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Reading Hieroglyphs

“Belongs to Me” in Hieroglyphs

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

Today π“‡π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‡³ we are going to look at a word that sometimes pops up in inscriptions π“Ÿπ“›π“₯! These hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ are from a Middle Kingdom relief which is dated to the reign π“‹Ύπ“ˆŽπ“ of the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Montuhotep II π“ π“ˆ–π“Ώπ“…±π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ (c. 2010-2000 B.C.E.).Β 

This simple word (or phrase in English) β€œπ“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“Ž‘β€ could mean either β€œbelongs to me,” β€œmine,” or β€œon my part.” 

The β€œripple of water π“ˆ–β€ is a uniliteral phonogram sign, which means it has the sound of a single consonant. The β€œπ“ˆ–β€ is associated with the sound of β€œn!” The π“ˆ– has many grammatical functions on its own, and it can mean β€œto,” β€œof,” β€œfor,” β€œwe/us/our,” β€œin,” β€œbecause,” β€œthrough,” and some others! How do we know which word it is? Context clues! 

The β€œBasket with a Handle π“Ž‘β€ symbol is also a uniliteral phonogram that has the sound of β€œk.” A lot of people get this one confused with just the β€œbasket π“ŽŸβ€ symbol which is a biliteral phonogram that has the sound β€œnb.” These are very different symbols with different meanings so try not to confuse the two!

Another way to write β€œπ“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“Ž‘β€ in hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ is β€œπ“ˆ–π“ˆ–π“Ž‘π“‡‹π“€€,” which is a more uncommon variant.