necuametl (FCbk11f201r)

necuametl (FCbk11f201r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, featuring a type of agave (necuametl), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a black-line drawing of the necuametl with seven branches and a large stalk rising from the middle. It may have a bud at the top that would eventually blossom. The stalk is spiky, a lot like the tzihuactli. This necuametl is placed in a landscape setting that includes some shading, both features pointing to European stylistic influences. The personal name Necuametl was held by illustrious ancestors, as shown in our Online Nahuatl Dictionary.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Nahuatl hieroglyphs for the fairly popular personal name Necuametl involve two distinct images. One is a black and white feather and the others all have something to do with cacti, agaves, or the blooms of agaves. The emphasis on flowers may be owing to the “necu-” start to the name, which may intend to point to necuhtli or necuatl (both meaning nectar), which likely played a role when the name for the plant was originally chosen. See below.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

Nequametl

Gloss/Text Normalization:

necuametl

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Food, Eating, Cooking

Plants, Flora

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

frontal view

Keywords:

agaves, flores, plumas, nombres de hombres famosos

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

necuame(tl), a small agave, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/necuametl
necuh(tli), nectar or honey, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/necuhtli
necua(tl), nectar or honey, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/necuatl-0
me(tl), a maguey agave plant, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/metl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

un agave pequeño

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 11: Earthly Things", fol. 201r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/11/folio/201r/images/0 Accessed 16 November 2025.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Orthography:

"q" for c

Historical Contextualizing Image: