Venus Table

The Venus Table of the Dresden codex consists of an introductory page (24) and five pages of intervals, calendar round dates, pictures, and auguries relating to the movements of the planet Venus. A complete discussion of the hieroglyphic texts found in the Venus table can be found in Schele and Grube (1997).

The introductory section contains the ring number 6.2.0 4 Ahaw 8 Kumk'u and two long count dates: 9.9.16.0.0. 1 Ahaw 18 K'ayab and 9.9.9.16.0 1 Ahaw 18 Wo. At first these calendric statements make little sense, but they can be resolved as follows:

The historical base date of the Venus table was 9.9.9.16.0 1 Ahaw 18 K'ayab. The calendar round date 1 Ahaw 18 K'ayab is the last Venus station on page 50. At this date Venus should be first visible as morning star.