The Codex Borgia
1. The Origin of the Codex Borgia
The Codex Borgia is one of the most beautiful of the few surviving
pre-Columbian painted manuscripts. The exact place of origin of this codex is
not known, however there is no doubt, that it originates from the central
Mexican highlands (possibly near Puebla or the Tehuacán Valley), an area which
was under Aztec rule at the time of the conquest. Obviously, this codex was
originally painted before the arrival of the Spanish, since it does not show any
European influence. It probably dates to the late 15th century. In the 16th
century it was sent from Mexico to Spain, and from there to Italy. The great
German scholar Alexander von Humboldt saw it in Rome in 1805 among the
possessions of Cardinal Stefano Borgia, who had died the previous year. Today
the Codex Borgia is housed in the Apostolic Library of the Vatican.
2. The Purpose of the Codex Borgia
The Codex Borgia is, like most
pre-columbian manuscripts, a religious book, made by highly specialized scribal
priests. They are not books in the traditional sense, of course, neither from
their way of production nor from their way of usage. There was not any type of
impression-making device, therefore no mass production was possible. Nor was
this intended, since those manuscripts are not made for just storing
information or reading stories for amusement. Stories were transmitted in an
oral tradition. The purpose of the mesoamerican books is rather to take hold of
time and the realm of history and religion. As it seems, images were more
important than words, especially with the Aztecs and other central mexican
peoples. Also, those books were not intended for reading them just individually
in a quiet chamber, but rather they were used in an active manner as part of
religious ceremonies when priests would make public readings, making
prophecies, or use them during consultations in order to give prognostications
of the lives of those who are about to marry or who inquire about the future of
their child, and so on.
3. The Production of the Codex Borgia
From the unfortunately very small sample size of mesoamerican
manuscripts, which religious zealousy and ignorance of 16th century Spanish
catholic culture has left posterity, we can suppose that each manuscript had
been handmade as a single, unique piece of art, although sequences of older
manuscripts had been copied frequently. Mesoamerican codices are screenfold
books: long strips of animal skin or amate paper, which are folded in an
accordion-like fashion. Afterwards the codices were covered with a white
lime-plaster coating, to enable the scribal priest to paint the manuscript,
using both mineral and organic pigments. All Mayan codices are made of
amate-paper which is obtained from the bark of the wild fig tree (ficus
cotinifolia). The Mayan codices read from left to right. The original of the
Codex Borgia is made of folded animal skin. The strips of skin were attached
end to end, folded into a screenfold, each page measuring 27 x 27 cm. This
codex is made of 39 leaves, with 37 of them painted on both sides. Two leaves
are painted on just one side, the back side being used to affix them to end
pieces, probably made of wood. This gives a total of 76 painted pages and a
length of more than 11 meters. The book is read from right to left.
4. The Content of the Codex Borgia
Of course, there is nobody alive anymore,
who could read and interpret this codex the way it was done by ancient Aztec
priests. So there is a lot of speculation as to the exact content of this
manuscript. However, we know for certain that it was a ritual book. The
original codex begins with a tonalpohualli,
which is a “book of the days“. It covers the famous ritual calendar period of
260 days, which is the result of the combination of 13 numbers with 20 days.
The next plates depict the 20 deities which represent those 20 days. There
follows a plate with the 9 deities of the night, next one finds an association
of the day signs with the cardinal directions. There are more pages about
astronomical planetary observations. Other pages refer to the solar year of 365
days, which in the Maya and Aztec calendar is made up of 18 cycles of 20 days
plus 5 extra days, called the unlucky days. The combination of the 365-day and
260 day-calendar results in the well-known calendar round of 52 years. There
are pages giving prognostications for each quarter (13 years) of this
52-year-period, when either abundance of food, or diseases and hunger, or
scarce or excessive rain are to be expected.
The longest sequence of the Codex Borgia
is also the most enigmatic one. It shows a narrative, or a story, and is
therefore unique. It is probably an account of historical events, probably
refering to Tula and Teotihuacan. Those are linked to many rituals like
sacrifices and ball games.
Finally, the codex contains plates which
were used as prognostication tools for the success of marriages. One of the
last pages shows a beautiful image of the sun god in company of 12 birds and a
butterfly, which together symbolize the 13 levels of heaven.
5.
The Description of the Aztec Gods and Day Signs
The reader will
next encounter a list of the 20 days signs and their corresponding Aztec gods.
1
alligator Tonacatecuhtli Supreme Male Deity
2
wind Quetzalcóatl Feathered Serpent, Wind
Deity
3
house Tepeyóllotl Heart of the Mountain
4
lizard Huehuecóyotl Old Coyote
5
serpent Chalchiuhtlicue Goddess of Running Water
6
death Tecciztécatl Goddess of the Moon
7
deer Tláloc Rain and Storm
8 rabbit Mayáhuel Goddess of Maguey
9
water Xiuhtecuhtli God of Fire
10 dog Mictlantecuhtli God of the Underworld
11 monkey Xochipilli Prince of Flowers
12 grass Patécatl God of Pulque
13 reed Tezcatlipoca-Ixquimilli Smoking Mirror with Bandaged Eyes
14 jaguar Tlazoltéotl Goddess of Filth and
the Earth
15 eagle Tlatlauhqui
Tezcatlipoca Red Smoking Mirror
16 vulture Itzpapálotl Obsidian Butterfly
17 movement Xólotl God of twins
18 flint Chalchiuh-
Totolin Turkey of the Precious
Stone
19 rain Tonatiuh Sun God
20 flower Xochiquétzal Flower-Quetzalfeather
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