Atecochtli Ehecatl Nequetzayan (CQ)

Atecochtli Ehecatl Nequetzayan (CQ)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the toponym or place name Atecochtli Ehecatl Nequetzayan has two principal features. One is a body of water, perhaps a watering hole (from a, atl, water, and tecochtli, hole, pit, grave). The circular body of water is shown from a bird's eye view. It has wavy black lines that may suggest waves. The edge of the circle is scalloped. The other prominent feature to this compound is what appears to be a bird's head in profile, looking to the viewer's right. The head is a gray-brown, with a white open eye. The beak (or what some sources describe as a duck bill) is complex, with a white/natural protrusion and a red one on top of the upper (curved) beak. The bird's mouth is open, and what appear to be three curling speech scrolls emerge. These are natural, without colorants.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The bird-like head seems to represent the divine force of wind, Ehecatl (also a day sign in the calendar). That the gloss only says Ecatl (without the reduplication of the first syllable) is not unusual for this sign. Ecatl means breath/air, and the reduplicated form means wind. The scrolls coming out of the beak seem to indicate this air movement. Compare this Ehecatl to others in this collection (below).

This compound glyph could be seen as a phrase, but it could also be a sentence: "[This is] the watering hole where Ehecatl customarily stands," or "[This is] the watering hole where the wind customarily blows." The verb to be is often implied in Nahuatl.

This watering hole has a visual appearance something like the amanalli that we include in this collection from the Map of Cempoala (see below).

The -yan locative ending, according to Frances Karttunen (unpublished manuscript about the Codex Mendoza glyphs) says that the preceding verb (in this case quetza, to stand) is habitually or customarily done in this location. Thus, this watering hole is where Ehecatl customarily stands. In other words, perhaps, it is a pond where the wind always blows?

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

atecochtli Ecatl
nequetzaya

Gloss Normalization: 

Atecochtli Ecatl (or Ehecatl) Nequetzayan

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

covers ruling men and women of Tecamachalco through 1593

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

southern Puebla state

Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
Other Cultural Influences: 
Keywords: 

winds, air, breath, vientos, aliento, aires, deities, deidades, divinities, divinidades

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

a(tl), water, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/atl
tecoch(tli), hole, pit, grave, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tecochtli
eca(tl), breath or air, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ecatl
eheca(tl), wind or wind deity, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ehecatl
quetza, to stand, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/quetza
-yan (locative suffix), where the action of the preceding verb customarily happens, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/yan

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

Atecochtli Ecatl Nequetzaya “The Pool Where the Wind Rises” [depicting the wind god’s bird mask]. Matthew T. McDavitt, “Placenames in the Codex Quetzalecatzin,” unpublished essay shared 2-21-2018.

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

El estanque de agua donde Ehecatl normalmente se para, o donde siempre hay viento

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Ofelia Cruz Morales y Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

The Codex Quetzalecatzin, aka Mapa de Ecatepec-Huitziltepec, Codex Ehecatepec-Huitziltepec, or Charles Ratton Codex. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017590521/

Image Source, Rights: 

The Library of Congress, current custodian of this pictorial Mexican manuscript, hosts a digital version on line. It is not copyright protected.

Historical Contextualizing Image: