Cuauhilama (MH648v)
This simplex glyph of the personal name Cuauhilama ("Eagle-Old Woman" or perhaps "Woman's Head") is attested here as a man's name. The glyph is the head of an eagle (cuauhtli), which, if not literal, is a phonetic indicator for the name starting with "Cua-" (head). The eagle's eye and hooked beak are open. Spiky black feathers appear all around the head, which is shown in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. The ilama (old woman) part of the name is not expressed visually.
Stephanie Wood
It is interesting that this man's name refers, in part, to an old woman. There is an archaeological site called Cuauhilama (spelled Cuahilama today, so perhaps it is either not the same name or this glyph is also Cua-, head of an old woman) in the area of Xochimilco. It has a beautiful petroglyph or bas relief stone sculpture of a jaguar (ocelotl) with its head turned backwards and speech scrolls coming out of its mouth. There are various date glyphs and a gorgeous butterfly (papalotl), among other post-Classic pre-contact remains.
Stephanie Wood
pablo quahuilama
Pablo Cuauhilama
Stephanie Wood
1560
Jeff Haskett-Wood
animales, pájaros, águilas, viejas, vejez, nombres de hombres
![](https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/CuauhilamaGlyph.png?itok=z7y-MIpH)
cuauh(tli), eagle, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuauhtli
ilama, old woman, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ilama
Águila-Vieja
Stephanie Wood
Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 648v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=379&st=image
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).
![](https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/sites/default/files/CuauhilamaContext.png)