Alexander the Great in Hieroglyphs

In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great 𓄿𓃭𓎡𓊃𓇋𓈖𓂧𓂋𓊃 conquered Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 and became pharaoh 𓉐𓉻! This was the beginning of the Hellenistic Period of Egyptian history. 

So why was Alexander 𓄿𓃭𓎡𓊃𓇋𓈖𓂧𓂋𓊃 recognized as a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻? The Egyptians 𓆎𓏏𓀀𓁐𓏪 saw him as the person who liberated them from the Persians! Alexander 𓄿𓃭𓎡𓊃𓇋𓈖𓂧𓂋𓊃 also restored many of the Egyptian temples 𓉟𓏏𓉐𓏪 and even built new monuments 𓏠𓏍 dedicated to the Egyptian gods 𓊹𓊹𓊹! Some of these monuments 𓏠𓏍 show him worshipping Amun 𓇋𓏠𓈖, who basically would’ve been the Egyptian version of Zeus. After Alexander’s 𓄿𓃭𓎡𓊃𓇋𓈖𓂧𓂋𓊃 death 𓅓𓏏𓏱 in Babylon, Ptolemy I 𓊪𓏏𓍯𓃭𓐝𓇌𓋴 became pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 and founded the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

Since Alexander 𓄿𓃭𓎡𓊃𓇋𓈖𓂧𓂋𓊃 was Macedonian and not native Egyptian, his cartouche is very phonetic – all of the hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 used are uniliteral signs, which means that they correspond to a single sound, just like a letter in the alphabet. Let’s take a closer look! 

𓄿 – The “Egyptian Vulture 𓄿” represents the sound “3” which would be pronounced like “ah.” 

𓃭 – the “recumbent lion 𓃭” was traditionally a biliteral phonogram for the sound “rw,” however, during the Hellenistic Period it adopted the sound of “L.” 

𓎡 – The “Basket with a Handle 𓎡” symbol has the sound of “k.”

𓊃 – The “doorbolt 𓊃” symbol represents the sound “z” or “s.” It’s also the ideogram for the word “doorbolt.” 

𓇋 – The “reed 𓇋” represents the sound of “ı͗,” however it can also function as an ideogram for the word “reed 𓇋𓏺.” 

𓈖 – The “ripple of water 𓈖” is associated with the sound of “n!” 

𓂧 – The “hand 𓂧” represents the sound “d” and is also the ideogram for the word “hand.” 

𓂋 – The “mouth 𓂋” symbol is used to represent the sound “r.” It can also be used as an ideogram for the word “mouth 𓂋𓏺.” 

𓊃 – see above! 

The hieroglyphs of “𓄿𓃭𓎡𓊃𓇋𓈖𓂧𓂋𓊃” basically spell out “Alksindrs.” It’s pretty cool to see the versatility of the hieroglyphic 𓊹𓌃𓏪 symbols with examples of foreign names 𓂋𓈖𓏦!