Nezahual (Verg33v)

Nezahual (Verg33v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a black-line drawing of the personal name Nezahual (perhaps, “He Who Fasts”), attested here as a man’s name. The components, however, include a female figurine or doll (nenetl). But this provides the phonetic starting syllable, Ne-. Below the figurine is a cord for a necklace that suspends three shapes that are associated with the glyphs in the Florentine Codex for Nezahualcoyotl (“Fasting Coyote,” Tlatoani of Tetzcoco, 1431–1472)) and Nezahualpilli (“Fasting Noble,” Tlatoani of Tetzcoco, 1472–1515), two important names in Tetzcocan history. [See Bradley Benton, The Lords of Tetzcoco, 2017, 179.]

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Another Nezahualcoyotl in this collection shows bloodletting thorns; perhaps the shapes on the necklaces are the rectangular ends of the bloodletting devices, suggesting that the points are penetrating the neck (but out of sight, so less obviously related to bloodletting, which was discouraged by the colonial clergy). Other Nezahual compounds with the nenetl and necklace (of thorns?) appear in the Vergara on folio 35 recto and folio 37r.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

luis. neçahual

Gloss/Text Normalization:

Luis Nezahual

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Vergara, Codex (Verg)

Date of Manuscript:

1539

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

near Tepetlaoztoc, near Tetzcoco

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

syllable: ne/nen (from nenetl, figurine)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

fading tradition, or an effort to disguise?

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (female)

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Indigenous)

Toys

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

frontal view

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

collar, collares, muñeca, muñecas, figurilla, figurillas, mujeres, nombres de hombres, fonetismo, men’s names

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

nezahual(li), a ritual fasting, abstinence, or maybe bloodletting, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nezahualli
nene(tl), a doll, a figurine, or a woman’s genitals, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nenetl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

posiblemente, Ayunador

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Codex Vergara, folio 33v, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84528032/f74.item.zoom, accessed 1 March 2026. The Vergara is associated with Tepetlaoztoc, in the larger region of Tetzcoco, c. 1539–1543. “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/.

Image Source, Rights:

Image Rights: The non-commercial reuse of images from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is free as long as the user is in compliance with the legislation in force and provides the citation: “Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France” or “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/

Orthography:

"ç" for z or tz

intrusive period

Historical Contextualizing Image: