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Reading Hieroglyphs

The “King’s Acquaintance”

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

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to be looking at a Title that appears ๐“ˆ on statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช and in funerary inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ. The title of โ€œ๐“‡“๐“‚‹๐“๐“ – Kingโ€™s Acquaintanceโ€ is used to denote people who were close to the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป and can be written in two ways: 

๐“‡“๐“‚‹๐“๐“ – if the person was female

๐“‡“๐“๐“‚‹๐“ – if the person was male

In the case of this inscription ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ, which was for a female, Kingโ€™s Acquaintance ๐“‡“๐“‚‹๐“๐“ is written in the female form of the word! The Title has also been translated as โ€œGentlewoman,โ€ and โ€œCourt Lady,โ€ while the male version (๐“‡“๐“๐“‚‹๐“) can also be translated as โ€œCustodian of the Kingโ€™s Property.โ€ 

Letโ€™s take a closer look at the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช that make up this title! 

The โ€œSedge ๐“‡“โ€ symbol is one of the most common hieroglyphs you will see in inscriptions! It functions as a biliteral phonogram and is associated with the sound โ€œsw.โ€ Most commonly, the symbol is used as an ideogram for the word โ€œKing,โ€ which is associated with the sound โ€œnswt.โ€ In this case of this title, the sedge is functioning as an ideogram!

The โ€œplacenta or sieve ๐“โ€ symbol is a uniliteral phonogram and is associated with the sound โ€œแธซ.โ€ This symbol is actually considered โ€œunclassifiedโ€ because Egyptologists actually donโ€™t know what it exactly represents! 

The โ€œmouth ๐“‚‹โ€ symbol functions most commonly as a uniliteral phonogram and is used to represent the sound โ€œr.โ€ It can also be used as an ideogram for the word โ€œmouth ๐“‚‹๐“บ.โ€ 

The โ€œflat loaf of bread ๐“โ€ is a uniliteral phonogram used to represent the sound โ€œt.โ€ It also functions as the ideogram for the word โ€œbread ๐“๐“บโ€ and can be used to make words feminine when placed at the end of the word! 

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Board Game “Senet”

If an object has Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– on it, I am going to get excited about it – no matter what the artifact is!

This piece is a type of ancient Egyptian board game called Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ ! Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  is the worldโ€™s oldest board game – thereโ€™s evidence of its existence all the way back to the First Dynasty (though this particular board is dated c. 1390-1353 B.C.E.). 

During the New Kingdom, the game represented the journey of the Ka ๐“‚“ (soul) to the afterlife/Duat ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. The word โ€œSenetโ€ ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  actually means passage or gateway (though there are other ways to write these words as well)! If you look really closely, you can see details of the โ€œAnkh ๐“‹น,โ€ which is the symbol that means โ€œLifeโ€ along with the โ€œDjed Pillar ๐“Šฝโ€ which means โ€œStabilityโ€ painted on the side of the game! On both the left and right sides, you can also see the word ๐“‹ด๐“ˆ–๐“ƒ€ which means โ€œHealth!โ€ Such lovely messages on the side of a board game!

Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  is still a game that can be played today, though some of the rules are debatable! I find it so interesting that board games have been around for so long in history! Some things an about humanity have not changed!ย 

The version of Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– that appears on the side of the Senet ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“  board is her throne name, which is the name she took when she became pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป! Her throne name is โ€œMaatkare ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“โ€ which translates to โ€œTruth is the Soul of Re.โ€ 

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Egyptian Artifacts

First Dynasty Lion Cub

How cute is this lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› cub?! Whenever I am at the MET, I always make sure to stop by and see him!ย 

When I was a kid ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€”, I absolutely loved this quartzite statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of a lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› cub because it reminded me of Simba from The Lion King! Only the main features of the lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› cub are seen, and none of the features are โ€œsharply defined ๐“‹ด๐“Šช๐“‚ง๐“š๐“บ๐“›,โ€ however, it is clear that this is a statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of a lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› and it is one of my favorite examples of early Egyptian art!

This cute little lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› is from the First Dynasty (c. 3100โ€“2900 B.C.E.)! During the Pre-Dynastic through Early Dynastic periods, statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of animals were usually smaller in size (amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† size or just a little larger – look above the lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ in the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ to see examples) This statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ thought is almost like a transition piece towards the larger and grander statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช of the later dynasties. This little lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› was originally found in southern ๐“‡”๐“ Upper Egypt ๐“‡“. I love being able to see the changes in Egyptian art through time! 

Geology Time!!! Since quartzite is a very hard stone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“Šช, the Egyptians had to learn how to work with and sculpt these types of rocks ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ! Quartz ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ˆ™, the mineral ๐“‡‹๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™ quartzite is mostly composed of has a hardness of 7 out of 10 on Mohโ€™s Hardness Scale, which means it is very resistant to being scratched! Quartzite is a metamorphic rock, which means it was originally sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™ before it was subjected to intense heat and pressure, which recrystallized it into quartzite. Quartzite is a much stronger and durable rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ than the original sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™. 

Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

Stela of Aafenmut

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to look at a wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ that is dated to the Third Intermediate Period (c. 924โ€“889 B.C.E., 22nd Dynasty) which belonged to a man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค named Aafenmut ๐“‰ป๐“†‘๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…๐“†‡. This stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ shows a typical funerary stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ offering ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ scene, and this style of stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ was very popular during this time period. I love this particular style because it is so colorful!ย This stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

The Solar Barge ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž is shown at the top of the stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ and the Solar Barge ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž represents Raโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“› journey across the sky ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ. Raโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“› journey is supposed to be representative of his birth/resurrection (sunrise), growth (day) and then death (sunset). In between Aafenmut ๐“‰ป๐“†‘๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…๐“†‡ and Ra-Horakhty ๐“…Š๐“”๐“”๐“ค is a table filled with offerings ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ of bread ๐“๐“, fruit, and flowers ๐“†ผ๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“ฆ.ย 

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

๐“…Š๐“”๐“”๐“ค – Ra-Horakhty

๐“Šน๐“‰ผ – Great God

๐“ŽŸ – Lord

๐“‡ฏ – Sky/Heaven

๐“‚ž – Give

๐“†‘ – He

๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“๐“›- Offerings

๐“ – To

๐“Šฉ๐“น – Osiris

๐“ – To

๐“ž – Scribe

๐“บ๐“‰๐“Œ‰๐“บ๐“‰ – Treasury

๐“‰ป๐“†‘๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…๐“†‡ – Aafenmut

๐“™๐“Šค – True of Voice (Justified)

So all ๐“ŽŸ together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š—, this inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž– reads: โ€œRa-Horakhty, the Great God, Lord of the Sky/Heaven, may he give offerings to Osiris, to the scribe of the treasury, Aafenmut, True of Voice.โ€ 

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Sphinx of Senwosret III (Part II)

Here is a link to Part I!

The Horus Name is one of five ๐“พ ways to write the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of a pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, and it is the oldest way to do so. The purpose of the Horus Name was to identify the king ๐“‡“ as an earthly representation of the god ๐“Šน Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ.ย 

The Horus Name consists of three elements: the palace facade ๐“Š, Horus the Falcon ๐“…ƒ standing on top of the palace ๐“Š, and the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป within the palace ๐“Š. The palace ๐“Š hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ is pronounced like โ€œserekhโ€ and some Egyptologists are now referring to the Horus Name as the Serekh Name. This was basically the early version of the cartouche! 

On the sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ of Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“, you can see the Horus name, however, the throne name is also in the serekh! This is unusual to see both names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ in the serekh! 

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

๐“Šน๐“†ฃ๐“…ฑ – โ€œHorus, Divine of Formโ€ (Neter-kheperu) (Horus Name)

๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ – โ€œThe Souls of Ra have Appearedโ€ (Kha kau ra) (Throne Name)

Something I love about this sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ, is that it is made out of gneiss, which is one of my favorite rocks ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ! Gneiss is a foliated metamorphic rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ which means that it was subjected to such extreme heat and pressure during its formation (probably due to mountain ๐“ˆ‹๐“…ณ building or plate tectonics), that the minerals ๐“‡‹๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ have separated into bands of light (felsic) and dark (mafic) colored minerals ๐“‡‹๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ฆ! This gives gneiss a natural zebra-like appearance! 

Gebel el-Asr is the only quarry ๐“Ž›๐“๐“๐“‰ in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– where gneiss can be found, and gneiss was prized from the Predynastic to Middle Kingdoms for statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ making!

The following pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ show a close up of one of my samples of gneiss, so you can see this banding! 

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Egyptian Artifacts

Sphinx of Senwosret III (Part I)

Pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ were commonly represented as sphinxes ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ฆ in ancient Egyptian art for many reasons. A sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ is a mythical creature that has the body of a lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› and the head of a human. In ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, lions ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„›๐“ช have been associated with kingship ๐“‡“๐“‡Œ since prehistoric times due to their strength ๐“Œ€ and ferocity. The sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ was the perfect representation of the strength ๐“Œ€ of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป due to its lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› body, while the face still preserved the image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of the king ๐“‡“ himself. 

This magnificent sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ is a representation of the 12th Dynasty Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“. Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ has very distinctive facial features, so he is very easy to spot in Middle Kingdom art. Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ is wearing the characteristic nemes head cloth ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด and false beard ๐“๐“ƒ€๐“Šƒ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ธ, which are both signs of kingship ๐“‡“๐“‡Œ. 

While this is not a professional term, to me, Senwosret III ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ looks like a โ€œsad and tired old man,โ€ which is how I distinguish him from statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช of other pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ. This depiction of a pharaoh demonstrates how in the Middle Kingdom, some of the art took a more realistic approach, instead of the typical idealistic approach. Usually, pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ and people were shown at their best, not how they actually looked. However, this sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ shows a detachment from idealistic depictions. 

This sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ is in a crouching position, which to the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช meant that it was a guardian of a sacred place, such as a temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ or an important building. This is why rows or lines of sphinxes have been found at various temples ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ช around Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– – the sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ, and therefore the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, was using his strength ๐“Œ€ and might to protect these sacred places!ย 

Here is a link to Part II!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabti and Miniature Coffin

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, we are going to take a look at this unique ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ that was discovered in the mortuary temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ of the pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Senwosret I ๐“„Š๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ– (Dynasty 12). This was probably left as some type of offering ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ. The ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ and coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ are made out of wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ and are covered in gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ leaf. 

The ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ and coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ contain the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of Wahneferhotep, who was probably the son ๐“…ญ of Senwosret I ๐“„Š๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ– due to the title โ€œKingโ€™s Son ๐“‡“๐“…ญโ€ appearing in the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. These two ๐“ป objects seen here are the only place where Wahneferhotepโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–appears, so we know nothing about him!ย 

What is so cool about the miniature coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ is that it is so detailed and similar to an actual coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ! The text ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on the miniature coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ is inscribed with the same funerary spells as regular sized coffins would be! The eyes ๐“น๐“๐“ฆ on this side of the coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ would allow the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ (or in this case, the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ) to see outside of it! The ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ was even found covered with linen ๐“ฑ and laying on its side! This was very typical of Middle Kingdom burial practices ๐“ˆŽ๐“‚‹๐“‹ด๐“๐“๐“Šญ, and it was something my Nonno would always point out to me when we were in a museum! 

The text ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is a version of the standard โ€œShabti Spell. This spell ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“› gives the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ the power to complete tasks (farming, manual labor, etc) for the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ in the Field of Reeds ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š– so the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ doesnโ€™t have to do any work in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. 

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Blog Video

Video – Stela of Hatshepsut Replica

This is a replica of the Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช Stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ at the Musei Vaticani that my Nonno gave to me over fifteen years ago. I love this piece so much because the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on it are so accurate compared to the original stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ!

This is one of my most prized possessions because my Nonno have it to me. He brought this for me before we got to see the stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ together, because he knew I would absolutely love it, and I do! 

Let me know if you guys enjoy seeing my little collection of Egyptian replica pieces that my Nonno has given me!

Here is one of my posts about this beautiful ๐“„ค stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Sandstone Stela of Hatshepsut

I love this picture for two ๐“ป reasons: the first ๐“ƒ is because my Nonno took this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of me with the Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช Stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ at the Musei Vaticani! I almost feel that this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ represents how Nonno saw me, and Iโ€™ve never shared it until today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ because I wanted to keep it as โ€œmine.โ€ I wish I could go back to this moment because look at the happiness ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ and joy ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ on my face! The second ๐“Œ๐“ป reason is because this Stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is one of my absolute favorite Egyptian artifacts – it was a dream of mine to see this in person, and Iโ€™m so lucky I was able to!

I know I have posted about this stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธa lot, however, today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณwe are going to examine a different aspect of it! If you search “Hatshepsut” or “Vatican Museum,” you will be able to see my previous posts on this beautiful stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ!

This sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™ stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ depicts Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช and Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ during their joint reign. Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is wearing the blue (khepresh) crown ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“‹™ and is making an offering of nemset jars ๐“Œ๐“Œ๐“Œ to the god ๐“Šน Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ. Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ is wearing the White Crown ๐“„ค๐“‹‘ of Upper Egypt ๐“‡“! 

The stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ was meant to commemorate restoration works in West Thebes ๐“Œ€๐“๐“Š–! Many pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ would restore the work of previous rulers ๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“‹พ๐“ช to demonstrate their own power and to honor the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, not to honor the previous pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ! 

Another reason why restoring previous works and building lots of new buildings (which Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช did early in her reign ๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“‹พ), was so significant was because it meant the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป (in this case, Hatshepsut) would live on since the names were part of the buildingsโ€™ inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ. All of these new projects also impressed upon the common people the economic prosperity of the Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช regime. This was important for her to demonstrate immediately because she was not only a female ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“ ruler ๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“‹พ, but she kind of pushed Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ to the side and named herself the legitimate pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป. 

Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

How to Read a Three-Symbol Cartouche

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

When I was first starting to learn to read hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, the cartouches of the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ were some of the first things I learned how to read and recognize! Learning the cartouches allowed me to become familiar with the different uniliteral, biliteral, and triliteral signs! By remembering the signs/meanings of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช associated with the names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฅ of the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ, I was able to then expand my knowledge using the Book of the Dead transliteration/translation!

A lot of the New Kingdom pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ had simple three ๐“ผ symbol throne name cartouches, which sometimes takes some practice to read because of the order of the symbols! For the three symbol cartouches, usually (not always) the symbols were read โ€œMiddle-Right-Leftโ€ or โ€œMiddle-Bottom-Topโ€ depending on the orientation of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช.

For example, Hatshepsutโ€™s throne name of (๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“) would be read โ€œMaatkareโ€ (Maat ๐“ฆ ka ๐“‚“ re ๐“‡ณ) and the throne name of Thutmosis III (๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ) would be read โ€œMenkhepherreโ€ (Men ๐“  kheper ๐“†ฃ re ๐“‡ณ).ย 

While to most this is just a piece of wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ, to me this is significant because this piece of wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ is inscribed with the cartouche of the throne name of the 19th Dynasty pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Seti I!

So in this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, Seti Iโ€™s cartouche reads (๐“ฆ๐“ ๐“‡ณ) or โ€œMenmaatreโ€ (Men ๐“  maat ๐“ฆ re ๐“‡ณ), however, in most inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ his cartouche is written as (๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ )! A lot of people will translate his name as โ€œMaatmenreโ€ (Maat ๐“ฆ men ๐“  re ๐“‡ณ) because of the way it is written. So as you can see, the orientation of the three ๐“ผ symbols definitely changes and can be confusing to a beginner! I have seen both Menmaatre and Maatmenre used in published books, but if we are going to get technical, the translation of Menmaatre (Eternal is the Truth of Re) makes a little more sense than Maatmenre (Truth is the Eternal of Re). 

I chose to use Seti Iโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  cartouche for this example because Nonno loved Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ !