Oztomecatl (MH877r)

Oztomecatl (MH877r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Oztomecatl (“Vanguard Merchant” or a “Person from Oztoman”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a man in profile, facing right. His legs stop at his knees. His arms are in front of him, bent at the elbow, but lack hands. The man, presumably a merchant of the vanguard (oztomecatl) that expanded the empire, has a pack on his back with things emerging from the top. The pack is attached to his forehead with a tumpline.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

If not a merchant, this could be a person from Oztoman, but presumably the Oztoman merchants became famous for their role in imperial expansion, and the ethnic designation became entwined with the commercial one. Lockhart (The Nahuas, 1992, 191) links his discussions of the oztomeca with the pochteca, suggesting we watch for distinctions about the distances traveled and the quality of the goods marketed.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

augustin oztomecatl

Gloss Normalization:

Agústín Oztomecatl

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:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (male)

Imperialism (Indigenous)

Markets, Commerce, Economy

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Race, Ethnicity, Identity, Othering

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Transportation, Travel, Roads

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

tied, bound, or bundled

Keywords:

comerciantes, larga distancia, expansión, imperialismo, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

oztomecatl, people from Oztoman, or vanguard merchants, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/oztomecatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Comerciante de la Vanguardia, o Persona de Oztoman

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 877r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=826&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: