Miguel Díaz (TK212v)

This painted compound Nahuatl hieroglyph represents the personal name Miguel Díaz [de Aux], the name of a Spaniard appointed by Hernando Cortés to hold an encomienda (a grant to collect tribute in kind and in labor) from Tepetlaoztoc for one year following Diego de Ocampo.. This manuscript was produced as part of the community’s resistance to the unreasonable taxation being demanded vis-a-vis the size of the community, especially as the population was declining as a result of diseases inadvertently brought over from Europe. This name glyph has three elements, starting with an arrow (mitl), which provides the phonetic syllable -mi-, which is the start of the first name Miguel. This arrow is piercing the head of a deceased person (micqui) wrapped in a gray shroud that is tied around them in two places. This mortuary bundle supplies the phonetic start (Miq- or Mig-) to the name, overlapping with the Mi- from the mitl. Finally, in the middle of the shrouded figure is a black bean (etl) with a white dot. This bean contributes the phonetic syllable -el to the end of the first name. The surname is not covered visually.