38 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
This event, according to the Codex Aubin, 1576,' is shown in figure 1,b, a 
comparison of which with figure 1, a, will show that the two passages are prac- 
tically identical. Both have the same year, 10 Tochtli; both show the dead 
man to have been the same person, Ahuitzotl, although in figure 1, , his rank 
has been omitted, 7. ¢., the mummy-bundle lacks the xiuhtzontli; and both 
show the succession of Moctezuma II as tlahtouani. 
This same event as recorded in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis,’ and 
the Codex Vaticanus 3738° is shown in the right halves of figures 1,d, and 1, e, 
respectively, the only essential difference between which and figures 1,a, and 
1,, is the omission in the former of the rank of the dead man and that of his 
successor. 
Barring this minor detail, however, all four of these accounts, each from 
a different source, agree as to the essential facts concerned, namely, that the 
death of the tlahtouani Ahuitzotl and the accession of Moctezuma II took 
place in the year 10 Tochtli. 
By means of these few signs, then, the mummy-bundle on the one hand, 
and the xiuhtzontli on the other, with the corresponding name-glyphs and 
year-signs, the Aztec were able to record the deaths and accessions of their 
rulers, an important part of all histories. 
Another important glyph of general meaning is the shield and arrows 
which signified war or conquest. In the Codex Mendoza, which is a record 
of the cities and towns conquered by the different Aztec tlahtouani, this 
character is placed near the signs for certain towns which themselves are 
attached to burning houses, to signify specific conquests. 
On pages 12 and 13 of this manuscript are recorded a number of cities 
and towns conquered by the tlahtouani Ahuitzotl just before his death in the 
year 10 Tochtli (1502 a. D.), among others, Tecuantepec. In figure 1,c, 
Ahuitzotl is shown seated on his throne, crowned with the xiuhtzontli, a 
speech-scroll issuing from his mouth. ‘The speech-scroll, shown here as a 
curl, issuing from the man’s mouth, was also an emblem of royalty among 
the Aztec, only the tlahtouani himself being thus represented in the codices. 
Indeed, the word tlahtouani, as noted above, itself means “‘the one who 
speaks,” and this idea is graphically brought out by the speech-scroll. He 
faces a shield and arrows, which signify conquest, and the sign for the town 
of Tecuantepec, attached to a burning house. The word Tecuantepec is 
rendered by the head of a man-eating animal—possibly the jaguar—tecuant, 
surmounting a hill, tepec. “The latter is also used in some manuscripts as a 
general sign denoting towns or cities, and here probably means “town of the 
man-eating animal.” ‘To the left is the sign for the year 10 Tochtli, in which 
the conquest was made. By these few characters, record is here made of all 
the essential facts of a specific conquest: the conqueror’s name and rank, the 
name of the conquered city, and the date of the conquest. 

1See Codex Aubin, 1576, p. 77. 
*See Codex Telleriano-Remensis, p. 41. 
3See Codex Vaticanus 3738, p. 84. 
