Mazatl (MH486v)

Mazatl (MH486v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Mazatl here, attested as a man's name) shows the head of a deer in profile looking toward the viewer's right. The deer's visible eye appears open. His coat is mottled and he has a rack of antlers. The way of drawing deer antlers varies from artist to artist within the Matrícula de Huexotzinco, as can be seen below.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Mazatl is a day sign in the calendar. The person bearing this name was probably born on a mazatl day. Which number from 1 to 13 would have accompanied this calendrical name is uncertain. By the time of this manuscript (1560) the numbers could drop away inadvertently, or perhaps they were being suppressed by clergy who did not approve of the continued involvement with the autonomous-era, 260-day, divinatory calendar and its religious significance.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

Jūa maçatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Mazatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
day name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
dotted, granular, textured
facing right
profile view
Keywords: 

venados, deer, astas, cuernos, days, días, dates, fechas, calendars, calendarios

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

maza(tl), deer, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mazatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Venado

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 486v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=45&st=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).

Orthography: 
"ç" for z or tz
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Mazatl (MH483v)

Mazatl (MH485r)