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Reading Hieroglyphs

The Cartouche of Seti II

Let’s read some hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ!

Today π“‡π“‡‹π“ˆ–𓇳 we are going to be looking at the cartouche of Pharaoh π“‰π“‰» Seti II π“£π“‡Œπ“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“°! Seti I π“£π“‡Œπ“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“° and Seti II π“£π“‡Œπ“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“° have the same birth name so we know that these cartouches belong to Seti II π“£π“‡Œπ“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“° based on the throne name/where the object was found. 

This piece is an inlay, which means that it was once part of a larger object. Seti II π“£π“‡Œπ“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“° (son π“…­ of Merenptah π“ŒΊπ“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“§π“ˆ–π“Š΅π“·π“Ί) ruled Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– for a couple of years towards the end of the 19th Dynasty (New Kingdom). 

Here’s the birth name:  π“£π“‡Œπ“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“°

π“£π“‡Œ – Belongs to Seth

π“ˆ˜π“ˆ– – Beloved 

π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“° – Ptah 

So all together, the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– reads β€œThe one who belongs to Seth, Beloved of Ptah.” This is only one of the variants of the birth name, as there are many different ways to write the cartouches of the pharaohs π“‰π“‰»π“¦!