Picture 1: Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, illustration by Phil Mursell (Click on image to enlarge) |
When you first see him in an Aztec codex (in this case the Codex Borbonicus - he’s facing [right] Xiuhtecuhtli, god of fire and time), you can be forgiven for thinking ‘How on earth can you tell one Aztec god from another? Which bit’s which?!’
Picture 2: key to the parts (1) (Click on image to enlarge) |
Well, here’s a solution: a diagramatic key you and your pupils can use to help identify the parts! For the full background to this god (and much more on his ‘disguise’), follow the link below to our exclusive profile of him.
Picture 3: key to the parts (2) (Click on image to enlarge) |
Our illustrator, Phillip Mursell, has dissected Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli for you [with grateful thanks to the illustrations in Salvador Matos Higuera’s volume ‘Los Dioses Creadores’, part of the Enciclopedia Gráfica del México Antiguo]. We’ve given you most of the more interesting part ‘names’ in Náhuatl and English...
The British Museum’s Pocket Dictionary of Aztec & Maya Gods & Goddesses (Click on image to enlarge) |
Key to Picture 2:-
aztaxelli = forked feather headdress
cuezalhuitóncatl = feathered crown
chalchiuhnacochtli = nose/face mask [typical of Quetzalcóatl]
tezcacuitlapilli = feathered tail mirror
cózcatl = necklace
anáhuatl = (sea)shell ring, tied by a red leather belt
iztac máxtlatl = white loincloth
iztac cactli = white sandals
Key to Picture 3:-
atl = water
tlepapálotl = ‘fire butterfly’
huitztli = thorn [associated with the beak of a hummingbird]
ómitl = bone
yólotl = heart
cuauhxicalli = ‘eagle bowl’
teoicpalli = throne/seat of a god
tlachinolli = ‘scorched earth’.
If you’re researching Aztec gods, note that the British Museum has an excellent little reference book with portraits of 16 key Aztec deities.