Mictlantzinco (RGTyM)

Mictlantzinco (RGTyM)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This is a drawing of the compound glyph for the place name Mictlantzinco. It shows the head of a deceased person above a hill or mountain. The latter serves as a silent, but visual, locative. The head of the deceased has its visible eye closed, which is diagnostic for his being dead (miqui). His head is not just a skull, but still has some hair. The head is also wrapped with cord that recalls the wrapping of a shrouded corpse (micqui).

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Source Manuscript:

Tistla y Muchitlan, RG Map of (RGTyM)

Date of Manuscript:

1582

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Tzompanco (contemporary Zumpango del Río, Guerrero), with a connection to the Diocese of Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala

Semantic Categories:

place name

Syntax:

locative (visual but silent)

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound fully logographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Death, decay, decomposition

Landscape Features

Names (places)

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing left

profile view

tied, bound, or bundled

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

downward

Keywords:

muertos, la muerte, topónimos, pueblos, estancias, nombres de lugares, altepetl

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

mictlan, place of the dead, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mictlan
-tzinco (locative suffix used with little, lower, and spin-off communities), https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzinco

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Lugar de los Muertos (un pueblo nuevo)

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

The source of these hieroglyphs is a manuscript and map known collectively as the “Relación de Tistla y Muchitlan,” also known as the “Descripción de la Alcaldia Mayor de las Minas de Zumpango.” Apparently, these towns (today spelled Tixtla and Mochitlan) are in the modern-day state of Guerrero, but they fell under the religious jurisdiction of the Diocese of Tlaxcala. Thanks go to Octavio Márquez for his contribution of the glyph, gloss, and contextualizing images.

Image Source, Rights:

The original manuscript is hosted on line as part of the Benson Latin American Collection, The General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin, https://collections.lib.utexas.edu/catalog/utblac:fbc92b3e-bb28-4258-975.... It is open-access.

Historical Contextualizing Image: