Cuauhtamaltitlan (RGTyM17)

Cuauhtamaltitlan (RGTyM17)
Compound Hieroglyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This is a painting of the compound glyph for the place name Cuauhtamaltitlan ("Among the Tamale Trees," a translation with which Barbara E. Mundy, The Mapping of New Spain, 1996, 147, concurs). Tamales do not grown on trees, of course, but the visual seems to put small round tamales on a tree trunk, alternating with what appear to be blue leaves. This manuscript offers four trees with this style, each one with slight variations in shape and color, and all of them growing atop a hill or mountain (serving as a visual locative).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Source Manuscript: 
Tistla y Muchitlan, RG Map of (RGTyM)
Date of Manuscript: 

1582

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Tzompanco (contemporary Zumpango del Río, Guerrero), with a connection to the Diocese of Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Writing Features: 
compound fully logographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Corn, Maize
Food, Eating, Cooking
Landscape Features
Names (places)
Plants, Flora
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
blue (turquoise)
tan
white/neutral
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
frontal view
leaf, marquise, pointed oval
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
3
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
multidirectional
Keywords: 

trees, árboles, food, comida, tamales, topónimos, nombres de lugares, cerros, montañas, topónimos, place names

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

cuahui(tl), tree, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuahuitl-1
tamal(li), tamale, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tamalli
-titlan (locative suffix), next to, among, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/titlan

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

Quauhtamaltitlan, "Among the Tamale Trees," Barbara E. Mundy, The Mapping of New Spain (1996, 147).

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Junto al Árbol de Tamales

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

The source of these hieroglyphs is a manuscript and map known collectively as the “Relación de Tistla y Muchitlan,” also known as the “Descripción de la Alcaldia Mayor de las Minas de Zumpango.” Apparently, these towns (today spelled Tixtla and Mochitlan) are in the modern-day state of Guerrero, but they fell under the religious jurisdiction of the Diocese of Tlaxcala. Thanks go to Octavio Márquez for his contribution of the glyph, gloss, and contextualizing images.

Image Source, Rights: 

The original manuscript is hosted on line as part of the Benson Latin American Collection, The General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin, https://collections.lib.utexas.edu/catalog/utblac:fbc92b3e-bb28-4258-975.... It is open-access.

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

tamalli (Mdz68r)