SCOPE OF THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION. OF 
Attached to this sign are two human figures. The one to the left is 
swathed in bands and tied with rope to indicate that it is dead, a mummy. 
In all the Aztec manuscripts this mummy-bundle is the universal sign for 
death. The fact that the dead man had been the tlahtouani is shown by the 
xtuhtzontl: or turquoise-studded crown that rests on the mummy’s head. 
The xiuhtzontli or Aztec crown resembled somewhat the red crown of 
Lower Egypt in Pharaonic times, reversed, being high in front and low in 
back, with a tassel falling behind. It was worn only by the tlahtouani and 
is used in the manuscripts as a sign for royalty. 

Fic. 1.—Death of the eighth tlahtouani (ruler) Ahuitzotl and succession or Moctezuma IT in the year 10 
Tochtli (7. ¢.. 10 Rabbit, 1502 a.p.) as represented in: a, Codex de Tepechpan; b, Codex Aubin 1576; d, right 
half, Codex Telleriano-Remensis; ¢, right half, Codex Vaticanus 3738. Conquest of the town of Tecuantepec 
in the same year by Ahuitzotl as represented in: c, Codex Mendoza; d, left half, Codex Telleriano-Remensis; 
e, left half, Codex Vaticanus 3738. 
Finally, above and behind the mummy is a small animal attached to the 
xiuhtzontli by a line; from its feet hang water symbols. This is the sign for 
the personal-name, Ahuitzotl (Nahuatl for water-animal), and indicates 
that this was the dead man’s name. 
The figure on the right in 1, a, isa man seated on a throne or dais. He 
also wears the xiuhtzontli, indicating that he, too, isa tlahtouani. His name- 
glyph is attached to the back of the throne by a line and is seen to be the 
xiuhtzontli itself, by which sign Moctezuma II or Moctezuma Xocoytzin 
(the younger) is always represented in the Aztec manuscripts. 
Although this record is very elliptical, it is perfectly clear from it that 
the tlahtouani Ahuitzotl died in the year 10 Tochtli and was succeeded by 
Moctezuma II. 
