Codex Chimalpopoca
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''Codex Chimalpopoca'' or ''Códice Chimalpopoca'' is a postconquest cartographic
Aztec codex Aztec codices ( nah, Mēxihcatl āmoxtli , sing. ''codex'') are Mesoamerican manuscripts made by the pre-Columbian Aztec, and their Nahuatl-speaking descendants during the colonial period in Mexico. History Before the start of the Sp ...
which is officially listed as being in the collection of the
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH, ''National Institute of Anthropology and History'') is a Mexican federal government bureau established in 1939 to guarantee the research, preservation, protection, and promotion of the ...
located in Mexico City under "Collección Antiguo no. 159". It is best known for its stories of the hero-god Quetzalcoatl.Bierhorst, John. In Davíd Carrasco (ed). "Chimalpopoca, Codex." In ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures''. : Oxford University Press, 2001. The current whereabouts of the codex are unknown. It appears to have been lost in the mid-twentieth century. Study of the codex is therefore necessarily provided only through copies and photographs. The codex consists of three parts, two of which are more important, one that regards the pre-Hispanic history of Central Mexico, the ''Anales de Cuauhtitlan'' and the other that regards the study of Aztec cosmology, the ''Leyenda de los Soles''.


Physical characteristics

According to Walter Lehmann, who studied the Codex in 1909 and 1926 when it was housed at the Museo Nacional de México, the manuscript was about 22 cm high and 15 cm long. The paper was thin and yellowed with worn edges.


Name

The title page ''Codice Chimalpopoca'' is accompanied by the date 1849 and a note explaining that the name was given it by
Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg Abbé Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg (8 September 1814 – 8 January 1874) was a noted French writer, ethnographer, historian, archaeologist, and Catholic priest. He became a specialist in Mesoamerican studies, travelling extensively ...
, in honor of a Mexican scholar of the early nineteenth century, Faustino Galicia Chimalpopoca.


History

The original of the manuscript is unknown and the original is probably a copy of an even older work. The three parts of the copied manuscript in Mexico's National Institute are all in one hand. The script is provided with cover pages bearing the genealogy of Mexican historian
Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...
. Although Ixtlilxochitl himself does not make mention anywhere in his works of this manuscript, it is tempting to speculate that he is the copyist. In the mid-eighteenth century, the well known collector
Lorenzo Boturini Benaduci Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci (also Botterini) 1698, Como, Sondrio, Italy – 1749, Madrid) was a historian, antiquary and ethnographer of New Spain, the Spanish Empire, Spanish Empire's colonial dominions in North America. Early life Born in It ...
describes a manuscript that closely resembles the Codex Chimalpopoca, and specifies that it was copied by Ixtlilxochitl. What is known is that at the end of the eighteenth century, Mexican scholar
Antonio de León y Gama Antonio de León y Gama (1735–1802) was a Mexican astronomer, anthropologist and writer. When in 1790 the Aztec calendar stone (also called sun stone) was discovered buried under the main square of Mexico City, he published an essay about it ...
made a copy of the manuscript, which is preserved at the
Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
. Following the disappearance of the original manuscript, probably in 1949, the best source for its study is the photograph of the original that was taken by
Primo Feliciano Velázquez Primo Feliciano Velázquez Rodríguez (6 June 1860 – 19 June 1953) was a Mexican journalist, attorney and historian who specialized in regional history. He was a translator of Nahuatl and Latin and a connoisseur of local literature. In 194 ...
in 1945.


Contents

Codex Chimalpopoca is composed of three parts unrelated to each other. The first part, called ''Anales de Cuauhtitlan'' (Annals of Cuautitlán), is a work in
Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
, which takes its name from the city of
Cuautitlán Cuautitlán (), is a municipality in the State of Mexico, just north of the northern tip of the Federal District (Distrito Federal) within the Greater Mexico City urban area. The city of Cuautitlán is the municipal seat and makes up most of the ...
. The content is primarily historical. It nevertheless contains a brief version of the ''Leyenda de los Soles'' (Legend of the Suns). This part occupies pages 1–68 of the codex. The second part, with the title ''Breve relación de los dioses y ritos de la gentilidad'', consists of a short book written in Spanish (pages 69–74 of the manuscript) by a certain Indian cleric of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, Pedro Ponce de León, which deals with Aztec deities and rites. The third part, called ''Leyenda de los Soles'' is another work in Nahuatl that develops versions of the most frequently cited sun legends (pages 75–84). The Codex's name was given by
Francisco del Paso y Troncoso Francisco de Borja del Paso y Troncoso (October 8, 1842 in Veracruz, Veracruz Mexico – April 30, 1916 in Florence, Italy) was an important Mexican historian, archivist, and Nahuatl language scholar. He "was and remains the outstanding major M ...
in 1903. The second section, the Breve relación, is not included in the 1945 copy.


References


Bibliography

* *


External links


Original text and Latin translation (by Walter Lehmann, 1906)
*[http://www.historicas.unam.mx/publicaciones/publicadigital/libros/000/000_04_03_LeyendaSoles.pdf “Leyenda de los Soles” p. 119-128, Códice Chimalpopoca: Anales de Cuauhtitlán y Leyenda de los Soles, Primo Feliciano Velázquez (traducción) y Miguel León Portilla (prefacio). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas Editorial. 1992. XXII + 167 + [LXXXIV]. Facsímiles {{ISBN, 968-36-2747-1] Aztec codices, Chimalpopoca Aztec society Nahuatl literature Bibliothèque nationale de France collections