cacahuacuahuitl (FCbk11f123r)

cacahuacuahuitl (FCbk11f123r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, featuring a cacao tree (cacahuacuahuitl), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a frontal view of a cacao tree full of clumps of green leaves and laden with spotted red pods of cacao beans. On the ground nearby is what appears to be a ball of snakes (coatapayolli); its purpose or reading is unclear. The tree stands in a landscape setting. This setting, along with the shading that provides a three-dimensionality to the scene, reveal European artistic influence.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Thus far (November 2025) in this digital collection, the hieroglyphs and iconographic examples having to do with cacal are about the beans (cacahuatl) or the pods that contain them. One glyph hints at the beverage (chocolatl) by putting the beans in a beautifully designed cup with a stem. See some examples below.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

Cacaoaquavitl

Gloss/Text Normalization:

cacahuacuahuitl

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Beverages (incl. alcohol)

Chocolate, Cocoa, Cacao

Food, Eating, Cooking

Plants, Flora

Wood, wooden things

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

frontal view

shading and parallel line hatching

three-dimensionality

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

semilla, semillas, grano, granos, mazorcas, bebida, bebidas, chocolate, cocoa

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

cacahuacuahui(tl), cacao tree, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cacahuacuahuitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el árbol de cacao

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 11: Earthly Things", fol. 123r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/11/folio/123r/images/0 Accessed 16 October 2025.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Orthography:

"o" for u, uh, or hu

"q" for c

"v" for u, uh, or hu

Historical Contextualizing Image: