Some of our more complex, multi-field searches (such as the search field on our homepage and Search All Fields) are currently under repair and may not work as expected.
Thank you to all our users who emailed to alert us to the problem! We hope to have it repaired soon.
Meanwhile, elements of the Advanced Search are working and the Alphabetical Listings are working, too.
a carrying frame fitted to the human back
could be used for carrying birds (see Molina), and it can be part of a metaphor for governance when paired with quimilli (see attestations)
See an image that represents cacaxtli in the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, ed. Stephanie Wood (Eugene, Ore.: Wired Humanities, 2020-present).
"...a device of bound slats used to carry heavy loads."
"merchant's pack" and "backpack"
In the Florentine Codex (e.g. Book 6, Chapter 34) we see bundle and carrying frame used as a metaphor in association with the rulers' job of governing. (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
In tlacaquimilli, in tlacacacaxtli, oitlan tonac otoconmama. Inin tlatolli, itechpa mitoaya: in aquin tlatocatlalili, azo tecuteco. = A bale of people, a cargo of people, you have taken upon you and loaded on your back. This phrase was said of someone who had been instated as king and ruler.
auh in oconquetzteoaque in vei qujmjlli, in vei cacaxtli, in vei tlamamalli, in tlatconj = They departed leaving the large bundle, the large carrying frame, the great burden, the subjects (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
tehoatl itlan tonaquj in vei qujmilli, in vei cacaxtli, in tlatconj, in tlamamalonj = Thou art to devote thyself to the great bundle, the great carrying frame, the governed (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
ma ximuchichioa ma itlan xaquj in qujmjlli, in cacaxtli = prepare thyself, put thy shoulder to the bundle, to the carrying frame (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
tehoatl tiqujnqujmilpatlaz, tiqujncacaxpatlaz in totecujiooan in tetecutin, in tlatoque, in ie nachca onmantivi = Thou wilt assume the bundle, assume the carrying frame for our lords, the noblemen, the rulers who remain residing beyond (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
tiqujmjle, ticacaxe tiez, tehoatl timalacaioaz, tehoatl tecauhiooaz, ticeoalloaz: motlan mocalaqujz in cujtlapilli, in atlapalli = thou art to be the one with the bundle, the carrying frame. Thou art to be the umbrage, thou art to be the shade, the shadow, beneath which the vassals are to enter (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
"instrumento para cargar"
"armazón para cargar"
A ca uncan, in oconcauhtehuac, oconquetztehuac in quimilli, in cacaxtli, in tlatconi, in tlamamaloni = Pues es verdad que al irse allá, dejó, detuvo el quimilli, el cacaxtli, el tlatconi, el tlamamaloni
"Que cosa y cosa, que tiene las costillas de fuera y esta llevantado [sic] en el camjno. es el cacaxtli" = "what is that which has the ribs on the outside and stands on the road? It is the cacaxtli." (central Mexico, sixteenth century)