Xaltocan (Mdz17v)

Xaltocan (Mdz17v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the place name Xaltocan involves sand (xalli) surrounding a spider tocatl. What appears to be a spider web comes out of its rear end. The xalli involves a large number of dots circling around the spider. The spider is a gray or purple in color, with an oval body with lines crossing it. There is a red spot at the end of the body where the web emerges or connects. Two front legs are visible. The head is round, in profile looking to the viewer's right, with two visible white teeth or fangs and a white eye. It has two antennae going in opposite directions.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The association between the color red and bodily orifices is worth exploring. See our article on the side bar about red and yellow interiors.

Elizabeth Hill Boone translates Xaltocan as "Sand Spider," which may be the best analysis for now. This place was allegedly given to a Chichimec immigrant named Chicomecuauh, who was treated well by Xolotl. [See her Stories in Red and Black (2000), 185.]

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

xaltocan.puo

Gloss Normalization: 

Xaltocan, pueblo

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Dirt, Sand, Soil
Names (places)
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
gray
purple
red
white/neutral
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
facing right
profile view
Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
2
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
back to front
Keywords: 

araña arañas, spiders, nombres de lugares, topónimos

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

toca(tl), a spider, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tocatl

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 17 verso 2, 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).

See Also: 

xalli (Mdz17v)

Tocatl (MH629r)