Mixcoatl (MH623v)

Mixcoatl (MH623v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Mixcoatl ("Cloud Serpent") is attested here as a man's name. 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. Its undulating body is spotted, and its tail has rattles. The snake's eye is open.

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, in Spanish).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

peDro
mixcovatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Pedro Mixcoatl (or Mixcohuatl)

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: 
deity name/theonym
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound fully logographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Celestial Phenomena
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Weather, Climate
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
spotted or mottled
wavy
curving, curvy, curved
circle, circular or rounded
dotted, granular, textured
profile view
frontal view
horizontal
facing right
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Keywords: 

animales, serpientes, nubes, divinidades, fuerzas espirituales, cloud serpents, nombres de hombres, cohuatl

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

mix(tli), clouds, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mixtli
coa(tl), serpent or snake, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/coatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Serpiente de las Nubes

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 623v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=328&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: 
See Also: 

Mixcoatl (Mdz5v)

Mixcoatl (MH483v)

Mixcoatl (MH483r)

Mixcoatlailotlac (Mdz68r)