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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Hatshepsut – Ointment Jar Translation

This is an ointment jar that was found amongst many other artifacts in the foundation deposits of Hatshepsut’s π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ temple π“‰Ÿπ“π“‰ at Deir el-Bahri. While foundation deposits can be traced all the way back to the 3rd Dynasty, putting ointment jars in them date back to the 12th Dynasty. There are fourteen foundation deposits associated with Hatshepsut’s π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ temple π“‰Ÿπ“π“‰! In Hatshepsut’s π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ time, the temple was referred to as 𓂦𓂋𓂦π“₯𓉐 or the β€œHoliest of Holies” (or djeser-djeseru). There are many different hieroglyphic π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ variations of the word as well!

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

π“π“ŠΉπ“„€ – The Great Goddess
π“ŽŸπ“π“‡Ώπ“‡Ώ – Lady of the Two Lands
𓇳𓁦𓂓 – Maatkare
π“‹Ήπ“˜ – May She Live!
π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ– – Amun
π“…“ – In
𓂦𓂦𓅱𓉐 – Holiest of Holies
π“ŒΊπ“π“‡Œ – Beloved

So all together, the inscription π“Ÿπ“›π“₯ reads: β€œThe Great Goddess, Lady of the Two Lands, Maatkare, May She Live! Beloved of Amun who is in the Holiest of Holies.”

Fun fact about the word β€œπ“…“!” This one symbol, usually associated with the modern letter β€œm,” can have many meanings such as: in, as, by, with, from, when, through, and what!