quemitl (Mdz20r)

quemitl (Mdz20r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for a ritual vestment or bib, the quemitl) [or quimi(tl)] has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Tequemecan. The vestment is a trapezoid-shaped white paper with an attached tie. The bottom edge has what may be cuts.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

There are several representations of quemitl from the Codex Mendoza. The resulting phonetic root is often queme-, with a final e instead of i. That this is paper is drawn from the analysis of something similar from the Códice Borbónico analyzed in a publication by Johanna Broda from 2019. Other quemitl from the Codex Mendoza were feathered (see below, right).

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: 
Paper
Religion (Indigenous)
Colors: 
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
horizontal
rectangular
Keywords: 

quemetl, quimitl, vestments, ritual bibs

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

quemi(tl), vestment, ritual bib, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/quemitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

prenda de pecho

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 20 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 50 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: 

Tequemecan (Mdz20r)

quemitl (Mdz22r)

quemitl (Mdz21v)

quemitl (Mdz21v)

huei pachtli (TR4r)

Tlaloc (TR43r)