Opochtli (MH545v)

Opochtli (MH545v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Opochtli (“Left [Handed],” attested here as a man’s name) actually (and probably inadvertently) shows a right hand. It is a frontal view, from below the wrist up to and including the finger tips. A left hand was probably intended, judging by the gloss.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

A divine force for rain and fertility was named Opochtli, it was part of the Tlaloque (or Tlaloqueh). The divine force for war, Huitzilopochtli, has the two elements of "hummingbird" and "left" in his (famous) name, so this is not an unknown component for a name.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

dio opochtli

Gloss Normalization: 

Diego Opochtli

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
deity name/theonym
personal name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Anatomy, human body parts
Gender (male)
Gestures with hands
Names (personal and/or theonym)
Religion (Indigenous)
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
diagonal or angled
frontal view
Keywords: 

hands, manos, izquierda, left, nombres de deidades, nombres de hombres

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

opoch(tli), on the left, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/opochtli-0
Opochtli, The Left, a rain deity, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/opochtli

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

La Izquierda

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 545v, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=170&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: 
See Also: 

maitl (Mdz32r)

maitl (Mdz37r)

Opochtli (MH677r)