ilhuicatl (Azca24)

ilhuicatl (Azca24)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This painted black-line drawing of the sky (ilhuicatl) with stars is an element in the compound glyph for Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina. The sky is a tan color, and the stars are white. The sky and stars fill a half circle. In the original glyph, an arrow pierces the sky. We have digitally removed the arrow, reconstructing the space where it had appeared. If it had not been for the arrow, perhaps another star would have filled that space. At any rate, there are five seven-to-eight pointed stars.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

We have no gloss for this element, as the compound from which it came was not glossed. Still, it is similar enough in content and appearance, that we feel certain of the analysis. Stars can come in the shape of eyes and simple white circular objects, or they can have points much like the stars in European art. Skies can be a rectangular band, as seen in the Codex Mendoza, or circular. Some are entirely round, some are half circles, or a filled U-shape. See examples below.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Azcatitlan, Codex (Azca)

Date of Manuscript:

post-1550, possibly from the early seventeenth century.

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

perhaps Tlatelolco, Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Celestial Phenomena

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

tan

white/neutral

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle (half)

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

cielos, estrellas, celeste

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

ilhuica(tl), sky, heavens, celestial realm, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ilhuicatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

cielo

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

The Codex Azcatitlan is also known as the Histoire mexicaine, [Manuscrit] Mexicain 59–64. It is housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and hosted on line by the World Digital Library and the Library of Congress, which is “unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection.”
https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15280/?sp=24&st=image

Image Source, Rights:

The Library of Congress is “unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection.” But please cite Bibliothèque Nationale de France and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs.