Amol (MH550r)

Amol (MH550r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph for a plant (amolli) that produces soap stands for the personal name, "Amol." It appears like an onion or bulb. It is painted gray with short, visible roots, and short, spiky, green foliage above the bulb.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This plant is called amole in contemporary Mexican Spanish. It is the genus Chlorogalum. The bulb can be brought to a lather for washing fibers, such as those that might be spun or woven, and for washing clothing. It is interesting that the name Tzetzel ("He Who Shakes Out Clothing") appears fairly close to this person, possibly suggestive that people in this neighborhood do laundry for others.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

Juā amol

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Amol

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Cleanliness, Orderliness, and their absence
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
roots are visible
spiky
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

plants, plantas, soap, jabón, amole, lavar, to wash

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

amol(li), soap, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/amolli

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 550r, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=179&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: