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Aztec calendar stone, City of Mexico

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Summary

Historic Sites

Public domain photograph of statue, sculpture, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Aztec calendar, dating system based on the Mayan calendar and used in the Valley of Mexico before the destruction of the Aztec empire. Like the Mayan calendar, the Aztec calendar consisted of a ritual cycle of 260 days and a 365-day civil cycle. The ritual cycle, or tonalpohualli, contained two smaller cycles, an ordered sequence of 20 named days and a sequence of days numbered from 1 to 13. The 13-day cycle was particularly important for religious observance, and each of the 20 numbered cycles within the ritual year was associated with a different deity. Similarly, each named day was associated with a unique deity, and scholars believe that the combinations of ruling deities were used for divination. The civil year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each, plus an additional 5 days called nemontemi and considered to be very unlucky. Again as in the Mayan calendar, the Aztec ritual and civil cycles returned to the same positions relative to each other every 52 years, an event celebrated as the Binding Up of the Years, or the New Fire Ceremony. In preparation, all sacred and domestic fires were allowed to burn out. At the climax of the ceremony, priests ignited a new sacred fire on the breast of a sacrificial victim, from which the people rekindled their hearth fires and began feasting.

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calendars sculpture aztecs indians of mexico spiritual life mexico mexico city photochrom prints color mexico city mexico aztec calendar stone aztec calendar stone city historic sites mexican capital capital of mexico 19th century library of congress
date_range

Date

01/01/1884
person

Contributors

Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942, photographer
Detroit Publishing Co., publisher
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in collections

Aztec calendar

The calendrical system used by the Aztecs as well as other Pre-Columbian peoples of central Mexico.
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Location

Mexico City (Mexico) ,  19.43417, -99.13861
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Source

Library of Congress
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Link

http://www.loc.gov/
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Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication.

label_outline Explore Mexican Capital, Capital Of Mexico, Indians Of Mexico

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calendars sculpture aztecs indians of mexico spiritual life mexico mexico city photochrom prints color mexico city mexico aztec calendar stone aztec calendar stone city historic sites mexican capital capital of mexico 19th century library of congress