Matlactli Omome Tecpatl (Mdz2r)

Matlactli Omome Tecpatl (Mdz2r)
Simplex Glyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This combined glyph and notation is a date referrimg to thee solar year (xihuitl), Twelve Flint Knife (12-Tecpatl). It includes a notation for the number twelve (matlactli omome) and a flint or flint knife (tecpatl) year marker. The flint is upright and pointed on both ends. It has a diagonal line cutting through it. The small circles representing twelve ones are arranged in a group of two at the top in the middle and two groups of five, one on each side of the box, starting in the upper corners and going downward. The entire date is enclosed in a black-line box which is typically used for year dates. The turquoise (xihuitl) paint, being a homophone for year (xihuitl), could be a phonetic indicator for the latter word.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The groupings of ones in the notation have slight separations, which provide a visual for the ligatures that work like the plus signs in the equation "five plus two plus five." Only one ligature is featured in the alphabetic rendering of the number twelve, which is "ten plus two," given that matlactli means ten, and ome means two. The "om" before the two is the alphabetic ligature. So, here, the ten is visually represented as two fives. Finally, the turquoise blue (xihuitl) color is used as a clue that this is a year date (xihuitl), given that the two words are homophones.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
year name
homophony, rebus
numbers
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
conjunction: -on- or -om- (visual)
ligature -om-/-on- (visual)
noun(s)
ten as two fives (notation)
visual plural (multiples of objects)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Numbers, Math
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
blue (turquoise)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
boxed in
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
diagonal or angled
leaf, marquise, pointed oval
pointed (see also spiky)
vertical, upright
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
multidirectional
Keywords: 

pedernales, números, fechas, años, flint knives, obsidiana, cuchillos, dates, years, xiuhpohualli, calendarios, año, turquesa, xihuitl, mahtlactli, nombres de años

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book Notes: 

This example of a carved stone hieroglyph representing the date Matlactli Omome Tecpatl (Twelve Flint Knife, or 12-Flint Knife) represents the same date as the glyph above from the Codex Mendoza. In both cases the two final ones in the equation for 12 stand apart from the two groups of five. This stone tecpatl has an eye and an open mouth, something fairly rare in the digital collection of glyphs so far (with over six thousand, but it is somewhat close to the tecpatl in the Codex Magliabechi, as shown here: https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/content/tonalpohualli-mglb11v. This stone carving is located on the Templo Calendárico at the Tlatelolco archaeological site. Photo by R. Haskett, 2 May 2025.

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

matlactli omome, twelve, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/matlactli-omome
matlactli, ten, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/matlactli
ome, two, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ome
tecpa(tl), flint knife, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tecpatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Doce Pedernal (12-Pedernal)

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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).