Macuilli Tecpatl (FCbk4f6v)

Macuilli Tecpatl (FCbk4f6v)
Simplex Glyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph for a flint knife (tecpatl), along with the notation for the number five (macuilli) represents a day sign in the 260-day divinatory calendar called the tonalpohuallli. It is a day with religious significance. The flint knife is red with a white diagonal stripe across its middle. This stripe is reminiscent of the diagonal stripes sometimes found on stones (tetl), providing both a phonetic and a semantic indication, given that the flint is a type of stone. The five ones are small circles painted green. They are connected with a red horizontal line, serving as a ligature that indicates their sum.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

As the contextualizing image shows, the ones (number circles) that are green for this date are shown in different colors for the other dates in the group (yellow, red, blue).

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Semantic Categories:

calendrics

day name

numbers

Syntax:

line connecting elements

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Numbers, Math

Religion (Indigenous)

Time, Calendar, Frequency

Weapons, Shields, Armor

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

green (light)

red

white/neutral

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

frontal view

segmented

Keywords:

tonalpohualli, días, fechas, calendarios, números, pedernales

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

macuil(li), five, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/macuilli
tecpa(tl), flint knife, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tecpatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Cinco Pedernal, o 5-Pedernal

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_10615/?sp=14&st=image

Image Source, Rights:

The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse. Researchers are encouraged to review the source information attached to each item. If you do publish anything from this database, please cite the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs.

Historical Contextualizing Image: