Chalchihuitl (MH491r)

Chalchihuitl (MH491r)
Simplex Hieroglyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph for the personal name Chalchiuh (from chalchihuitl, jadeite, precious green stone) shows concentric circles with four small circles evenly spaces around the perimeter. These smaller circles have dots in the middle.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

It should not be a surprise to see a child (in this case it was a boy) named Chalchiuh, given that parents often referred to their babies as precious green stones. Being called Jade might be compared to names known today in English-speaking places, such as Jewel, Ruby, Pearl, or Diamond.

See the article (on the left) about shimmer in glyphs. This might help explain the small circles on the outer ring of the glyph.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

matheu chalchiuh

Gloss/Text Normalization:

Mateo Chalchiuh

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzinco, Puebla

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry

Cultural Content, Credit:

José Aguayo-Barragán and Stephanie Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

circle, circular or rounded

cross (x)

shimmer, vibrance, shine with warmth & movement

Keywords:

gems, joyas, piedras verdes, jades, brillo

Museum/Rare Book/Realia Comparisons:

Museum/Rare Book/Realia Notes:

This sculpture is located in the garden of the Museo Nacional de la Acuarela “Alfredo Guati,” in Coyoacán, which generally has few works of art that feature Indigenous cultures, but an appreciation of these cultures is nevertheless evident. This one is titled, “Donde la piedra chalchihuitl y el rojo caracol” (no date and no artist named). Photograph by Stephanie Wood, 1 February 2026.

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

chalchihui(tl), jadeite, greenstone, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chalchihuitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

El Jade

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Woodcha

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 491r, World Digital Library. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=61&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: