Editing Madrid Codex (Maya) (section)

==Content==
[[File:Madrid Codex 9.jpg|thumb|right|Scenes connected to the hunt, Madrid Codex]]
The Madrid Codex is the longest of the surviving Maya codices.<ref name="Noguez&c09p20"/> Its content mainly consists of almanacs and horoscopes based on the Mayapan calendar used to help [[Maya priesthood|Maya priests]] in the performance of their ceremonies and divinatory rituals. The codex also contains astronomical tables, although fewer than those in the other three surviving Maya codices.<ref name="SharerTraxler06p127"/> Some of the content is likely to have been copied from older Maya books.<ref name="SharerTraxler06p129">Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 129.</ref> Included in the codex is a description of the New Year ceremony.<ref name="Ciudad&c99p879">Ciudad et al. 1999, p. 879.</ref>

The codex is stylistically uniform, leading Coe and Kerr to suggest that it was the work of a single scribe. Closer analysis of glyphic elements suggests that a number of scribes were involved in its production, perhaps as many as eight or nine, who produced consecutive sections of the manuscript.<ref>Ciudad et al. 1999, p. 877.</ref> The religious content of the codex makes it likely that the scribes themselves were members of the priesthood. The codex probably was passed down from priest to priest and each priest who received the book added a section in his own hand.<ref name="Ciudad&c99p879"/>

The images in the Madrid Codex depict rituals such as human sacrifice and invoking rainfall, as well as everyday activities such as beekeeping, hunting, warfare, and weaving.<ref name="Noguez&c09p20">Noguez et al. 2009, p. 20.</ref> Other images show deities smoking ''sikar (see tables 25, 26, and 34 of the Codex)'', similar to modern cigars made of tobacco leaves.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://research.famsi.org/botany/plant_info.php?plant_id=138&family=&genus=&species=&authority=&common=&maya=%3Cspan%20CLASS=|title=Charles Zidar - Ancient Maya Botanical Research|website=research.famsi.org|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref>