mamalhuaztli (TR42r)

mamalhuaztli (TR42r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This simplex glyph refers to the drilling of a piece of wood with an arrow to create a fire as a part of the New Fire ceremony (mamalhuaztli), which was something that happened every 52 years in Nahua religious observances. It involves a horizontal piece of wood, as shown here in a terracotta color. It has four black spots (probably holes) on it, perhaps from earlier occasions when fires were drilled. The second spot from the left has an upright yellow arrow (decorated with a wing feather and a down feather) coming up out of one of the holes. Gray and golden smoke curls up from this spot, suggesting that the action is taking place.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

fuego nueuo

Gloss Normalization:

fuego nuevo

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Telleriano-Remensis, Codex (TR)

Date of Manuscript:

1578

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

Semantic Categories:

calendrics

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Fire, Tobacco, Incense, Smoke

Religion (Indigenous)

Time, Calendar, Frequency

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

frontal view

rectangular

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

Keywords:

Fuego Nuevo, xiuhpohualli, año, turquesa, xihuitl

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

mamalhuaz(tli), a tool for drilling during the new fire ceremony, also a constellation, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlecuahuitl-0

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

las cosas necesarias para encender un fuego

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

The Codex Telleriano-Remensis is hosted on line by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8458267s/f109.item. We have taken this detail shot from the indicated folio.

Image Source, Rights:

This manuscript is not copyright protected, but please cite Gallica, the digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France or cite this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, ed. Stephanie Wood (Eugene, Ore.: Wired Humanities Projects, 2020–present).

Historical Contextualizing Image: