“Great God Ptah”

Lets’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! 

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to be looking at an inscription 𓏟𓏛𓏥 that is part of the West Wall of the Tomb Chapel of Kaemsenu. This inscription 𓏟𓏛𓏥 is a little bit tricky to read at first because one of the symbols is actually upside down!! Not going to lie, at quick glance I thought this inscription 𓏟𓏛𓏥 said “High Priest 𓊹𓍛!” 

So let’s take a look at what it actually says: 

𓊹𓉼 – Great God

𓊪𓏏𓎛 – Ptah

All 𓎟 together 𓈖𓊗, the inscription 𓏟𓏛𓏥 reads “Great God Ptah.”

Let’s take a closer look at each of the symbols: 

The “cloth on a pole 𓊹“ hieroglyph is an ideogram for the word god. 𓊹 is also a triliteral phonogram, and represents the letters “ntr” which may have been pronounced like “neter.” 𓊹 Is also a determinative for “god.” So the “cloth on a pole 𓊹“ symbol can function as all three types of hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪. If you see this symbol, you are most likely looking at a word that has to do with the gods 𓊹𓊹𓊹!

The “wooden column 𓉼” hieroglyph is a biliteral phonogram which represents the sound “ˁ3.” This symbol does have a variant, 𓉻, which means the same, it’s just oriented at a different angle! But I’ve never seen it upside down before! 

The “stool 𓊪” is a uniliteral phonogram for the sound “p.” 

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! 

The “wick 𓎛” is a uniliteral phonogram for the sound “h.”