Paris Codex

Paris Codex
Bibliothèque Nationale de France
The final two pages of the Paris Codex, showing the Maya "zodiac"
Also known as	Codex Peresianus, Codex Pérez, Codex ÓñWheels
Type	codex
Date	Postclassic period (c. AD 900–1521)
Place of origin	Yucatán, Mexico
Language(s)	Maya
Material	bark paper[1]
Size	140 by 23.5 centimetres (55.1 by 9.3 in)
Format	screenfold book
Condition	badly damaged
Script	Maya script
Contents	ritual almanacs and calendrical information
Discovered	1859 in the Bibliothèque Imperiale

The Paris Codex (also known as the Codex Peresianus and Codex Pérez)^[2] is one of three surviving generally accepted pre-Columbian Maya books dating to the Postclassic Period of Mesoamerican chronology (c. 900–1521 AD).^[3] The codex was originally part of a larger codex, with only the current fragments remaining, making it the shortest of the four codices.^[4] The document is very poorly preserved and has suffered considerable damage to the page edges, resulting in the loss of some of the text. The codex largely relates to a cycle of thirteen 20-year kʼatuns and includes details of Maya astronomical signs.

The Paris Codex is generally considered to have been painted in western Yucatán, probably at Mayapan. It has been tentatively dated to around 1450, in the Late Postclassic period (AD 1200–1525). More recently an earlier date of 1185 has been suggested, placing the document in the Early Postclassic (AD 900–1200). However, the astronomical and calendrical information within the codex are consistent with a Classic period cycle from AD 731 to 987 indicating that the codex may be a copy of a much earlier document.

The Paris Codex was acquired by the Bibliothèque Royale of Paris in 1832^[5] and is currently held at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, in the Département des Manuscrits, catalogued as Mexicain 386.^[6]