tepetl (Mdz8r)

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Tepecuacuilco. We removed the cuaculli from the top of the mountain, and tried to coax the image of the element back into the classic shape and color for tepetl. What remains is the two-tone green bell shape, with curling, rocky outcroppings on the left and right slopes, and the horizontal red and yellow lines near the base. 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 tepetl, which often appears at the end of a place name, here provides the phonetic beginning of a place name (Tepe-). 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: 
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Keywords: 

mountains, hills, montañas, cerros, altepetl, stones, piedras, rocks, rocas

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

el cerro o la montaña

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 08 recto, 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).