Maxixcatzin (LTlaxUT1b)

Maxixcatzin (LTlaxUT1b)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This iconographic example is included here for possible comparisons with Nahuatl hieroglyphs. It is a portrait remembering the presence of Maxixcatzin (untranslated as of yet), a noble of Ocotelolco (today, Ocotelulco) of Tlaxcala, at the meeting with Hernando Cortés and his expedition party as they were marching toward Tenochtitlan in 1519. Maxixcatzin (or Maxixcatl, without the reverential suffix), was farm more interested in the alliance with the Spaniards than Xicotencatl was. Maxixcatzin is shown here in a ¾ view but with his head in a profile view, facing left. He appears to be walking. He points with both index fingers on his right and left hands. He has long hair that is tied at the back of his neck, and he wears a cape tied over his collar bone. It has a mesh pattern with a tricolor trim, with alternating patches of red, green, and white. He also wears sandals and a loincloth with intricate designs and red, green and white coloring. A Nahuatl hieroglyph appears above and to the left of his head. It appears to feature a swirling descending flow of water (atl).

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

We have yet to translate this personal name, Maxixcatl. The start of the name sounds like a truncated form of the verb “to urinate” (maxixa). For more information on this historic encounter with Cortés, see the History of the Chichimeca Nation, eds. Amber Brian, et al. (2019, 259–260).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

maxiscatzī.

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

Maxixcatzin

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Date of Manuscript: 

1540s

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Tlaxcala and other parts of early Mexico

Semantic Categories: 
Syntax: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Shapes and Perspectives: 
Keywords: 

nobles, alianza, aliados, encuentro

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 
Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

un noble de Tlaxcala

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin https://collections.lib.utexas.edu/catalog/utblac:3c754fd0-b27f-4af7-9cf...

Image Source, Rights: 

The Benson Library has kindly provided the digital images and permission to put them into our Mapas Project in 2015. Use and reproduction from this project: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/, but please also cite the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, ed. Stephanie Wood, (Eugene, Ore.: Wired Humanities Projects, ©2020-present). Version 1.0.

Historical Contextualizing Image: