Author Description

The Madrid Codex (also known as the Manuscript Troano) is the longest of the surviving Maya codices. Its content mainly consists of almanacs and horoscopes used to help Maya priests in the performance of their ceremonies and divinatory rituals. The codex also contains astronomical tables, although fewer than are found in the other two surviving Maya codices. Some of the content is likely to have been copied from older Maya books. Included in the codex is a description of the New Year ceremony. The Troano Manuscript and other Mayan documents describe a cosmic catastroophe during which the ocean fell upon the continent and a terrible hurrican swept the Earth. These records provide graphic accounts of hurricans which broke up and carried away all towns and forests. Exploding volcanoes, tides sweeping over mountains, and raging winds thretened to annihilate humankind, and actually did annihilate many species of animals.The face of the Earth changed, mountains collapsed, others grew and rose over the onrushing cataract of water driven from oceanic spaces, numberless rivers lost their beds, and a wild tornado moved through the debris descending from the sky. Many scholars interpret this as a proof of the existence of lost continent Atlantis. This edition contains some color images.