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Aztec/Mesoamerican ‘Books’ and Writing

Aztec/Mesoamerican ‘Books’ and Writing

Codex Boturini p.3

Welcome to this section on the art of the tlacuilo (painter-scribe) and ‘writing’ in ancient Mesoamerica. Note: the Mexica-Aztecs had a strong tradition of oral communication rather than our written texts. We give you two juicy quotes from respected academics to kick things off, after our own humble ‘play on words’:-
THESE BOOKS ARE MADE FOR TALKING! (apologies to Lee Hazlewood...)

’An Aztec manuscript is not read in the normal sense of the word, but is deciphered like a puzzle picture in which the glyphs provide labels and clues to what is going on...’ (Warwick Bray)
’The defining purpose of the tonalamatl is to put human beings in direct perceptual, metaphysical, interactive, conversational, and ultimately epistemological contact with the sacred personages of the tonalpohualli. The tlacuilo does this by making the time-persons ontologically present on the pages of the tonalamatl’ (James Maffie).

(In the main image above we see Mexica priests crying while conversing with the sacred bundle of Huitzilopochtli - detail from the Codex Boturini, fol. 3)

We recommend, for both teachers and students, the resource pages on Codices, Writing/Language, Paper, and more on the website of the NEH Summer Institute for School Teachers, Oaxaca 2015, link below...

‘Tooth place’: some Aztec place glyphs in the Codex Mendoza‘How did the Spanish translate what the Aztecs wrote?’‘How did scribes get rid of mistakes when they wrote their books?’‘Why did they put blank pages at the end of the Codex [Cospi]?’NEH Summer Institute for School Teachers, Oaxaca 2015‘Was the Voynich manuscript written in Nahuatl?’‘Lost Aztec manuscript that lay in Glasgow for 200 years could be city’s greatest treasure’Introduction to the Lienzo de Tlaxcala - Mesolore‘Tlaxcala, Land of … Tortillas?’ - David Bowles’ explanation of the glyph for Tlaxcala
Gestures could relate to anything

Gestures could relate to anythingfrom greetings to commands, pleasure to pain...

In Native Mexican books

In Native Mexican booksinformation was spoken, sung, felt...

Measuring with a rope might

Measuring with a rope mightbe part of a sacred foundation ritual...

What happened when children were given

What happened when children were giventhe original Codex Borgia as a toy...

An enlarged copy of the {italicCodex Boturini} bedecked

An enlarged copy of the Codex Boturini bedeckedthe walls of the great ‘Ancient Mexico’ exhibition of 1824

Kingsborough’s {italicAntiquities} goes west, introducing

Kingsborough’s Antiquities goes west, introducingscholars to Mexico’s treasury of codices...

For the Nahua the sun, like time itself,

For the Nahua the sun, like time itself,is blue...!

Looking for the laundry?

Looking for the laundry?Just follow the sign...!

How did the Mexica depict

How did the Mexica depictthe concept of conquest?

How did the Aztecs depict old age

How did the Aztecs depict old agein their books?

One priceless Mexican codex

One priceless Mexican codexwas nearly swapped for a snuff box...

How did the Mexica

How did the Mexicause and represent zero?

Aztlan: ‘written’ as heron

Aztlan: ‘written’ as heronfeathers and water...

The Aztecs carried out complex calculations for

The Aztecs carried out complex calculations forcalendar-keeping, censuses, taxation, and more...

How do you read the page order

How do you read the page orderin a Mesoamerican codex?

The colour of a ‘curlicue’ could

The colour of a ‘curlicue’ couldmean everything from elegant eloquence to excrement...

The first written accounts of earthquakes

The first written accounts of earthquakesin ancient Mexico...

Blue suede {italicxiuh}s - just as precious

Blue suede xiuhs - just as preciousto the Aztecs as they were to Elvis...

Ancient Mesoamerican maps

Ancient Mesoamerican mapswere cosmic, sky and terrestrial...

We report back on the 6th London

We report back on the 6th LondonNahuatl Study Day and Workshop...

‘Night flight’ - how the Mexica scribes

‘Night flight’ - how the Mexica scribesdepicted the Spanish fleeing Tenochtitlan

The extraordinary story of the codex

The extraordinary story of the codexTonalamatl de Aubin

Getting to the ‘bottom’ of it -

Getting to the ‘bottom’ of it -the creative use of a glyph...

Which representation of the Templo Mayor

Which representation of the Templo Mayordo you think is the odd one out...?

What did scribes write WITH

What did scribes write WITHin ancient Mesoamerica?

The mysterious two characters on the

The mysterious two characters on thelast page of the Codex Boturini...

Ancient Mexican books have been called

Ancient Mexican books have been calledlots of different things, not just ‘codices’...

A movement is growing to give ancient

A movement is growing to give ancientMexican codices more authentic names

The Mixtecs were masters in metallurgy, lapidary work,

The Mixtecs were masters in metallurgy, lapidary work,fine carving, and in the making of pictorial manuscripts

Mixtec codices: the only set of pre-Hispanic documents

Mixtec codices: the only set of pre-Hispanic documents(other than Maya books) to survive the Spanish invasion

We recommend some good introductions

We recommend some good introductionsto studying Mexica (Aztec) writing...

In the poetic language of the Aztecs the flower

In the poetic language of the Aztecs the flowerwas perhaps the most powerful metaphor of all

The Codex Laud (Códice Mictlan) was first thought

The Codex Laud (Códice Mictlan) was first thoughtto be an Egyptian hieroglyphic book...

Hear the crackly sound of an elderly Mexica scholar

Hear the crackly sound of an elderly Mexica scholarturning the pages of a dry, hard codex...

Mexica scribes changed (flower-based) colours

Mexica scribes changed (flower-based) coloursjust by putting the brushes into their mouths...

The Aztecs valued paper almost more

The Aztecs valued paper almost morethan any other substance...

Studying the surface of codices

Studying the surface of codices is a bit like studying the surface of the moon

The ‘art of memory’: a Shakespearean sonnet

The ‘art of memory’: a Shakespearean sonnetcompared to a Nahua song-poem...

The constant tapping sound -

The constant tapping sound -- of bark paper making in San Pablito...

Scientists in Holland attempt

Scientists in Holland attemptto reconstruct a Mesoamerican codex...

Some of the secrets of the codices at the Bodleian Library

Some of the secrets of the codices at the Bodleian Libraryare revealed by non-invasive research tecniques...

Aztec books served as reminders of key

Aztec books served as reminders of keysongs, stories, rituals and myths...

Writing systems preserve and communicate stories, information and memories

Writing systems preserve and communicate stories, information and memoriesthat people want to keep...

The Codex Cospi was once thought

The Codex Cospi was once thoughtin Europe to be of Chinese origin!

We report back on the 2nd London

We report back on the 2nd LondonNahuatl Study Day and Workshop...

Our report on the 3rd London

Our report on the 3rd LondonNahuatl Study Day...

Our report on the 4th London

Our report on the 4th LondonNahuatl Study Day and Workshop

A modern-day ‘tlacuilo’

A modern-day ‘tlacuilo’has a sad tale to tell...

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Aztec/Mesoamerican ‘Books’ and Writing

Codex Boturini p.3

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