calli (Mdz28r)

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element of a house or building (calli) doubles as the compound sign for the place name, Huapalcalco. The building is shown in a rare frontal view that allows the artist to emphasize the many beams this construction had (not all buildings had so many beams, apparently). These terracotta orange (wooden) beams are called (huapalli). The building is characterized by right angles, and it has special designs just below and on top of the roof.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Keywords: 

houses, buildings, architecture, casas, edificios, arquitectura

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 
Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

building, house

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 28 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 66 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).