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Concept
Tōnalpōhualli
Summary
The tōnalpōhualli (toːnaɬpoːˈwalːi), meaning "count of days" in Nahuatl, is a Mexica version of the 260-day calendar in use in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. This calendar is solar and consists of 20 13-day (trecena) periods. Each trecena is ruled by a different deity. Graphic representations for the twenty day names have existed among certain ethnic, linguistic, or archaeologically identified peoples.
The term for the Aztec day signs, tōnalpōhualli, comes from the root word Tona which means to give light or heat. Tōnalpōhualli refers to the count of the days, made up of 20 day signs and a 260 day cycle. In Aztec society there were multiple intertwining calendars, the tōnalpōhualli, and the xiuhpōhualli which refers to the solar year of 365 days. The xiuhpōhualli was divided into eighteen twenty day months, and then an extra five days at the end of the cycle. Each day denoted by a different day sign and number, the double calendars were intertwined so that every 52 years the same combination of day signs and numbers would appear again. The full tōnalpōhualli cycle would take place over 260 days and since each day was unique in number and symbol each had its own intrinsic meaning. It is likely that the root of these units comes from the human body: the Aztecs would count using all digits on their body consisting of the 20 day signs. The 260 cycle likely originated from womans’ gestational cycle, as from the time of the first missed menstruation cycle to the time of giving birth is roughly 260 days.
The tōnalpōhualli as aforementioned consists of twenty different day signs or Trecenas, which in almost all representations are accompanied with a glyph depicting its character. The Aztec form of writing is largely pictorial and was a semasiographic system, meaning writing existed separately from spoken word. The glyphs were recognizable to their meaning, and members of the population would understand what day it was and their current position in time. Since the Trecenas would repeat every twenty days they were accompanied by a number from 1-13.
Official source
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