ahuehuetl (Mdz24v)

ahuehuetl (Mdz24v)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element has been carved from the compound glyph for the place name, Ahuehuepan. The trunk and the two branches have an orange-tan color, and two-tone green foliage appears at the end of the leader and each branch.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The standing drum (huehuetl) visible in the attestation of the compound glyph from which this tree has been carved serves as a phonetic clue that this is not just any tree, but an ahuehuete type of cypress tree. This is the national tree of Mexico, impressive for its massive trunk and overall size. The Arbol del Tule is exemplary.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)
Date of Manuscript: 

c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Mexico City

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Plants, Flora
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
tripartite
Keywords: 

trees, cypresses, ahuehuetl

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

ahuehue(tl), the Montezuma cypress tree, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ahuehuetl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

the Montezuma cypress tree

Whittaker's Transliteration: 

Mexico City

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el ahuehuete

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Codex Mendoza, folio 24 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 59 of 188.

Image Source, Rights: 

The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).

See Also: 

Ahuehuepan (Mdz24v)