Teuhcatl (MH485v)

Teuhcatl (MH485v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for dust or filth (teuhtli) is a personal name, Teuhcatl (the name of a deity akin to Mixcoatl, Cloud Serpent). It consists of swirling squiggles something like dust stirred up by wind, perhaps, and thus having some movement. It almost swirls in the center.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

In Sarah Cline's Book of Tributes (1993) from Morelos, this is a name taken by Nahua men. A blog post study of the 1544 Nahuatl census of Morelos by Magnus Pharao Hansen suggests a translation of "Dust Person" for the name Teuhcatl. The visual certainly would support this interpretation. And the -catl suggests "person" with a certain association or affiliation.

However, there is more to the name. The Handbook of Middle American Indians: Anthology of Northern Mesoamerica (1971, 426) states that this was one of several Chinampaneca deities. According to the Gran Diccionario Náhuatl, Teuhcatl is a divinity akin to Mixcoatl. The Codex Chimalpopoca refers to the ixiptlatl of a deity, Teuhcatl, who was dressed like Mixcoatl, and the Mexica were fooled by it. This is quoted in Molly Bassett's, The Fate of Earthly Things (2015), 162. Given the association with the divinity Mixcoatl, and the image of swirling serpent-like clouds associated with the glyphs of that name, this name Teuhcatl seemingly has associations with beliefs relating to the importance of wind and swirling rain clouds.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

Juā teuhcatl

Gloss Normalization: 

Juan Teuhcatl

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
Keywords: 

deities, deidades, divinities, divinidades, dust, polvo

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

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 485v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=45&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: