Mixcoatl (MH737v)

Mixcoatl (MH737v)
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 is also the name of a divine force or deity. The glyph shows a cluster of clouds (mixtli) huddling in the middle of a serpent (coatl) whose head is shown in profile, facing the viewer’s left, its forked tongue protruding. Its body has a coil just beyond the head and a short rattle at the end.

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). A famous altepetl, Mixcoac, is now a neighborhood of Mexico City.

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

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.
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Teeth Protruding/Noticeable
Weather, Climate
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
bifurcated
facing left
profile view
shading and parallel line hatching
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
outward (from inside out)
Keywords: 

serpientes, nubes, deidades, fuerzas divinas, nombres de hombres

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

Mixcoatl, a deity, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mixcoatl
mix(tli), cloud(s), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mixtli
coa(tl), serpent/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 737v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=553&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: 
"v" for u, uh, or hu
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Mixcoatl (MH483v)

Mixcoatl (MH483r)

Mixcoatl (MH484v)

Mixcoatl (Mdz5v)