Mexican Codices: An Introduction

Edited by Doris Kurella, Martin Berger and Inés de Castro in Kooperation with the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Mexico Maarten E.R.G.N. Jansen and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez Mexican Codices: An Introduction T he use of writing is a hallmark of the ancient Meso-American civilisation. We may distinguish two main writing systems or modalities. One is the representation of phonetic units (syllables, words) through specific signs: hieroglyphic writing, which was prominently practised by the Maya (Eastern Meso-America). The other system consisted of communicating information directly through iconic images: picture writing (pictography), used by the Nahua (Aztec), Mixtec and other peoples in Central and Southern Mexico. The two systems were not mutually exclusive. Pictography may include phonetic signs, especially for names of persons and places, while hieroglyphic texts may be combined with figurative scenes. Both developed simultaneously from ± 800 B.C and were optimised during the Classic period (± A.D. 200 – 900). No books have survived from those early times, but we can identify elements of writing in frescos, sculptures, decorated ceramics etc. The wall paintings of the Classic metropolis Teotihuacan show a fully developed system of pictographic conventions. It seems likely that the preference for pictography in this culture was related to the fact that its realm or influence sphere involved many different languages, which were often tonal in character, with tones changing under the influence of sentence melody. The communication of meanings directly through a sophisticated but easily recognisable system of iconic images was certainly easier, more efficient, and more generally understood than a register of such meanings through hieroglyphic signs which referred to words in a specific language and were therefore not readable in other languages. Less then twenty books have survived from the time before the Spanish conquest (A.D. 1521). They consist of folded strips of deerskin or bark paper, covered with a white plaster (gypsum) layer on which diverse types of colourful figures and signs were painted. There must have been (many) thousands of such pre-colonial books, but the Spanish conquistadors and missionaries destroyed most of them in an attempt to eradicate indigenous knowledge, religion, memory, and art, which they considered pagan and diabolical. A few examples escaped because they were sent to Europe as “curiosities of the New World”. 47 Fig. 1 | Codex Mendoza, Fol. 70r Bodleian Library, Oxford have been proposed, more in accordance with their contents and culturallinguistic affiliation (Jansen and Pérez 2004). The surviving codices may be classified into two main categories. The first is the historical and administrative genre: it registers genealogies and historical acts of rulers (e.g. wars and conquests but also origin narratives and ritual events), as well as tributes, land holdings and communitarian customs. Colonial examples are often related to lawsuits and other conflicts in which the indigenous dynasties and communities tried to maintain their rights in the face of colonial domination. Codex Bodley, preserved in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, is a pre-colonial example of the historical genre. We have renamed it Codex Ñuu Tnoo – Ndisi Nuu or “Book of Tilantongo and Tlaxiaco” after the Mixtec towns it refers to. One section deals with the dramatic biography of Lord 8 Deer ‘Jaguar Claw’. The first part of this Mixtec ruler’s name (8 Deer) is a “calendar name”, i.e. the day on which he was born, while the second part (‘Jaguar Claw’) is a more poetic “given name”. In the codex (page 7-V), his figure is shown with an umbilical cord connected to the day 8 Deer (his birthday) of the year 12 Reed. The following signs clarify that this was the 18th day in the “month” of the Rain God (the month called Etzalcualiztli in the Aztec calendar). Most likely this was 15 June 1064 in the Julian calendar (= 21 June 1064 in the Gregorian calendar), the day of the summer solstice. An upward-looking eagle probably represents the hour of daybreak, called tonatiuh quauhtleoanitl, “the sun (as) soaring eagle” by the Aztecs. Fig. 2 Lienzo de Don Juan Chichimecatecuhtli Museum der Kulturen Basel (cat. 6) Ancient literacy did not immediately come to an end with the conquest, however. During the early colonial period, books in ancient style continued to be produced, often with annotations in Spanish or in indigenous languages written using the European alphabet. There are hundreds of such later manuscripts, which – precisely because of those annotations and other comments – offer crucial insights into the pre-colonial art of writing. This corpus of books, now called codices, was produced by speakers of diverse languages. A prime source of information about the ancient history of indigenous peoples, these artworks are nowadays preserved as delicate treasures in museums, libraries, or other collections in different countries. As most information about provenance, original context, and meaning was lost during their diaspora, the documents were named after the libraries, owners, or researchers with which they became associated. In recent years new names 48 49 Fig. 3 Codex Bodley or Nuu Tnoo Ndisi Nuu (inv. no. Bodley 7 V): Birth of the Ruler “8 Deer” Bodleian Library, Oxford Fig. 4 Codex Borgia, Ball Game (Inv. Nr. Borg p 21 inf) Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana The second genre is religious in character, presenting divinatory symbolism and diverse ritual practices in accordance with the ancient calendar. The early colonial examples were generally produced under the supervision of Spanish missionaries, who wanted to document the native beliefs in order to combat and extirpate them. Codex Borgia, renamed Codex Yoalli Ehecatl, the “Book of Night and Wind” is one of the most spectacular pre-colonial religious manuscripts. Most likely, it was painted for (and in) the ceremonial centre of Cholula in Central Mexico; nowadays it is in the Vatican Library. The painted symbols express the 50 influence of specific deities on subdivisions of the calendar and indicate the care that humans should take during those times. A series of eight images (pages 18–21), for example, lists threats and challenges for the ruler, the priest, the woman who carries water, the ball player, the traveller, the farmer, the logger, and the married couple. The scene of the ball player may be read as follows (from right to left): “The ball player is under the patronage of the Black Tezcatlipoca (“Smoking Mirror”), the numen of obsidian, the deity of the mysterious powers of the universe. 51 Fig. 5 } Paintings in the style of the codices also appear as decoration on ceramic vessels which were probably used for ceremonies in honour of the gods or ancestors Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (cat. 88) In this period ball players should be careful and take precautions: their initiative (the ball) may be affected by the danger (serpent) of vices, ruptures, and bloodshed. In the playfield of life (hearts) and death (skull, bone), there may be violence and killing. Dangers surround the rings of the ball game: the goals and aims. The adversary is under the patronage of the Red Tezcatlipoca, the numen of metal: though being smaller, he holds the ballgame implements, i.e. he controls the game.” In-depth study and interpretation show that ancient Mexican pictography was a highly sophisticated system, capable of registering data in a precise manner and of producing impressive, elaborated readings through declamation and performance in accordance with the conventions of ceremonial discourse and other forms of oral literature. Contemporary indigenous tradition (cultural continuity) holds a valuable key for further decipherment. ! Fig. 6 Model of a ball court Museum am Rothenbaum Hamburg (cat. 108) 52