Tzompan (MH876v)

Tzompan (MH876v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Tzompan ("Skull Rack," attested here as a man's name) shows an upright, white flag (panitl) facing toward the viewer's right. On the right margin of the flag is a border with hair (tzontli) blowing out horizontally from it. A similar margin for the hair (perhaps a tie with a design that is emblematic of the bundles of 400 things–also tzontli–such as blades of grass, sticks, or the like that were tied for presenting as tributes) appears on the Tzompan glyph from folio 652 verso of the Matrícula de Huexotzinco. The two phonetic indicators (tzom- and -pan) combine to produce the name Tzompan (from tzompantli, skull rack, stretching from hair to head to skull).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

In this collection there are a number of Tzompan name glyphs like this one, fully phonetic, as shown below. One Tzompan glyph is the tree that is an alternative reading of the term tzompantli, although that, too, could be a disguise for the real meaning relating to the skull rack. Finally, see the actual skull rack glyph from the Codex Mendoza below, too.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

martin tzōpā

Gloss Normalization: 

Martín Tzompan

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
personal name
phonetic dimensions
Syntax: 
noun(s)
tzo, tzon, or tzom syllable
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as phonogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Death, decay, decomposition
Flags, banners
Gender (male)
Hair (human or animal)
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Keywords: 

cráneos, banderas, pelo, cabello, 400, flags, banners, sticks, palos, nombres de hombres

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

tzon(tli), human hair, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzontli
pan(itl), flag, banner, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/panitl
tzompan(tli), skull rack or tree, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzompantli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

Estante de Craneos

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 876v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=825&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).

Orthography: 
"n" for m (before p)
Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Tzompan (MH652v)

Tzompan (MH627r)

Tzompan (MH873v)

Tzompan (MH784r)

Tzompan (MH639v)

tzompantli (Mdz2r)