Decoding the Codex Borgia, livre ebook

Exploring the meanings in the intricate symbolism of a rare Precolumbian manuscript

This book explores the rich symbolism of the Codex Borgia, a masterpiece of Precolumbian art dating to the fifteenth century, one of the few surviving books from before the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Susan Milbrath uses information from the fields of art history, anthropology, ethnohistory, natural history, and cultural astronomy to show how the manuscript’s intricate and colorful imagery conveys complex ideas related to Mesoamerican myths and religion.

Milbrath sets the work in historical context, establishing its provenance in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley of Central Mexico and pinpointing the date it was painted based on rain almanacs found in its pages. She offers a new interpretation of a unique narrative section that has long intrigued scholars, arguing that the ceremonial variations depicted in it are related to the solar cycle. Overall, this book opens new doors in the study of the Codex Borgia by identifying seasonal imagery in the narrative and associated astronomical events, especially those that involve the three brightest objects in the sky: the sun, the moon, and Venus. Decoding the Codex Borgia is an illuminating journey into the culture and cosmology of the Aztecs and their neighboring communities.

List of Figures

List of Color Plates

List of Sky Maps

List of Synopsis Plates

List of Tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. Setting the Stage for Study of the Codex Borgia

Chapter 2. Scholarly Research on the Unique Narrative on Borgia 29–46

Chapter 3. Seasonality in the Central Mexican Festivals and the Borgia Narrative

Chapter 4. Calendar Round Almanacs in the Codex Borgia

Chapter 5. Deities of the Sun and Moon in Borgia Group Codices

Chapter 6. Lunar Phases and Eclipses in the Borgia Group Codices

Chapter 7. Celestial Cycles in the Codex Borgia Narrative

Chapter 8. How Can the Codex Borgia Be Decoded?

Appendix A. Aztec Gods Associated with the Twenty Trecena Periods and Their Associated Fates

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index