Nahui Tochtli (Mdz2r)

Nahui Tochtli (Mdz2r)
Simplex Glyph
Notation

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph combined with a notation creates the solar year (xihuitl) date, Four Rabbit. The notation (four ones, nahui) are on the top and the rabbit head (tochtli) on the bottom. The notation for the number one (just like many multiples) is a circle with a smaller dot in the center. The rabbit's head is shown in profile, facing to the viewer's right. The one visible eye is open and teeth are protruding from the mouth. The entire date (including the background) is painted a turquoise color, which could serve as a phonetic indicator for the word year (xihuitl), since year and turquoise are homophones. While the image here does not show it, the date is enclosed in a square black-line drawing on the original manuscript.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Four Rabbit was also a day sign. But in the context from which this glyph has been extracted, it refers to a year. The year 1524 was a Four Rabbit year, and this is when the "twelve" ("Los Doce") friars came to Mexico according to various sources.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
year name
phonetic dimensions
numbers
homophony, rebus
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Numbers, Math
Teeth Protruding/Noticeable
Time, Calendar, Frequency
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Xitlali Torres

Colors: 
blue (sky blue)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
facing right
profile view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
downward
Keywords: 

dates, fechas, ones, numbers, números, years, años, reeds, cañas, rabbits, conejos, animales, calendarios, xiuhpohualli, turquesa, xihuitl

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

nahui, four, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nahui
toch(tli), rabbit, a year name, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tochtli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Cuatro Conejo

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 02 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 14 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).