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Reading Hieroglyphs

Limestone Relief of Montuhotep II

This limestone π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“Œ‰ relief of Montuhotep II π“ π“ˆ–π“Ώπ“…±π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ (11th Dynasty) is gorgeous π“„€ because the hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ are so beautifully π“„€ carved! It’s amazing how pieces that are so old can be in such amazing condition!

This piece is interesting because the direction that you read the hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ from keeps changing! The two 𓏻 lines I’m going to translate are actually from different inscriptions!!

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

π“†₯𓅭𓇳(π“ π“ˆ–π“Ώπ“…±π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ)π“…’π“„₯π“‡Ώπ“‡Ώπ“™π“‹Ήπ“Š½π“Œ€ – β€œKing of Upper and Lower Egypt, Son of Ra, Montuhotep II, Uniter of the Two Lands, Given Life, Stability and Strength”

π“†“π“Œƒπ“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ π“ˆ–π“Ώπ“…± – β€œWords Spoken By Montu”

The phrase π“…’π“„₯𓇿𓇿 β€œUniter of the Two Lands” is a variant of Mentuhotep II’s π“ π“ˆ–π“Ώπ“…±π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ Nebty Name. The Nebty Name is honestly more of a title than a name. It means β€œtwo ladies” and that refers to the goddesses π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ Nekhbet π“‡‘π“ƒ€π“π“…π“ŽŸ and Wadjet π“‡…π“‡Œπ“π“†˜, who can both be represented by the hieroglyph β€œ π“…’.” Nekhbet π“‡‘π“ƒ€π“π“…π“ŽŸ is a goddess π“ŠΉπ“ of Upper Egypt and is represented by the vulture while Wadjet π“‡…π“‡Œπ“π“†˜ is a goddess π“ŠΉπ“ of Lower Egypt and is represented by the cobra. Showing the two 𓏻 goddesses π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ together represented a unified Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–.