Mexico (Osu34r)

This painted compound Nahuatl hieroglyph represents the place name Mexico, although it actually reads “Tenochtitlan.” It has two elements, and the reading order is upwards. The first element, therefore, is a stone (tetl). It is tan at one end and dark brown at the other. In the middle are diagonal, curving lines that alternate in these same two colors. The ends each have three curling tidbits. Above and on the stone is a prickly pear cactus plant with long thorns, visible roots, a larger body, and two branch-like paddles (or pencas, in Spanish). At the top of each paddle and in the middle, sitting right on the main body of the plant, are the little round fruits (nochtli) that have flowers in gold and pink on the top part of the fruit.