Mirrors and the Ancient Maya

Pyrite is an iron ore that the Maya would use for mirrors. This
image -- from the USGS site, taken by Carlin Green -- shows
a piece of pyrite and quartz.

The ancient Maya civilization, like other Mesoamerican civilizations, used pieces of iron ores to create shiny flat surfaces -- archaeologists call these artifacts mirrors. These mirrors, for the ancient Maya, were symbols as well as tools. One thing its thought mirrors were a symbol of was either the northern part of the sky when it was night or the North Star. They were also a symbol of ruler's rightful power, royal lineage, and sunlight.

The Mirrors
The ancient Maya liked to make their mirrors with minerals that are types of iron ore and slate. (As to what kind of iron ore, you may see that it said that the Maya just used pyrite, or used other kinds too, like pyrite.) They polished the iron ore and made them into a mosaic. A lot of mirrors have at least one hole near an edge.

For the backing of the mirror, they preferred to use slate. (The Maya also made wooden backings and ceramic backings.) There were times the ancient Maya decorated the visible side of the backing.

Consideration: Mirror Holders Found?
A few wooden sculptures have been found that might have been holders for mirrors. These possible holders are shaped like people with dwarfism. (The ancient Maya may have seen dwarfism as representing an "in between" state.) Below is an image (from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website) of one of these sculptures, which you may have seen in other places on this blog.

There are notches on the man's "kilt" and in his arms. This may have been where a mirror about 5 inches wide and 5 inches long may have been put.

Uses
Elites may have worn mirrors -- the mirror's holes could have been used to hang the mirrors on the elites somehow.  The Maya may have used mirrors in their rituals, for when they wanted to make smoke or fire -- possible evidence for this are mirrors taken from the site of Chichén Itzá that were burned. They also used mirrors as tools for telling the future. You may also see the view that mirrors were for communicating with supernatural beings, and that doing this made the person using the mirror divine.

There's an idea that royalty had a ceremony that concerned future rulers and involved a mirror. It's not sure what the ritual was for. One possibility was that it was part of the rituals for a new ruler who was taking the throne. Another possibility is that it was a ritual for telling everyone who was going to be the next in line.

Mirrors were also put in burials. You can find them in elite tombs -- more in the highlands than the lowlands. (They're not common in the lowlands.)

Gods Connected with Mirrors
Archaeologists have found that the Maya drew some of their gods with mirrors on their foreheads. One god is known today as god C.  A monkey god, this god's name was an "animated" version of a mirror glyph. This god was connected with rulership. The Maya drew him with a mirror in his forehead.

K'awiil (also known as god K) also had a mirror drawn on his forehead. And, also like god C, he was a god that had a connection to rulership.


References:
Manufactured Light: Mirrors in the Mesoamerican Realm"; Emiliano Gallaga M. and Marc G. Blainey (editors); 2016

Google Books: "Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul"; Andrew K. Scherer; 2015

Google Books: "Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon-Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica"; Anne S. Dowd, Susan Milbrath (editors); 2015


Cambridge University Press: Cambridge Core: "Ancient Meosamerica" Volume 22 Issue 2: "Ancient Maya Mosaic Mirrors: Function, Symbolism, and Meaning"; Paul F. Healy, Marc G. Blainey; Fall 2011

Google Books: "Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments, Mythistory, and the Materialization of Time"; Prudence M. Rice; 2007

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Mirror-Bearer

Image Credits:
USGS: Pyrite and Quartz; Carlin Green; c. 2016

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Mirror-Bearer

Dresden Codex

The most well known Mayan codex (accordion-folded book) is the Dresden Codex (also known as the Codex Dresensis). Lost and found again, this codex is a major source of information on Maya astronomy and the calendar system.

Origin

Archaeologists think the Dresden Codex hails from the Yucatan region of the Mayan world. They also think it’s the oldest of the four known codices, and was crafted sometime between the 1200s and the 1300s AD. Thompson says it was made in 1200 AD to 1250 AD, while Satterthwaite says it can’t be earlier than 1345 AD, but another man – Everson – says it was sometime in the 1200s.

Beyond its creation date, the truth about other aspects of the codex is also under consideration. It’s possible the codex was created by four scribes, and these scribes may’ve been copying an older book from around 755 AD.

Travel To Europe

At some point, someone took the codex from the Maya and it ended up in Europe. It’s not entirely clear how the codex made it there. One theory says that the Dresden Codex’s trip across the Atlantic occurred in 1519, when Hernán Cortés gave it to Emperor Charles V.

However it got to Europe, in 1739 a man named D. Johann Christian Goetze bought the codex while he was in Vienna. Goetze was the head of the Royal Library in Dresden (a city once part of Saxony, now part of modern Germany), and the codex became part of the library’s collection.

The codex remained a book in the Royal Library, where the upper left corners of its pages were damaged by water during World War II, during the bombing of Dresden. A man named Yuri Knorzov (a Russian soldier who became a famous scholar of the Maya) took the codex.

Dimensions

This codex possesses 39 “pages”, which are about 3.5 inches wide and about 8 inches tall. In total, when unfolded the Dresden Codex is about 11.5 feet long. It is possible that it had more pages that are now lost.

Contents

What does the Dresden Codex contain in its pages? That is still a matter of debate. Though archaeologists believe that it contains eclipse and other planetary cycle information, the details are not always clear. Things they think the codex contains include ritual calendars and divinations based on the sun, Venus and the moon. It is also possible that Mars' cycle is included in the Dresden Codex.

References:

“The Ancient Maya”; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

"Maya Eclipses: Modern Astronomical Data, the Triple Tritos and the Double-Ztolkin"; William E. Beck, University of Central Florida; 2007

University of Arizona Libraries: Mayan Codex Facsimiles
 
Library of Congress: Exploring the Early Americas: Dresden Codex

The Madrid Codex

The Madrid Codex -- once known as the Tro-Cortesiano Codex -- is one of the four surviving codices from the ancient Maya civilization. It was rediscovered in Europe in the 19th century, and is now in the possession of the Museo Arqueológico, in Madrid.

Physical Features
The codex is a 56 “page” work that was possibly produced by about 8 Mayan scribes in the Postclassic period. It is page size measures about 5.72 by 9.44 inches, and when unfolded completely it reaches about 21.98 feet in length.

History of Rediscovery
Taken from the Maya and ending up in Spain, rediscovery of the Madrid Codex occurred in the mid to late 1800s. A man named Juan de Tro y Ortolano once came possessed a manuscript, known as the Troano Codex. This codex ended up in the Museo de América de Madrid when he died. Another man named José Ignacio Miró bought another codex in 1872 that was known as the Cortesiano Codex, and this too ended up in the museum. A third man, Léon de Rosny went to see the Cortesiano Codex in the museum, and discovered that these codices were in fact two parts of the same codex. (This is why the Madrid Codex used to be known as the Tro-Cortesiano Codex.)

However, the Madrid Codex may not be what it seems. In 1999, an archaeologist -- also an author of books on the ancient Maya -- named Michael Coe questioned the total authenticity of the codex. Coe believes that page 56 has a piece of European-style paper dating from 1600s. Despite this, the codex is still generally understood to have been created before theConquest. 

Contents
And what does the Madrid Codex contain?It has religious writing that ranges from information on divination and rituals (such as rituals to complete on New Year’s) to information on the beings called Pauahtuns -- gods of the cardinal directions. Astronomical information in the Madrid Codex includes astronomical tables, though it does not have as many as the Dresden Codex. It has almanacs on things such as marriage, weaving, deer trapping and hunting, beekeeping and how to make it rain.


References:
University of Arizona Libraries: Mayan Codex Facsimilies

"The Ancient Maya"; Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler; 2006

"Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World"; Lynn V. Foster; 2005