temazcalli (FCbk11f244v)

This iconographic example, featuring a black and white sketch of a steam bath or sweat house (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 a frontal view of the building, which seems to be made from adobe or stone bricks. It has an arching doorway with water flowing out and a nude woman sitting in or at the edge of the water washing herself. Her left hand and arm cover her breasts. One knows this is a woman based on her neaxtlahualli (also called axtlacuilli) hairstyle This flow of water connects to a smaller river leading to a pond off to the right. The building has two small round windows, one on the left and one on the right, and smoke emerges from these windows in little glyph-like scrolls. Of to the viewer’s left of the building is another, attached structure, also made of bricks or stones, but a darker color. This building also has an arched opening where a fire burns from a group of planks. Both buildings also have stone mosaics on the bottom, where the walls meet the earth. The hilly, shaded landscape represents European artistic elements.