xilotl (MH487r)

xilotl (MH487r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the element for a tender, green ear of maize or corn (xilotl) shows a partially clad, partially uncovered cob with visible kernels. Some silk still appears at the top. It is leaning to the viewer's left, at a slight angle.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The museum comparison image looks much like this glyph, which is supposed to be a tender young corn cob, but the cobs in the museum have become dried (cintli, or mazorca in Spanish).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

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

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Corn, Maize
Food, Eating, Cooking
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
diagonal or angled
segmented
Keywords: 

cobs, ears, elotes, corn, maíz

Museum & Rare Book Comparisons: 
Museum/Rare Book Notes: 

xilotl. Ears of maize on display at the Museo del Templo Mayor. Photograph by Stephanie Wood, 15 February 2023; this commentary and photo editing by Robert Haskett.

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

xilo(tl), tender ear of green maize, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xilotl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la mazorca tierna, el jilote, el elote

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 487r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=53&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).

See Also: 

Cuauhxilotl (Mdz486v)

Xilotl (MH507v)

Xilotl (MH524v)

xilotl (Mdz44r)

Elotl (MH759r)