Mixcoatl (MH638r)

Mixcoatl (MH638r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Mixcoatl ("Cloud Serpent," attested here as a man's name) actually shows an upright spear or arrow (mitl). The arrow has a very jagged point with three barbs. It is decorated with a wing feather and a down feather, near the top. Perhaps the gloss is an error, or perhaps the mitl is meant to provide the starting letters (Mi-) for the name Mixcoac, and therefore play a phonetic role.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

It could be possible that the author-artist wanted to downplay the Cloud Serpent (Mixcoatl) and deflect the local friar's attention from pre-contact religious beliefs to the arrow (hunting), and so that is why he used the arrow instead of the usual coiled serpent with the clouds at its back.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

miscouatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Mixcoatl

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
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as phonogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Feathers
Gender (male)
Hunting and Fishing
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Technology (all types), plus Tools
War or Conflict
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
spiky
pointed (see also spiky)
vertical, upright
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
facing downward
Keywords: 

snakes, serpientes, clouds, nubes, deidades, fuerzas divinas, flechas, nombres de hombres

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

Mixcoatl, a deity, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mixcoatl
mi(tl), arrow(s), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Serpiente de las Nubes

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 638r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=358&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: 
"s" for x
intrusive "u"
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Tzihuacmitl (MH509r)

Mixcoatl (MH535v)