Mochitlan (RGTyM17)

Mochitlan (RGTyM17)
Compound Hieroglyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This is a drawing--partially painted--of the compound glyph for the place name Mochitlan (perhaps, "Place of the Thorny Medicinal Tree"). The glyph shows a visual but silent locative in the form of a hill or mountain (tepetl). On top of this hill is a quincunx shaped flower, something like the matlalin (below), but probably intending the flower that grows on the cuamochitl tree ("guamuchil").

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

satana mochitlan
altepetl

Gloss/Text Normalization:

Santa Ana Mochitlan, altepetl

Source Manuscript:

Tistla y Muchitlan, RG Map of (RGTyM)

Date of Manuscript:

1582

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Tzompanco (contemporary Zumpango del Río, Guerrero), with a connection to the Diocese of Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala

Semantic Categories:

place name

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black

white/neutral

yellow or golden

Shapes and Perspectives:

quincunx or quatrefoil

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

plants, flowers, plantas, flores, nombres de lugares, topónimos, estancias, pueblos, nombres de lugares

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

cuamochi(tl), a thorny tree with medicinal leaves, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuamochitl
-tlan, place of or near, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlan

Additional Scholars' Interpretations:

"Place of the 'Mochil'," Barbara E. Mundy, The Mapping of New Spain (1996, 147).

Image Source:

The source of these hieroglyphs is a manuscript and map known collectively as the “Relación de Tistla y Muchitlan,” also known as the “Descripción de la Alcaldia Mayor de las Minas de Zumpango.” Apparently, these towns (today spelled Tixtla and Mochitlan) are in the modern-day state of Guerrero, but they fell under the religious jurisdiction of the Diocese of Tlaxcala. Thanks go to Octavio Márquez for his contribution of the glyph, gloss, and contextualizing images.

Image Source, Rights:

The original manuscript is hosted on line as part of the Benson Latin American Collection, The General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin, https://collections.lib.utexas.edu/catalog/utblac:fbc92b3e-bb28-4258-975.... It is open-access.

Orthography:

dropped "n"

Historical Contextualizing Image: