Tlacochtecuhtli (Mdz17v)

Tlacochtecuhtli (Mdz17v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This compound glyph for the title "Tlacochtecuhtli" features three prominent elements. One is the vertical projectile (such as an arrow or a spear, tlacochtli), yellow in its shaft (which is apparently an acatl) and decorated with a gray-purple feather (probably from an eagle's wing) and a smaller white down feather. Perpendicular to this arrow is a profile view of a diadem or crown (the symbol of a tecuhtli, lord), turquoise in color, with a point at the front and a red (leather?) tie at the back. The third element is the head of a man with short, dark hair. His hair comes to just above the shoulder and the bangs are short above his face. He is shown in profile view, facing to the viewer's right.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

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)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Feathers

Gender (male)

Leather, hides

Politics, Power, Governance

Social Hierarchy, Commoners, Elites

Weapons, Shields, Armor

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

pointed (see also spiky)

tied, bound, or bundled

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

crowns, diadems, diademas, arrows, flechas, feathers, plumas

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tlacochtecuh(tli), Lord of Tlacochtli Spears, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacochtecuhtli
tlacoch(tli), a type of projectile, such as an arrow, spear, or javelin, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacochtli
tecuh(tli), a lord, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tecuhtli

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 17 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 45 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: