tzompantli (Mdz17v)

tzompantli (Mdz17v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph for a skull rack (tzompantli) doubles for the place name Tzompanco. It has a horizontal platform colored purple. Upon the platform are two vertical pieces of wood and a narrower horizontal cross bar, all colored terracotta. The cross bar penetrates a white skull, cutting through the back of the head and protruding from the mouth. The skull is in profile.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The tzompantli that is part of the compound sign for the place name Tzompahuacan has a red eyelid, giving it the appearance of the ixtli (eye/face) sign. Also, that skull rack sits on more of a teopan base.

Source Manuscript:

Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Semantic Categories:

place name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Anatomy, human body parts

Architecture, Construction, Buildings

Death, decay, decomposition

Names (places)

Religion (Indigenous)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

orange/terracotta

purple

white/neutral

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

Keywords:

skulls, calaveras

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons:

Museum/Rare Book Notes:

tzompantli. A version in stone from the Museo del Templo Mayor. Photograph by Robert Haskett, 15 February 2023.

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

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:

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).