Tepoz (MH486v)

Tepoz (MH486v)
Simplex Hieroglyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph for the personal name Tepoz (from tepoztli, copper/metal) shows an ax head at an angle, leaning toward the right. The large edge is rounded. The narrow end has markings as though it is tied onto a handle, but the handle is not there.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

franco tepoz

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Francisco Tepoz

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Metals, Minerals, Mining
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
diagonal or angled
Keywords: 

axes, hatchets, hachas, metales, cobre

Museum/Rare Book/Realia Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book/Realia Notes: 

These two ax heads are artifacts in the Museo Na Bolom in San Cristóbal, Chiapas. The shapes are clearly found in sixteenth-century Nahuatl hieroglyphs. They were probably circulating all through Mesoamerica, perhaps having originated in Michoacan. The green color on the metal suggest it might be copper. Photo by S. Wood, 24 April 2025.

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

tepoz(tli), copper, metal, ax, hatchet, or other object made of metal, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepoztli.

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Cobre

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 486r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=ths53&st=image.

Image Source, Rights: 

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

tepoztli (Mdz8r)

tepoztli (Mdz24v)

tepoztli (Mdz41r)

tepoztli (CST28)