tepehualiztli (Mdz3v)

tepehualiztli (Mdz3v)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This iconographic example shows another defeat (implied in the burning of a town's temple), or tepehualiztli. The thatched roof of a temple tips off its base, while flames and smoke come out of this region of the building. The flames are an orange-red. The smoke is a purple-gray with an orange center.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The European or Spanish view of this is "conquest," but it is not clear that is a translation the Nahuas would have intended. They certainly defeated towns and brought them into their empire, making them pay tributes. They were not destroyed, but in fact survived as subject communities.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Cultural Content, Credit: 

Xitlali Torres and Stephanie Wood

Keywords: 

attacks, ataques, defeats, derrotas, buildings, edificios, fire, fuego, smoke, humo

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 
Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Una derrota

Image Source: 
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).