This small relief on display at the Petrie Museum is a section of โThe Pyramid Textsโ which is the oldest known funerary/religious writings in the world. The original text dates back to the Old Kingdom.ย
The Pyramid Texts can be thought of as a precursor to both the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead ๐๐๐๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐บ๐ผ๐บ! The main differences between these religious texts are that the Pyramid Texts were only accessible to the pharaoh ๐๐ป because they were only carved inside of the pyramids ๐๐ ๐๐ด๐ฆ. Also, the Pyramid Texts were also not illustrated!
This particular section of the Pyramid Texts contains a spell ๐๐๐ that Pepy I ๐ช๐๐ช๐ would say that would provide him with food and drink for eternity ๐! Here is a piece of the leftmost column that I could translate (a lot is cut off):
๐๐ ฑ – My/I
๐ฌ๐๐ – Eat
๐๐- Bread
๐- Beer
The cartouche ๐ ๐๐๐ท of the 6th Dynasty pharaoh ๐๐ป Pepy I ๐ช๐๐ช๐ was one of the first cartouches ๐ ๐๐๐ท๐ฆ I learned to read/recognize because itโs written with only uniliteral hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช! A lot of the Old Kingdom pharaohs ๐๐ป๐ฅ have names ๐๐๐ฆ spelled with uniliteral signs, which makes them great for beginners to read/learn! One of the ways I started learning hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช was by practicing reading the cartouches ๐ ๐๐๐ท๐ฆ of the pharaohs ๐๐ป๐ฅ!
Letโs take a closer look at the symbols in Pepyโs ๐ช๐๐ช๐ cartouche ๐ ๐๐๐ท:
The โstool ๐ชโ symbol is a uniliteral phonogram for the sound โp,โ and does not have any other grammatical functions!
The โreed ๐โ symbol is a uniliteral phonogram and most commonly represents the sound of โฤฑอ,โ however it can also function as an ideogram for the word โreed ๐๐บ.โ
This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost.