Wood Handicrafts and the Mahogany Side Note
Wood is a very popular material for handicrafts made by the artisans around Antigua Guatemala. Last year on May 25th I told you about the meaning of the name of this country:
The name Guatemala derives from the word Goathemala which was given by the Spanish conquistadors and it derives from Quauhtlemallan a word from the Nahualt language spoken by the Tlaxcala’s natives that accompanied the conquistadors. Quauhtlemallan was a direct translation from the Mayan language’s Quiche or Iximche which more or less translates to the land of many trees or forests. This was long-winded explanation to bring forth the fact that this land has been a powerful lung for earth for a very long time; thanks to its many forests.
The follow-up post Detail of a Stairway even included a trivia language game:
What other words in any language could be translated to the concept of “land of forests or trees”? I will get you started with three: Quauhtlemallan in Nahualt, Quiche in Maya, Holland in Dutch. Please help with other words in other languages.
Mahogany Side note:
Mahogany trees are everywhere in the north side of the country. The mahogany forests in the north are the reason why there is now an English commonwealth country called Belize, a former Guatemalan territory.
I hope the explanations above clarify why wood is such a popular material for the craftsmen and their creations.
Daily Content
February 18th, 2007
the Irish word for ‘a very forested place’ is Craobhach (spelled Creevagh in English, pronounced Creee-Vak). Thank you for so many wonderful pictures and extremely interesting information!
February 18th, 2007
Good luck to Antigua for the finals in the Photobloggies. All the best of luck
Great to see so many DP members made it to the finals. Cheers :D!!
February 18th, 2007
Yep, good luck for the photobloggies award!!
February 18th, 2007
[...] before shutting down I found a link to the 2007 Photobloggies Award in the referrer logs and today Karine and Santy made references to it, so I decided to take a look at it. Surprise, surprise, Antigua [...]
February 18th, 2007
Mary-Kate: Thanks for sharing the Irish Croabhach word and your feedback.
Karine: I wonder how nominated so many of the DPs to the Photobloggies Award. Good luck to Buenos Aires Daily as well.
Santy: Good luck to you too. It will a tough decision between you, Edwin and Lisi.
October 22nd, 2007
[...] this greenery. I have touched this subject a couple of times in Wood used as fuel in Antigua and Wood Handicrafts and the Mahogany Side Note. Here’s a quote from the original entry on May 25th, 2006. The name Guatemala derives from [...]