What is the Dresden Codex?

Sofie

Maya codices (singular codex) are folding books stemming from the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, written in Maya hieroglyphic script on Mesoamerican paper, made from the inner bark of certain trees, the main being the wild fig tree or Amate (Ficus Glabrata), this paper was named by the Mayas Huun, and contained many Glyph and paintings. They are the products of professional scribes working under the patronage of the Howler Monkey Gods. The Maya developed their huun around the V century AD, in the same era that the Romans did, but their paper was more durable and a better writing surface than the papyrus. The codices have been named for the cities in which they eventually settled. The Dresden codex is generally considered the most important of the few that survive. Dresden Codex: The Dresden Codex is held in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek (SLUB), the state library in Dresden, Germany. It is the most elaborate of the codices, and also a highly important work of art. Many sections are ritualistic (including so-called 'almanacs'), others are of an astrological nature (eclipses, the Venus cycles). The codex is written on a long sheet of paper which is 'fanfolded' to make a book of 39 leaves, written on both sides. It was probably written just before the Spanish conquest. Somehow it made its way to Europe and was bought by the royal library of the court of Saxony in Dresden in 1739. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_codex#Dresden_Codex May 30 07, 8:18 AM

zbeckabee

The results of Mayan observations and calculations of astronomical phenomena are concentrated in the Dresden Codex. It is a band of paper 3.5 meter long set up into 39 sheets making up 78 pages 8.5 x 20.5 cm. The paper was obtained from the bark of wild-growing species of fig tree. It is considered to be the most beautiful and elaborate of all the codices. http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud/maya/boehm/boehm51.htm May 30 07, 8:55 AM