Macuilli Calli (Mdz2r)

Macuilli Calli (Mdz2r)
Simplex Glyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This combined simplex glyph for house (calli) with the added notation of five ones (macuilli) results in the solar year (xihuitl) date, Five House {Macuilli Calli). The five small circles representing the ones are in a horizontal row centered across the top of the date compound. The house is the usual, rectangular shape with right angles, and it is shown in profile, facing to the viewer's right. The entire date is enclosed in a black-line box, which is indicative that it is a date, and its contents are painted over with turquoise blue. The word xihuitl stands for both turquoise and year. These are honophones, and the turquoise paint might be interpreted to be a phonetic indicator for the word "year."

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Parts (of compounds or simplex + notation): 
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
Keywords: 

xiuhpohualli, año, turquesa, xihuitl

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

Codex Mendoza, folio 02 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 14 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).