cacahuatl (CST3)
This is a painting of the simplex glyph for the term cacahuatl (cacao beans, in this case). The glyph shows a carrying frame with a load of such beans wrapped in a petlatl (woven mat). Some cacao beans are shown in the glyph so that the viewer will know what is inside the bundle. The frame allowed a tlamama (carrier) to have the bundle on his back for long-distance transport.
Stephanie Wood
See below for examples of single cacao beans and a cup of cacao beans. For more on the Codex Sierra, see Kevin Terraciano’s study (2021).
Stephanie Wood
1550–1564
Jeff Haskett-Wood
cacao, cocoa, chocolate, bebidas, cargas, transporte
cacahua(tl), cacao beans, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cacahuatl-0
cacao
Stephanie Wood
Códice Sierra-Texupan, plate 3, page dated 1551. Origin: Santa Catalina Texupan, Mixteca Alta, State of Oaxaca. Kevin Terraciano has published an outstanding study of this manuscript (Codex Sierra, 2021), and in his book he refers to alphabetic and “pictorial” writing, not hieroglyphic writing. We are still counting some of the imagery from this source as hieroglyphic writing, but we are also including examples of “iconography” where the images verge on European style illustrations or scenes showing activities. We have this iconography category so that such images can be fruitfully compared with hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphic writing was evolving as a result of the influence of European illustrations and even alphabetic writing. https://bidilaf.buap.mx/objeto.xql?id=48281&busqueda=Texupan&action=search
The Biblioteca Digital Lafragua of the Biblioteca Histórica José María Lafragua in Puebla, Mexico, publishes this Códice Sierra-Texupan, 1550–1564 (62pp., 30.7 x 21.8 cm.), referring to it as being in the “Public Domain.” This image is published here under a Creative Commons license, asking that you cite the Biblioteca Digital Lafragua and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs.
