Itzcoa (MH551v)

Itzcoa (MH551v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Itzcoatl (“Obsidian Blade-Serpent,” attested here as a man’s name) shows a frontal view of a diagonal, thick, black line with four and a half small white circles, each one with a black dot in the middle. On both sides of this black line at an angle are small black triangles with the points outward. Apparently, the small triangles represent sharp obsidian (itztli) points and the serpent (coatl) is the diagonal thick black line with circles.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

See other examples of the name Itzcoatl (or, in the reverential, Itzcoatzin), below. For another serpent with these circular shapes on its skin, see Tezcacoacatl, below. Curiously, a glyph for Tetlacuilol shows a sign much like this one. Circles with dots in the middle are reminiscent of the signs of authority just under the roofs of royal palaces.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

diegū itzcovā

Gloss Normalization: 

Diego Itzcoa (or Itzcoatl)

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Politics, Power, Governance
Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
diagonal or angled
spiky
triangular
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
inward (from outside in)
Keywords: 

obsidiana, piedras, navajas, cuchillos, serpientes, culebras, víboras, serpents, snakes, knives, flints, nombres de hombres

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

itz(tli), obsidian blade, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/itztli
coa(tl), snake, serpent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl
Itzcoatl, ruler's name, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/itzcoatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Serpiente de Obsidiana, o Navaja-Culebra

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 551v, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=182&st=image

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Itzcoatl (TR31r)

Itzcoatzin (Mdz5v)

Tezcacoacatl (Mdz18r)

Tetlacuilol (MH522v)

Itzcoatl (TR41v)

Tecpan (Mdz5v)