Codex Borbonicus facts for kids
The Codex Borbonicus is an ancient Aztec book. It was written by Aztec priests. This happened either just before or right after the Spanish arrived in the Aztec Empire. The book is named after the Palais Bourbon in France. It is kept safe in a library in Paris.
This codex is a great example of Aztec art. It helps us understand the Aztec calendar. It also shows us their gods and important ceremonies.
Contents
History of the Codex
The Codex Borbonicus is one of the few Aztec books that survived. Many thousands of native books were destroyed. This happened when Spanish explorers, led by Hernán Cortés, entered Aztec cities. Most books were burned to help the Aztecs accept European ideas.
The Codex Borbonicus was bought in 1826. A French monk named Pierre-Paul Druon purchased it at an auction. He was looking for rare and valuable works for the French Parliament's library. Today, the Codex is a French national treasure. It has not been allowed to leave France since the 1960s.
How the Codex Was Made
Early Aztec writings were mostly pictures. These were called pictographs. Later, after the Spanish arrived, Aztec scribes learned the Roman alphabet. Then they started adding words to their books. These words were in Nahuatl, their native language, and Spanish. It is not fully known if the Codex Borbonicus was made before or after the Spanish came.
The Codex Borbonicus is a single, long sheet of paper. It is made from a special tree bark called amatl. The sheet is about 46.5-foot (14.2 m) long. It was originally folded like an accordion. There were 40 pages, but the first two and last two are now missing. The book was mainly pictures and symbols. This was typical for Aztec books before the Spanish arrived. Some Spanish notes have been added later.
What's Inside the Codex
The Codex Borbonicus has three main parts. Each part tells us something different about Aztec life.
The Calendar Section
The first part is a detailed calendar. It is called a tonalamatl. This calendar was used for telling the future. Each page shows one of the 20 trecena periods. A trecena is a period of 13 days. These periods make up the tonalpohualli, which is a 260-day year.
Most of each page has a painting of a god or gods. The rest of the page shows the 13 day-signs for that trecena. It also shows 13 other symbols and gods. Priests used these symbols to create horoscopes. They also used them to predict what would happen. The first 18 pages of this section are very worn. This shows that priests used them very often.
The 52-Year Cycle
The second part of the codex explains the Mesoamerican 52-year cycle. This cycle was very important to the Aztecs. It shows the starting dates for each of these 52 solar years. These dates are connected to the nine Lords of the Night.
Rituals and Ceremonies
The third section focuses on Aztec rituals and ceremonies. It especially describes ceremonies that happen at the end of the 52-year cycle. One important ceremony was when the "new fire" had to be lit. This section of the codex was never fully finished.
See also
In Spanish: Códice borbónico para niños
- Aztec calendar
- Aztec codices
- Codex Borgia
