cuacuilli (Mdz37r)

cuacuilli (Mdz37r)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This element for -cuacuil-, seeming pointing to a priest (tecuacuilli), has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Tepecuacuilco. It shows a male head in profile, facing to the viewer's right. His long hair is bound with a white string or leather thong that also goes around his forehead and sticks up above his ear. An additional (red) element appears on his ear.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The term tecuacuilli has many translations, as seen in our online dictionary, so this element warrants further research.

Added 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

Syntax:

cuil (tracking)

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (male)

Hair (human or animal)

Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment

Leather, hides

Religion (Indigenous)

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

purple

red

white/neutral

Keywords:

priests, sacerdotes, chamanes, cabello envuelto, pelo largo

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tecuacuil(li), priest, statue, image, or figurine, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tecuacuilli

Additional Scholars' Interpretations:

statue

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 37 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 84 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).