Xiuhpōhualli

The xiuhpōhualli (Nahuatl pronunciation: [ʃiʍpoːˈwalːi], from xihuitl + pōhualli) is a 365-day calendar used by the Aztecs and other pre-Columbian Nahua peoples in central Mexico. It is composed of eighteen 20-day "months," called veintenas or mētztli (the contemporary Nahuatl word for month) with a separate 5-day period at the end of the year called the nemontemi. Whatever name that was used for these periods in pre-Columbian times is unknown. Through Spanish usage, the 20-day period of the Aztec calendar has become commonly known as a veintena. The Aztec word for moon is mētztli, and this word is today to describe these 20-day periods, although as the sixteenth-century missionary and early ethnographer, Diego Durán explained:

In ancient times the year was composed of eighteen months, and thus it was observed by these Indian people. Since their months were made of no more than twenty days, these were all the days contained in a month, because they were not guided by the moon but by the days; therefore, the year had eighteen months. The days of the year were counted twenty by twenty.

Aztec Empire

The xiuhpōhualli calendar (in history known as the "vague year" which means no leap day) had its antecedents in form and function in earlier Mesoamerican calendars, and the 365-day count has a long history of use throughout the region. The Maya civilization version of the xiuhpōhualli is known as the haab', and 20-days period was the uinal. The Maya equivalent of nemontemi is wayeb'. In common with other Mesoamerican cultures the Aztecs also used a separate 260-day calendar (Classical Nahuatl: tonalpōhualli). The Maya equivalent of the tonalpōhualli is the tzolk'in. Together, these calendars would coincide once every 52 years, the so-called "calendar round," which was initiated by a New Fire ceremony.

Aztec years were named for the last day of the 18th month according to the 260-day calendar the tonalpōhualli. The first year of the Aztec calendar round was called 2 Acatl and the last 1 Tochtli. The solar calendar is connected to agricultural practices and holds an important place in Aztec religion, with each month being associated with its own particular religious and agricultural festivals. Each 20-day period starts on a Cipactli (Crocodile) day of the tonalpōhualli for which a festival is held. The eighteen veintena are listed below. The dates in the chart are from the early eyewitnesses, Diego Durán and Bernardino de Sahagún. Each wrote what they learned from Nahua informants. Sahagún's date precedes the Durán's observations by several decades and is believed to be more recent to the Aztec surrender to the Spanish. Both are shown to emphasize the fact that the beginning of the Native new year became non-uniform as a result of an absence of the unifying force of Tenochtitlan after the Mexica defeat.

The 20-day months (veintenas) of the Aztec solar calendar are called (in two sequences):

  1. Izcalli
  2. Atlcahualo or Xilomanaliztli
  3. Tlacaxipehualiztli
  4. Tozoztontli
  5. Hueytozoztli
  6. Toxcatl or Tepopochtli
  7. Etzalcualiztli
  8. Tecuilhuitontli
  9. Hueytecuilhuitl
  10. Tlaxochimaco or Miccailhuitontli
  11. Xocotlhuetzi or Hueymiccailhuitl
  12. Ochpaniztli
  13. Teotleco or Pachtontli
  14. Tepeilhuitl or Hueypachtli
  15. Quecholli
  16. Panquetzaliztli
  17. Atemoztli
  18. Tititl

The five days inserted at the end of a year are days of reflection and contemplation still observed today. [1]

Dates according to DuránDates according to SahagúnName of the veintenaGlyphApproximate English translation
1. MAR 01 - MAR 201. FEB 02 - FEB 21Atlcahualo, CuauhitlehuaCeasing of Water, Rising Trees
2. MAR 21 - APR 092. FEB 22 - MAR 13TlacaxipehualiztliRites of Fertility; Xipe-Totec
3. APR 10 - APR 293. MAR 14 - APR 02Tozoztontli..Small Perforation
4. APR 30 - MAY 194. APR 03 - APR 22Huey Tozoztli.Great Perforation
5. MAY 20 - JUN 085. APR 23 - MAY 12Toxcatl..Dryness
6. JUN 09 - JUN 286. MAY 13 - JUN 01Etzalcualiztli.Eating Maize and Beans
7. JUN 29 - JULY 187. JUN 02 - JUN 21TecuilhuitontliFeast for the Revered Ones
8. JULY 19 - AUG 078. JUN 22 - JUL 11Huey TecuilhuitlFeast for the Greatly Revered Ones
9. AUG 08 - AUG 279. JUL 12 - JUL 31Miccailhuitontli Feast to the Revered Deceased
10. AUG 28 - SEP 1610. AUG01 - AUG 20Huey Miccailhuitontli Feast to the Greatly Revered Deceased
11. SEPT 17 - OCT 0611. AUG 21 - SEPT 09OchpaniztliSweeping and Cleaning
12. OCT 07 - OCT 2612. SEPT10 - SEPT 29TeotlecoReturn of the Gods
13. OCT 27 - NOV 1513. SEPT 30 - OCT 19TepeilhuitlFeast for the Mountains
14. NOV 16 - DEC 0514. OCT 20 - NOV 8QuecholliPrecious Feather
15. DEC 06 - DEC 2515. NOV 09 - NOV 28Panquetzaliztli...Raising the Banners
16. DEC 26 - JAN 1416. NOV 29 - DEC 18AtemoztliDescent of the Water
17. JAN 15 - FEB 0317. DEC 19 - JAN 07TititlStretching for Growth
18. FEB 04 - FEB 2318. JAN 08 - JAN 27Izcalli Encouragement for the Land & People
18u. FEB 24 - FEB 2818u.JAN 28 - FEB 01nemontemi (5 day period)Empty-days (nameless, undefined)

Note: Aztec years were named for the last day of their fourth month[2] according to the 260-day calendar, the tonalpohualli.

Reconstruction of the calendar

For many centuries, scholars have tried to reconstruct the Aztec calendar. A correlation that is accepted in some circles was proposed by professor Rafael Tena (INAH),[3] based on the studies of Sahagún, Durán and Alfonso Caso (UNAM). His correlation argues that the mexica year started on February 13th using the old Julian calendar or February 23rd of the current Gregorian calendar.

See also

Notes
  1. "The Nemontemi and the Month Quahuitlehua in the Aztec Solar Calendar". World Digital Library.
  2. The Mexica Calendar and the Cronography. Rafael Tena. INAH-CONACULTA. 2008 p 82-83
  3. The Mexica Calendar and the Cronography. Rafael Tena. INAH-CONACULTA. 2008

References
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