MIXTEC MYSTERY
4 MIXTEC MUSICOS FROM THE CODEX BACKER
Many of us have seen the following image
of 4 MIXTECs in one form or another playing the following instruments
SEE ABOVE
The CODICES usually show 3 to 4 musicians usually playing the following instruments
HUEHUETL
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/music/music-song-and-dance-among-the-aztecs-a-short-introduction
TEPONAZTLI
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/artefacts/teponaztli
TLAPITZALLI
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/music/music-song-and-dance-among-the-aztecs-a-short-introduction
and maybe
AYACAXTLI
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/music/music-song-and-dance-among-the-aztecs-a-short-introduction
and sometimes someone singing
Visit ONLINE
MUSIC IN MEXICO A HISTORICAL SURVEY
by Robert Murrell Stevenson
http://archive.org/stream/musicinmexicoahi007091mbp#page/n309/mode/2up/search/HUEHUETL
and go to the INDEX for much more information on
HUEHUETL, TEPONAZTLI and TLAPITZALLI
Many of us have seen the following image
of 4 MIXTECs in one form or another playing the following instruments
SEE ABOVE
The CODICES usually show 3 to 4 musicians usually playing the following instruments
HUEHUETL
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/music/music-song-and-dance-among-the-aztecs-a-short-introduction
TEPONAZTLI
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/artefacts/teponaztli
TLAPITZALLI
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/music/music-song-and-dance-among-the-aztecs-a-short-introduction
and maybe
AYACAXTLI
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/music/music-song-and-dance-among-the-aztecs-a-short-introduction
and sometimes someone singing
Visit ONLINE
MUSIC IN MEXICO A HISTORICAL SURVEY
by Robert Murrell Stevenson
http://archive.org/stream/musicinmexicoahi007091mbp#page/n309/mode/2up/search/HUEHUETL
and go to the INDEX for much more information on
HUEHUETL, TEPONAZTLI and TLAPITZALLI
while doing research on ancient string instruments of Mexico
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/music/string-instruments-in-ancient-mexico
I stumbled upon the following image of a drawing from the CODICE BECKER
SEE ABOVE
MIXTEC MUSICO 6
IN B&W AND COLOR
this image is purportedly from the same CODICE
and the text states that there are 6 musicos in the image,
not 4 musicians
SEE ABOVE
6 MIXTEC MUSICOS B&W
but I have never seen or found such an image in color
only in black and white on the net
I searched online for the image in color and had no luck
I then sent my info to Ian Mursell of MEXICOLORE and asked him if he had ever seen
or heard anything about this 5th and 6th musico from the CODICE BECKER
he then sent the following scanned image in color of the 6 MIXTECS to me
SEE ABOVE IMAGE
6 MIXTEC MUSICOS
B&W AND COLOR
this is the first time that this image has appeared in the INTERNET
Now that I had the image I was fascinated by the musicians and wondered
who were they?
why are there 6 of them?
why are they dressed that way?
what were they playing and why?
Below are some answers
The codex BECKER consists of three fragments (panels 1-3, 4-14, and 15-156)
and depicts events belonging to the years 1047, 1048-1055 and 1066, respectively.
In 1047 King ll Wind ("Bloody Tiger") ruler of the town of Xipe Bundle.
Codex Becker l joins several other Mixtec genealogical codices in recounting
the dynastic struggles that ensued after this king's death.
Panels 8-9 or our codes show, in the upper stirip, six players celebrating.
One of these musicians is none other than the royal David of Mixtec annals,
King 8 Deer (1011-1063) familiarly known as "Tiger Claw".
(SEE BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL READING)
As befitted royal dignity, he and his younger brother Prince 9 Flower blow trumpets while
Prince 12 Olin(=ollin="movement") swings a gourd rattle and Lord 5 Movement beats the tortoise shell.
The date of this paean is 1048, and the inspiration for it was the defeat, capture, and sacrifice of King 8 Deer's
most potent rivals in the race for Xipe Bundle, The rival's body had been burned and 8 Deer had made his oblations
in a temple (shown in upper left of panel 7,Codex Becker l) He thence emerges to join his confederate chieftains in
the music making. Not yet done, however, with other contenders, 8 Deer must wait until the following year (1049) to make good his claims by capturing the town of Xipe Bundle itself.
PREFACE to the CODICE BECKER
1/11 by Karl A. Nowotny
THE CODEX COLOMBINO AKA THE CODICE BECKER
This document was created to record the 11th-century military and political feats of the MixtecLord Eight-Deer
(also known as Tiger Claw) as well as those of another ruler, Four-Wind,
along with the religious ceremonies marking these feats.
The codex, thought to have been created in the 12th century, was acquired by the National Museum
around 1891 and was reproduced in 1892.
The life of Eight-Deer, depicted in all pre-Hispanic Mixtec codices known to exist,
included his conquests of two important Mixtec domains: Tilantongo and Tututepec.
Through this and other conquests and the marital alliances he promoted, Eight-Deer achieved political unification among the numerous Mixtec domains of the Post-Classical period. The eminent Mexican archaeologist and historian Alfonso Caso (1896-1970), a pioneer in the study of pre-Hispanic cultures in the area of Oaxaca, demonstrated that this codex and the Becker I Codex (in the Museum für Völkerkunde in Vienna, Austria) are fragments of a single codex. Caso’s assemblage can be seen in Miguel León-Portilla’s 1996 edition of the codices, in which the fragments were reunited for the first time and named, in honor of the grand master, the Alfonso Caso Codex.
CODEX COLOMBINO ONLINE
http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3245/#institution=national-institute-of-anthropology-and-history-ina
CODEX COLOMBINO ONLINE
http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3245/zoom/#group=1&page=1&zoom=0.9849¢erX=0.5000¢erY=0.3249
The Codex Colombino is a part of a Mixtec codex held in the collection of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. It is the only Mesoamerican codex that remains in Mexican territory.
It deals with the genealogy, marriages and bellicose conquests of the Mixtec lord Eight Deer Jaguar Claw
(fl. 11th century AD).
The other half of the Colombino Codex is known as "Becker I", and was purchased by Phillip Becker,
a German collector, from the Aja-Villagómez family in Acatlán de Osorio, Puebla.
It is currently in Vienna. For that reason, the entire codex often goes by the name Codex Colombino-Becker.
FURTHER READING AND STUDIES
PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY ON EIGHT DEER
Byland, Bruce E.; and John M.D. Pohl (1994).
In The Realm of Eight Deer: The Archaeology of the Mixtec Codices.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
ISBN 0-8061-2612-4. OCLC 30892609.
Jansen, Maarten (1998).
"Monte Albán y Zaachila en los codices mixtecos".
In Maarten E.R.G.N. Jansen, Peter C. Kröfges, and Michel R. Oudijk (eds.).
In The Shadow of Monte Albán: Politics and Historiography in Postclassic Oaxaca, Mexico.
Leiden, Netherlands:
Research School CNWS (Leiden University School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies).
ISBN 90-5789-006-2. OCLC 40511286. (Spanish)
Jansen, Maarten (2003).
Monument en verhaal in het land van de Regengod (PDF).
Amsterdam: Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW).
ISBN 90-6984-382-X. OCLC 66724118. (Dutch)
Jansen, Maarten; and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez (2004). "Renaming the Mexican Codices".
Ancient Mesoamerica 15 (2): pp.267–271. doi:10.1017/S0956536104040179. ISSN 0956-5361.
Pohl, John M.D. (n.d.). "Ancient Books: Mixtec Group Codices". John Pohl's Mesoamerica.
Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc (FAMSI). Retrieved 2007-08-21.
Pohl, John M.D. (2002). The Legend of Lord Eight Deer: An Epic of Ancient Mexico. Oxford;
New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514019-2. OCLC 47054677.
Spores, Ronald (1967). The Mixtec Kings and Their People. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
ISBN 0-8061-1091-0.
Troike, Nancy P. (Ed., intro. and notes) (1987).
Codex Zouche-Nuttall: British Museum, London (Add. MS. 39671). Codices Selecti series vol. 84
(true-color facsimile screenfold reproduction ed.). Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt Graz/Austria (ADEVA). ISBN 3-201-01350-1. OCLC 165889191.
http://www.ancientscripts.com/mixtec.htmlMIXTEC
INFO @ FAMSI
http://www.famsi.org/research/pohl/jpcodices/pohlmixtec1.html
ARCHAEOLOGY.COM
http://archaeology.about.com/od/mterms/a/mixtec_culture.htm
MIXTED PICTOGRAPHIC WRITING WORKSHOP
http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/maguila2/Publications/24_notebook_2003.pdf
MIXTEC.ORG
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~mixtec/AULEX - On-line Spanish - Mixtec dictionaryaulex.org/es-mix/?idioma=en
THE ONLINE ENYCLOPEDIA OF WRITING SYSTEMS AND LANGUAGES
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/mixtec.htm
MIXTEC ONLINE DICTIONARIES
http://whp.uoregon.edu/dictionaries/mixtec/
ONLINE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE DICTIONARIES
http://whp.uoregon.edu/dictionaries/?page_id=20AULEX
ONLINE SPANISH/MIXTEC DICTIONARY
aulex.org/es-mix/?idioma=en
THANKS
Christopher Garcia Music Site
https://sites.google.com/site/christophergarciasmusic/
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/music/string-instruments-in-ancient-mexico
I stumbled upon the following image of a drawing from the CODICE BECKER
SEE ABOVE
MIXTEC MUSICO 6
IN B&W AND COLOR
this image is purportedly from the same CODICE
and the text states that there are 6 musicos in the image,
not 4 musicians
SEE ABOVE
6 MIXTEC MUSICOS B&W
but I have never seen or found such an image in color
only in black and white on the net
I searched online for the image in color and had no luck
I then sent my info to Ian Mursell of MEXICOLORE and asked him if he had ever seen
or heard anything about this 5th and 6th musico from the CODICE BECKER
he then sent the following scanned image in color of the 6 MIXTECS to me
SEE ABOVE IMAGE
6 MIXTEC MUSICOS
B&W AND COLOR
this is the first time that this image has appeared in the INTERNET
Now that I had the image I was fascinated by the musicians and wondered
who were they?
why are there 6 of them?
why are they dressed that way?
what were they playing and why?
Below are some answers
The codex BECKER consists of three fragments (panels 1-3, 4-14, and 15-156)
and depicts events belonging to the years 1047, 1048-1055 and 1066, respectively.
In 1047 King ll Wind ("Bloody Tiger") ruler of the town of Xipe Bundle.
Codex Becker l joins several other Mixtec genealogical codices in recounting
the dynastic struggles that ensued after this king's death.
Panels 8-9 or our codes show, in the upper stirip, six players celebrating.
One of these musicians is none other than the royal David of Mixtec annals,
King 8 Deer (1011-1063) familiarly known as "Tiger Claw".
(SEE BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL READING)
As befitted royal dignity, he and his younger brother Prince 9 Flower blow trumpets while
Prince 12 Olin(=ollin="movement") swings a gourd rattle and Lord 5 Movement beats the tortoise shell.
The date of this paean is 1048, and the inspiration for it was the defeat, capture, and sacrifice of King 8 Deer's
most potent rivals in the race for Xipe Bundle, The rival's body had been burned and 8 Deer had made his oblations
in a temple (shown in upper left of panel 7,Codex Becker l) He thence emerges to join his confederate chieftains in
the music making. Not yet done, however, with other contenders, 8 Deer must wait until the following year (1049) to make good his claims by capturing the town of Xipe Bundle itself.
PREFACE to the CODICE BECKER
1/11 by Karl A. Nowotny
THE CODEX COLOMBINO AKA THE CODICE BECKER
This document was created to record the 11th-century military and political feats of the MixtecLord Eight-Deer
(also known as Tiger Claw) as well as those of another ruler, Four-Wind,
along with the religious ceremonies marking these feats.
The codex, thought to have been created in the 12th century, was acquired by the National Museum
around 1891 and was reproduced in 1892.
The life of Eight-Deer, depicted in all pre-Hispanic Mixtec codices known to exist,
included his conquests of two important Mixtec domains: Tilantongo and Tututepec.
Through this and other conquests and the marital alliances he promoted, Eight-Deer achieved political unification among the numerous Mixtec domains of the Post-Classical period. The eminent Mexican archaeologist and historian Alfonso Caso (1896-1970), a pioneer in the study of pre-Hispanic cultures in the area of Oaxaca, demonstrated that this codex and the Becker I Codex (in the Museum für Völkerkunde in Vienna, Austria) are fragments of a single codex. Caso’s assemblage can be seen in Miguel León-Portilla’s 1996 edition of the codices, in which the fragments were reunited for the first time and named, in honor of the grand master, the Alfonso Caso Codex.
CODEX COLOMBINO ONLINE
http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3245/#institution=national-institute-of-anthropology-and-history-ina
CODEX COLOMBINO ONLINE
http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3245/zoom/#group=1&page=1&zoom=0.9849¢erX=0.5000¢erY=0.3249
The Codex Colombino is a part of a Mixtec codex held in the collection of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. It is the only Mesoamerican codex that remains in Mexican territory.
It deals with the genealogy, marriages and bellicose conquests of the Mixtec lord Eight Deer Jaguar Claw
(fl. 11th century AD).
The other half of the Colombino Codex is known as "Becker I", and was purchased by Phillip Becker,
a German collector, from the Aja-Villagómez family in Acatlán de Osorio, Puebla.
It is currently in Vienna. For that reason, the entire codex often goes by the name Codex Colombino-Becker.
FURTHER READING AND STUDIES
PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY ON EIGHT DEER
Byland, Bruce E.; and John M.D. Pohl (1994).
In The Realm of Eight Deer: The Archaeology of the Mixtec Codices.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
ISBN 0-8061-2612-4. OCLC 30892609.
Jansen, Maarten (1998).
"Monte Albán y Zaachila en los codices mixtecos".
In Maarten E.R.G.N. Jansen, Peter C. Kröfges, and Michel R. Oudijk (eds.).
In The Shadow of Monte Albán: Politics and Historiography in Postclassic Oaxaca, Mexico.
Leiden, Netherlands:
Research School CNWS (Leiden University School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies).
ISBN 90-5789-006-2. OCLC 40511286. (Spanish)
Jansen, Maarten (2003).
Monument en verhaal in het land van de Regengod (PDF).
Amsterdam: Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW).
ISBN 90-6984-382-X. OCLC 66724118. (Dutch)
Jansen, Maarten; and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez (2004). "Renaming the Mexican Codices".
Ancient Mesoamerica 15 (2): pp.267–271. doi:10.1017/S0956536104040179. ISSN 0956-5361.
Pohl, John M.D. (n.d.). "Ancient Books: Mixtec Group Codices". John Pohl's Mesoamerica.
Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc (FAMSI). Retrieved 2007-08-21.
Pohl, John M.D. (2002). The Legend of Lord Eight Deer: An Epic of Ancient Mexico. Oxford;
New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514019-2. OCLC 47054677.
Spores, Ronald (1967). The Mixtec Kings and Their People. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
ISBN 0-8061-1091-0.
Troike, Nancy P. (Ed., intro. and notes) (1987).
Codex Zouche-Nuttall: British Museum, London (Add. MS. 39671). Codices Selecti series vol. 84
(true-color facsimile screenfold reproduction ed.). Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt Graz/Austria (ADEVA). ISBN 3-201-01350-1. OCLC 165889191.
http://www.ancientscripts.com/mixtec.htmlMIXTEC
INFO @ FAMSI
http://www.famsi.org/research/pohl/jpcodices/pohlmixtec1.html
ARCHAEOLOGY.COM
http://archaeology.about.com/od/mterms/a/mixtec_culture.htm
MIXTED PICTOGRAPHIC WRITING WORKSHOP
http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/maguila2/Publications/24_notebook_2003.pdf
MIXTEC.ORG
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~mixtec/AULEX - On-line Spanish - Mixtec dictionaryaulex.org/es-mix/?idioma=en
THE ONLINE ENYCLOPEDIA OF WRITING SYSTEMS AND LANGUAGES
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/mixtec.htm
MIXTEC ONLINE DICTIONARIES
http://whp.uoregon.edu/dictionaries/mixtec/
ONLINE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE DICTIONARIES
http://whp.uoregon.edu/dictionaries/?page_id=20AULEX
ONLINE SPANISH/MIXTEC DICTIONARY
aulex.org/es-mix/?idioma=en
THANKS
Christopher Garcia Music Site
https://sites.google.com/site/christophergarciasmusic/