Paris Codex
Also known as: Codex Peresianus, Maya Paris Codex, Peresianus
A late Postclassic Maya screenfold manuscript preserving almanacs, katun prophecies, yearbearer rites, and a rare Maya zodiac, with deities and directional complexes arranged for ritual and divinatory use.
Description
The Paris Codex, also known as Codex Peresianus, is among the four surviving Maya screenfold books. Composed in hieroglyphic text and pictorial scenes, it condenses calendrical tables, prophetic series, and deity sequences used by ritual specialists. Its pages feature katun and tun prophecies tied to directional color complexes, yearbearer ceremonies, and sequence charts that include a Maya zodiac rarely attested elsewhere. Deities such as Itzamná, Chaac, Kʼawiil, the Sun and Moon, the Maize God, and merchant- and underworld-associated figures appear in structured tableaux that encode mythic cycles and timekeeping. The manuscript is fragmentary and water-damaged, but its surviving sections illuminate Postclassic Yucatec ritual practice and cosmology.
Historiography
Rediscovered in the 19th century at the Bibliothèque nationale de France and first identified and published by Léon de Rosny, the Paris Codex has since been issued in facsimiles and photographic studies. Its poor condition—staining, losses, and faded pigments—complicates readings and has led to debate about page order and original extent. Scholarly consensus places it in the late Postclassic, with iconographic and paleographic affinities to northern Yucatán. Studies compare its prophetic series, yearbearers, and zodiac to Dresden and Madrid Codices and to Yucatec colonial texts such as the Books of Chilam Balam.
Date Notes
Postclassic Maya screenfold manuscript; paleographic and stylistic grounds place it late Postclassic. Exact place of manufacture unknown; likely northern Yucatán.
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Itzamna
- Kukulkan
- Chaac
- Ix Chel
- Hunahpu
- Xbalanque
Myths
- New Year Rituals and Almanacs
- Rain and Maize Deities
- Zodiacal and Katun Prophecies
Facts
- One of four surviving Maya codices, alongside Dresden, Madrid, and the Maya Codex of Mexico.
- Preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France; first identified in the 19th century.
- Screenfold bark-paper manuscript with stuccoed and painted surfaces.
- Contains a rare Maya zodiac sequence not fully paralleled in other codices.
- Features katun prophetic texts linked to directional color complexes.
- Includes yearbearer rites tied to the 365-day Haabʼ and ritual 260-day Tzolkʼin.
- Iconography associates deities with agricultural and weather cycles.
- Severe water and pigment damage complicate page order and readings.
- Paleography and style suggest origin in northern Yucatán during the Postclassic.
- Comparative study aligns content with Yucatec colonial Books of Chilam Balam.