34 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



In one hieroglyph we see the combination of a (water) and tenan (wall) to 

 make Atenanco. Two others have as the fundamental part a plan of the 

 ball court in which the ancient Mexicans played a sort of basket ball. The 

 object of the game was to throw the ball through a ring in the center of the 

 wall on each side. Tlatlachco shows this ball court, tlach laid out in a field, 

 tla, and Tlachquimthco finds it covered with raindrops, quiauh. 



The combinations may be more puzzling through the running together 

 of details. Tecalco is a house ornamented with the characteristic markings 

 of conventionalized stones and thus has te plus cal as the essential parts. 

 To go a step farther in TepetlacaJco we see a house, cal, made of mats, 

 petla, and with stones, te, beneath and on top. 



The hieroglyph of the ancient Aztec capital, translates Tcnochtitlan. 

 The essential parts are a stone, te, out of which grows a cactus, noeh. The 

 last two syllables are unrepresented. The ti is only a connecting syllable 

 but the tlan might easily have been given by pictured teeth. This hieroglyph 

 forms a part of the Mexican coat of arms. The eagle which is commonly 

 perched above the cactus has a mythological rather than a phonetic import. 

 Popocatepetl is represented hy a smoking mountain. The ancient name of 

 Orizaba was Ahuilizapan (by the joyful water). The hieroglyph represents 

 a man disporting in a stream, apan. 



Besides the signs that have been given there are many others representing 

 animals, reptiles, birds, plants, etc. The serpent coat] appears in many place 

 names such as Coatepec and Coacalco, with the definite phonetic value coa. 



There are other hieroglyphs that contain a greater element of imagina- 

 tion and belong to the type known as ideagraphs. The word-ending 

 nahuac really signifies "near" but it resembles the word Nahua which 

 means " clear sounding" and was taken by the Aztecs and related tribes as a 

 general name for themselves. Now in the word Cuauhnahuac (the modern 

 Cuernavaca) the first half of the word is represented by a tree, quauh. In 

 the trunk of this tree is a mouth and out of the mouth issues a blue word in 

 the shape of a scroll. Thus we have "clear speech" figured. In Acolna- 

 huac it is an amputated arm that has the mouth and utters the clear sound. 

 The same idea is amplified in the place name Cuicatlan, " the place of sing- 

 ing." A human face is shown with open mouth and in front of this is a 

 decorated scroll that represents song. 



Color and position may play a part in the hieroglyph. In Acocozpan 

 the first and last syllable are represented phonetically by the stream apan. 

 The cocoz which means very yellow is represented by the color of the water 

 in this pictured stream. Itzmiquilpan has its first syllable represented by 

 an obsidian knife seen at the top of the hieroglyph. The second syllable mi 

 comes from the strip of cultivated ground at the bottom; growing out of this 

 ground is a green curved plant which represents the syllable quit, the name 

 qxiilitl being given to one of the herbs eaten by the Aztecs. Finally the 



