tepetl (CQ)

tepetl (CQ)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element of a hill or mountain (tepetl) has been carved from the compound glyph of the place name Huitziltepec. It is painted a green-brown. It comes to a point at the top, because the painter added a hummingbird head at the top.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

This shape is not typical for a tepetl glyph. Besides the point, it does not have the curling rocky outcroppings nor the yellow and red horizontal lines at its base where water could spring forth. The design of hill glyphs in the Quetzalecatzin Codex look much like landscape paintings of hills, having apparently evolved away somewhat from traditional glyphs. Still, there are a few examples of the tepetl in the Quetzalecatzin that have a horizontal white line where the red and yellow lines typically appear in other manuscripts (see below).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Quetzalecatzin, Codex (CQ)
Date of Manuscript: 

covers ruling men and women of Tecamachalco through 1593

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

southern Puebla state

Semantic Categories: 
place name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Landscape Features
Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry
Colors: 
green (light)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
vertical, upright
Other Cultural Influences: 
Mixtec
Keywords: 

mountains, hills, montañas, cerros, stones, piedras, rocks, rocas, places, lugares

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

tepe(tl), hill/mountain, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepetl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el cerro o la montaña

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 online. It is not copyright protected.

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Huitziltepec (CQ)

Cozcacuauhtepec (CQ)

tepetl (CQ)

huitzilin (CQ)