The “King’s Acquaintance”

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! 

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to be looking at a Title that appears 𓈍 on statues 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾𓏪 and in funerary inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥. The title of “𓇓𓂋𓐍𓏏 – King’s Acquaintance” is used to denote people who were close to the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 and can be written in two ways: 

𓇓𓂋𓐍𓏏 – if the person was female

𓇓𓏏𓂋𓐍 – if the person was male

In the case of this inscription 𓏟𓏛𓏥, which was for a female, King’s Acquaintance 𓇓𓂋𓐍𓏏 is written in the female form of the word! The Title has also been translated as “Gentlewoman,” and “Court Lady,” while the male version (𓇓𓏏𓂋𓐍) can also be translated as “Custodian of the King’s Property.” 

Let’s take a closer look at the hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 that make up this title! 

The “Sedge 𓇓” symbol is one of the most common hieroglyphs you will see in inscriptions! It functions as a biliteral phonogram and is associated with the sound “sw.” Most commonly, the symbol is used as an ideogram for the word “King,” which is associated with the sound “nswt.” In this case of this title, the sedge is functioning as an ideogram!

The “placenta or sieve 𓐍” symbol is a uniliteral phonogram and is associated with the sound “ḫ.” This symbol is actually considered “unclassified” because Egyptologists actually don’t know what it exactly represents! 

The “mouth 𓂋” symbol functions most commonly as a uniliteral phonogram and is used to represent the sound “r.” It can also be used as an ideogram for the word “mouth 𓂋𓏺.” 

The “flat loaf of bread 𓏏” is a uniliteral phonogram used to represent the sound “t.” It also functions as the ideogram for the word “bread 𓏏𓏺” and can be used to make words feminine when placed at the end of the word!