Tlacatecatl (Mdz18r)

Tlacatecatl (Mdz18r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex glyph for the title Tlacatecatl (also seen elsewhere as Tlacateccatl) shows a man's head in profile, facing to the viewer's right. He has a typical male haircut except for the upright ponytail (tzontli) at the top of his head, bound with what is probably a red leather thong. Face paint or tattooing on his right cheek, back toward the (invisible) ear, consists of a vertical row of three squares, turquoise blue at the top, and below that yellow, and turquoise again at the bottom. The hairstyle and face paint of this important governing figure may suggest features associated with his office and title, or they may point to a certain ethnicity. Some priests wore this hairstyle.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Tlacateca(tl) was a title for an Indigenous ruler or military figure. This title was borne by a ruler of Tlatelolco in the Spanish colonial period.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

tlacatecatl. gov
nador.

Gloss Normalization: 

Tlacatecatl, gobernador

Gloss 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

Semantic Categories: 
title/office
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Face Paint or Tattoos
Gender (male)
Leather, hides
Politics, Power, Governance
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black
blue (turquoise)
red
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

rulers, gobernadores, titles, títulos, oficinas, oficios, occupations

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

Tlacateca(tl), a title for a Nahua ruler or a military figure, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacateccatl-0

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 18 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 46 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

Original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1; used here with the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Historical Contextualizing Image: