tematlatl (FCbk10f131r)

tematlatl (FCbk10f131r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, featuring a man using a sling for hurling stones (tematlatl), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text on the same page as the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a ¾ view of a man dressed in a loincloth and a cape tied at his chest. He is walking toward the viewer’s left. In his left hand he holds aloft a sling that contains a stone. The sling is somewhat longer than a forearm. It is made of twisted rope. Shading and shadows reveal European artistic influences.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This is the first sling shot to enter this digital collection (as of October 2025), but there are a great number of hieroglyphs that involve ropes and cords. In fact, there is a Cultural Content category that features ropes and cords in the Advanced Search.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

tematlatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (male)

Movement

Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry

Technology (all types), plus Tools

War or Conflict

Weapons, Shields, Armor

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

3/4 view

facing left

shading and parallel line hatching

three-dimensionality

tied, bound, or bundled

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

soga, sogas, cordel, cordeles, cuerda, cuerdas, cordón, cordones, tetl, cord, rock, roca

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tematla(tl), a sling for hurling stones, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tematlatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

la honda para tirar piedras

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 10: The People", fol. 131r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/10/folio/131r/images/0 Accessed 2 October 2025.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: