Xiuhtlamin (MH527v)

Xiuhtlamin (MH527v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Xiuhtlamin (here, attested as a man’s name) shows part of an arrow (mitl) in an upright position. It may well be that this arrow has been shot, referring to the verb, tlamina (which is abbreviated in the name, dropping the final "a"). The lower point of the arrow is obscured by a square that has a small rectangle in each of its corners, forming something of a quincunx. These rectangles seem to represent the tesserae form of turquoise (xihuitl) that is found in mosaics. These phonetic indicators point to the name for a captive who would be sacrificed by fire at the time of the binding of the years ceremony, Xiuhtlamin.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Another name that uses the verb mina, to shoot, is Ilhuicamina. (See below.)

For some excellent examples of turquoise mosaics from Mexico that are in the British Museum, see Elizabeth M. Carmichael, Turquoise Mosaics from Mexico (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1970) and Colin McEwan et al, Turquoise Mosaics from Mexico (Durham: Duke University Press, 2006).

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

luys.xiuhtlamin.

Gloss Normalization: 

Luis Xiuhtlamin

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
Syntax: 
Writing Features: 
Shapes and Perspectives: 
Parts (of compounds or simplex + notation): 
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
Keywords: 

tirar, ballesta, harpoon, harpon, saeta, flecha, mosaics, mosáicos de turquesa, xiuhpohualli, año, turquesa, xihuitl

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

Xiuhtlamin, a ritual name for a captive who would be sacrificed by fire at the time of the binding of the years ceremonies, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xiuhtlamin
xihui(tl), turquoise (tesserae), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xihuitl
tlamina, to shoot an arrow, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlamina
mina, to shoot (e.g., an arrow, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mina
mi(tl), arrow, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mitl

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 527v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=134&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).

Historical Contextualizing Image: