Month: November 2022

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Blog Egyptian Artifacts

“Wonderful Things”

โ€œWonderful Things.โ€ย 

That quote is from Howard Carter when he first peered into the tombย ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ย of Tutankhamunย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“. Honestly, every time I walk through a museum all I can think is โ€œWonderful Thingsโ€ – I feel like that sums up my feelings pretty well!ย 

While I have posted this picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ before, it is one of my absolute favorites and one of the many wonderful things that I have seen! This is my Nonno and I with Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ at the British Museum! I am posting this again because today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ is the 100 ๐“ฒ year anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰! 

As a child (and even now) I love the story about howย Tutankhamunโ€™sย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ย tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ย was discovered! The funerary mask, Anubisย ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃย shrine, cartouche box, and so many of the other artifacts in the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ completely fascinated me and definitely played a part in me becoming so interested in ancient Egyptย ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–ย as a child. I have my Nonno to thank for telling me about Tutankhamunย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ย and for encouraging my love and fascination with Egyptian history!ย 

In this particular statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ, Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ is wearing the nemes head cloth ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด, false beard, and broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹. These are all very common things for pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ to wear to represent themselves as pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, which Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ felt he needed to do in order to legitimize his rule ๐“‹พ. The bottom part of the statue is ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ decorated with lotus flowers ๐“†ธ๐“ช and papyrus reeds ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Ž›๐“†ฐ. 

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Gold Ring of Tutankhamun

In order to commeorate 100 ๐“ฒ year anniversary of the discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰, let’s take a look at some artifacts related to Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“!

This gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ ring ๐“‚๐“ˆ–๐“๐“‹ช (the one in the back of the photo ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“), which was also used as a seal, has the throne name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ on it! 

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

In the middle of the ring ๐“‚๐“ˆ–๐“๐“‹ช, we see the throne name of Tutankhamun: ๐“‡ณ๐“†ฃ๐“ฆ๐“ŽŸ (Nebkheperure). Broken down, the name means:

๐“‡ณ – Ra

๐“†ฃ๐“ฆ – Forms/Manifestations

๐“ŽŸ – Lord 
So โ€œ

Nebkheperure ๐“‡ณ๐“†ฃ๐“ฆ๐“ŽŸโ€ means โ€œLord of the Manifestations of Ra.โ€

On either side of Nebkheperure ๐“‡ณ๐“†ฃ๐“ฆ๐“ŽŸ, there are other hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช too! 

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– – Amun

๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž› – Eternity

๐“ŽŸ Lord

๐“Œป – Beloved

So the full inscription ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ reads: โ€œ ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž›๐“ŽŸ๐“Œป Beloved of Amun, Lord of Eternity.โ€ 

Something really interesting about the inscriptionย ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅย is that the sun disc ๐“‡ณ symbol in the word โ€œeternityย ๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž›โ€ has the Ankh ๐“‹น or symbol for โ€œLifeโ€ with it, which was a common way to write โ€œeternityย ๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž›โ€ during the reign ๐“‹พ of Akhenatenย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–! Itโ€™s meant to represent the Ankhs ๐“‹น๐“‹น๐“‹น that usually appeared in depictions of the Atenย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ.ย 

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Reading Hieroglyphs

The Four Sons of Horus in Hieroglyphs

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

This sunken relief and inscriptionย ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–ย is from the sarcophagusย ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญย of a man named Harkhebit who lived during Dynasty 26 (c. 595-526 B.C.E.). This sarcophagusย ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญย is one of the better examples of Late Period ancient Egyptian stonework and is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

One of the best things about Egyptian art is that sometimes the hieroglyphsย ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ชย act as โ€œcaptionsโ€ and tell you exactly which deity ๐“Šน you are looking at! The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the deity ๐“Šน usually appears above their head in an inscriptionย ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–!

Duamutefย ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘ and Imsetiย ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟ.

On the left, we can see Duamutef ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘ who is one of the Four Sons of Horus that was tasked with protecting ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ the stomach ๐“‚‹๐“„ฃ๐“ป. ! Duamutef can also be spelled like ๐“‡ผ๐“‚Ÿ๐“๐“†‘, and it would be pronounced the same! A lot of the names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ of gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“, and even pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ had variants. A variant is just an alternate spelling of a word! A determinative could also appear at the end of the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–, which would make them appear as ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘๐“€ญ and ๐“‡ผ๐“‚Ÿ๐“๐“†‘๐“€ญ. 

On the right, we can see Imsetiย ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟย who is also one of the Four Sons of Horus who was tasked with protectingย ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œย the liver ๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„น๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ธ! Imsetiย ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟ can also be spelled likeย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‹ด๐“˜๐“‡‹, and that variation is the one you will see most often so it was very cool to see this particular spelling!ย A determinative could also appear at the end of the name๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– , which would make them appear asย ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟ๐“€ญ andย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‹ด๐“˜๐“‡‹๐“€ญ.ย 

Hapyย ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ and Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘

On the left, we can see Hapyย ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ, who is one of the Four Sons of Horus.ย Hapy ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ had the head of a baboon and protectedย ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œย the lungs ๐“Šƒ๐“Œด๐“„ฅ๐“…ฑ๐“„บ. Hapyโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–can also be spelled like in โ€œ๐“Ž›๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œโ€ย hieroglyphsย ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. The spelling seen on this sarcophagus (๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ)is a less common variant! Even in English, Hapyย ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œย can also be spelled like โ€œHapi!โ€ย 

On the right, we can see Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ who is another one of the Four Sons of Horus.ย Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ย had the head of a falconย ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“…„ andย protectedย ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œย the intestines ๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ผ. The way thatย Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ is spelled on this sarcophagusย ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญย is the most common way I have seen the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– spelled!ย 

A determinative could also appear at the end of the name๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– , which would make them appear asย ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ๐“€ญ andย ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘๐“€ญ.ย 

Much like Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ were popular deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน to see on funerary equipment ๐“ˆŽ๐“‚‹๐“‹ด๐“๐“๐“Šญ, the Sons of Horus were as well because they were tasked with protecting ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ organs ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น๐“ฆ of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. That is certainly an important job! Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ does appear on this sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ, heโ€™s just in a different spot! 

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Reading Hieroglyphs

The “Ripple of Water” Hieroglyph

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

The โ€œRipple of Water ๐“ˆ–โ€ has always been one of my favorite symbols because โ€œ๐“ˆ–โ€ is a uniliteral phonogram that has a sound like โ€œNโ€! As a kid ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€• I loved it because you use โ€œ๐“ˆ–โ€ to write both โ€œNicole ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“โ€ and โ€œNonno ๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ๐“€€โ€œ in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! I also loved this symbol because it is an easy one to write/draw! I am no artist and while I can definitely read hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, writing them is another story! I would have failed scribe ๐“Ÿ๐“€€ school!! 

While a simple symbol, the โ€œRipple of Water ๐“ˆ–โ€ has many uses in Middle Egyptian! On its own, ๐“ˆ– can mean: to, for, of, through, in, because, not, cannot, unless, no, they, we, us, and our! Thatโ€™s a lot of words! When reading inscriptions, you can figure out the meaning based off of the context clues! 

โ€œWe, us, and ourโ€ can also be written as: ๐“ˆ–๐“ฅ. โ€œTheyโ€ can be written as: ๐“ˆ–๐“ฎ or ๐“ˆ–๐“ญ. 

The โ€œRipple of Water ๐“ˆ–โ€ is used a lot on its own but is also used a lot as part of larger words and names! Here are some examples:

๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ – Anubis

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“„‚๐“ – Amenemhat II

๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ – Rock

๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ – Today

๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ– – Words Spoken By

๐“Œข๐“ˆ–/๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“ – Brother/Sister

๐“ˆ–๐“„ฟ – This, These, The

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Amun-Ra, “Lord of the Thrones”

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

Todayย ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to be looking at an inscriptionย ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–ย that includes the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of a god ๐“Šน, and the honorific that follows the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the god ๐“Šน!ย 

Hereโ€™s a breakdown of the inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–: 

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“€ญ – Amun-Ra

๐“ŽŸ – Lord 

๐“Žผ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ – Thrones

So the inscription fully reads โ€œ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“€ญ๐“ŽŸ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ – Amun-Ra, Lord of the Thrones.โ€ โ€œLord of the Thrones ๐“ŽŸ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ๐“Žผโ€ was a popular honorific to use after the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of a deity ๐“Šน like Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“€ญ because as he rose to popularity during the New Kingdom, he was considered to be the King of the Egyptian Gods. Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“€ญ was also referred to as the โ€œSupreme Godโ€ and is the combination of the individual deities Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– and Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“œ. 

Here are some variants of Amun-Raโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช: 

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“€ญ

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ

๐“ฉ

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“…†

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Egyptian Artifacts

Predynastic Pottery Vessel

Todayย ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, we are going to travel all the way back to predynastic Egypt (c. 3500-3300 B.C.E.)!

This type of vaseย ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹, known by scholars as โ€œpottery vesselsโ€ are very characteristic of early Egyptian art. There are many different examples of these, and many have been found in Egyptย ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–. There is a very similar one to this in the British Museum, and many other examples at the MET! The significance of these vasesย ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹๐“ชย is still debated because Egyptologists donโ€™t exactly know why they were made or what they were used for! These predynastic vasesย ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹๐“ชย are so adored that many fakes have even popped up!ย 

In the image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ above, there seem to be animals such as antelopesย ๐“ƒฒ๐“ƒฒ๐“ƒฒย and flamingoes ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ๐“ช standing amongst groups of triangles. These triangles most likely represent landscape features such as hills ๐“ˆŽ๐“„ฟ๐“„ฟ๐“ŠŽ๐“ช or mountains ๐“ˆ‹๐“…ณ.ย 

In the image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ above, a womanย ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“ย (left) and a manย ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค(right) are standing on a boat ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž. Above the boat ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž, the hills ๐“ˆŽ๐“„ฟ๐“„ฟ๐“ŠŽ๐“ช/mountains ๐“ˆ‹๐“…ณ are once again depicted. Below the boat ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž, it looks like plantsย ๐“†พ๐“†ฐ๐“†ฐ๐“†ฐย are being shown! To me, the plantsย ๐“†พ๐“†ฐ๐“†ฐ๐“†ฐย look like ferns (that is my interpretation).ย 

As a kid ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€•, I really liked this vase ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹ because the groups of animals reminded me of the โ€œCircle of Lifeโ€ from The Lion King! To me (both as a kid ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€• and even now as an adult), the scenes on this pottery vessel ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹ look just like the movie! 

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Apotropaicย Rod or Magic Wand

This is a very unique piece (not the cute little hippoย ๐“Œ‰๐“๐“ƒฏ)!

This artifact is referred to as an โ€œApotropaicย Rodโ€ or โ€œMagicย ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œย Rodโ€ which means that it is an object that has the power to ward off evilย ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…จย or bad luck. This piece is dated to the Middle Kingdom (c. 1678-1640 B.C.E.) which was during the reign ๐“‹พ of Senwosret IIIย ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ย (Dynasty 12).ย 

This piece is composed of multiple (four ๐“ฝ) segments that are all joined together. This is the only Magic ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œ Rod that has been found of this type, and luckily it is completely preserved! In ancient Egyptian magic, animals that were considered to be dangerous, such as lions ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„›๐“ฆ, hippos ๐“Œ‰๐“๐“ƒฏ๐“ฆ, and crocodiles ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œ๐“ฆ could be used in amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† or wand to induce protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ on the person. There are also some cute frogs ๐“ˆŽ๐“‚‹๐“‚‹๐“†๐“ฆ!! These animals can be seen as figures on the top of the wand! 

There is also a turtle ๐“ˆ™๐“๐“„ฟ๐“†‰ amongst the other predatory animals on the top-center of the rod, so were turtles ๐“ˆ™๐“๐“„ฟ๐“†‰๐“ฆ considered predatory? In ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, turtles ๐“ˆ™๐“๐“„ฟ๐“†‰๐“ฆ were seen as an ambiguous force because they were creatures of both land ๐“‡พ and water ๐“ˆ—. Turtles ๐“ˆ™๐“๐“„ฟ๐“†‰๐“ฆ were also seen as the enemy of Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“›, and in chapter 162 of the Book of the Dead, it is stated that โ€œMay Ra live, and may the turtle die.โ€ The turtles ๐“ˆ™๐“๐“„ฟ๐“†‰๐“ฆ that lived in the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ were mostly nocturnal, which is probably why they were considered to be Raโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“› enemy.

Carved into the rockย ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ย underneath the figures are other protectiveย ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œย symbols such as the Wedjat ๐“‚€ or โ€œEye of Horus,โ€ and baboons. There is also an image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of a crocodileย ๐“…“๐“‹ด๐“Ž›๐“†Œย and what looks like a lioness ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“๐“„›!ย 

Hereโ€™s another example of an Egyptian โ€œMagicย ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œย Wand,โ€ which is more commonly referred to as an โ€œApotropaic Wand.โ€ย 

This piece is dated to the Middle Kingdom (c.ย 1981-1640ย B.C.E.ย Dynasty 12-13) and wands such as these were common to find amongst burial equipment in Middle Kingdom tombsย ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ. These type of โ€œMagic Wandsโ€ are a lot more common than the one I posted about previously!ย 

This โ€œMagic Wandโ€ is made out of hippopotamus ๐“Œ‰๐“๐“ƒฏ ivory.  Since the tusks is the most dangerous and powerful part of the hippopotamus ๐“Œ‰๐“๐“ƒฏ, this object symbolically has the power to ward off evil ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…จ or bad luck. Not only is the ivory powerful, but the deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน depicted are also carry knives in order to ward off evil forces ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…จ! Taweret ๐“๐“„ฟ๐“…ฉ๐“‚‹๐“๐“†—, Nekhbet ๐“‡‘๐“ƒ€๐“๐“…๐“ŽŸ, Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ, and Thoth ๐“…๐“๐“ญ๐“€ญ are all shown! 

There are also some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on the Magic Wand! Some Magic Wands contain longer inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on the back (not this one though)! Many of these inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ indicate that these wands were used as a protective amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† during childbirth, but they were placed in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ to help the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ at his/her rebirth. 

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

๐“ฒ๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“บ๐“‡ณ – Protection of Day

๐“ฒ๐“Žผ๐“‚‹๐“Ž›๐“‡ฑ – Protection of Night

Night can also be written as: ๐“Žผ๐“‚‹๐“Ž›๐“„› or ๐“„›. 

Day can also be written as: ๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“บ๐“‡ณ

Ancient Egyptian magic ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œ is so incredibly fascinating!