents the associations between time periods, gods, and 'mantic images', or iconography with a divinatory content. Section 13, which comprises pages 29–46, has been the subject of differing interpretations throughout the years. The one that claims it depicts a series of rituals is the most agreed upon. The overview offered here follows the division proposed by Karl Anton Nowotny.Section 1: Tonalpohualli ''in extenso'' (pages 1–8)
The first eight pages list the 260 day-signs of the tonalpohualli, each trecena or 13-day division forming a horizontal row spanning two pages. Certain days are marked with a footprint symbol with an unknown purpose. Mantic images are placed above and below the day signs. Sections parallel to this one are contained in the first eight pages of the Codex Cospi and the Codex Vaticanus B. However, while the Codex Borgia is read from right to left, those codices are read from left to right. Additionally, the Codex Cospi includes the so-called Lords of the Night alongside the day signs (see Section 3).Section 2: The First 20 day signs with their regents Pages (9–13)
Pages 9 to 13 are divided into four quarters. Each quarter contains one of the twenty day signs, its patron deity, and associated mantic symbols, presumably as prognostications for individuals born in each of those day signs. The list is as follows: # Cipactli ''(Caiman)'', Tonacatecuhtli # Ehecatl ''(Wind)'', Ehecatl # Calli ''(House)'', Tepeyollotl # Cuetzpalin ''(Lizard)'', Huehuecoyotl # Coatl ''(Snake)'', Chalchiuhtlicue # Miquiztli ''(Death)'', Metztli # Mazatl ''(Deer)'', Tlaloc # Tochtli ''(Rabbit)'', Mayahuel # Atl ''(Water)'', Xiuhtecuhtli # Itzcuintli ''(Dog)'', Mictlantecuhtli # Ozomahtli ''(Monkey)'', Xochipilli # Malinalli ''(Grass)'', Patecatl # Acatl ''(Reed)'', Itztlacoliuhqui # Ocelotl ''(Jaguar)'', Tlazolteotl # Cuauhtli ''(Eagle)'', Xipe Totec # Cozcacuauhtli ''(Vulture)'', Itzpapalotl # Olin ''(Movement)'', Xolotl # Tecpatl ''(Flint)'', Chalchiuhtotolin # Quiyahuitl ''(Rain)'', Tonatiuh # Xochitl ''(Flower)'', XochiquetzalSection 3: The Lords of the Night (14)
Page 14 is divided into nine sections for each of the nine Lords of the Night, pre-Hispanic deities which ruled nighttime. They are accompanied by a day sign and symbols indicating positive or negative associations. The deities and prognostications according to '' Codex Ríos'' and Jacinto de la Serna, a seventeenth-century Spanish cleric, are as follows: # Xiuhtecuhtli (Ríos: good; de la Serna: bad) #Section 4 and 5: Mantics referring to children. Tezcatlipoca, lord of fate (15–17)
Pages 15 to 17 depict deities associated withSection 6: Different prognostications (18–21)
Prognostications related to different activities being performed by gods, including religious activities (Tonatiuh, Ehecatl), woodcutting (Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli), agriculture (Tlaloc), crossing a river (Chalchiuhtlicue) travelling (red Tezcatlipoca), and the ball-game (black Tezcatlipoca).Section 7 and 8: Wounded deer and the cultic qualities of the 20 day-signs (22–24)
The upper side of page 22 presents two deer, one white, with closed eyes and surrounded by precious regalia, and other being pierced by a dart or arrow, which gives its name to the section. Pages 22–24 present the ritual qualities of the 20 day-signs.Section 9 and 10: The four quarters and the region of the dead
Two directional almanacs, one depicting four deities (Tlaloc, Xipe Totec, an unidentified Mixtec god, and Mixcoatl), and a directional almanac related to death, associated with four deities.Section 11 and 12: The rain gods of the 4 quarters and the centre (27–28)
Pages 27 and 28 center on the Postclassical period central Mexican rain god Tlaloc, associated to the 4 quarters and the centre, as well as the qualities of the rains that he will bring, some destructive, some beneficial.Section 13 (pages 29–46): The Cultic Part
Having no discernible parallels with other manuscripts within the Borgia Group, the interpretation of this section has varied strongly throughout the years. Its first interpreter, the jesuit Lino Fábrega, considered it to be a nativeSection 14: The Cihuateteo and the Macuitonaleque (47-48)
This section depicts the Cihuateteo, the divinized spirits of the women that died in child-birth, and the Macuiltonaleque, minor spirits of excess, pleasure and violence.Section 15, 16, and 17: Directional Almanacs and the 'deer of our flesh' (50-53)
The directional almanacs depict the four quarters of the universe and the centre, and their corresponding day signs, sacred trees, and 'mantic images'. The 'deer of our flesh' or ''tonacayo mazatl'' is a corporeal almanac, associating parts of the human body figured as a deer with day-signs. Its meaning is not agreed: according to ''Codex Tudela'', they are mere prognostications for people born at those birth signs, while ''Codex Rios'' suggest a medical use.Section 18: The morning star (53-54)
This section starts in the lower left part of page 53 and continues throughout page 54. It is generally considered, following Seler, that the iconography depicts Venus as the morning star, piercing different characters or iconographic elements in different day-signs. Due to the mechanics of the Tonalpohualli, theSection 19: The gods of the merchants (55)
This section depicts day-signs associated to different deities represented as travellers or merchants, and their associated prognostications.Section 20: The Tonalpohualli divided among Quetzalcoatl and Mictlantecuhtli (56)
This page depicts Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcoatl back to back. The purpose is unknown, but perhaps it was related to life and death prognostications in medicine.Section 21 and 22: Marriage Prognostications
This section comprises prognostications for marriages. The coefficient of the Tonalpohualli birth-sign of the groom and the bride (comprising from 1 to 13) are added, and the resulting sum is compared to each of the images, which go from 2, the lowest result, to 26, the highest. The prognostication is given by the iconography: in general, even numbers are unlucky, odd, lucky.Section 23 and 24: The twenty 13-day 'weeks' or ''trecenas'' of the Tonalpohualli, and the auguric birds of each day (61-70)
A complete tonalpohualli, comprising the twenty 13-day periods which were known as ''trecenas'' in Spanish, which some chroniclers considered equivalent to weeks in the Gregorian calendar. Each trecena is named after its initial day-sign, and each has a patron god which determines if it is either lucky or unlucky. Trecenas, patron gods and prognostications are the following, according to the glosses in ''Codex Borbonicus'': # One Caiman, Tonacatecuhtli # One Jaguar, Ehecatl # One Deer, Tepeyollotl # One Flower, Huehuecoyotl # One Reed, Chalchiuhtlicue # One Death, Tonatiuh # One Rain, Tlaloc # One Grass, Mayahuel # One Snake, Xiuhtecuhtli # One Flint, Mictlantecuhtli # One Monkey, Patecatl # One Lizard, Ixtlacoliuhqui # One Movement, Tlazolteotl # One Dog, Xipe Totec # One House, Itzpapalotl # One Vulture, Xolotl # One Water, Chalchiuhtotolin # One Wind, Chantico # One Eagle, Xochiquetzal # One Rabbit, Xiuhtecuhtli The final page of this section depicts the sun god, Tonatiuh, receiving offerings, and states the sacred flying animals associated to each day.Section 25 The 20 'weeks', the quarters of the universe and the centre
This almanac divides the 20 day-signs into quarters associated with deities and snakes forming a xicalcoliuhqui or meandering pattern.Section 26: 20 and 26 day-signs related to Quetzalcoatl and Mictlantecuhtli
Similar to section 20, but divided in four quarters rather than two halves.Section 27: 20-day signs referred to men and women
This almanac presents a Cihuapilli and a Macuiltonaleque, each associated with day-signs.Section 28: Gods of the half-''trecenas''
This almanac depicts the ruling deities of half-''trecena'' periods, enthroned, receiving cult and with associated mantic images.References
;Bibliography * * * * * * *External links
* * * {{Borgia Group Borgia 16th-century manuscripts Mesoamerican pictorial manuscripts Aztec philosophy