tenextli (Osu37v)

tenextli (Osu37v)
Simplex Hieroglyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This painted simplex Nahuatl hieroglyph represents tenextli, a load of lime (burned limestone prepared for construction). One cannot see the substance inside the woven mat that wraps around it. Tenextli was a common item that had to be presented to Spanish overlords as a type of tribute (taxation) in kind. This load has what would be called a mecapalli (tumpline with a band for the forehead) already attached to it. This shows how the loads were carried by humans with the weight of the bundle bearing on the head, neck, and back.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The contextualizing image shows the value of this load, which was 2.5 tomines. One tomín was an eighth of a peso. Compare this load to some others, below. And note the examples of places where limestone was burned to make tenextli.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

tenextli.

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

tenextli

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Osuna, Codex (Osu)
Date of Manuscript: 

1551–1565

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Grammar & Linguistics: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Fire, Tobacco, Incense, Smoke
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
brown
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
tied, bound, or bundled
woven
Keywords: 

carga, tributo, tributos, mecapal

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

tenex(tli), slaked limestone, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tenextli
mecapal(li), tumpline, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mecapalli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la cal

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Library of Congress Online Catalog and the World Digital Library, Osuna Codex, or Painting of the Governor, Mayors, and Rulers of Mexico, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_07324/. The original is located in the Biblioteca Nacional de España.

Image Source, Rights: 

"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." But please cite the Biblioteca Nacional de España and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs if you use any of these images here or refer to the content on this page, providing the URL

Orthography: 
intrusive period
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

centlamamalli (CST31)

Huecatlacatl (MH712v)

Chicahuac (MH712r)

cacahuatl (CST3)

tenexcalli (MH487v)

tenextlati (MH811r)