LOST MANUSCRIPTS OF THE RISE AND FALL OF AZTEC EMPIRE DISCOVERED IN MEXICO

In order to comprehend and piece together the puzzle of many cultures, scholars utilise old sources when studying history. The codices of San Andrés Tetepilco, three pictographic records of Mexican history from the 16th to the 17th centuries—a crucial time in the transition from the Aztec empire to the Viceroyalty of New Spain—are an example of such texts. These precious records have finally been found by the Mexican government after years of effort.

The National Library of Anthropology and History (BNAH) is home to 200 of Mexico's extensive codices collection. These pieces' names are derived from the Latin word codex, which describes manuscript text or imagery that illustrates and records the cultural output of the major Mesoamerican civilisations, including the Aztec, Mayan, Zapotec, and Olmec. Mesoamerica includes parts of Central America as well as central and southern Mexico.

The San Andrés Tetepilco codices are very significant because, in contrast to the majority of pre-Columbian records, they contain indigenous images and words in Spanish or Nahuatl that are written using the European alphabet. The codices were created on amate (bark) paper that had been coated with a layer of plaster, cochineal lacquer, and red, blue, black, and ochre yellow inks made from plants and charcoal, according to tests conducted by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to evaluate their condition.

The earliest Codex recounts the founding of San Andrés Tetepilco, a settlement that has retained its name for centuries despite being subsumed by Mexico City's sprawl. The San Andrés Tetepilco church's assets are displayed in the second and most damaged list. According to INAH, the third, and most significant, is a "formal narration of Tenochtitlan's history through four main themes: the city's founding in the 14th century; records of pre-Hispanic tlatoque lords; the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in 1519; and the viceroyalty period until 1611."

The codices have been owned for centuries by a family from Mexico City's Coyoacán area who would prefer to remain nameless. Academics were only able to view them on a computer screen for the first time fifteen years ago. Following years of investigation and bargaining, the Mexican government gave the family who possessed these ancient documents 9.5 million pesos, or about $500,000.

The codices will first go through conservation procedures before being kept at BNAH's codex collection, a priceless repository that has been included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register since 1997.