Dresden Codex
Also known as: Codex Dresdensis, Códice de Dresde, Maya Dresden Codex
A pre-Columbian Maya screenfold manuscript of ritual almanacs and astronomical tables—most notably the Venus and eclipse tables—interweaving deity imagery with divinatory guidance.
Description
The Dresden Codex is a richly painted hieroglyphic book on bark paper (huun) prepared in a screenfold of 39 leaves, yielding seventy-four pages. Its contents combine divinatory almanacs, deity cycles, and precise astronomical calculations that regulate ritual timing, agriculture, travel, warfare, and medicine. Among its highlights are the Venus Table, correction schemes for intercalation, a lunar/solar eclipse table, and New Year pages featuring the Year Bearers and Pawahtun sky-bearers. Iconography depicts major Maya gods—Itzamnaaj, Chaak, K’awiil, and the aged goddess often called Chak Chel—showing offerings, augury, and scenes of destructive flood waters that signal cosmic renewal. Copied in the Postclassic period from earlier sources, the codex stands as the most complete surviving Maya book.
Historiography
One of four surviving Maya codices, the manuscript entered the Royal Library in Dresden in the 18th century. Ernst Förstemann’s late-19th-century studies first deciphered the Venus Table’s arithmetic; later scholars (Thompson, Aveni, Bricker, Taube) refined readings of the astronomical and ritual sequences. The codex suffered water damage during World War II yet remains legible following conservation. Its Yucatec language and glyphic conventions anchor it to the Postclassic scribal tradition derived from Classic prototypes.
Date Notes
Postclassic Yucatec Maya screenfold manuscript; copies earlier Classic-era almanacs and astronomical material.
Major Characters
- Itzamna
- Chaac
- Ix Chel
- Kukulkan
- God L
Myths
- Creation and Deluge
- The Venus Cycle Omens
- Rituals of the Rain and Maize Deities
- New Year Ceremonies
- Serpent and Deity Auguries
Facts
- Screenfold codex of 39 leaves on bark paper (huun), painted on both sides for a total of 74 pages.
- Contains a Venus table tracking the 584-day synodic cycle with correction schemes.
- Includes an eclipse table spanning roughly 405 lunations for predicting eclipse seasons.
- New Year pages feature Year Bearers and rites involving Pawahtun and the Bacabs.
- Deluge imagery shows deities pouring catastrophic waters, interpreted as cosmic renewal.
- Iconography emphasizes major gods: Itzamnaaj, Chaak, K’awiil, and the aged goddess Chak Chel.
- Written in Yucatec Maya language with Classic-derived glyphic conventions.
- One of four surviving Maya codices, alongside the Madrid, Paris, and Maya Codex of Mexico.
- Arithmetic reflects sophisticated base-20 calculations and intercalations to align ritual and celestial cycles.
- Entered the Royal Library at Dresden in the 18th century; studied intensively by Ernst Förstemann.
- Suffered water damage during World War II; conserved and remains legible.