huitztli (Mdz47r)

huitztli (Mdz47r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for the word thorn or spine (huitztli) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Huitztlan. It is upright, with the point at the bottom. The thorn has thorns of its own along what for the viewer is the left side. That side is also red, recalling blood. The right side is turquoise blue.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

As our Online Nahuatl Dictionary attests, thorns and spines were used in self-bloodletting, and one of the objectives was to get blood onto the spine. This explains the red coloring of spines. This has an an association, in turn, with warfare and with religious offerings.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Blood (human/animal/plant)
Gifts, Offerings, Sacrifice
Plants, Flora
Religion (Indigenous)
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
blue (turquoise)
red
Shapes and Perspectives: 
pointed (see also spiky)
spiky
spiny
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

thorns, spines, blood, sacrifice, sacrificio, ofrendas, sangre

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

huitz(tli), thorn or spine, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/huitztli

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 47 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 104 of 188.

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).

See Also: 

Huitztlan (Mdz47r)

Huitztli Yolqui (MH608v)

Huitzne (MH626v)

Huitzne (MH628v)