This small relief on display at the Petrie Museum is a section of “The Pyramid Texts” which is the oldest known funerary/religious writings in the world. The original text dates back to the Old Kingdom.
The Pyramid Texts can be thought of as a precursor to both the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead 𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓏲𓇳𓏺𓍼𓏺! The main differences between these religious texts are that the Pyramid Texts were only accessible to the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 because they were only carved inside of the pyramids 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴𓏦. Also, the Pyramid Texts were also not illustrated!
This particular section of the Pyramid Texts contains a spell 𓎛𓂓𓏛 that Pepy I 𓊪𓇋𓊪𓇋 would say that would provide him with food and drink for eternity 𓆖! Here is a piece of the leftmost column that I could translate (a lot is cut off):
𓇋𓅱 – My/I
𓇬𓈎𓈎 – Eat
𓏏𓏐- Bread
𓏊- Beer
The cartouche 𓏠𓈖𓈙𓍷 of the 6th Dynasty pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Pepy I 𓊪𓇋𓊪𓇋 was one of the first cartouches 𓏠𓈖𓈙𓍷𓏦 I learned to read/recognize because it’s written with only uniliteral hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! A lot of the Old Kingdom pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏥 have names 𓂋𓈖𓏦 spelled with uniliteral signs, which makes them great for beginners to read/learn! One of the ways I started learning hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 was by practicing reading the cartouches 𓏠𓈖𓈙𓍷𓏦 of the pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏥!
Let’s take a closer look at the symbols in Pepy’s 𓊪𓇋𓊪𓇋 cartouche 𓏠𓈖𓈙𓍷:
The “stool 𓊪” symbol is a uniliteral phonogram for the sound “p,” and does not have any other grammatical functions!
The “reed 𓇋” symbol is a uniliteral phonogram and most commonly represents the sound of “ı͗,” however it can also function as an ideogram for the word “reed 𓇋𓏺.”
This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost.
