Cihuateotl (MH792r)

Cihuateotl (MH792r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This is a black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Cihuateotl (literally "Female Divinity," but also a name given to noble men of Huexotzinco). The name is attested here as a man's name, too. It shows a frontal view of the head of a nenetl (deity image), with its squared-off protrusions on the top of its head. The cihuateotl was a haunting female divinity (see our online dictionary).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

gaspar çihuateotli

Gloss Normalization: 

Gaspar Cihuateotl (or Cihuateotli, a possible variant)

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
deity name/theonym
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (female)
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
Keywords: 

nombres de hombres, deidades, fuerzas divinas, mujeres, femenil, dioses, diosas

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

cihuateo(tl), a weeping female supernatural, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cihuateotl
cihua(tl), woman, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cihuatl
teo(tl), a divine or sacred force, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teotl
nene(tl), a doll; a deity's image, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nenetl

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 792r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=658&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: 
"çi" for ci
"r" for l
Historical Contextualizing Image: