page_title: Madrid Codex (Maya)
section_title: Content
hierarchical_section_title: Madrid Codex (Maya) / Content
caption_attribution_description: English: Madrid Codex (replica) in the Museum of the Americas, Madrid. Late Postclassic Maya book.Español: Copia del Códice Madrid en el Museo de América en Madrid. Libro maya del período posclásico tardío.
context_page_description: The Madrid Codex is one of three surviving pre-Columbian Maya books dating to the Postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology. A fourth codex, named the Grolier Codex, was discovered in 1965. The Madrid Codex is held by the Museo de América in Madrid and is considered to be the most important piece in its collection. However, the original is not on display due to its fragility; an accurate reproduction is displayed in its stead.
context_section_description: The Madrid Codex is the longest of the surviving Maya codices. Its content mainly consists of almanacs and horoscopes used to help Maya priests in the performance of their ceremonies and divinatory rituals. The codex also contains astronomical tables, although fewer than are found in the other two surviving Maya codices. Some of the content is likely to have been copied from older Maya books. Included in the codex is a description of the New Year ceremony.
  The codex is stylistically uniform, leading Coe and Kerr to suggest that it was the work of a single scribe. Closer analysis of glyphic elements suggests that a number of scribes were involved in its production, perhaps as many as eight or nine, who produced consecutive sections of the manuscript. The religious content of the codex makes it likely that the scribes themselves were members of the priesthood. The codex probably was passed down from priest to priest and each priest who received the book added a section in his own hand.
  The images in the Madrid Codex depict rituals such as human sacrifice and invoking rainfall, as well as everyday activities such as beekeeping, hunting, warfare, and weaving. Other images show deities smoking sikar (see tables 25, 26, and 34 of the Codex), similar to modern cigars made of tobacco leaves.
caption: Scenes connected to the hunt, Madrid Codex
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