acatl (Mdz42r)

acatl (Mdz42r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This is an example of iconography from the Codex Mendoza, meant to provide a comparison for hieroglyphs that represent the reed or cane (acatl). This is a vertical, tied group of cane stalks that look much like bamboo, as they are segmented and yellow. The acatl has practical purposes, but it was also a calendrical symbol, both as a day sign and a year sign.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

cañas

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
day name
year name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Plants, Flora
Rope, cord
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Colors: 
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
segmented
tied, bound, or bundled
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

reeds, tules, carrizos, plants, arrows, darts, xiuhpohualli, año, turquesa, xihuitl

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

aca(tl), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/acatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la caña

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 42 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 94 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

Original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1; used here with the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Historical Contextualizing Image: