Cihuacoatl (MH699v)

Cihuacoatl (MH699v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name or title, Cihuacoatl (a female divine force and a high governing title) is attested here ascertaining to a man. The glyph shows a snake (coatl) with one coil in its body and a small rattler. Its head is that of a person (probably a woman, cihuatl) with long hair, shown in profile, facing toward the viewer’s right. The long hair could indicate that this is an unmarried woman who is not yet able to wear the neaxtlahualli hairstyle. Alternatively, this may be the head of a Nahua man who is a priest or shaman of some sort.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Another Cihuacoatl in this digital collection shows a spotted C-shaped rattlesnake with the serpent’s head at the bottom, in profile, facing right. A woman’s head rests inside the lower part of this C-shape, just behind the serpent’s head.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juā tziuacouatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Cihuacoatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound fully logographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Gender (female)
Gender (male)
Hair (human or animal)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Politics, Power, Governance
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
blue (turquoise)
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
Keywords: 

serpientes, víboras, culebras, pelo largo, mujeres, nombres de hombres

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

Cihuacoatl, a female divine force and a high governing title, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/Cihuacoatl
cihua(tl), woman, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cihuatl
coa(tl), snake/serpent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

literalmente, Mujer-Serpiente

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 699v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=479&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).

Orthography: 
"tz" for ç
"u" for hu
intrusive "u"
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Cihuacoatl (MH490v)