January 14, 2006 Marc Zender, "Tisosikatzin: The Names of an
Aztec Emperor, and the Nature of Aztec Writing"
On January 14, 2006, Dr. Marc Zender detailed the life, exploits and
attributed names of Aztec Emperor Tizoc. Tizoc, the
allegedly cowardly seventh Aztec Emperor, was the son of the fifth
Emperor, Motecuhzoma I. He ruled from 1481 until 1486, following his
brother, Axayacatl, and succeeded by his younger brother, Ahuitzotl,
who was the most renowned of the three, adding significantly to the
territory held by the Aztecs. Tizoc began his career with a
reportedly disastrous preaccession raid on the town of Metztitlan,
which is nestled in a deep valley. Unable to surround the town, Tizoc
lost 300 Aztec warriors in the battle, but returned to Tenochtitlan
with 40 captives to be sacrificed.
According to several Codices, Tizoc began work on the great Temple of
Huitzilopochtli, now the Templo Mayor, in Tenochtitlan in 1483. The
temple was dedicated in 1487, during the reign of his brother Ahuizotl.
He is known primarily for the Stone of Tizoc, which celebrates the
accomplishments of his brief reign. The large, wheel-like stone
depicts Tizoc, clad in a hummingbird war headdress, and his warriors
taking captives from neighboring towns. Twelve town names associated
with these captives have been identified on the stone, including
Xochimilco, Chalco, and Tlateloco. Most scholars believed it was
implausible that Tizoc achieved twelve conquests during his brief
reign. Dr. Zender noted that the Stone depicts captures of
warriors from 12 towns, not necessarily 12 individual conquests.
In addition to a few minor attempts to enlarge territory, Tizoc had to
subdue several rebellious former Aztec allies, such as Matatlan.
When Dr. Zender considered that Tizoc would have taken captives from
all of these towns, and any of their allies who fought with them, he
found that he could easily have taken captives from the twelve towns
listed on the stone.
Dr. Zender then addressed the question of the correct
pronunciation of the name of the seventh emperor. Tizoc has often been
called Bloody Leg because the symbol of a leg, apparently covered with
droplets of blood, is often associated with his picture in Aztec
Codices. In studies of Aztec name glyphs, Dr. Zender and Dr. Alfonso
Lacadena have found that many of the names of the Aztec emperors are
always drawn in the same manner, whereas other names, like that of
Tizoc, show surprising variations in their appearance. In addition to
the leg with droplets, the name of Tizoc is also shown as a thorn
piercing a stone, a thorn piercing sand, salt or chalk, a jewel, and a
leg with a jewel hanging below. Dr. Zender has utilized the research he
and Dr. Lacadena have been pursuing on the syllabic and logographic
elements of Aztec writing to arrive at a new pronunciation of the name
of Tizoc, using the principles of phonetic substitution and
complements. Since the name has several pictorial variations, one can
compare them for syllabic substitutions or parallels. The symbol
of a stone, as used in some versions of his name, would be pronounced
te, and pierce would be pronounced so, resulting in teso. Chalk
is depicted by dotting similar to that seen on the supposed bloody leg
of Tizoc, and is pronounce tis; when pierced, it becomes tis-so.
Foot in Aztec is pronounced xo, thus the bloody leg, really a chalky
leg, becomes tisoxo. When the jewel is depended below the foot, the
sounds implied are tisoxocoska. Aztec is not a syllabic written
language, so these phonetic signs are most likely indicators of
pronunciation. Dr. Zender has used these varying phonetic indicators as
clues to the correct pronunciation. He then combined this analysis with
a comparison of the different spellings of the name found in the
codices, and concluded that the spelling which best approximates the
Aztec pronunciation of the name of the seventh emperor is Tisosikatzin,
a king who apparently deserves a little more respect than he has
heretofore received!
Dr. Zender received his Ph.D. in Archaeology from the University of
Calgary in 2004, and is currently a Lecturer in Anthropology and a
Research Associate at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
of Harvard University. Dr. Zender has led talks and workshops at
the University Museum's Maya Weekend, at Wayeb, and at the Maya
Meetings of the University of Texas. He has taught courses on Maya and
Aztec writing at Calgary and Harvard, has published numerous scholarly
works on Maya writing in journals, and has edited several volumes of
Pre-Columbian research.
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