cuahuitl (Osu13r)

cuahuitl (Osu13r)
Simplex Hieroglyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This is a black and white drawing of the simplex Nahuatl hieroglyph for a bundle of firewood (cuahuitl). It comes from folio 13r (or Image 28) of the Codex Osuna. This is a detail from a scene showing canoe with a load of such bundles that were being transported a long distance, from Coyohuacan to Iztacalco, at the demand of the Spanish overlord, Doctor Puga. The pueblo was unsure if they would be paid for this, and they were protesting. Note how the bundle is tied for ease of carrying.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The nearby Spanish text refers to leña (firewood). The canoe (described in the Spanish text as a canoa) looks much like others in this collection.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

quahuitl

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

cuahuitl

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Osuna, Codex (Osu)
Date of Manuscript: 

1551–1565

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Fire, Tobacco, Incense, Smoke
Marine, Maritime, Lacustrine
Protest, Resistance
Tributes, Taxation, Service
Wood, wooden things
Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
tied, bound, or bundled
Keywords: 

leña, madera, canoa, canoas, trasportar, tributo, resistencia, colonialismo

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

cuahui(tl), wood, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuahuitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la leña

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Library of Congress Online Catalog and the World Digital Library, Osuna Codex, or Painting of the Governor, Mayors, and Rulers of Mexico (Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes y Regidores de México), https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_07324/?sp=28&st=image. The original is located in the Biblioteca Nacional de España.

Image Source, Rights: 

"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." But please cite the Biblioteca Nacional de España and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs if you use any of these images here or refer to the content on this page, providing the URL.

Orthography: 
"q" for c
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Atle Icuauh (MH602v)

cuahuitl (TR28r)

cuahuitl (Osu13r)

acalli (Mdz17v)