diezmo (CST39)

diezmo (CST39)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This painting of the simplex glyph for the term diezmo (the tithe, a tax paid to the church) shows a ram (ichcatl) with a banderole beneath the animal that is written alphabetically, “diezmo.” Kevin Terraciano (Codex Sierra, 2021, 158) interprets this as a 50-peso tax paid on property for the purchase of sheep. In earlier pages of the codex, the reader will find an entry about the establishment of a ranch for raising sheep that involved the purchase of 100 rams.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

In our Online Nahuatl Dictionary we have an example of a pueblo in the Tetzcoco area having to pay a hefty tithe in 1638 in the form of 32 fanegas (52 to 55 liters or 75 to 125 kilos) of maize kernels (seed).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Source Manuscript: 
Sierra/Texupan, Codex (CST)
Date of Manuscript: 

1550–1564

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Santa Catalina Texupan, Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.
Religion (Christian)
Tributes, Taxation, Service
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
profile view
facing left
Other Cultural Influences: 
Mixtec
Spanish/European
Keywords: 

diezmos, tasaciónes, animales, carneros, propiedades, iglesia católica

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

diezmo, the tithe paid to the Catholic church by Indigenous communities, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/diezmo

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

diezmo

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Códice Sierra-Texupan, plate 39, page dated 1561. 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 impacted it.
https://bidilaf.buap.mx/objeto.xql?id=48281&busqueda=Texupan&action=search

Image Source, Rights: 

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.

Historical Contextualizing Image: