Ce Tochtli (Mdz2r)

Ce Tochtli (Mdz2r)
Simplex Glyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This combined notation and simplex glyph for the solar year (xihuitl) sign, Ce Tochtli (One Rabbit) comprises the notation one (ce, with a single one) and the head of a rabbit (tochtli). The rabbit is in profile looking to the viewer's right. One eye is open and teeth are visible. The ears are standing up. The one of the notation is a small circle with a smaller concentric circle in the middle. The date is enclosed in a black line box, and it is painted a turquoise color, including the background.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

A boxed-in date says this refers to a year. The turquoise-blue paint also says "year," given that xihuitl means both year and turquoise. They are homophones. Calendrics played a significant role in Nahuas' religious view of the cosmos.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
year name
homophony, rebus
numbers
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Religion (Indigenous)
Teeth Protruding/Noticeable
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Xitali Torres

Shapes and Perspectives: 
boxed in
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
facing right
profile view
rectangular
Parts (of compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Keywords: 

dates, fechas, ones, numbers, números, years, años, reeds, cañas, rabbits, conejos, animales, calendarios, xiuhpohualli, turquesa, xihuitl

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

ce tochtli. Element on the Teocalli de la Guerra Sagrada, Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Salón Mexica. Photograph by Stephanie Wood, 14 February, 2023.

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

ce, one, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ce

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 02 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 14 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).