Tezcapoc (MH500r)

Tezcapoc (MH500r)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Tezcapoc ("The Mirror Smoked," attested here as a man’s name) shows a mirror (tezcatl) surrounded by smoke (poctli). The mirror is circular, with a black center (probably polished obsidian) and a white ring around that. The smoke is painted in a light gray. It does not have the usual curling volutes; it is thinner and less well defined.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This name recalls the divine force or deity name Tezcatlipoca, which has similar elements, but it is not clear if the specific reference is intentional. It does seem to point to the mirror as a portal to a spiritual world. There was also a phenomenon of a mirror that was used for divining, as supported in the dictionary term, nahualtezcatl.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

Juan
tezcapoc

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Tezcapoc

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
deity name/theonym
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Fire, Tobacco, Incense, Smoke
Gender (male)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
frontal view
shading and parallel line hatching
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
outward (from inside out)
Keywords: 

mirrors, espejos, smoke, humo

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

tezca(tl), mirror, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tezcatl
poc(tli), smoke (the noun), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/poctli
Tezcapoc, a personal name, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tezcapoc
nahualtezca(tl), a mirror used for divining, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nahualtezcatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Espejo-Humo

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 500r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=79&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: 

Chalchiuhtototl (MH523r)

Tezcatlipoca (TR3v)