chipahuac atl (FCbk12f26v)

chipahuac atl (FCbk12f26v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph is a black and white sketch of a jug of clean water (chipahuac atl). It is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text on the page following the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a tall pottery jug with a flared neck. One handle is visible, and a woven tump line feeds through the handle(s) for ease of carrying. Water splashes out of the top in three short streams, each one with a line of current (movement) and a droplet or bead at the tip. The water is shown with classic Nahuatl hieroglyphic features.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The jug looks much like the atlacuihuani of the Codex Mendoza, the apilolli of the Florentine Codex, or a generic comitl. The attached tumpline (mecapalli) is a little bit unusual to see on a jug, but it makes a lot of sense for a large, heavy jug full of water. The contextualizing image includes but a few of the goods that the Spaniards who seized Motecuhzoma started demanding from the Mexica.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

chipahuacatl

Gloss/Text Normalization:

chipahuac atl

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Pottery, Earthenware

Race, Ethnicity, Identity, Othering

Tributes, Taxation, Service

Water

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

shading and parallel line hatching

three-dimensionality

tied, bound, or bundled

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

jarra de agua, jarras, cántaro, cántaros, mecapal

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

chipahuac, clean, clear, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chipahuac
a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el agua limpia

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 12: Conquest of Mexico", fol. 26v, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/12/folio/26v/images/0 Accessed 7 February 2026.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “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.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: