tepetlacalli.

Headword: 
tepetlacalli.
Principal English Translation: 

stone box(es), coffin(s)

IPAspelling: 
tepetɬɑːkɑlli
Alonso de Molina: 

tepetlacalli. sepulchro, caxa de piedra.
Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 102v. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.

Attestations from sources in English: 

Literally, "stone mat-house," this term was used in Nahua-Christian records to refer to Christ's sepulcher, but in the play Holy Wednesday, it is "applied to Quetzalcoatl's temporary residence."
Louise M. Burkhart, Holy Wednesday: A Nahua Drama from Early Colonial Mexico (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996), 95.

tepetlacalli = six stone chests or boxes with offerings were placed between between 1440 and 1469 at the the Huei Teocalli, at the Templo Mayor. This was during the reign of Moteuczoma Ilhuicamina. Three of these boxes had already been found in earlier excavations, but three more were just located and opened. "The three newly excavated chests alone contained 43 sculptures [mostly Mezcala green stone figures from what is now Guerrero] and more than 4,000 marine elements, including Atlantic coast snails such as Nerita scabricosta and Hexaplex brassica. Some shells retained organic layers, suggesting they were transported alive in saltwater containers to the Mexica capital." (SW)
Heritage Daily, 26 Feb. 2026, https://www.heritagedaily.com/2026/02/colossal-mexica-offering-linked-to...

Attestations from sources in Spanish: 

tepetlacalli =

See also: