Aztec and Mayan

The Aztecs and the Mayans have been compared to the Romans and the Greeks. The Aztecs, like the Romans, were warlike, building on the ruins of those they conquered. They also organized and developed government. Like the Greeks, the Mayans were an intellectual, artistic people. They developed architecture, sculpture, painting, and even astronomy.

Aztecs

The Aztecs were not fully established until 1325 c.e., at which time they obtained their freedom from the king of Colhuacan, who had held them in servitude. They found a place that fulfilled a prophecy and there established their main city of Tenochtitlan (what was later to grow into Mexico City).

The Aztecs believed in a world with gods of nature, but with a supreme deity. In Wicca, and other religions, male and female are seen throughout nature as necessary for life. This led to the belief that there must also be male and female with the gods. In similar fashion, the Aztecs saw their supreme power as being both male and female. This deity was named Ometecuhtli (also sometimes known as Tloque Nahuaque), which means “Two-Lord.” Sometimes figures of Ometecuhtli show a hermaphroditic figure. He is the original bestower of all life and was addressed in religious poems as “Cause of All.” He dwells in the highest heaven. Beneath him are found, in order, the Place of the Red God of Fire, the Place of the Yellow Sun God, and the Place of the White Evening Star God. The oldest of the gods, however, was Ueueteotl (meaning “old, old, god”), whose place of honor was the fireplace in every homestead.

Double-Headed Serpent

The double-headed serpent was a popular image associated with life-giving rain. It was part of the rites of Tlaloc, god of the mountains, rain, and springs.

Tlacolteutl, an earth and fertility goddess, is represented here much like a European witch, riding astride a broomstick. She holds a serpent, which is red—the Aztec symbolic color for sex.

Precious Metals

Gold

Turquoise

Mosaic

Jade

Obsidian

Place names often incorporate hieroglyphs for local vegetation, and city names may include the time of year, or even the day, the town was founded. The following symbols are the names of some Aztecan places. The series of rectangles on the first, Caltepec, which may also be seen within the last, Tecalco, is the hieroglyph for a house (calli). What looks like a pair of animal feet, in Miztlan, Itztlan, and Petlatlan, is the hieroglyph for teeth (tlan).

Names of Aztecan Places

Caltepec

Itztepec

Atepec

Pantepec

Miztlan

Itztlan

Petlatlan

Tecalco

The Twenty Days of the Month
on the Aztecan Calendar

Crocodile (Cipactli)

Wind (Ehecatl)

House or Temple (Calli)

Lizard (Cuezpallin)

Snake (Coatl)

Death (Miquiztli)

Deer (Mazatl)

Rabbit (Tochtli)

The Twenty Days of the Month
on the Aztecan Calendar (continued)

Water (Atl)

Dog (Itzcuintli)

Monkey (Ozomatli)

Herb (Malinalli)

Reed (Acatl)

Jaguar (Ocelotl)

Eagle (Quauhtli)

Vulture (Cozcaquauhtli)

The Twenty Days of the Month
on the Aztecan Calendar (continued)

Movement (Olin)

Stone (Tecpatl)

Rain (Quiahiutl)

Flower (Xochitl)

Here are the symbols for specific years, or “year bearers”: Wind year; Deer year; Herb year; Movement year. Since there are no month signs recorded, the small circles indicate the number of times in the year that the particular day has appeared; for example, the eleventh occurrence of the day in that year.

Year Symbol

Specific Years

Wind Year

Deer Year

Herb Year

Movement Year

Mayans

The Mayan Indians developed in the humid lowlands of Central America, especially in the Yucatan Peninsula. They predate the Aztecs by almost 2,000 years, having their calendar system working as early as 600 b.c.e. Their most brilliant period was from 300 to 900 b.c.e., generally known as the Maya Golden Age. This time period covered the most sophisticated calendrical observations utilizing a 260-day almanac in conjunction with a 365-day calendar.

Mayan art was superior to Egyptian art (for example, in their drawing of the human figure), because the Mayans could draw the human figure in front view and pure profile without distortion. Yet humans were seldom dealt with in Mayan art, since the gods were not in human form. At best they were half human and half animal. Most common was a serpent motif, though that was seldom represented realistically. Parts of other creatures might be added to a serpent, with scrolls and other elaborate details added. For example, sometimes a human head would be placed in the serpent’s distended jaws.

Representations of the Moon

Sun and Moon Hieroglyph

Moon, as depicted in a “celestial band”

The Four Directions

East

North

West

South

Face Numerals

Here are some examples of face numerals found in Mayan inscriptions. In most cases, these are the faces of gods.

1

3

4

5

Face numerals (continued)

6

9

10

It seems likely that the Mayans first had a lunar-solar calendar of twelve months of thirty days each. Later they reduced the number of days in a month to twenty, and increased the number of months to eighteen. Then an extra five-day month was added to make 365 days. The extra quarter-day per year was understood but not worked into the calendar.

Here are the nineteen month signs (eighteen plus Uayeb, the five-day month), as given both in the inscriptions and in the codices.

The 19 Month Signs, as Given in the
Mayan Inscriptions

Pop

Uo

The 19 Month Signs, as Given in the
Mayan Inscriptions (continued)

Zip

Zotz

Tzec

Xul

Yaxkin

Mol

Chen

Yax

The 19 Month Signs, as Given in the
Mayan Inscriptions (continued)

Zac

Ceh

Mac

Kankin

Muan

Pax

Kayab

Cumhu

The 19 Month Signs, as Given in the
Mayan Inscriptions (continued)

Uayeb

Zero

The 19 Month Signs, as Given in the
Mayan Codices

Pop

Uo

Zip

Zotz

Tzec

Xul

The 19 Month Signs, as Given in the
Mayan Codices (continued)

Yaxkin

Mol

Chen

Yax

Zac

Ceh

Mac

Kankin

The 19 Month Signs, as Given in the
Mayan Codices (continued)

Muan

Pax

Kayab

Cumhu

Uayeb

Zero

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