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Xiuhtecuhtli.
Headword:
Xiuhtecuhtli.
Principal English Translation:
this divine force was one of the earliest known deities of Mesoamerica, the "old, old" divine force of fire; references to Xiuhtecuhtli (or Xiuhteuctli) are prominent in the Templo Mayor, even if he appears as a "minor god" in the Florentine Codex, according to Leonardo López Luján (referenced by Patrick Hajovsky); Hajovsky adds that "Xiuhtecuhtli conflates notions of turquoise as fire-heat (tonalli) and time, and as H. B. Nicholson attests, he was "the archetype of all rulers." These attributes originated in the father of Tezcatlipoca, who was Huehueteotl-Xiuhtecuhtli, also attributed as the "progenitor of all the gods" according to Thelma Sullivan.
Orthographic Variants:
Xiuhteuctli, Xihuitl Tecuhtli, Xihuit Teuctli
Attestations from sources in English:
See an image that represents Xiuhteuctli in the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, ed. Stephanie Wood (Eugene, Ore.: Wired Humanities, 2020-present).
The term xihuitl, besides being turquoise, herbs, and year, can have fire and flame associations. These may come from this divine figure/lord.
Xiuhtecutli: ixcoçauhquj, yoan cueçaltzin. Jehoatl motocaiotia in tletl, anoço veue teutl yoan tota: = Turquoise Lord (Xiuhtecutli)—the yellow faced one, the holy flame. This one was known as fire, {as} the old god, {as} our father. (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
Xiuhtecuhtli = The Turquoise Lord, a little or lesser god, considered to be a very old god, a fire deity; he "scorched the fields" and warmed people, burned people, and was associated with cooking and the burning of food (central Mexico, sixteenth century)