Book of the Dead

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 from the Book of the Dead 𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓏲𓇳𓏺𓍼𓏺!

There is so much going on in this little image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 of the Book of the Dead 𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓏲𓇳𓏺𓍼𓏺 from the British Museum!

The first line has the inscription “𓉔𓇋𓇋𓀁𓁹𓊨𓊹,” which would be translated as “Hail 𓉔𓇋𓇋𓀁 Osiris 𓁹𓊨𓊹.”

I love the word “𓉔𓇋𓇋𓀁,” because it has so many different meanings depending on the context! Phonetically, it would most likely be pronounced as “hey 𓉔𓇋𓇋𓀁” which is one of the ways it can be translated! “𓉔𓇋𓇋𓀁” can mean hey/hi/hello in some contexts, it can also mean “hail” like translated above, but it’s also sometimes translated as “cheer, rejoice, shout, or oh!.” If there is a different determinative after the first two symbols “𓉔𓇋𓇋,” it will also change the meaning! 

I’ve mentioned this before but I love the “captions” that the ancient Egyptians would put next to gods 𓊹𓊹𓊹 and goddesses 𓊹𓊹𓊹𓏏 in the art so you know which deity you are looking at! In the bottom image you can see Isis 𓊨𓏏𓆇, Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪 and Nephthys 𓉠𓏏𓆇 who are three prominent funerary deities with the mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾 of the deceased. 

Isis 𓊨𓏏𓆇 and Nephthys 𓉠𓏏𓆇 are also in the top image on the barge with the mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾 of the deceased. Much like how they would appear on coffins, Isis 𓊨𓏏𓆇 is always at the feet of the mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾 while Nephthys 𓉠𓏏𓆇 is at the head of the mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾. 

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