tenextlati (MH827r)

tenextlati (MH827r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the occupation of the tenextlati (“lime maker”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows an oven for burning limestone. It has two dark openings at its base. Above the base is a tall chimney made from bricks (perhaps adobe, three to four wide and for layers high). The chimney is as wide as the oven. Coming out of the top of the chimney are what appear to be flames, suggesting an active process.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The gloss has a final “c” on the term for tenextlati, the occupation. This may be inadvertent or intrusive, but research might clarify this. Meanwhile, see Ian Mursell’s short study of Nahua lime making, which is free on line, published in Mexicolore. Our digital collection here has a considerable number of glyphs that illuminate the process of making lime (“cal” in Spanish), along with the transport and tributes paid in lime. See below. All of this suggests that a lot of construction was going on at the time of this manuscript (1560), probably more for arriving Spaniards than for the Indigenous population, which was being hit frightfully hard by epidemics.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

tenestlatic

Gloss Normalization: 

tenextlati

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
Syntax: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
Keywords: 

hornos, ladrillos, adobes, hacer cal, construcción

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

tenextlati, one who works to transform limestone into lime (for construction projects), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tenextlati

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Fabricante de Cal

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 827r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=728&st=image.

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Orthography: 
Historical Contextualizing Image: