tlamin (FCbk10f121r)

This iconographic example, featuring a bow-and-arrow shooter (tlamin, also spelled tamin), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text on the page prior to the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se, and the text says “tlaminque” (in the plural, even though the image is of one person). This example shows a man in a ¾ view, walking toward the left. In his right hand he carries a bow, and in his left he carries an arrow. He wears a white cotton loincloth (maxtlatl) and a cape (tilmatli or tilmahtli) knotted over his chest. This cape may be made of animal hide (ehuatl, ehuatilmatli), given the way it is textured. All of his clothing is painted with some shading, a European artistic influence. The surrounding landscape also shows European artistic traditions have been adopted by Nahua artists. The nearby text makes it clear that this person pertains to a Chichimec ethnic group. The verb tlamina means to shoot an arrow, apparently a Nahua term, but perhaps it came from the language of the ethnic group, as the letter “l” is often dropped, as in Tamin and Tamimeh (another plural). Furthermore, the use of bows and arrows is clearly associated with the Chichimeca people of the north.