teocuitlatl (Mdz44r)

teocuitlatl (Mdz44r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This element for (teocuitlatl) (gold) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Teocuitlatlan. This hieroglyph for gold is a circle and, within the circle, an interlocking X and four dots, one each between the tips of the X. The glyph is drawn with a black line and it is painted yellow or gold.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This hieroglyph could be interpreted as having a quadripartite or quincunx shape (if we cound the center) inside a circle. The dots around the X or cross could have the effect of shimmer or sparkle, as seen in the glyph for the sun, mirrors, and precious greenstones (see below). Even water could have this kind of sparkle, as in the example below, if the small concentric circles that come off water are not just seen as droplets or chalchihuites but also relate to shine.

The "teo-" part of the word for gold refers to divinity, which seems to connect gold to the Nahua religion. The "cuitlatl" part refers to excrement. In this collection, we do have one compound glyph for gold that shows a stone (for "te-") and excrement (for "cuitlatl").

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment

Landscape Features

Metals, Minerals, Mining

Money, Coins, Prices

Religion (Indigenous)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood, Xitlali Torres

Colors:

black

yellow or golden

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle, circular or rounded

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

cross (+)

cross (x)

quincunx or quatrefoil

shimmer, vibrance, shine with warmth & movement

three-dimensionality

Keywords:

gold, metals, metales, oro

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons:

Museum/Rare Book Notes:

This stone carving of the teocuitlatl (gold) hieroglyph is here for comparison with the glyphs in the Codex Mendoza. This stone is located in the Museo Xolotl at the archaeological site at Tenayuca (in the region of Tlalnepantla, Mexico City). Photo by Stephanie Wood, 13 August 2023.

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

teocuitla(tl), gold, silver, precious metal, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teocuitlatl
te(tl), stone, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tetl
cuitla(tl), excrement, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuitlatl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations:

gold

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el oro

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 44 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 98 of 188.

Image Source, Rights:

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).