cihuatl (Mdz52r)

cihuatl (Mdz52r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for a woman (cihuatl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Cihuateopan. The woman is only shown as a head, in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. Her skin is a tan color. Her hair is twisted, with black lines running through it, and a purple watercolor wash over it. The ends stand up above her head. She has a white earplug with small concentric circles.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The hairstyle shown here (neaxtlahualli) is typical of a sedentary Nahua woman. See below for another example of this hairstyle, with a bit more detail, worn by a cihuapilli (noblewoman). That one comes from the Florentine Codex.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Appearance
Gender (female)
Hair (human or animal)
Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
purple
tan
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
facing right
profile view
pointed (see also spiky)
Keywords: 

women, mujeres, hair, cabello

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

cihua(tl), woman, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cihuatl
neaxtlahual(li), hairstyle of sedentary Nahua women, especially married women, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/neaxtlahualli

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

woman

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la mujer

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 52 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 114 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

Cihuateopan (Mdz52r)

neaxtlahualli (MH513r)

cihuapilli (FCbk1p33)