Mixcoatl (MH484v)

Mixcoatl (MH484v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph drawn with black lines represents the personal name Mixcoatl. It shows a cluster of clouds (mixtli) behind or on the back of a horizontal serpent (coatl). The serpent is shown in profile, with its head looking to the viewer's right and its forked tongue protruding. Its spotted body is partly curled, and its tail (without rattles) points to the left.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Cloud Serpent was a popular name for Nahua men, especially notable in the Matrícula de Huexotzinco. According to Sahagún, it was a divine force among the Chichimecs, and carried a powerful significance for the Nahuas. Some scholars have seen it as a divinity associated with hunting, others as part of a Tlaloc complex (of clouds, rain, lightning, etc.), and still others as a symbol for a whirlwind (remolino).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Xitlali Torres

Shapes and Perspectives: 
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
spotted or mottled
Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 484v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=48&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: