oztotl (Mdz18r)

oztotl (Mdz18r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element of a cave (oztotl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Oztoman. It represents the cave as a type of earth monster, but looking closely, it appears to be a mountain (tepetl) that is tipped on its side, to the left. To get inside the cave, one would have to through the monster's mouth, between the red and yellow lips that separate exteriors from interiors, and past the sharp teeth that are colored red and white like the flint knife (tecpatl).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Landscape Features
Mouth/Beak Open
Colors: 
green (dark)
red
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
facing right
profile view
Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

ozto(tl), a cave, a cavity; also a metaphor for the womb, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/oztotl

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 18 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 46 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).