tepoztli (Mdz8r)

tepoztli (Mdz8r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element of a copper ax (tepoztli) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Tepoztlan. The color of the handle suggests wood, and the color of the blade suggests copper. Around the handle is tied a decoration with red and black vertical hash marks.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The decoration on the ax suggests a possible ritual use. Whether it is paper or wood is unclear. Further investigation is required. Notice the tepoztli from folio 24 recto of the Codex Mendoza, which also has something of a bow tied to the ax handle. That one has a different design, with horizontal lines.

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

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Metals, Minerals, Mining
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
tied, bound, or bundled
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

tools, axes, hatchets, herramientas, hachas

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

tepoz(tli), copper or metal, or a metal tool, by extension (here, a copper ax), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepoztli

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

metal ax

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el hacha de cobre

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 8 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).

See Also: 

Tepoztlan (Mdz8r)

tepoztli (Mdz24v)