etl (Mdz52r)

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element has been carved from the compound glyph for the place name, Mictlan or Miquetlan. It is a single bean (etl), a black oval with a white spot along the top edge. It is tipped up at an angle.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This bean has a phonetic function, to provide the "e" sound for the Miquetlan version of Mictlan. Its meaning remains unclear in the compound glyph, so it could be a logogram with a semantic function. This bean is obviously a black bean, but the Nahuas have many types of beans, as the expression in our dictionary, "nepapan etl" (varieties of beans or legumes) conveys, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nepapan-etl. Beans were (and still are) a staple in the Nahua diet, an excellent source of protein. They were also an item paid in tributes-in-kind in the sixteenth century, as the Codex Mendoza shows well. See, for example, the "troxes de frisoles y de chian," on folio 44 recto.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
SVG Image, Credit: 

David Elliott made the SVG image.

Keywords: 

bean, beans, legumes, protein

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 
Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

black bean

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el frijol

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 
Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).