Tlacochcalcatl (MH491r)

Tlacochcalcatl (MH491r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name or title Tlacochcalcatl consists of a square grid with two sets of horizontal parallel lines and two sets of vertical parallel lines. The result is something like a frame, perhaps a tlacochinamitl. If not a title, this glyph could refer to someone from Tlacochcalco, in the Tlaxcala area, or Tlacochcallan, in the Huejotzingo area.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The Tlacochcalcatl had both military or judicial significance (generals or judges) and religious significance, given the deity associations found in the codices Magliabechiano and Matritenses. [See: The Aztec Templo Mayor, 1987, 330). The iconography of the glyph for this name or title here seems to be a construction (calli) made from tlacochtli arrows. The Matrícula de Tributos (folio 1 verso) has a glyph for the Tlacochcalcatl title that appears to be a calli (providing some right angles) with crossed arrows in front of the building, but the resulting shape is more like an X in that one, and this one is squarish. See the tlacochtli glyphs below, too.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

andres tlacochcalcatl

Gloss Normalization:

Andrés Tlacochcalcatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzinco, Puebla

Semantic Categories:

personal name

phonetic dimensions

title/office

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as phonogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (male)

Legal Matters, Documents

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Occupations

Religion (Indigenous)

War or Conflict

Cultural Content, Credit:

José Aguayo-Barragán and Stephanie Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

horizontal

linear or multiple straight lines

quincunx or quatrefoil

rectangular

right angle(s)

vertical, upright

Keywords:

jueces, generales militares, deidades, edificios, oficios, títulos, construcciones, flechas

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

Tlacochcalca(tl), a military general or a judge; also a pueblo official and a name, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacochcalcatl
tlacoch(tli), projectile, such as an arrow or spear, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacochtli
tlacochinami(tl), an enclosure, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacochinamitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Capitán General (un juez con obligaciones religiosos)

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 491r, World Digital Library. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=61&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: