tezcatl (Mdz12r)

tezcatl (Mdz12r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for a mirror (tezcatl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Atezcahuacan. This mirror, typically made of polished obsidian or shiny mica, is a black circle with a red ring around it.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

See Ian Mursell's article in Mexicolore on "smoking mirrors" for information about the use of mirrors in Mesoamerica from pre-Classic times forward, their use in divination, and their association with divine forces. In Turkey 8,000 years ago, theories suggest many uses, such as brightening rooms, starting fires, signaling, and more, including having a spiritual meaning. The one pictured below was uncovered in a funerary site as a rare gift. [See: Dimosthenis Vasiloudis, The World's Oldest Mirrors Found in Neolithic Çatalhöyük Site, The Archaeologist, August 5, 2022.]

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)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Religion (Indigenous)
Technology (all types), plus Tools
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black
red
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
frontal view
SVG of Glyph: 
View / Download SVG
SVG Image, Credit: 

Ellis Shing Nobles

Keywords: 

mirrors, espejos

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book Notes: 

Obsidian mirror from Anatolia, Turkey, c. 6000 B.C.E. Photo posted to Facebook, August 2024, and reproduced here courtesy of Toni Wortreich Ziv.

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

tezca(tl), mirror, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tezcatl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

mirror

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 12 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 34 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: 

Atezcahuacan (Mdz12r)