“Nut” in Hieroglyphs

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! 

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to look at the name 𓂋𓈖 of the goddess 𓊹𓏏 Nut 𓏌𓏏𓇯𓀭! Nut 𓏌𓏏𓇯𓀭 is the goddess 𓊹𓏏 of the sky 𓊪𓏏𓇯 and the cosmos. In the inscription 𓎘𓅱𓎖 pictured, the determinative symbol is missing and Nut’s name 𓂋𓈖 is spelled with just the phonograms – “𓏌𓏏𓇯.”

Let’s break down the symbols in Nut’s name! 

The “pot 𓏌” symbol has a lot of varying and confusing functions! Most commonly, it is used as a biliteral phonogram for the sound “nw.” It can also replace and act as a variant for the “grain of sand 𓈒” symbol on special occasions.

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!

The “sky 𓇯” symbol is mostly used as a determinative and ideogram in the words for “sky/heaven,” “above,” and “ceiling.” When used in the word “sky,” it is associated with the sound “pt” since it is acting like an ideogram. This symbol can also be associated with the sounds “hrt,” “hry,” and “nwt” – depending on which symbols come before it and how it is used!

If you look closely, the words for “sky 𓊪𓏏𓇯” and “Nut 𓏌𓏏𓇯” look extremely similar but they are pronounced differently! In these words, the “sky 𓇯” symbol is working as an ideogram and complementing the sounds of the previous symbols! This is what we call a “phonetic complement” – the sounds are written twice but pronounced once!

𓏌𓏏𓇯 – Nut is pronounced like “nwt” and the “nw 𓏌” + “t 𓏏” is the complemented by the sky symbol which is also “nwt” in this case! This is how phonetic complements work! “𓏌𓏏 is technically “nwtnwt” but is only pronounced like “nwt (Nut).” 

Bonus Grammar:

𓊪𓏏𓇯 – Sky is pronounced like “pt 𓊪𓏏” (“p𓊪” + “t 𓏏”) and the “sky 𓇯” symbol would also be associated with the sound “pt” in this case since it is complementing the two previous symbols! Sky is technically written as “ptpt” but only pronounced as “pt.” 

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