centzontli (Osu10v)

centzontli (Osu10v)
Simplex Hieroglyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This painted simplex Nahuatl hieroglyph and notational sign features what appears to be a tree that represents 400 (centzontli). This is a detail of a much larger and more complex notation referring to a number of cacao beans that the viceroy reimbursed along with some pesos and reales (eighths of pesos, which Nahuas called tomines) for the grasses Nahua petitioners had provided to various judges of the high court of New Spain for the maintenance of their horses. This payment seems to be a response to Nahuas’ petitioning for compensation.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The iconography of the centzontli hieroglyph varies considerably across regions, time periods, and particular artists’ styles. See some other examples below. They will also appear as tzontli.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

cētzontli

Gloss/Text Normalization:

centzontli

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Osuna, Codex (Osu)

Date of Manuscript:

1551–1565

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Colonialism (Spanish)

Money, Coins, Prices

Plants, Flora

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

gray

green (dark)

Shapes and Perspectives:

vertical, upright

Keywords:

número, números, árboles, plumas, pelo, hierbas, colonialismo, resistencia, protesta, compensación

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

centzon(tli), four hundred, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/centzontli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

cuatrocientos

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Library of Congress Online Catalog and the World Digital Library, Osuna Codex, or Painting of the Governor, Mayors, and Rulers of Mexico, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_07324/. The original is located in the Biblioteca Nacional de España.

Image Source, Rights:

"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." But please cite the Biblioteca Nacional de España and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs if you use any of these images here or refer to the content on this page, providing the URL.

Historical Contextualizing Image: