xometl (Mdz29r)

xometl (Mdz29r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for the elder tree (xometl) has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Xomeyocan. The tree has a leader and two branches, one on each side. Tripartite foliage appears at the end of each branch. These branches and foliage are all painted a two-tone green. The roots at the bottom of the tree are red and curling.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
green (dark)
green (light)
red
Shapes and Perspectives: 
roots are visible
spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling
tripartite
vertical, upright
Keywords: 

xumetl, elder trees, árboles, roots, raíces

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

xome(tl), elder tree, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/xometl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

elder tree

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 29 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 68 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: 

Xomeyocan (Mdz29r)