Tovar Codex, Tecuilhuitontli, 7th Month Aztec Calendar

An Aztec month, showing the name of each day of the month. At the top is an image of a priest with a quetzal plume at his feet and a crown and calendar wheel in the background. The Aztecs used two calendars to compute the days of the year. Xiuhpohualli (the first, or solar, calendar) consisted of 365 days, divided into eighteen months of twenty units each, plus an additional period of five empty days at the end of the year. Tonalpohualli (day count calendar) was made up of 260 days, combinations of 13 numbers and 20 symbols. Every 52 years both calendars would align. The image probably indicates that the month shown here is the seventh month, Tecuilhuitontli (Small Feast of the Lords). The Tovar Codex (16th century) contains detailed information about the rites and ceremonies of the Aztecs. The codex is illustrated with 51 full-page paintings in watercolor. Illustration taken from a 19th century transcript of Juan de Tovar's Historia de la benida de los yndios apoblar a Mexico (the Coeadice Tovar)

Picture No

12696106

Media ID

47670271

Size

2991px x 4500px (2.1MB)

Credit

LOC/Jay I. Kislak Collection/Science Source/Mary Evans