oxitl (Mdz46r)

oxitl (Mdz46r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for turpentine unguent or resin (oxitl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Oxitlan. The substance is in a bowl (xicalli) with a serving implement. Both the bowl and the serving implement are terracotta colored. The oxitl is black and appears to be in lumps. The xicalli has a thin black line running horizontally across the trapezoidal container.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Still today a natural remedy in the form of a pomade is made from oxitl.

Added 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

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Health, Medicine
Wood, wooden things
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black
orange/terracotta
Shapes and Perspectives: 
horizontal
trapezoidal
Keywords: 

medicines, remedies, medicinas, resins, pomades, unguents, resinas, ungüentos, pomadas

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

oxi(tl), turpentine unguent or resin, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/oxitl

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 46 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 102 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).

See Also: 

Oxitlan (Mdz46r)

Oxihuacan (MH625v)