tlachtli (Mdz16r)

tlachtli (Mdz16r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for tlachtli (ball court) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Tlachquiyauhco. The court has the shape of a capital letter I on its side. It has two rings (goals for the ball) on the inside at the middle. The four colors of the court are: yellow on the upper left, turquoise-blue on the upper right, dark green on the lower left, and red on the lower right. The colors vary from court to court, but they are worthy of further study.

Description, 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)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Sports, Games, Leisure
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
blue (turquoise)
green (dark)
red
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
horizontal
quincunx or quatrefoil
Keywords: 

capital letter I shape, balls, courts, pelotas, canchas, games juegos

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

tlach(tli), ball court, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlachtli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la cancha de pelota

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 16 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 42 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).