temazcalli (FCbk11f180r)

This iconographic example, featuring a black-line drawing of a sweat house or steambath (temazcalli), 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 near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows the building of a sweat house in a ¾ view and with shading for three-dimensionality. The entrance has a stone arch. Water pours out of this door, flowing off to the right side of the building, swirling as it goes (showing movement). Two round windows on the facade of the building are open, and what is either steam or smoke comes curling out of these in volutes. The left corner of the building is reinforced with squared-off stones or adobe bricks. On the far left side of the building is another arch, where wooden planks are consumed by flames of fire, and black smoke comes curling out and up toward the sky. The contextualizing image shows two men wearing only loancloths, perhaps about to enter the building for a steam bath. They are both speaking, as small speech scrolls emerge from their mouths. At their feet the water gathers in a pool that is edged by stone or adobe bricks that contain it. Not shown are the pregnant women (“ootzti[n]”) who are mentioned in the Nahuatl text as being regular users of the temazcalli.