tzinacantli (T2773:8:50r)

tzinacantli (T2773:8:50r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This is an element for “bat,” (tzinacantli carved from the compound glyph for the place name, Tzinacantepec. The bat is a black and white image originally perched on the top of the hill or mountain (tepetl), which makes up another part of the compound place glyph. The bat is presented in a frontal view, looking directly at the viewer, with its wings spread out on either side, and with prominent ears protruding on either side of its head. It has a somewhat bowlegged stance, with bits of what seem intended as its tail visible below the body.

Description, Credit: 

Robert Haskett

Added Analysis: 

The pictorial produced in the Toluca Valley community of Tzinacantepec (or Zinacantepec) upon which this element is located dates from c. 1579. In that year, a man named Juan de Mogollón requested a viceregal grant of two caballerías de tierra near the indigenous community. The pictorial was seemingly created at that time, related to a viceregal order mandating an investigation of the land in question to ensure that the property was not being cultivated by the indigenous community and fell instead inside an area marked off by the so-called cerca general (general wall) that separated community lands from those considered to be open for the establishment of livestock-raising activities (see Historical Context Image). For additional information see Ruz Barrio, Miguel Ángel, “Las huellas del ganado en el valle de Matlatzinco en el siglo XVI a través de los mapas hispanoindígenas/Tracing Livestock in the Matlatzinco Valley in the 16th century through Hispanic-Indigenous Maps,” Relaciones, Estudios de historia y Sociedad, 40:160 (dic. 2019), Epub 19 Nov. 2020.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Robert Haskett

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

cinacantepeque

Gloss Normalization: 

Zinacantepec

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Robert Haskett

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

1579

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Zinacantepec, Ixtlahuaca, Toluca

Syntax: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Robert Haskett

Other Cultural Influences: 
Keywords: 

bat, murciélago, xiuhpohualli, año, turquesa, xihuitl

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

tzinacan(tli), bat, biting bat, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzinacantli
tzonacatl, bat (a variation of the above), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzonacatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el murciélago

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Single-page codex, Archivo General de la Nación, México, Ramo de Tierras Vol. 2773, Exp. 8, Fol. 50r.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Archivo General de la Nación (AGN), México, holds the original manuscript. This image is published here under a Creative Commons license, asking that you cite the AGN and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs.

Historical Contextualizing Image: