Macuil (MH809v)

Macuil (MH809v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Macuil (“Five”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a hand (maitl) holding what appear to be five (macuilli) sticks. The hand is a phonetic reinforcement that the name starts with Ma-.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The name Macuil may represent a calendrical name that has lost its day sign. Whether this evolution in naming practices suggests a gradual forgetting of the divinatory calendar names, some self-censoring as ecclesiastical influence grew, or a response to the way the clergy was actively pressing for change are processes that require further investigation. Another option is that it had a meaning associated with lasciviousness. There were five divine forces called Ahuiteteo ("Cheerful Deities") known for "voluptuousness and lust," and each one of the five had a calendrical name that started with the number five (macuilli), a "symbol of excesses" (according to signage at the Templo Mayor), perhaps sexual excesses.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
numbers
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Numbers, Math
Sexuality, Fertility
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
left to right
Keywords: 

manos, cinco, números, nombres de hombres

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

ma(itl), hand, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/maitl
macuil(li), five, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macuilli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Cinco

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 809v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=693st=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: 

Macuil (MH661r)

Macuil (MH525v)

Macuil (MH625v)

Macuil (MH570v)

Macuil (MH648r)

Macuil (MH618v)

Macuil (MH667r)