poxactic (Mdz26r)

poxactic (Mdz26r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph for poxactic (spongy) doubles as the compound glyph for the place name, Tepoxaco. It consists of a horizontal stone with curly ends and purple and terracotta or orange curving stripes. Surrounding the stones are dots that suggest the nature of the stone, perhaps as porous, spongy, or crumbly.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The dots suggest loose gravel, stone that is crumbly, or possibly stone that is spongy. This glyph, especially for the place name, could also be seen as a compound, given the presence of the stone and the dots indicating that it is spongy or crumbling.

See the dots that suggest a porous nature on the glyph for Tepetlapan (below).

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: 
adjective
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Dirt, Sand, Soil
Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry
Colors: 
orange/terracotta
purple
Shapes and Perspectives: 
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
wavy
dotted, granular, textured
Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

poxac(tic), spongy or loose, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/poxactic
-tic, a suffix for adjective-like substantives, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tic-0

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

spongy

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 26 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 62 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: 

Tepoxaco (Mdz26r)

Tepetlapan (T2681:6:2r)