Oztomecatl (MH882v)

Oztomecatl (MH882v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Oztomecatl (“Vanguard Merchant” or a “Person from Oztoman”) is attested here as a man’s name. The glyph shows a man in profile, facing right. His legs do not end in feet. His left arm holds a staff or walking stick. He right arm reaches back to hold onto his pack. He has a mesh (net?) bag covering most of his back and reaching up almost to his head. The pack is apparently full of merchandise that he would be selling as a traveling merchant who was part of the vanguard for expanding the empire (oztomecatl).

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

Perhaps by the time of this manuscript, the oztomecatl was simply a long-distant merchant. If not a merchant, this could be a person from Oztoman, but presumably the Oztoman merchants became famous for their role in imperial expansion, and the ethnic designation became entwined with the commercial one. Lockhart (The Nahuas, 1992, 191) links his discussions of the oztomeca with the pochteca, suggesting we watch for distinctions about the distances traveled and the quality of the goods marketed.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

toribio oztomecatl

Gloss Normalization:

Toribio Oztomecatl

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:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (male)

Markets, Commerce, Economy

Names (personal and/or theonym)

Transportation, Travel, Roads

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

facing right

profile view

Keywords:

comerciantes, larga distancia, expansión, imperialismo, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

oztomecatl, people from Oztoman, or vanguard merchants, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/oztomecatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Comerciante de la Vanguardia, o Persona de Oztoman

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 882v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=837&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: