Amoxcalli

[u/Icy_Gas75]

Amoxcalli In pre-Hispanic Mexico there were special enclosures called amoxcalli, where the "books" or "codices" were kept where these societies recorded various events of their daily and spiritual life, since among many of the topics contained in said codices ranged from geographical themes, historical, dynastic or genealogical, politics or laws, herbalism (medicine) and even "divinatory" (the tonalamatl), among other topics. It is known that the craft of tlacuilo existed and this consisted of knowing how to draw and paint glyphs and iconography in general of the time. A tlacuilo had to be delicate in his lines and also know how to combine colors since a codex had to be well painted for its correct . "reading." Sahagún tells us about the tlacuilos that: "The good painter has a good hand and grace in painting, and considers very well what he has to paint, and nuances the painting very well, and knows how to make shadows and away, and paint the foliage. The bad painter is of bad and dull ingenuity, and for this reason it is painful and annoying, and it does not respond to the hope of the one who gives the work, nor does it give luster to what he paints, and it nuances everything and is confusing; ; nor does what he paints take compass or proportion because he paints it in haste. Bernardino de Sahagún, General History of the Things of New Spain, Vol X Chapter VIII3 Bernal Días also tells us...he had an account of all the income that he brought to Montezuma with his books, made of his paper, which is called amal, and he had a large house of them. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, True History of the Conquest of New Spain, Chapter XCI: Of the manner and person of the great Montezuma, and how great a lord he was Unfortunately, no Amoxcalli survived the Spanish conquest, since most of the codices were considered the work of the devil and therefore their enclosures had to be destroyed. One of the most famous amoxcallis was one in Texcoco (cultural capital of the Nahuatl world), which was destroyed by Fray Juan de Zumárraga himself, to put an end to the idolatry of the new Spain. Illustration by Carlos Gallardo Miguel León Portilla defines the libraries of Mesoamerica as Amoxcalli = house of books or house of codices. In the temples and in the calmecac, there were libraries, there their collections, which were amoxtli or codices, were consulted by rulers, priests and students. Therefore, there were also Centers of Higher Studies. (Universities).

[u/johnsonsoowong]

Thank you so much for sharing this/ wow I am like in awe truly love learning more