tetzahuitl (FCbk8f13r)

tetzahuitl (FCbk8f13r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example, featuring an omen and frightening thing (tetzahuitl) is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making potential comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the companion text on the same page as the image. This example shows a frontal view of a nude man with two heads. One head looks left, and one looks right. So, the heads are in profile. The Digital Florentine Codex team has two additional, relevant terms in their keywords for this page: tlacanetzolli and ontetzontecomeh (a monstrous man who has two heads). In contemporary Eastern Huastecan Nahuatl, they give: cuanenetzo.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

See below for some depictions of the personal name Tetzauh, which can suggest a frightening person or something even more ominous. Often, in this collection, nudity appears to suggest vulnerability and possibly concern for the person depicted. Examples are the glyphs for the personal names Ayaquica (alone?), Atle Itilma (without a cloak or blanket?), Icnotl (humble?), Huetztoc (fell down?), and the glyphs for certain nouns, such as micquetl (deceased) and tepanyaqui (adulterer).

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Florentine/Florentinus, Codex (FC)

Date of Manuscript:

1577

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black

tan

Shapes and Perspectives:

Keywords:

una persona con dos cabezas, minusválidos, personas discapacitadas, presagio, presagios, augurio, augurios, agüeros, cosas espantosas, hombres monstruosos

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tetzahu(itl), an omen, augury, or something frightening https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tetzahuitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el agüero

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Available at Digital Florentine Codex/Códice Florentino Digital, edited by Kim N. Richter and Alicia Maria Houtrouw, "Book 8: Kings and Lords", fol. 13r, Getty Research Institute, 2023. https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/en/book/8/folio/13r/images/659f246f-2a... Accessed 7 August 2025.

Image Source, Rights:

Images of the digitized Florentine Codex are made available under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International). For print-publication quality photos, please contact the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ([email protected]). The Library of Congress has also published this manuscript, using the images of the World Digital Library copy. “The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse.”

Historical Contextualizing Image: