Chimalteuh (MH660v)

Chimalteuh (MH660v)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Chimalteuh ("Like a Shield") includes a war shield (chimalli) with a traditional design. The decorations are down feather balls (probably tlachcayotl formed in the ihuiteteyo/ihuiteteyoh design), and they have an association with death, according to a short article by Ian Mursell in Mexicolore. The squiggles around the outside of the shield provide the reading of dust or dirt (teuhtli). However, the dust may be a phonetic indicator for -teuh, in the manner of. The shield appears to have five down balls in the center, arranged in a quincunx pattern, much like the down balls of the shield of the rulers of Tenochtitlan.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This seems to be a war shield of the ihuiteteyo design, according to Frances Berdan and Patricia Anawalt (The Codex Mendoza, 1992, vol. 1, Appendix G). It can come in different colors. Sometimes the symbols on this design are taken for shells. An article by Ian Mursell in Mexicolore and citing the same authors, reminds us that they are down balls, which have associations with death. He also paraphrases John Pohl, saying that the war shield was very personal, it "represented the warrior’s soul, and would generally be burned at the funeral of a dead man." We also learn from The Codex Mendoza: New Insights (2022, 24), that "the tlacuiloque drew and painted a total of eleven ihuiteteyo, one for each one of the rulers of the city."

Dust can be carried easily by the wind, making wind (such as dust devils) visible, so, if it is not a phonetic indicator for -teuh, it may add religious meaning connected to Ehecatl, the divine force of wind. The suffix -teuh is also a near homophone for -teo (from teotl, deity, divine force).

It is also worth mentioning here that the name Chimalman also seems to mean "Like a Shield."

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

juā^o.chimalteuh.

Gloss Normalization:

Juan Chimalteuh

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories:

personal name

phonetic dimensions

Syntax:

adjective

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound of phonogram(s) & logogram(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Feathers

Gender (male)

Names (personal and/or theonym)

War or Conflict

Weapons, Shields, Armor

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

circle(s) (small, often concentric)

circle, circular or rounded

frontal view

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation):

Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation):

outward (from inside out)

Keywords:

rodelas, escudos, polvo, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

chimal(li), shield, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chimalli
-teuh, in the manner of, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teuh

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

A Manera de Una Rodela

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 660v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=401&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: