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Reading Hieroglyphs

Stela of Semin

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

Today π“‡π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‡³ we are going to look at the funerary stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ of a bowman π“Œ”π“π“ΊΒ  named Semin! This limestone π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“Œ‰ stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ depicts Semin holding a bow π“Œ”π“Ί in one hand and arrows in the other. This stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ has hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ on the top and right sides.

This stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ is dated to the 11th Dynasty (First Intermediate Period c. 2120–2051 B.C.E.).Β 

Stela of Semin
The Stela of Semin at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

We are going to start reading the hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ from the top left, and then continue reading down the column on the right. Below is the full inscription π“Ž˜π“…±π“Ž–:

Top: π“‰“π“†Όπ“π“Šπ“†Όπ“ƒΎπ“…Ώπ“±π“†Όπ“‹²π“π“†Όπ“π“π“Š΅π“ŽŸπ“π“„€π“†‘π“‚‹

Right: π“π“ƒ€π“ˆ–π“„ͺπ“π“…±π“π“‚‹π“ŠΉπ“‰Όπ“ŽŸπ“Šͺ𓏏𓇯 π“Šƒ_π“Šͺπ“€— π“‡‹π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“›π“Š€π“…±

Let’s break it down:

𓉓 – A Voice Offering 

π“†Όπ“π“Š – A thousand bread and beer 

𓆼𓃾𓅿𓍱 – A thousand ox and fowl and alabaster

𓆼𓋲𓏏 – A thousand linen 

𓆼 – A thousand 

π“π“π“Š΅π“ŽŸπ“ – Everything 

𓄀𓆑𓂋 – Good 

𓏏𓃀 – Pure (β€œWab” is replaced by a weird symbol here – this is the more common one: 𓃂)

π“ˆ– – For

π“„ͺ𓐍𓅱 – Venerated One

𓐍𓂋 – Before

π“ŠΉπ“‰Ό – Great God

π“ŽŸ – Lord

π“Šͺ𓏏𓇯 – Heaven/Sky

π“Šƒ_π“Šͺπ“€— – Semin (I can’t read the second symbol)

π“‡‹π“ˆŽπ“‚‹π“›- Excellent

π“Š€π“…± – True of Voice

All π“ŽŸ together π“ˆ–π“Š—, the full translation is: β€œA Voice OfferingΒ  of a thousand bread and beer, a thousand ox and fowl and alabaster, a thousand linen, a thousand of everything good and pure for the venerated one before the great god, lord of heaven, Semin the excellent, true of voice.” 

It’s interesting that this stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ doesn’t start with the first part of the Offering Formula, “An Offering the King Gives… π“‡“π“π“Š΅π“™,” and it may be due to spacing issues, as there was not much space available for the hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ on this stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ. The spacing issues are indicated by the arrangement of the hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ.

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost without permission.