Opoch (MH631r)

Opoch (MH631r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the name Opoch ("On the Left," or perhaps "Lefty," attested here as a man's name) shows a left forearm and hand.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

One of the deities of water, one of the tlatoqueh, was Opochtli, "The Left." Also, the divine force or deity of war, Huitzilopochtli, includes the element of "left" in the name, too. So, there may have been a consciousness of left-handedness among the Nahuas. Left-handedness was relatively common among Maya scribes according to the epigrapher Stephen Houston (public lecture, 23 April 2023, National Gallery of Art), so perhaps it was also recognized in that region, too.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

pedro
opoch

Gloss Normalization: 

Pedro Opoch

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
deity name/theonym
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Water
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing left
horizontal
Keywords: 

left, izquierda, manos, hands, arms, brazos, fuerza divina de agua, water deity, nombres de hombres

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

Opoch(tli), a deity name, 'The Left', https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/opochtli
opochtli, on the left, the left-hand side, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/opochtli-0

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Izquierda

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 631r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=344&st=image.

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Opoch (MH572r)

Opoch (MH640v)