Cuauhtemoc (MH487r)

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Cuauhtemoc ("He Has Descended Like an Eagle," attested here as a man’s name) shows an eagle's head in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. Its hooked beak is open, as is its visible eye. Small feathers spike off the top and back of its head. There is what may be an eyebrow, and some small lines coming down from the eye suggest tears, perhaps. Feather texturing also appears at the neck. Below the eagle's head is a bird's eye view of two descending footprints. These prints suggest the verb "to descend" (temo, and it is in the past tense, as the gloss shows). The footprints alternate, suggesting movement across a landscape or through the air.