Rare Aztec Manuscript Returns to Mexico on Loan From France for the First Time Since 1840
Key Takeaways
- •The Azcatitlan Codex, a 16th-century manuscript regarded as one of the most important visual records of Aztec history, has returned to Mexico for the first time since 1840 on loan from France's Bibliothèque Nationale, where it has been held since 1898.
- •The codex combines Mesoamerican pictograms with European script and traces the Mexica people's migration from Aztlan, the founding of Tenochtitlan, the succession of Aztec rulers, and the Spanish conquest and evangelization.
- •According to UNAM historian Maria Castañeda de la Paz, the manuscript was created by an Indigenous craftsman from the Otomi people.
- •The codex will be on display at Mexico City's National Museum of Anthropology until December, marking its first viewing in Mexico since the 19th century.
- •The loan is part of an exchange commemorating 200 years of Mexico-France diplomatic relations, under which Mexico will loan France the Codex Boturini.
MEXICO CITY — The Azcatitlan Codex, a rare 16th-century manuscript that recounts the founding of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan and the later arrival of Spanish conquistadors, is back in Mexico for the first time since 1840.
The artifact, considered one of the most important visual records of Aztec history, is on loan from France's Bibliothèque Nationale, where it has been held since 1898. The loan comes as the two nations mark 200 years of diplomatic relations.
Combining Mesoamerican pictograms with European script, the codex is divided into three sections. According to Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, it traces the Mexica people's migration from Aztlan — the mythical birthplace of Aztec civilization — to the founding of Tenochtitlan in present-day Mexico City. It also records the succession of the city's tlatoanis, or rulers, and depicts the arrival of the Spanish, the conquest, and the evangelization that followed.
"These codices are extremely important to us because they continue to give us identity and value as human beings during these very special times we are experiencing," said Maria Eugenia Castañeda, a representative of the Mexica peoples. "They elevate our morale, our customs, our culture, and our sense of who we are."
More than five centuries have passed since Tenochtitlan fell to Hernán Cortés, who led the invading Spanish force. After defeating the Aztec leaders and the Mexica people living in the city, Cortés and his allies looted and razed Tenochtitlan, ushering in three centuries of Spanish domination.
According to Maria Castañeda de la Paz, a historian at the Institute of Anthropological Research at Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM), the Azcatitlan Codex was created by an Indigenous craftsman from the Otomi people.
The codex will remain on display at Mexico City's National Museum of Anthropology until December, giving audiences in Mexico their first chance to view it since the 19th century. As part of the exchange, Mexico will loan France another important historical document, the Codex Boturini.
— Reuters, via BusinessWorld
