The Codex Colombino is a part of a
Mixtec codex held in the collection of the
National Museum of Anthropology National Museum of Anthropology may refer to:
* National Museum of Anthropology (Manila), in the Philippines
* , first directed by David Joaquín Guzmán, in El Salvador
* Museo Nacional de Antropología (Madrid), national museum of anthropology ...
in
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. It is one of only two
Mesoamerican codices
Mesoamerican codices are manuscripts that present traits of the Mesoamerican indigenous pictoric tradition, either in content, style, or in regards to their symbolic conventions. The unambiguous presence of Mesoamerican writing systems in some of ...
that remain in
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
territory (the other being the
Códice Maya de México). It deals with the genealogy, marriages and bellicose conquests of the
Mixtec
The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are Indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica of Guerrero, Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerre ...
lord
Eight Deer Jaguar Claw
Eight Deer Jaguar Claw (), or Eight Deer for brevity, was a powerful Mixtec ruler in 11th-century Oaxaca referred to in the 15th-century deerskin manuscript Codex Zouche-Nuttall, and other Mixtec Group, Mixtec manuscripts. His surname is alternat ...
(
fl.
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
11th century AD).
The other half of the Colombino Codex is known as "Becker I", and was purchased by Phillip Becker, a German collector, from the
Aja-Villagómez family in
Acatlán de Osorio
Acatlán de Osorio is a city in the Mexican state of Puebla. The shortened name Acatlán, is commonly used to refer to the municipality of which it is the seat, and to the city itself. It is at an elevation of 1,213 m (3,981 ft). In the 202 ...
,
Puebla
Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...
. It is currently in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. For that reason, the entire codex often goes by the name Codex Colombino-Becker.
Several editions of both the ''Colombino'' and the ''Becker'' have been published. The most commonly used facsimile of the ''Colombino'' is accompanied by the commentary of
Alfonso Caso
Alfonso Caso y Andrade (1 February 1896 – 30 November 1970) was an archaeologist who made important contributions to pre-Columbian studies in his native Mexico.
As a university student, he was part of a group of young intellectuals known as '' ...
(1966), and that of the ''Becker'' by the notes of
Karl A. Nowotny (1961). For some of the history depicted in the ''Colombino-Becker'', there are cognate accounts in other
Mixtec codices The Mixtec Group is the designation given by scholars to a number of mostly pre-Columbian documents from the Mixtec people of the state of Oaxaca in the southern part of the Republic of Mexico. They are distinguished by their principally historical ...
, particularly the
Codex ''Zouche-Nuttall''.
[Troike, Nancy P. "Colombino-Becker, Codex." In Davíd Carrasco (ed). ]
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures
'. : Oxford University Press, 2001.
See also
*
Mixtec Group The Mixtec Group is the designation given by scholars to a number of mostly pre-Columbian documents from the Mixtec people of the state of Oaxaca in the southern part of the Republic of Mexico. They are distinguished by their principally historical ...
References
Facsimile
Codices Becker I/II: Vienna, Museum for Ethnology, Inv.-Nr. 60306 und 60307, pre-colonial/1st half of the 16th century; Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA), Graz 1961. Truecolour facsimile edition of 20 pictograph pages in original size, leporello folding, mounted on cloth. In half leather portfolio. Commentary: K. A. Novotny (with English summary). CODICES SELECTI, Vol. IV.
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20071219163600/http://www.tula.gob.mx/CONGRESO/CdiceColombino.html (image)
World Digital Library Collection* https://www-oxfordreference-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/view/10.1093/acref/9780195108156.001.0001/acref-9780195108156-e-134?rskey=xRon5X&result=134
Mixtec codices
{{mesoamerica-stub