Huitzilatl (MH840r)

Huitzilatl (MH840r)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Huitzilatl (“Hummingbird Spring”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a stretch of water with wavy lines suggesting current (movement) and a swirl in the middle.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

The person who bears this name seems to have been named after an illustrious autonomous-era person, the grandson of Huitzilihuitl, ruler of Tenochtitlan, called Huitzillatzin (or Huitzilatzin). It is also worth noting that Huitzilatl was the name of a special spring where water was obtained for bathing captive slaves nine days before they were to be sacrificed to the deities. This spring was between Coyoacan and Huitzilopochco. (See the Online Nahuatl Dictionary.)

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

juā viçilatl

Gloss Normalization:

Juan Huitzilatl

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

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

compound fully logographic

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (male)

Gifts, Offerings, Sacrifice

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Religion (Indigenous)

Water

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

bird's eye view

facing right

profile view

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

Keywords:

agua, río, remolino, ojo de agua, colibríes, sacrificio humano, bañar a cautivos o esclavos, nombres de hombres, nombres famosos

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

Huitzilatl, the name of a special spring with significance for human sacrifice, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/huitzilatl
Huitzillatzin, the grandson of Huitzilihuitl, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/huitzillatzin

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Ojo de Agua del Colibrí

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 840r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=754&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).

Orthography:

"çi" for ci

"v" for u, uh, or hu

Historical Contextualizing Image: