achiotl (Mdz45r)

achiotl (Mdz45r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element has been carved from the compound glyph for the place name, Achiotlan. This component features an orange-brown (ceramic?) bowl piled high with small, round, red seeds [achio(tl)].

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The achiote glyph represents a bowl of the seeds that have been extracted from the spiny fruit of the annatto tree (Bixa orellana). The seeds can be made into a paste and added to foods, bringing a red-orange color, an aroma, and a flavoring. Wikipedia provides a detail of the seed pod opened with the red seeds inside.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Food, Eating, Cooking
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
orange/terracotta
red
Shapes and Perspectives: 
trapezoidal
Keywords: 

seasonings, flavorings, food colorants, condiments

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

achio(tl), a seasoning for food, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/achiotl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

annatto or achiote seasoning for food

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el achiote

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 15 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 100 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

Achiotlan (Mdz45r)