acatl (MH522r)

acatl (MH522r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the element acatl has been extracted from the compound Chicomacatl (see below). It consists of two vertical, segmented reeds or canes, each one with two upwardly pointing leaves. In this case, the reed was a day sign from the 260-day divinatory calendar, the tonalpohualli.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Chicomacatl, the original name from which these reeds were extracted as an element, can also refer to a medicinal herb. But that is not the visual here.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
pointed (see also spiky)
segmented
spiky
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

carrizo, cañas

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

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

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 522r, World Digital Library.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=123&st=image

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

See Also: 

Chicomacatl (MH522r)

Chicomacatl (MH483r)

acatl (MH483r)

acatl (MH486r)