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Reading Hieroglyphs

Lid of an Ointment Jar with a Cartouche

This is the lid of an ointment π“ŒΈπ“Ž›π“π“Ž―π“ƒ‹ jar that has some beautiful π“„€ hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ inscribed on it! One thing that is so interesting about Old and Middle Kingdom cartouches is that sometimes the titles and epithets associated with the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 are also enclosed in the cartouche, not just the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– itself!Β 

Let’s read some hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ! We are going to start reading from the right, because the directional symbols are pointing to the right!

Here is the full inscription: π“‹Ήπ“ŠΉπ“„€π“„Šπ“‹΄π“‚‹π“π“Šƒπ“ˆ–π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“±π“‡” π“Š…π“†‘π“ŒΈπ“‡Œ

Now let’s break it down! 

π“‹Ή – May He Live/Life

π“ŠΉπ“„€ – The Perfect God

π“„Šπ“‹΄π“‚‹π“π“Šƒπ“ˆ– – Senwosret 

π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“± – Ptah

𓇔 – South

π“Š… – Wall

𓆑 – His 

π“ŒΈπ“‡Œ – Beloved

So the full inscription reads: β€œMay He Live, the Perfect God, Senwosret, Beloved of Ptah, South of His Wall.” The last part, β€œSouth of His Wall,” refers to Memphis π“ π“ˆ–π“„€π“†‘π“‚‹π“‰΄π“Š–, which was the main cult center where Ptah π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“± was worshipped 𓇼𓄿𓀒. 

It is actually quite hard to have an exact date for this piece because Senwosret π“„Šπ“‹΄π“‚‹π“π“Šƒπ“ˆ–, the birth name of the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻, was used a bunch of times! There’s Senwosret I, II, and III who all use this birth name on their monuments! Unless the throne name is also present, we don’t know which Senwosret π“„Šπ“‹΄π“‚‹π“π“Šƒπ“ˆ– this is! Since the piece just has the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– Senwosret π“„Šπ“‹΄π“‚‹π“π“Šƒπ“ˆ– on it, we know the jar lid is from the 12th Dynasty, but it could have been made between the dates of 1961–1840 B.C.E.Β 

The symbol underneath the cartouche is the Hieratic symbol for the number 20!