Editing Aztec calendar (section)

=={{lang|nci|Xiuhpōhualli}}==

{{quote |text=In ancient times the year was composed of eighteen months, and thus it was observed by the native people.  Since their months were made of no more than twenty days, these were all the days contained in a month, because they were not guided by the moon but by the days; therefore, the year had eighteen months.  The days of the year were counted twenty by twenty. |author={{lang|es|[[Diego Durán]]|italic=no}} }}

{{lang|nci|[[Xiuhpōhualli]]}} is the Aztec year ({{wikt-lang|nci|xihuitl}}) count ({{wikt-lang|nci|pōhualli}}). One year consists of 360 named days and 5 nameless ({{lang|nci|[[nēmontēmi]]}}). These 'extra' days are thought to be unlucky. The year was broken into 18 periods of twenty days each, sometimes compared to the [[Julian calendar|Julian]] month. The [[Nahuatl language|Nahuatl]] word for moon is {{lang|nci|metztli}} but whatever name was used for these periods is unknown. Through Spanish usage, the 20-day period of the Aztec calendar has become commonly known as a {{lang|es|veintena}}.

Each 20-day period started on {{lang|nci|Cipactli}} (Crocodile) for which a festival was held. The eighteen {{lang|es|veintena}} are listed below. The dates are from early eyewitnesses; each wrote what they saw. {{lang|es|[[Bernardino de Sahagún]]|italic=no}}'s date precedes the observations of {{lang|es|Diego Durán|italic=no}} by several decades and is before recent to the surrender. Both are shown to emphasize the fact that the beginning of the Native new year became non-uniform as a result of an absence of the unifying force of {{lang|es|Tenochtitlan|italic=no}} after the Mexica defeat.

===''Veintenas'' of the ''xiuhpōhualli''===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan=2 | #
! rowspan=2 | Glyph
! rowspan=2 | Name
! colspan=2 scope=colgroup | [[Gregorian calendar|Gregorian]] range
! rowspan=2 | Presiding deities
|-
! [[Diego Durán|Durán]] || [[Bernardino de Sahagún|Sahagún]]
|-
| '''1'''
| [[Image:MetzliAtlca.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:atl cahualo|ātl cāhualo]]'' (“the water ceases”) <br /> ''[[wikt:cuahuitl ehua|cuahuitl ēhua]]'' (“the trees rise”)
| Mar 01–Mar 20
| Feb 02–Feb 21
| Water gods
|-
| '''2'''
| [[Image:MetzliTlaca.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:tlacaxipehualiztli|tlācaxīpēhualiztli]]'' (“flaying of men”)
| Mar 21–Apr 09
| Feb 22–Mar 13
| [[Xipe Totec]]
|-
| '''3'''
| [[Image:MetzliToz.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:tozoztontli|tōzōztōntli]]'' (“lesser vigil”)
| Apr 10–Apr 29
| Mar 14–Apr 02
| [[Tlaloc]]
|-
| '''4'''
| [[Image:MetzliToz2.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:hueyi tozoztli|huēyi tōzōztli]]'' (“greater vigil”)
| Apr 30–May 19
| Apr 03–Apr 22
| [[Cinteotl]]
|-
| '''5'''
| [[Image:MeztliToxcatl.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:toxcatl|toxcatl]]'' (“dryness”)
| May 20–Jun 08
| Apr 23–May 12
| [[Tezcatlipoca]]
|-
| '''6'''
| [[Image:MeztliEtzal.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:etzalcualiztli|etzalcualiztli]]'' (“eating of cooked maize and beans”)
| Jun 09–Jun 28
| May 13–Jun 01
| [[Tlaloque]]
|-
| '''7'''
| [[Image:MeztliTecu.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:tecuilhuitontli|tēcuilhuitōntli]]'' (“lesser feast day”)
| Jun 29–Jul 18
| Jun 02–Jun 21
| [[Huixtocihuatl]]
|-
| '''8'''
| [[Image:MeztliHTecu.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:hueyi tecuilhuitontli|huēyi tēcuilhuitōntli]]'' (“greater feast day”)
| Jul 19–Aug 07
| Jun 22–Jul 11
| [[Chicomecōātl|Xilonen]]
|-
| '''9'''
| [[Image:MeztliMicc.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:tlaxochimaco|tlaxōchimaco]]'' (“giving of flowers”) <br /> ''[[wikt:miccailhuitontli|miccāilhuitōntli]]'' (“lesser feast day of the dead”)
| Aug 08–Aug 27
| Jul 12–Jul 31
| [[Huitzilopochtli]]
|-
| '''10'''
| [[Image:MeztliMiccH.jpg]]
| [[wikt:xocotl huetzi|xocotl huetzi]] (“the xocotl falls”) <br /> ''[[wikt:hueyi miccailhuitl|huēyi miccāilhuitl]]'' (“greater feast day of the dead”)
| Aug 28–Sep 16
| Aug 01–Aug 20
| [[Xiuhtecuhtli]]
|-
| '''11'''
| [[Image:MeztliOch.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:ochpāniztli|ochpaniztli]]'' (“sweeping”)
| Sep 17–Oct 06
| Aug 21–Sep 09
| [[Coatlicue|Teteo Innan]]
|-
| '''12'''
| [[Image:MeztliTeo.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:teotlehco|teōtlehco]]'' (“the gods arrive”)
| Oct 07–Oct 26
| Sep 10–Sep 29
| All the gods
|-
| '''13'''
| [[Image:MeztliTep.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:tepeilhuitl|tepēilhuitl]]'' (“feast day of mountains”)
| Oct 27–Nov 15
| Sep 30–Oct 19
| Mountains
|-
| '''14'''
| [[Image:MeztliQue.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:quecholli|quechōlli]]'' (“roseate spoonbill”)
| Nov 16–Dec 05
| Oct 20–Nov 8
| [[Mixcoatl]]
|-
| '''15'''
| [[Image:MeztliPanq.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:panquetzaliztli|panquetzaliztli]]'' (“raising of banners”)
| Dec 06–Dec 25
| Nov 09–Nov 28
| Huitzilopochtli
|-
| '''16'''
| [[Image:MetzliAtem.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:atemoztli|ātemoztli]]'' (“descent of water”)
| Dec 26–Jan 14
| Nov 29–Dec 18
| Rain gods
|-
| '''17'''
| [[Image:MeztliTitl.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:tititl|tititl]]'' (“tightening,” “contraction”)
| Jan 15–Feb 03
| Dec 19–Jan 07
| [[Tonantzin|Tonan]]
|-
| '''18'''
| [[Image:MeztliIzcalli.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:izcalli|izcalli]]'' (“offshoot,” “bud”)
| Feb 04–Feb 23
| Jan 08–Jan 27
| Xiuhtecuhtli
|-
| –
| [[Image:MeztliNem.jpg]]
| ''[[wikt:nemontemi|nēmontēmi]]'' (“they fill up in vain”);<br />Not a ''veintena'', 5-day complementary period
| Feb 24–Feb 28
| Jan 28–Feb 01
| ''None''
|}