atl (Mdz26r)

atl (Mdz26r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element from a compound glyph has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Alhuexoyocan. It shows swirling water with short streams coming off the swirl. These have lines of current (visual movement) and the droplets and turbinate shells are emblematic of the glyphs for water. The turbinate shells further emphasize swirling. The potential significance of the swirling water is brought home by the name glyph for Tetzauh (omen), which seems to suggest that whirlpools (and perhaps whirlwinds, and the like) create a vortex that connects life on earth with a spiritual realm. See below.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
day name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Movement
Shells
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
blue (turquoise)
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
curving, curvy, curved
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
Keywords: 

water, shells

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

atl, water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

water

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 25 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 62 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: 

Alhuexoyocan (Mdz26r)