coatl (CQ)

coatl (CQ)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for a snake or serpent (coatl) has been carved from the personal name glyph, Ce Coatl (One Serpent). It shows a snake in a profile view facing toward the viewer's left. It has a curve or kink in the middle of its body, a rattler tail, a protruding and bifurcated tongue, and an eye. It is painted purple or gray.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The snake is a day sign in the calendar. Here, it is the name of an elite male, as shown in the contextualizing image. The man sits wearing a cape tied above the shoulder. He may be the possessor of the milpa mentioned in Coatl Imilpa (see below). See also how this snake compares to an example from the Codex Mendoza (below).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Quetzalecatzin, Codex (CQ)
Date of Manuscript: 

covers ruling men and women of Tecamachalco through 1593

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

southern Puebla state

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
day name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Gender (male)
Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Tongue Protruding/Noticeable
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Randall Rodríguez

Colors: 
gray
purple
Shapes and Perspectives: 
bifurcated
curving, curvy, curved
facing left
profile view
Other Cultural Influences: 
Mixtec
Keywords: 

snakes, culebras, vipers, víboras, serpents, serpientes, cohuatl

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

coa(tl), snake/serpent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la serpiente

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

The Codex Quetzalecatzin, aka Mapa de Ecatepec-Huitziltepec, Codex Ehecatepec-Huitziltepec, or Charles Ratton Codex. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017590521/

Image Source, Rights: 

The Library of Congress, current custodian of this pictorial Mexican manuscript, hosts a digital version online. It is not copyright protected.

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Ce Coatl (CQ)

Coatl Imilpa (CQ)

coatl (Mdz17v)