mazatl (Mdz47r)

mazatl (Mdz47r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Mazatlan. It is the head of a deer in profile, facing right. The coat of the deer is mottled and painted brown. Its chin is white, as are its visible teeth. Its antlers are painted a turquoise blue, the same color as water (atl), which is also how the name ends (-atl).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The turquoise-colored antlers are owing to the fact that the deer is metaphorically called "acaxoch," or reed flower, according to Gordon Whittaker (Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs, 2021, 96).

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: 
Animals: Misc.
Mouth/Beak Open
Teeth Protruding/Noticeable
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Xitlali Torres

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

https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mazatl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

deer

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 47 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 104 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).

See Also: 

Mazatlan (Mdz47r)

Tlapalmazatl (MH895r)

Ce Mazatl (FCbk4f8v)

Macuilmazatl (MH495v)

Mazatl (MH483v)

Mazatl (MH483v)