This book presents a tale with a complete, concise, compelling narrative that conveys some of the essence of the discovery, adventure, and learning of twenty years of field work of the author about the ancient religion of the Aztecs in Mexico.
This book presents a tale with a complete, concise, compelling narrative that conveys some of the essence of the discovery, adventure, and learning of twenty years of field work of the author about the ancient religion of the Aztecs in Mexico. .
This book presents a tale with a complete, concise, compelling narrative that conveys some of the essence of the discovery, adventure, and learning of twenty years of field work of the author about the ancient religion of the Aztecs in Mexico. .
This book presents a tale with a complete, concise, compelling narrative that conveys some of the essence of the discovery, adventure, and learning of twenty years of field work of the author about the ancient religion of the Aztecs in Mexico. .
Long before Europeans came to America, the Aztecs created a unique culture based on myth and a love of language. Myths and poems were an important part of their culture, and a successful speech by a royal orator was pronounced "a great scattering of jades." A Scattering of Jades is an anthology of the best of Aztec literature, compiled by a noted anthropologist and a skilled translator of Nahuatl. It is a storehouse of myths, narratives, poems, and proverbs as well as prayers and songs to the Aztec gods that provide insight into how these people's perception of the cosmos drove their military machine. Featuring a translation of the Mexicayotl a work as important today for Mexico's concept of nationhood and ideology as it was at the time of the Conquest these selections eloquently depict the everyday life of this ancient people and their unique worldview. A Scattering of Jades is an unsurpassed window on ancient Mesoamerican civilization and an essential companion for anyone studying Aztec history, religion, or culture.
In Mexico's Sierra Norte de Puebla, beliefs that were held before the coming of Europeans continue to guide the lives of modern Aztecs. Anthropologist Knab learned the prayers and techniques for curing maladies of the human soul, and from his long association with these people has constructed a thorough account of their ancient beliefs and practices. This book is an important record of a culture that has maintained a precolumbian cosmovision for nearly 500 years, revealing that this system is as resonant today with the ethos of Mesoamerican peoples as it was for their ancestors. Timothy Knab knows the place and people better than any non-Nahuat, and his profound knowledge shows.? ? Jill Leslie McKeever Furst, author of The Natural History of the Soul in Ancient Mexico A unique, resourceful, and personal ethnographic case study which details a belief system that considers itself much older than the crossing of Western philosophy to the Americas.? Latin American Research Review