itztli (Mdz5r)

itztli (Mdz5r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for obsidian blades (itztli) has been carved from the compound glyph of the personal (ruler's) name, Itzcoatzin. This element involves a series of obsidian blades that were coming off the body of a serpent in the original compound glyph. This explains the unusual shape.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

As the "see also" field shows, obsidian blades came in many shapes and colors.

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

Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black
Shapes and Perspectives: 
curving, curvy, curved
pointed (see also spiky)
Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

itz(tli), a sharp-bladed instrument of obsidian, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/itztli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

una navaja obsidiana

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 5 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 20 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

Original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1; used here with the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0)

See Also: 

Itzcoatzin (Mdz5v)

itztli (Mdz16r)

itztli (Mdz42r)

itztli (Mdz23r)

itztli (Mdz27r)

Itzcahua (MH627r)