''Codex Ríos'' is an Italian translation and augmentation of a Spanish colonial-era manuscript,

Codex Telleriano-Remensis The Codex Telleriano-Remensis, produced in sixteenth century Mexico on European paper, is one of the finest surviving examples of Aztec manuscript painting. Its Latinized name comes from Charles-Maurice Le ''Tellier'', archbishop of ''Reims'', ...

, that is partially attributed to Pedro de los Ríos, a Dominican

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

working in Oaxaca and Puebla between 1547 and 1562. The

codex 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 ...

itself was likely written and drawn in Italy after 1566.

Description

The manuscript is focused on the Tolteca-Chichimeca culture in the Tehuacan Valley in modern-day

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

and

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. It can be divided into seven sections: :# Cosmological and mythological traditions with emphasis on the four epochs. :# An almanac, or ''

tonalamatl The ''tonalamatl'' is a divinatory almanac used in central Mexico in the decades, and perhaps centuries, leading up to the Spanish conquest. The word itself is Nahuatl in origin, meaning "pages of days". The ''tonalamatl'' was structured arou ...

'', for the 260-day divinatory year common in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

. :# Calendar tables for the years 1558 through 1619, without drawings. :# An 18-month festival calendar, with drawings of the gods of each period. :# Ritual customs, with portraits of Indians. :# Pictorial chronicles for the years 1195-1549 beginning with the migration from

Chicomoztoc Chicomoztoc () is the name for the mythical origin place of the Aztec Mexicas, Tepanecs, Acolhuas, and other Nahuatl-speaking peoples (or Nahuas) of the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica, in the Postclassic period. The term Chicomoztoc derive ...

and covering later events in the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico wa ...

. :# Glyphs for the years 1556 through 1562, without drawings or text. ''Codex Ríos'' consists of 101 pages of European paper, accordion-folded. It is held in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

, Rome, and is also variously known as Codex Vatican A, Codex Vaticanus A, and Codex Vaticanus 3738. Facsimile: Codex Vaticanus A (3738), Rome, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, around 1580; Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) Graz 1979. Colour reproduction for studies of the manuscript in possession of the Bibliotèca Apostolica Vaticana, reduced to 7/10 of the original size, i.e. to 340 x 260 mm. Miniature paintings with Italian notes. Half leather binding. Introduction: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt. 14 pp. and 192 plates. CODICES SELECTI, Vol. LXV It is the only colonial Mexican manuscript fully annotated in Italian, and the only ancient Mexican manuscript establishing thirteen celestial layers in the Aztec cosmos and nine levels of the underworld.

Gallery

Image:Centeotl.jpg, Centeotl Image:Chalchiutlicue rios.jpg,

Chalchiuhtlicue Chalchiuhtlicue (from ''chālchihuitl'' "jade" and ''cuēitl'' "skirt") (also spelled Chalciuhtlicue, Chalchiuhcueye, or Chalcihuitlicue) ("She of the Jade Skirt") is an Aztec deity of water, rivers, seas, streams, storms, and baptism. Chalch ...

Image:Mayahuel 1.jpg,

Mayahuel Mayahuel () is the female deity associated with the maguey plant among cultures of central Mexico in the Postclassic era of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology, and in particular of the Aztec cultures. As the personification of the maguey plant, ...

Image:Patecatl.jpg,

Patecatl In Aztec mythology, Patecatl is a god of healing and fertility and the discoverer of peyote as well as the "lord of the root of pulque". With Mayahuel, he was the father of the Centzon Totochtin. In the Aztec calendar, Patecatl is the lord of ...

Image:Tepeyollotl 1.jpg, Tepeyollotl Image:Tlaloc, Codex Rios, p.20r.JPG, Tlaloc Image:Xochiquetzal.jpg, Xochiquetzal

References

Astrological texts Rios, Codex Manuscripts of the Vatican Library {{VaticanCity-stub

Description

Gallery

See also

References