Mixcoatl (MH647r)

Mixcoatl (MH647r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Mixcoatl ("Cloud Serpent") refers to a man. It shows a serpent with a large head, in profile, looking toward the viewer's right. It is spotted, its stomach is scaly, and its protruding tongue is bifurcated. It has rattles at the end of its tail, on the left. A cluster of small clouds rest in the curve of its back.

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 others as a symbol for a whirlwind (remolino in Spanish).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

juā mixcohuatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan 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
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound fully logographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Celestial Phenomena
Religion (Indigenous)
Tongue Protruding/Noticeable
Weather, Climate
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

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

animales, serpientes, estrellas, nubes, religión indígena, nombres de hombres

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

Mixcoatl, cloud serpent, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/Mixcoatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Serpiente de las Nubes

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 647r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=376&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: 

Mixcoac (Mdz5v)

Mixcoatl (MH490r)

Mixcoatl (MH519v)

Mixcoatl (MH638r)