Tepoz (MH521v)
This simplex glyph for the personal name Tepoz shows the copper {tepoztli) blade of an ax or hatchet. The red color is suggestive of the copper. The sharp edge is upright, and the blade is much wider at the sharp edge than at the bottom, where it would have been tied to a stick (although no stick or handle is showing here). The sides curve.
Stephanie Wood
The blade alone says tepoztli (metal, copper), but the word is also the name for the axe. Furthermore, an axe can stand for an occupation that involves using an axe. In the Codex Mendoza, axe blades are a terracotta orange. This red is somewhat unusual, but it does suggest copper. At least one axe in this collection (texinqui, MH519v) shows a black blade; it may be a metal that was introduced by Europeans.
Stephanie Wood
Juao Tepoz
Juan Tepoz
Stephanie Wood
1560
Stephanie Wood, José Aguayo-Barragán
metals, metales, cobre, hachas, herramientas, tools
tepoz(tli), copper, axe, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepoztli
El Cobre
Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 521v, World Digital Library. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=122&st=image
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).
