atl (Mdz20v)

atl (Mdz20v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Aochpanco. It shows a horizontal stream of water with a line of current, moving toward the viewer's right, and with three offshoots turning downward. The tip of the water and the offshoots have alternating white turbinate shells and droplets (or beads) coming off the main stream. The water is painted a turquoise blue.

Description, 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)
visible movement
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Movement
Shells
Water
Colors: 
blue (turquoise)
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
horizontal
Keywords: 

water, shells

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

a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

water

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 20 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 51 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: 

Aochpanco (Mdz20v)