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Reading Hieroglyphs

Book of the Dead Translation

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, we are going to look at some writing in the Book of the Dead (known to the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช as the Book of Coming Forth By Day). This Book of the Dead belonged to a man named Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช, who was a priest ๐“Šน๐“› of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ. He lived during the early Ptolemaic Period (between 332-200 B.C.E.). This Book of the Dead is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

This inscription is about the god ๐“Šน/๐“€ญ Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ! Letโ€™s just jump right into it – some of these words are vocabulary we have gone over previously (or variants of the words), so see if you can recognize the words or phrases before reading the translation!

Since the symbols point to the right, we are going to start reading from the top of the right column! Hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช are always read from top to bottom no matter what!

๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ๐“ƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ
โ€œWords Spoken By ๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“‡‹ Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ, Foremost of ๐“ƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ the West ๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠโ€ฆโ€

๐“ƒน๐“ˆ–๐“„ค๐“€ญ๐“™๐“Šค๐“ŽŸ๐“‹‚๐“ƒ€๐“ˆ‹๐“Š–
โ€œIt is ๐“ƒน๐“ˆ– the perfect god ๐“„ค๐“€ญ, true of voice ๐“™๐“Šค, Lord ๐“ŽŸ of Abydos ๐“‹‚๐“ƒ€๐“ˆ‹๐“Š–โ€ฆโ€

๐“ŽŸ๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž›๐“‹พ๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“†“๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡“๐“๐“ˆ–๐“€ญ
โ€œLord ๐“ŽŸ of Eternity ๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž›, Ruler ๐“‹พ๐“ˆŽ๐“ of His Own ๐“†“๐“๐“ˆ–, King ๐“‡“๐“๐“ˆ–๐“€ญ.โ€

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Egyptian Artifacts

Canopic Jar Lid Found in Senemut’s Tomb

This very simple and unassuming lid of a canopic jar was found in the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ of Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ (can also be written without a determinative ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…). Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ rose to become the most important official ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“€€ during Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช reign and held over 80 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž† different titles.

Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ was referred to as a โ€œHigh Steward ๐“„‚๐“‚๐“€€ (literally translated as โ€œarm is in frontโ€), which meant he was much more than just an official ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“€€ in Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช government. In a lot of inscriptions, Senemut is sometimes simply referred to as an overseer ๐“„“๐“‰๐“ค, since that seems to summarize his various roles. As the Chief Royal Architect, Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ supervised all of Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช building projects, including at least one of her massive obelisks ๐“‰ถ๐“‰ถ๐“‰ถ.

Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ was also the tutor for Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช daughter Neferure ๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค, which is how he is depicted in statuary ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ a lot of the time. Some other common titles include Steward of Amun, Chief Steward of the King, Overseer of the Treasury, Granary, Fields, Cattle of Amun, a Controller of Works, and so many more! I guess Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ was a workaholic!

Back to the canopic jar lid – it is actually debated l if this lid represents Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ or not! Based on other statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช of Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ, I personally think that the canopic jar lid is in Senemutโ€™s ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ likeness, however, that is just my inference/personal opinion. The lid is dated to the joint reign of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช and Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ (c. 1479โ€“1458 B.C.E.), however, based on what I have read the actual date this piece was made seems to be debated, even though it was found in Senemutโ€™s ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰.

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Blog

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today in the USA is the Thanksgiving Holiday, which is a day where we gather with our families to express our gratefulness for all that we have. As Iโ€™m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone who follows this account, I am incredibly thankful for my Nonno.

Iโ€™m thankful for everything that he taught me and for how he made learning so fun.  Iโ€™m thankful that he loved books and showed me the power of books and the knowledge they contain. Iโ€™m thankful for all of the knowledge and encouragement he gave me, because without him, I would not be able to read hieroglyphs.

Iโ€™m thankful for all of his hard work and the sacrifices he made in order to make sure my family is able to live a good life. Everything good we have is because of him.

Iโ€™m thankful that he showed me the power of hard work and Iโ€™m thankful he always encouraged me to work hard and to do my best. I wouldnโ€™t be where I am today (a successful teacher, a self-taught (or Nonno-taught) Egyptologist) without him.

Iโ€™m thankful for the day we spent together in Pompeii (pictured above) because it was the best day of my life. It was my dream to go to Pompeii with my Nonno and I am so happy we were able to go. Iโ€™m thankful for every museum trip, every Disney vacation, and for the days we all just simply hung out together.

I also want to say thank you to the rest of my family – my mom, dad, sister and brother who all support me with this account. My dad drives us to museums and carries my bags, my mom is the director/video recorder/photographer, my sister is also a photographer and my brother gives me lots of support!

Also, a big THANK YOU to everyone on here who has followed along! I appreciate every single one of you!

๐“™๐“‹น๐“†–๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž›

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Recumbent Jackal on Shrine Hieroglyph

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, we are going to look at my favorite hieroglyphic symbol: Anubis ๐“ƒฃ! So out of all 700+ symbols, this symbol of Anubis on a shrine ๐“ƒฃ has always been (and will always be) my absolute favorite!

There are three ๐“ผ variants of this symbols: ๐“ƒข, ๐“ƒฃ, and ๐“ƒค. The variants just mean that all three symbols could be used in the same way to represent the same thing!

The official name of this symbol given by Egyptologists is โ€œrecumbent jackal on shrine ๐“ƒฃโ€ and it is used as both an ideogram and a determinative. ๐“ƒฃ is the determinative in the word โ€œAnubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃโ€ and also an ideogram for โ€œAnubis ๐“ƒฃ.โ€

When ๐“ƒฃ functions as an ideogram, the โ€œ๐“ƒฃโ€ would be pronounced the same as โ€œ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ.โ€ The proper way to say Anubis in Middle Egyptian is โ€œjnpwโ€ (pronounced like โ€œInpuโ€).
๐“‡‹ – j (i)
๐“ˆ– – n
๐“Šช – p
๐“…ฑ – w (u)
๐“ƒฃ – Determinative – not pronounced!

The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– โ€œAnubisโ€ is actually the Greek version of his name, not the Middle Egyptian name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–, so that is why the hieroglyphs donโ€™t match up with how we are so used to saying Anubis/Inpuโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–!

Since this is my absolute favorite symbol, when I was a kid, I was so mad that I could not use this symbol as part of my name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– (my name written out is ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“€ญ).

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Ointment Jars from Deir el-Bahri

These ointment jars were found amongst many other artifacts in the foundation deposits of Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰. While foundation deposits can be traced all the way back to the 3rd Dynasty, putting ointment jars in them date back to the 12th Dynasty. There are fourteen foundation deposits associated with Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰!

These ointment jars that were found are made of travertine and many have hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช with Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ on them! Many of the jars found at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰ contain oil stains, which means that they were probably used primarily to hold oil that was used in ceremonies at the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰. You can also see a blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ, which were very common to find in foundation deposits too!

I love seeing the artifacts from the foundation deposits because they give a glimpse into cool things such as temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ construction and religious worship! The artifacts found in foundation deposits also contain the cartouches of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป under whom the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ was constructed under!

One of the ointment jars has some simple text on it! Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

๐“Šน๐“๐“„ค – The Perfect Goddess
๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ – Maatkare
๐“‹น๐“˜ – May She Live!

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Hatshepsut as Female King

I seem to always talk about the white limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช because itโ€™s my favorite, but I never seem to discuss the red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช or โ€œHatshepsut as Female King.โ€ This statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ is my second ๐“Œ๐“ป favorite!

The most striking aspect of this statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ is that Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช face, which displays feminine features, remained pretty much intact! Many of Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช have the faces destroyed, possibly in an attempt to destroy her image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ so she would be forgotten from history. Many blame Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ for this, but actually any motivation behind this deliberate destruction of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is unknown and mostly speculation.

Itโ€™s very difficult to read the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on this statue, but you can make out that Hatshepsut ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ is using the female version of titles, and referring to herself as a woman!

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!
๐“„ค๐“Šน๐“ – Perfect Goddess
๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ – Maatkare

Something interesting about this statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ (that cannot be seen in my pictures) is that Taweret ๐“๐“„ฟ๐“…ฉ๐“‚‹๐“๐“†—, the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ that protects ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ women ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“๐“ช in childbirth (and women/children in general), is actually carved into the back of the statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ! This is the only deity ๐“Šน that is overtly carved into Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ statuary so this allows Egyptologists to infer that the statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ was probably meant to belong in the Hathor ๐“‰ก shrine ๐“๐“Šƒ๐“…“๐“‚œ๐“‰ at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰, and was probably used in cult worship ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข. Itโ€™s interesting that a goddess ๐“Šน๐“ specifically aimed towards women ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“๐“ช was chosen to be carved!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Hatshepsut at the MET!

Happy 600 ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ posts to @ancientegyptblog ๐“ƒฃ (on Instagram at least)!!

I am so thankful for everyone who reads my posts and follows this account. Thank you ๐“‹ด๐“๐“ฏ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข for helping me to keep my Nonnoโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– and image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ alive! That is my main reason for starting this account/website, and I just want to share everything he taught me with the world.

Today I ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ wanted to post something special, so here I am with the two ๐“ป best preserved statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช we have of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช as pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป! These are also my two ๐“ป favorite statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช from Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–! I always seem to celebrate this milestones with my favorite pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, because these statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช mean the absolute world to me!

While they look different and are made of different materials, these statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช are similar to each other in the way that Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is portrayed in female dress, but also with the nemes ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด head cloth to show that she is in fact the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป! The hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on the inscriptions on both statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช use the female versions of words when referencing her. For example, โ€œLady ๐“ŽŸ๐“โ€ is used instead of โ€œLord ๐“ŽŸ.โ€

Both of these statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช were found during excavations at Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰. This gallery at the MET, which houses these striking statues, has always been my favorite room in any museum. Iโ€™m so thankful my Nonno taught me about Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช and for all of the memories we have in this gallery looking at her statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š—. Seeing these statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช as a child ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€” helped to ignite my love for studying Egyptian history.

As a kid ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€”, seeing a woman portrayed so beautifully ๐“„ค and so strong was incredibly inspiring. Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช has been my idol and inspiration since I was a small child ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€”, and my Nonno even said to me โ€œWhy be the queen when you can be the king,โ€ and that is something I try to live by!

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Egyptian Artifacts

White Cross-Lined Ware Pottery with Crocodiles

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, we are going to travel all the way back to predynastic Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– (c. 3650-3500 B.C.E.)! More specifically, this piece is dated to the Naqada II Period (also known as the Gerzean Period), which is a period of accelerated development in art and culture. This time period is when more elaborate pottery began to appear and people started to get buried in larger and more elaborate tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช! This was all before the first ๐“ƒ writing ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ even appeared, which was during Naqada III (3200-3000 B.C.E.).

This piece of pottery ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹ is commonly referred to as โ€œwhite cross-lined wareโ€ by archaeologists. Flinders Petrie, the first Egyptologist to try and date predynastic pottery, described white cross-lined ware pottery ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹ as being a reddish-brown or dark red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ color that was decorated with white ๐“Œ‰๐“†“๐“‡ณ images ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ช or geometric drawings. White cross-lined ware pottery ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹ is usually only found in Upper Egypt ๐“‡“, near Abydos ๐“‹๐“ƒ€๐“ˆ‹๐“Š– and Naqada.

I absolutely love this piece of pottery ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹ because beautifully ๐“„ค drawn crocodiles ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ๐“ฆ that are on it!  Much like the hippopotamus ๐“Œ‰๐“๐“ƒฏ, the crocodile ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ is one of the animals that appears frequently in early Egyptian imagery ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ probably because the people of the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ needed to always be on their guard in regards to crocodiles ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ๐“ฆ since they could come out of the water ๐“ˆ— and on to the banks of the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ!

Even as ancient Egyptian culture evolved, Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช both feared and revered ๐“‡‹๐“Œด๐“„ช crocodiles ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ๐“ฆ due to their strength ๐“„‡๐“๐“‚๐“ญ and power. While crocodiles ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ๐“ฆ were the feared animals along the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ, images ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ช of them could offer protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ, such as in the form of amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช which evolved much later.

Sobek ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹, the god ๐“Šน  was both feared and revered due to him being a crocodile ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ! He was worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข in order to ensure the fertility of both people and crops, but also to protect against crocodile ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ attacks. Sobek ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹ was one of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน that was named in the Pyramid Texts, which makes him one of the oldest deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน in the Egyptian pantheon, however, this piece of pottery ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹ is still older than Sobek ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“Žก๐“†‹!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Harpokrates

While a lot of the same themes and ideas persisted through the Egyptian religion for thousands of years, changes and evolution did occur from time to time! One of the ways those changes showed up were in the evolution of gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“. In both classical Egyptian and Graeco-Roman times, Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ, Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ were very popular deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, however, their names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ and roles did evolve.ย  For example, Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was replaced/referred to as Serapis ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ๐“Ž›๐“‘๐“Šช๐“ƒ’ by the Ptolemies. Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to look at one of the ways that Horus evolved ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ!

In this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ is represented in his Greek form Harpokrates ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“„ก๐“‚‹๐“‚ง๐“€”๐“€ญ (or Harpocrates), with his trademarked “finger to lips” pose.  This pose represents the โ€œbe quietโ€ gesture because to the Greeks, Harpokrates was the god ๐“Šน of silence. In the Hellenistic world, Harpokrates could also be the god ๐“Šน of secrets, confidentiality, and even the embodiment of hope!

The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– Harpokrates ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“„ก๐“‚‹๐“‚ง๐“€”๐“€ญ is actually a Greek adaptation of the Egyptian โ€œHeru-pa-kheredโ€ or โ€œHeru-pa-khartโ€ which translates to โ€œHorus the Childโ€ or โ€œHorus the Younger.โ€ This name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– makes sense when you look at the statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช, because Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ/Harpokrates is represented as a child! Also, the determinative hieroglyph (last symbol in the phrase) for the word child โ€œ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€”/๐“„ก๐“‚‹๐“‚ง๐“€”โ€ shows a seated boy with his hand to his mouth, which is where the idea for the representation of Harpokrates ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“„ก๐“‚‹๐“‚ง๐“€”๐“€ญ is thought to have originated from!

Here is a breakdown of Harpokratesโ€™ name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–  in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช:
๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“„ก๐“‚‹๐“‚ง๐“€”๐“€ญ – Harpokrates

๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ -Heru
๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ – pa
๐“„ก๐“‚‹๐“‚ง๐“€”๐“€ญ – khered/khart

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

The False Door Inside Perneb’s Mastaba

Perneb ๐“ƒ€๐“ˆ–๐“ŽŸ๐“‰๐“‚‹ was a palace administrator during the 5th Dynasty, and he had his tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ built at Memphis ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“Š– (modern day Saqqara). This type of tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ is commonly referred to today as a mastaba, but in ancient Egyptian times they were referred to as a โ€œHouse of Eternity ๐“‰๐“†–.โ€ The word โ€œmastabaโ€ is Arabic for the word โ€œbench,โ€ and these tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช got their modern name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– due to their rectangular structure and flat roofs! 

During the Old Kingdom, the Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป and the palace were pretty much the center of the government/society, so Pernebย ๐“ƒ€๐“ˆ–๐“ŽŸ๐“‰๐“‚‹ย held quite an important role, hence the exquisite tombย ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰!ย 

I am standing inside the mastaba ๐“‰๐“†– of Perneb ๐“ƒ€๐“ˆ–๐“ŽŸ๐“‰๐“‚‹ at the MET in front of his False Door! I will never forget seeing it for the first time with my Nonno – the first time I saw it, there was no glass on the reliefs! Seeing this for the first time will always be one of my greatest memories! I love being inside the mastaba ๐“‰๐“†– because I feel like I am in Egypt – ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– I love being in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช!

False Doors are an extremely important part of ancient Egyptian funerary practices. False Doors served as ways for the living relatives to make offerings ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ to the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ and there is a spot at the base of the False Door where offerings ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ are meant to be left. 

The False Door acted as a link between the land of the living ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“ and the land of the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. The ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช believed that the soul ๐“‚“ of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ could travel between the two lands ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ through the False Door. They are also known as โ€œka ๐“‚“ doorsโ€ or โ€œsoul ๐“‚“ doors.โ€