xiuhchimalli (Azca16)

xiuhchimalli (Azca16)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This painted black-line drawing for the compound personal name xiuhchimalli (apparently, a turquoise-shield) shows a circular shield (chimalli) with a red border and a mesh pattern in the middle. Perhaps the mesh pattern is a hint about a mosaic that might involve tesserae of turquoise. Behind the shield is something that looks like a horizontal wooden fence made from planks. Coming up from the shield is a post with a flag (panitl) on it, and above the flag is a device that is red at the base and has four golden, wavy feathers going up from there. Perhaps these are references to the name Huitzilihuitl (“Hummingbird Feathers”). According to the gloss, this turquoise shield was given to him.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The translation of xihuitl as turquoise here could be incorrect, given that there is nothing obviously turquoise in the visuals. There are no other Xiuhchimalli or Xiuhchimal glyphs in this database yet (as of May 2025).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

xiuhchimalli macoc in huitzilliguitzin

Gloss Normalization: 

xiuhchimalli macoc in huitzilihuitzin

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Azcatitlan, Codex (Azca)
Date of Manuscript: 

post-1550, possibly from the early seventeenth century.

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

perhaps Tlatelolco, Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
compound fully logographic
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Feathers
Flags, banners
Turquoise or Jadeite
War or Conflict
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
red
tan
white/neutral
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
border (red, plain, or patterned)
checked, cross-hatched, or mesh
circle(s) (small, often concentric)
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

turquesas, escudos, regalos, círculos

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

xiuhchimal(li), a war shield decorated with a turquoise mosaic design, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xiuhchimalli
xihu(itl), turquoise, greens, year, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xihuitl
and https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xihuitl-0
chimal(li), war shield, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chimalli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

un escudo de turquesa

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

The Codex Azcatitlan is also known as the Histoire mexicaine, [Manuscrit] Mexicain 59–64. It is housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and hosted on line by the World Digital Library and the Library of Congress, which is “unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection.”
https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15280/?sp=16&st=image

Image Source, Rights: 

The Library of Congress is “unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection.” But please cite Bibliothèque Nationale de France and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs.

Orthography: 
"g" for h
"ll" for l
Historical Contextualizing Image: