Partial Relief with Hieroglyphs

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! 

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to look at an incomplete piece of a limestone 𓇋𓈖𓈙𓌉 relief! This piece at the Brooklyn Museum is so beautiful 𓄤𓆑𓂋 because even though it is just a fragment, the colors are so striking and I just love looking at it! Blue 𓇋𓁹𓏏𓄿𓏸𓏥 has always been my favorite color, and the blue 𓇋𓁹𓏏𓄿𓏸𓏥 paint 𓇨𓂋𓅱𓏭𓏸𓏦 on this relief is still so bright even after thousands of years! 

Since the hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 are pointing to the left, we are going to start reading the symbols from the left! 

The “Quail Chick 𓅱” is a super common symbol that you will see in a lot of inscriptions! It is a uniliteral phonogram sign, which means it has the sound of a single consonant. The “𓅱” is representative of the sound “w” or “u.” This symbol is also an ideogram for the word “chick 𓅱𓏺.”

The “ripple of water 𓈖” is also a uniliteral phonogram! The “𓈖” is associated with the sound of “n!” The “𓈖” has many grammatical functions on its own, and it can mean “to,” “of,” “for,” “we/us/our,” “in,” “because,” “through,” and some others! How do we know which word it is? Context clues! In the case of this inscription, too much is missing for us to know what the word is! 

The “tall loaf of bread 𓏑” symbol is an ideogram for “bread 𓏑,” which usually appears in offering formulas. Surprisingly, it can also be used as an ideogram for “Thoth” as well! 

The “hobble for cattle 𓎂” symbol is a biliteral phonogram which means it is associated with the sound of two consonants. The “𓎂” is associated with the sound “z3” (pronounced like “zah”) and is usually used in words such as “protection 𓎂𓏦/𓎂𓏛” and other related phrases.

The “forepart of lion 𓄂” symbol is an ideogram for the word “front” and “foremost.” It is associated with the sound “h3t” which would be pronounced like “hat.” 

The last word all the way on the right I can actually see in full – this is the name 𓂋𓈖of the god 𓊹 Osiris 𓁹𓊨𓀭!