Moquihuix (Mdz10r)

Moquihuix (Mdz10r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This seemingly compound glyph for the ruler of Tlatelolco, Moquihuix, could be a simplex glyph, but if so, its iconography is complex. His face (or mask?) has two colors (half red, half terracotta orange), which could be a face paint or tattooing that gives an indication of some ethnic identity. He wears a yellow nose ornament that was probably gold. His "hair" is a series of dots reminiscent of the sand (xalli) glyph. His head is shown in profile, facing to the viewer's right. He also wears a white ear ornament.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Moquihuix was the fourth ruler of Tlatelolco, 1460–1473. This glyph identifies his fuller body as he falls dying from the double temple of Tlatelolco during a legendary battle with Tenochtitlan's ruler, Axayacatl. The etymology of Moquihuix has yet to be determined.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

moquihuix. S. q[ue] fue
di tlatilulco

Gloss Normalization: 

Moquihuix, Señor que fue de Tlatelolco

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Dirt, Sand, Soil
Face Paint or Tattoos
Gender (less obviously marked)
Hair (human or animal)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Race, Ethnicity, Identity
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
orange/terracotta
red
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
dotted, granular, textured
facing right
profile view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Keywords: 

nariguera, yacametztli, nose ornament

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 10 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 30 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).