The Four Surviving Maya Codices

The Four Surviving Maya Codices The Maya - an incredible pre-Colombian progress who arrived at their social apex around 600-800 A.D. prior to falling into steep decay - were educated and had books, written in an intricate language including pictograms, glyphs, and phonetic portrayals. A Maya book is alluded to as a codex (plural: codices). The codices were painted onto a paper made of bark from the fig tree and collapsed out like an accordion. Shockingly, ardent Spanish clerics obliterated the vast majority of these codices during the success and pilgrim time and today just four models endure. The four enduring Maya codices for the most part contain data about Maya space science, crystal gazing, religion, ceremonies, and Gods. Every one of the four of the Maya books were made after the defeat of the Maya human progress, demonstrating that a few remnants of culture stayed after the extraordinary city-conditions of the Maya Classic Period were deserted. The Dresden Codex The most complete of the enduring Maya codices, the Dresden Codex went to the Royal Library in Dresden in 1739 subsequent to being bought from a private gatherer in Vienna. It was drawn by no less than eight unique copyists and it is accepted that it was made at some point somewhere in the range of 1000 and 1200 A.D. during the Postclassic Maya period. Thisâ codex manages cosmology: days, schedules, great days for ceremonies, planting, predictions, and so forth. There is likewise a section which manages affliction and medication. There are additionally some cosmic outlines plotting the developments of the Sun and Venus. The Paris Codex The Paris Codex, found in 1859 out of a dusty corner of the Paris library, is certainly not a total codex, however sections of eleven twofold sided pages. It is accepted to date from the late Classic or Postclassic period of Maya history. There is a lot of data in the codex: it is about Maya functions, space science (counting heavenly bodies), dates, verifiable data and depictions of Maya Gods and spirits. The Madrid Codex For reasons unknown, the Madrid Codex was isolated into two sections after it arrived at Europe, and for some time was viewed as two diverse codices: it was assembled in 1888. Moderately ineffectively drawn, the codex is most likely from the late Postclassic Period (around 1400 A.D.) however might be from significantly later. Upwards of nine unique recorders chipped away at the archive. It is generally about space science, crystal gazing, and divination. It is of extraordinary enthusiasm to history specialists, as it contains data on Maya Gods and the ceremonies related with the Maya New Year. There is some data about the various days of the year and the Gods related with each. There is additionally a segment on essential Maya exercises, for example, chasing and making stoneware. The Grolier Codex Not found until 1965, the Grolier Codex comprises of eleven battered pages of what was likely once a bigger book. Like the others, it manages crystal gazing, explicitly Venus and its developments. Its realness has been addressed, however most specialists assume it’s veritable. Sources Archaeology.org: Redating the Madrid Codex, by Angela M.H. Schuster, 1999. McKillop, Heather. The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives. New York: Norton, 2004.