teoxalli (FCbk11f215v)

This iconographic example, featuring the emery grinding stone (teoxalli), 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 near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a flat, cut, rectangular stone. The text says it could be red, blue, or brown, and that it could be ground down into sand that was used to polish other precious stones. The “preciousness” of those stones may be reflected in the “teo-” (from teotl, divinity or deity) start to the name for the sand (xalli). The stone shown here has some shading that gives it a three-dimensionality, revealing European artistic influence. This is also true of the perspective and the landscape setting where the teoxalli stone appears. In the contextualizing image, one can see the background features a mountain, possibly the source of the stones. Also, a man pounds one of the stones in the group that can be seen in the foreground on the left. He is shown in profile, but he wears a Spanish-style tunic and his hair is longer than was typically worn by a macehualli, but he is still a Nahua