Ce Coatl (MH521v)

Ce Coatl (MH521v)
Simplex Glyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph (plus notation) for the personal name Ce Coatl (here, attested as a man's name) builds the notation for one (ce) into the simplex glyph for serpent (coatl) by showing the serpent completely vertical and straight, reminiscent of some ways of showing the number one (see below). This serpent has an open mouth, a protruding, bifurcated tongue, and a segmented rattle. Its head is at the top, tail at the bottom. It has some vague patterning on its back and a white belly.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This name comes from the tonalpohualli, the 260-day divinatory calendar. Calendrics were an important element in the Nahuas' religious views of the cosmos.

The Templo Mayor (Great Temple) of the Aztec capital city had offerings of the remains of what had been live rattlesnakes of various species (e.g. Crotalus molossus, Crotalus triseriatus, Crotalus ravus, Crotalus atrox, Crotalus polystictus, and Crotalus durissus), but also artistic representations of these snakes, according to signage at the museum. (2/15/2023)

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

antonio çecohuatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Antonio Ce Coatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzinco, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
day name
numbers
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Numbers, Math
Religion (Indigenous)
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Tongue Protruding/Noticeable
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood, José Aguayo-Barragán

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
segmented
vertical, upright
bifurcated
facing upward
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
inherent/internal/merged
Keywords: 

numbers, números, ones, unos, cohuatl, serpents, serpientes, nombres de hombres

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book Notes: 

This autonomous-era stone carving of a rattlesnake is from the Templo Mayor. Photo by Robert Haskett, 2/15/2023.

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

ce, one, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ce
coa(tl), snake or serpent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Uno-Serpiente o 1-Serpiente

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 521v, World Digital Library. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=122&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: 
See Also: 

Ce Coatl (MH519r)

Ce Imol (MH520r)

Ce Coatl (MH736r)

Ce Coatl (MH736r)