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Reading Hieroglyphs

The Cartouches of Seti II

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

Today π“‡π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‡³ we are going to look at the birth name and the throne name cartouches 𓍷𓍷𓍷 of the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 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! 

These pieces are inlays of the cartouche π“ π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“· , which mean that they were 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 π“ˆŽπ“π“‹Ύ Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– for a couple of years towards the end of the 19th Dynasty (New Kingdom).Β 

The Cartouches of Seti II
The Cartouches of Seti II

Let’s look at the birth name first (left cartouche). Here’s the birth name:  π“£π“‡Œπ“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“°

π“£π“‡Œ – Belongs to Seth

π“ˆ˜- Beloved 

π“ˆ– – Of

π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“° – Ptah 

So all π“ŽŸ together π“ˆ–π“Š—, the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– reads β€œThe one who belongs to Seth, Beloved of Ptah.”

Now let’s look at the throne name cartouche π“ π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“·! This inlay (the one on the right side) is very interesting because it is a combination of both the throne name and the birth name! Here’s the throne name, which appears first: π“‡³π“„Šπ“†£π“¦π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ˆ˜

𓇳 – Ra

π“„Š – Strong One 

𓆣𓏦 – Manifestations

π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–- Amun

π“ˆ˜ – Beloved 

So all π“ŽŸ together π“ˆ–π“Š—, the the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– reads β€œThe Strong One of the Manifestations of Ra, Beloved of Amun.” The throne name is unique to Seti II π“‡³π“„Šπ“†£π“¦π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ˆ˜, so we know these inlays are his and not Seti I’s π“£π“‡Œπ“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“°. 

But we aren’t done!!! Underneath the throne name, the birth name appears! It’s so weird to see a combination cartouche π“ π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“· like this and I’m not gonna lie, when I saw this for the first 𓏃 time I was confused for a second! 

Here’s the birth name (again) and this time it’s a slightly different variant: π“£π“‡Œπ“˜π“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“°

π“£π“‡Œπ“˜ – Belongs to Seth

π“ˆ˜- Beloved 

π“ˆ– – Of

π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“° – Ptah 

Also, if you notice in this cartouche π“ π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“·, the symbol for β€œSeth 𓁣” is chiseled out. This is because the god π“ŠΉ Seth π“Šƒπ“π“„‘π“£ was considered to be an unfavorable deity π“ŠΉ!