Texcalticpac (Verg38r)

Texcalticpac (Verg38r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound Nahuatl hieroglyph is a colored drawing of the place name Texcalticpac (“Above the Rocky Crag”) according to the gloss. The three elements consist of a pottery jug (comitl or xoctli) at the top, then a rocky crag (texcalli) with coloring that gives it three dimensionality (suggesting European artistic influence). At the base of the crag is part of a face with an emphasis on the lips (tentli), Normally these latter two elements are phonetic indicators for the syllables -co- and -ten-. But these syllables do not work well for the place name Texcalticpac.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The crag would be correct for Texalticpac, and the jug being on top of the crag could suggest a semantic reading something like -ticpac (“upon”), but the other two elements, tentli for -ten- (edge) and comitl for -co (at) would work better for Texcaltenco, “At the Edge of the Crag.” Barbara J. Williams and Frederic Hicks mention the problem with the gloss in their study, El Códice Vergara, 2011, 280. This collection (as of March 2026) has little to compare to the place names Texcalticpac and Texcatenco.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

texcalticpac

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Texcalticpac

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Vergara, Codex (Verg)
Date of Manuscript: 

1539

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

near Tepetlaoztoc, near Tetzcoco

Semantic Categories: 
phonetic dimensions
place name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Names (places)
Pottery, Earthenware
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
purple
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
shading and parallel line hatching
three-dimensionality
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
3
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
multidirectional
Other Cultural Influences: 
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

piedras, peñascos, barro, jarra, labios, fonetismo

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

texcal(li), rocky crag, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/texcalli
ten(tli), lips, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tentli
com(itl), pottery jug, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/comitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

posiblemente, “Encima del Peñasco Rocoso,” o “En el Borde del Peñasco Rocoso”

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Available at Codex Vergara, folio 38r, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84528032/f83.item.zoom, accessed 1 March 2026. The Vergara is associated with Tepetlaoztoc, in the larger region of Tetzcoco, c. 1539–1543. “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/.

Image Source, Rights: 

Image Rights: The non-commercial reuse of images from the Bibliothèque nationale de France is free as long as the user is in compliance with the legislation in force and provides the citation: “Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France” or “Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.” We would also appreciate a citation to the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Texcalco (Azca11)