Aztec Calendar

From GeneaWiki - English

The sun stone also called the Aztec calendar on display at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

The Aztec calendar is the calendar system that was used by the Aztecs as well as other Pre-Columbian peoples of central Mexico. It is one of the Mesoamerican calendars, sharing the basic structure of calendars from throughout ancient Mesoamerica.

The calendar consisted of a 365 day calendar cycle called xiuhpohualli (year count) and a 260 day ritual cycle called tonalpohualli (day count). These two cycles together formed a 52 year "century," sometimes called the "Calendar Round." The xiuhpohualli is considered to be the agricultural calendar, since it is based on the sun, and the tonalpohualli is considered to be the sacred calendar.

The calendric year began with the first appearance of the Pleiades asterism in the east immediately before the dawn light.

Tonalpohualli

The tonalpohualli ("day count") consists of a cycle of 260 days, each day signified by a combination of a number from one to thirteen, and one of the twenty day signs. With each new day, both the number and day sign would be incremented: 1 Crocodile is followed by 2 Wind, 3 House, 4 Lizard, and so forth up to 13 Reed, after which the cycle of numbers would restart (though the twenty day signs had not yet been exhausted) giving 1 Jaguar. The cycle of day signs would continue until 7 Flower, after which it would restart and give 8 Crocodile. It would take a full 260 days (13×20) for the two cycles of twenty day signs and thirteen numbers to realign and repeat the combination 1 Crocodile.

Day signs

The set of day signs used in central Mexico is identical to that used by Mixtecs, and to a lesser degree similar to those of other Mesoamerican calendars.

Each of the day signs also bears an association with one of the four cardinal directions.

There is some variation in the way the day signs were drawn or carved. Those here were taken from the Codex Magliabechiano.

Image Nahuatl name English translation Direction Cipactli Crocodile Alligator Caiman Crocodilian Monster East Ehecatl Wind North Calli House West Cuetzpalin Lizard South Coatl Serpent Snake East Miquiztli {Death North Mazatl Deer West Tochtli Rabbit South Atl Water East Itzcuintli Dog North Ozomatli Ozomahtli Monkey West

Image Nahuatl name English translation Direction Malinalli Grass South Acatl Reed East Ocelotl Jaguar North Quauhtli Cuauhtli Eagle West Cozcaquauhtli Cozcacuauhtli Vulture South Ollin Olin Movement Quake Earthquake East Tecpatl Flint Flint Knife North Quiahuitl Quiyahuitl Rain West Xochitl Flower South

Wind and Rain are represented by images of their associated gods, Ehecatl and Tlaloc (respectively).

Other marks on the stone showed the current world and also the worlds before this one. Each world was called a sun, and each sun had its own species of inhabitants. The Aztecs believed that they were in the fifth sun and like all of the suns before them they would also eventually perish due to their own imperfections. Every fifty two years was marked out because they believed that fifty two years was a life cycle and at the end of any given life cycle the gods could take away all that they have and destroy the world.

Trecenas

A set of thirteen numbered days is known by the Spanish term trecena (from trece "thirteen"). Each of the twenty trecenas in the 260-day cycle was associated with a particular deity:

See also

• List of Calendars

• Astronomical year numbering
• Calculating the day of the week
• Calendrical calculation
• Calendar
• Calendar date
• Calendar reform
• Computus
• Easter
• Ephemeris
• Intercalary month
• Julian day
• Leap year
• Old Style and New Style dates
• Passover
• Year zero

External links

• Detailed description of the temalactl from Mexico's Museo Nacional de Antropolgía
• Daily Aztec Calendar