tepetl (Mdz7v)

tepetl (Mdz7v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for a hill or mountain (tepetl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Xiuhtepec. It has the classic shape and coloring of hills in the Codex Mendoza, which is a two-toned green bell shape, with curling, rocky outcroppings on the slopes and stripes of red and yellow near the base.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

See our study of the stripes of red and yellow and their possible interpretation.

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

Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Landscape Features
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Xitlali Torres

Colors: 
green (dark)
green (light)
red
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
bell-shaped (upright)
Keywords: 

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

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 07 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 25, 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: 

Xiuhtepec (Mdz7v)