tepetl (Mdz3v)

tepetl (Mdz3v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for hill or mountain (tepetl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Tetzcoco. The stones (providing the "te" of tetl) have merged with the mountain, shifting the shape from the usual two-tone green bell shape, taking on the wavy purple and terracotta-colored lines of stones. The red line wraps around the yellow line at each end, following the curve of the bottom of the bell shape.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The peaks of this mountainprovide the hospitable place for a certain plant (tetzcotli) that apparently can flower in such an environment. The rocky outcroppings on the left and right slopes provide a phonetic clue ("te") that this glyph is meant to be read "tepetl." Of course, mountains also typically have rocks. Regarding the yellow and red horizontal stripes, please see the article on Interiors.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Semantic Categories: 
semantic complement
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Landscape Features
Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
orange/terracotta
purple (light)/lavender
red
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
pointed (see also spiky)
spiky
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
wavy
Keywords: 

peaks, stony mountains, rocky mountains, hills, montañas, cerros, altepetl

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

tepe(tl), hill or mountain, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepetl
te(tl), rock or stone, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tetl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el cerro o la montaña

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 3 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 17 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).

See Also: 

tetl (Mdz48r)

atlauhtli (Mdz10r)

Acolhuacan (Mdz5v)

Tetzcoco (Mdz3v)