Abstract

PARK, Changbom  and  CHUNG, Heajoo. Identification of Postclassic Maya Constellations from the Venus Pages of the Dresden Codex. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2010, vol.35, pp.33-62. ISSN 0185-2574.

Ancient Mayan civilization, flourished from 1200 B.C. to 1500 A.D., has left numerous hieroglyphic texts on astronomical observations and calendar. In particular, the Dresden Codex contains the most details of such ancient Mayan heritage. Page 24 and those from 46 to 50 of the Dresden Codex describe the Mayan Venus calendar along with the augural descriptions. We note that the calendar in Dresden Codex is Venus-solar calendar. Our work focuses on the possibility that the calendar was made to work in conjunction with the periodic appearance of constellations on the sky. By analyzing the descriptions in the Venus pages, we propose that the columns in each page describe the motion of Venus with respect to major constellations at dates corresponding to special events while the calendar dates increase horizontally in the synodic period of Venus. We present twenty Mayan constellations identified from the Venus pages assuming that the first date of page 46 is February 6, 1228. We also report our understanding of verb expressions about the relative movement of constellations and Venus.

Keywords : Mayan Civilization; Dresden Codex; Venus; constellations; k'alah, tzeni.