Tepetl Aztaquemecan (FCbk12f49r)

Tepetl Aztaquemecan (FCbk12f49r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound hieroglyph features a black and white sketch of ritual bib made from snowy egret feathers (aztaquemitl) sitting atop a mountain (tepetl). It is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with similar 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 the head of an egret in profile, facing right. The bird is wearing a circular bib of white feathers. This bird’s head and bib are on top of a green mountain The contextualizing image shows how, below the mountain, a group of Spaniards have taken up residency for a time, probably with Cortés seated in a curule chair and other men standing.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The Codex Mendoza has a compound hieroglyph of this same place name. The principal difference is the rendering of the hill or mountain. The mountain here is just a smooth peak, without the curly rocky outcroppings or the horizontal red and yellow slit at the bottom, where the natural spring might emerge.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image:

Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription:

tepetl Azta quemecā

Gloss/Text Normalization:

Tepetl Aztaquemecan

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Semantic Categories:

place name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black

green (light)

white/neutral

Shapes and Perspectives:

boxed in

facing right

profile view

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

pluma, manto, prendas rituales, garza blanca, cerro, montaña, cerros, montañas, monte, tepetl

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

Aztaquemecan, a place name, “Where They Have Egret Ritual Bibs,” https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/Aztaquemecan
tepe(tl), hill or mountain, in this case “Mount,” https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepetl
aztaquemi(tl), a snowy egret ritual bib, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/aztaquemitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

El Lugar de la Vestidura del Pecho Hecho de Plumas de la Garceta Nívea

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 12: Conquest of Mexico", fol. 49r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/12/folio/49r/images/0 Accessed 7 February 2026.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “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.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: