Astek letter

Astek writing was borrowed, apparently, from other peoples of Central Mexico, and especially Mixtecs, after being conquered by the Aztecs . Information on the origin of writing is scarce, because the Aztecs destroyed all the manuscripts of the conquered peoples, and the Spanish conquerors , in turn, burned most of the literature of the Aztecs themselves - the so-called Aztec codes . This led to the fact that the Astek script is known mainly from the Spanish-Aztec bilinguals , as well as from the inscriptions preserved on the monuments and steles .

There are a small number of codes created before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Puebla region and known as the Mishtek- Puebla style. It is quite different from the rest of the Aztec monuments and could come from the letter of the Mixtecs . There is a version that the style of “mistek-puebla” could serve as a source of Aztec writing.

A significant contribution to the deciphering of the Aztec writing (in particular, the identification of syllables corresponding to signs) was made by the Spanish Mesoamericanist Alfonso Lacadena (1964-2018).

Compared to Maya hieroglyphics , Aztec writing was less developed and was a drawing of events with elements of phonetic notation used in personal names and toponyms . Astek's letter was not adapted to record human speech or long texts, and in this sense is not a complete script.

Reading the records was rather difficult and ambiguous. Signs could have several meanings (for example, the image of a hill could correspond to different syllables — can and tepec ), inside the toponym, signs were often written in a random order, etc. At the same time, there was a certain set of rules that, with knowledge of the language and writing traditions greatly facilitated the interpretation of what was written. One of the advantages of logographic writing was that it could be understood by people who did not know the Astek language , which simplified its use in different regions of the Aztec state .

The scope of writing was limited to historical chronicles containing records of military campaigns, important events and the genealogy of the rulers, as well as astronomical , astrological and mythological records. The inscriptions were made in the form of paper codes or cut in stone and then painted.

Figures

The Aztecs used the twenty -decimal number system . Figures were recorded in the form of rows of dots, and in more ancient manuscripts - as a combination of dots and features. Such a system was sufficient to record calendar dates.

In the later period, due to the need to record data on the number of tribute , as well as other large numbers, symbols were entered to denote the numbers 20 (flag), 400 (feather) and 8000 (bag with incense). To indicate that the numbers refer to the same number, a line connecting them was drawn. For example, the number 500 was written as a pen and five flags (400 + 5 x 20 = 500).

Calendar signs

The Aztecs used several calendar systems , including the 365-day solar calendar , divided into 18 months , 20 days each, and a 5-day extension period at the end of each year ( “xiuhpohualli” ). However, the records most widely used the 260-day ritual calendar common to the Mesoamerican peoples, known to the Aztecs as tonalpohualli .

To record the dates of this calendar there was a set of calendar characters - 20 characters for the daily cycle, as well as 13 digital coefficients.

Signs days

The date consisted of a combination of a day sign and a digital coefficient. The first day of the year was recorded as “1 Cipactli” , the second - as 2 Ehecatl , etc. After the thirteen-day cycle ended, the “1 Ocelotli” sign followed, and after the end of the cycle of days the circle closed, and the next day was designated as “8 Cipactl .

The solar calendar was rarely used in manuscripts , and never on steles and monuments.

As in other Mesoamerican cultures, there was a 52-year calendar cycle in the Aztec empire, which was the superposition of the 260-day and 365-day annual cycles. The years of this calendar cycle were named on the last day of the last month of the 365-day calendar in that year. In practice, this led to the use of only four characters of the 20-day cycle in the year names ( Calli , Tochtli , Acatl , and Tecpatl ). In the name of the year, digital coefficients from 1 to 13 were also used. To distinguish the signs of the cycle from the days of the 260-day calendar, they were recorded in a square frame.

Proper Names

Aztec names usually consisted of a combination of words in Nahuatl and were recorded by groups of logograms pointing to the root of the name. However, sometimes the names contained phonetic elements that served to unambiguously read or completely phonetic writing of the name.

Examples:

Other signs

Historical and other events were recorded by drawing. For example, the Aztec warriors were depicted together with prisoners, to designate the names of the captured cities in front of his name was depicted the sign "captured", which was a pyramid with an overturning peak, covered with smoke and flame. The social status of people was indicated by the difference in dress.

• Aztecs
• Mesoamerican writing systems
• Native American Writing
• Maya letter

Aztec Group

• Bernardino de Sahagun , Kuprienko S.A. General story about the affairs of New Spain. Books X-XI: Knowledge of Asteks in Medicine and Botany / Ed. and trans. S. A. Kuprienko .. - K .: Vidavets Kupriinko SA, 2013. - 218 p. - (Mesoamerica. Sources. History. Man). - ISBN 978-617-7085-07-1 .
• Anonymous authors . Malayabekki Code / Ed. and trans. V.N. Talaha, S.A. Kuprienko. - K .: Vidavets Kupriinko SA, 2013. - 202 p. - ISBN 978-617-7085-04-0 .
• Anonymous author . Codex Mendoza / Ed. and trans. S.A. Kuprienko, V.N. Talakh .. - K .: Vidavets Kupriinko SA, 2013. - 308 p. - ISBN 978-617-7085-05-7 .
• Prester Juan; Antonio Perez; Fry Pedro de los Rios (Gloss) . Mexican manuscript 385 Codex Teleriano-Remensis (with additions from Codex Rios) / Ed. and trans. S.A. Kuprienko, V.N. Talakh .. - K .: Vidavets Kupriinko SA, 2013. - 317 p. - ISBN 978-617-7085-06-4 .
• Talah V.N. , Kuprienko S.A. America is original. Sources on the history of the Maya, Nahua (Asteks) and the Incas / Ed. V.N. Talakh, S.A. Kuprienko .. - K .: Vidavets Kupriinko SA, 2013. - 370 p. - ISBN 978-617-7085-00-2 .

• Aztec alphabet. The link contains illustrations to the examples in this article.
• Summary of Mesoamerican Writings