Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

Book of the Dead

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช from the Book of the Dead ๐“‰๐“‚‹๐“๐“‚ป๐“…“๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“ฒ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“ผ๐“บ!

Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead on display at the British Museum!

There is so much going on in this little image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of the Book of the Dead ๐“‰๐“‚‹๐“๐“‚ป๐“…“๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“ฒ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“ผ๐“บ from the British Museum!

Book of the Dead
The hieroglyphs for “Hail Osiris ๐“‰”๐“‡‹๐“‡‹๐“€๐“น๐“Šจ๐“Šน” are highlighted in this image

The first line has the inscription โ€œ๐“‰”๐“‡‹๐“‡‹๐“€๐“น๐“Šจ๐“Šน,โ€ which would be translated as โ€œHail ๐“‰”๐“‡‹๐“‡‹๐“€ Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“Šน.โ€

I love the word โ€œ๐“‰”๐“‡‹๐“‡‹๐“€,โ€ because it has so many different meanings depending on the context! Phonetically, it would most likely be pronounced as โ€œhey ๐“‰”๐“‡‹๐“‡‹๐“€โ€ which is one of the ways it can be translated! โ€œ๐“‰”๐“‡‹๐“‡‹๐“€โ€ can mean hey/hi/hello in some contexts, it can also mean โ€œhailโ€ like translated above, but itโ€™s also sometimes translated as โ€œcheer, rejoice, shout, or oh!.โ€ If there is a different determinative after the first two symbols โ€œ๐“‰”๐“‡‹๐“‡‹,โ€ it will also change the meaning! 

Iโ€™ve mentioned this before but I love the โ€œcaptionsโ€ that the ancient Egyptians would put next to gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน and goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ in the art so you know which deity you are looking at! In the bottom image you can see Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡, Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ who are three prominent funerary deities with the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ of the deceased. 

Book of the Dead
The hieroglyphs for important deities are highlighted in this image.

Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ are also in the top image on the barge with the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ of the deceased. Much like how they would appear on coffins, Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡ is always at the feet of the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ while Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ is at the head of the mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ. 

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Reading Hieroglyphs

The King’s List and Hatshepsut

King's List
Me with the King’s List at the British Museum.

Here I am with the Kingโ€™s List in the British Museum! In the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, Iโ€™m pointing to where Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– should be because she was one of the pharaohs left off the list – she was left off because she was considered to be a non-legitimate pharaoh. 

King's List
Me with the King’s List at the British Museum.

The point of the King Lists was not to preserve history for future generations, rather the main objective was to glorify the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, and as we know, pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ were considered gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน on Earth. These lists allowed Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  and Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ to assert their legitimacy amongst the old pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–. 

King's List
A closeup of the cartouches on the King’s List

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! We are going to look at the Throne Name cartouches of the 18th Dynasty pharaohs to show where Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ name is missing! We will start reading from the right since the hieroglyphs point in that direction! 

๐“‡ณ๐“‰ป๐“†ฃ๐“‚“ – Thutmosis I โ€œGreat is the manifestation of the soul of Raโ€ 

๐“‡ณ๐“‰ป๐“†ฃ๐“ˆ– – Thutmosis II โ€œGreat is the manifestation of Raโ€ 

 ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ – Tutmosis III โ€œLasting is the Manifestation of Raโ€ 

๐“‡ณ๐“‰ป๐“†ฃ๐“ˆ– – Amenhotep II โ€œGreat is the manifestation of Raโ€

๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ๐“ผ – Thutmosis IV โ€œLasting are the Manifestations of Raโ€

๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž  – Amenhotep III โ€œPossessor of the Truth of Raโ€

As you can see, the cartouches jump right from Thutmosis II ๐“‡ณ๐“‰ป๐“†ฃ๐“ˆ– to Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ and totally skip Hatshepsut ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“! 

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Rosetta Stone

Happy (late) Anniversary to the deciphering of Egyptian Hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Seeing the Rosetta Stone in person was a dream come true for me! When I saw the Rosetta Stone all I could thing was โ€œthis rock is the reason I can read hieroglyphsโ€ and I was just in awe.ย 

The Rosetta Stone
My sister and I with the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum!

Jean-Franรงois Champollion was just a teenager in September 1822 when he began to decipher hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช based off of the Rosetta Stone!

The Rosetta Stone is actually a decree issued by priests ๐“Šน๐“›๐“ช in 196 B.C.E. that affirmed the cult of Ptolemy V ๐“Šช๐“๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“‹ด. Identical decrees were supposed to be placed in every temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–!

During the Christian period in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, the use of hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช began to wane and finally disappeared at the beginning of the 4th Century. The Rosetta Stone contains three ๐“ผ languages ๐“‚‹๐“ฆ: Hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, Greek and Demotic. Since Greek was a known language ๐“‚‹๐“บ, scholars began to try to use the Greek section of the Rosetta Stone to translate the portion in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. 

Thomas Young was the first person to show that the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– in the cartouche (๐“Šช๐“๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“‹ด) actually spelled out โ€œPtolemy,โ€ however, Champollion gets the credit for deciphering hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช because he showed that the phonetic symbols were also used for Egyptian ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“ names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ and not just foreign names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ. With his extensive knowledge of Coptic, Champollion was able to begin reading the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช more fully!ย 

The Rosetta Stone
My sister and I with the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum

I am thankful for the early works of scholars like Champollion because I would not be reading hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช without it! The work that these people did to further the understanding of the Egyptian language, and thus the civilization as a whole is nothing short of incredible! 

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Ramessu Mery Amun

Letโ€™s read some Hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to look at one of the many cartouches ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ท๐“ฆ of Rameses II ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ–! This time, we are going to look at his birth name cartouche ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ท, which is the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– that he was given when he was born!ย 

Ramessu Mery Amun
The birth name cartouche of pharaoh Rameses II, Ramessu Mery Amun, on a column at the British museum

The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– โ€œRamessu Mery Amun ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“โ€ translates to โ€œRa has fashioned him, beloved of Amun.โ€ The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– could also be translated as โ€œRa Bore Him, Beloved of Amun.โ€ 

Letโ€™s look at the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– more closely! The names of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน are written first due to honorific transposition!

๐“ฉ – Amun

๐“› – Ra

๐“ˆ˜ – Beloved

๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ – Bore Him/Fashioned Him/Born Of

Letโ€™s break down each of the symbols: 

The โ€œfalcon with the sun disc ๐“›โ€ symbol is both a determinative and ideogram for โ€œRa.โ€ 

The โ€œAmun figure ๐“ฉโ€ symbol is both a determinative and ideogram for โ€œAmun.โ€ 

The โ€œcanal ๐“ˆ˜โ€ symbol is a biliteral phonogram for the sound โ€œmrโ€ and can also be โ€œshorthandโ€ for the word โ€œmeryโ€ which means beloved. 

The โ€œthree fox skins ๐“„Ÿโ€ symbol is a biliteral phonogram for the sounds โ€œms.โ€ 

The โ€œfolded cloth ๐“‹ดโ€ symbol is a uniliteral phonogram for the sound โ€œs.โ€

The โ€œsedge ๐“‡“โ€ symbol can be a biliteral phonogram, ideogram (for sedge) and determinative (for king), but here it is representing the sound โ€œsw.โ€

Ramessu Mery Amun
The birth name cartouche of pharaoh Rameses II, Ramessu Mery Amun, on a column at the British museum

Rameses IIโ€™s birth name cartouche has many variants and can also be written like this: ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“. Certain symbols can be substituted for each other because ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– and ๐“ฉ both mean Amun ๐“œ and ๐“‡ณ๐“บ both mean Ra. 

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Usermaatre Setep En Ra

Letโ€™s read some Hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! 

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to look at one of the many cartouches ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ท๐“ฆ of Rameses II ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ–! This cartouche is his throne name cartouche, which is the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– Rameses II ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ– took when he became the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–!ย 

Usermaatre Setep En Ra
The throne name cartouche of Rameses II which reads Usermaatre Setep En Ra on display at the British Museum

The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– โ€œUsermaatre setep en Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ–โ€ translates to โ€œThe Justice of Ra is powerful, Chosen of Ra.โ€ Letโ€™s look at the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– more closely:

๐“‡ณ – Ra

๐“„Š – Powerful

๐“ง – Justice (Maat)

๐“‡ณ – Ra

๐“‰๐“ˆ– – Chosen

Usermaatre Setep En Ra
The throne name cartouche of Rameses II which reads Usermaatre Setep En Ra on display at the British Museum

Letโ€™s break down each of the symbols:ย 

The โ€œ๐“‡ณ sun discโ€ symbol is an ideogram for โ€œraโ€ or โ€œre,โ€ but can also be a determinative in words such as sun, day, and time. The single symbol alone (like in cartouches) would be pronounced like โ€œraโ€ or โ€œre.โ€

The โ€œhead and neck of jackal ๐“„Šโ€ symbol is a triliteral phonogram for the sounds โ€œwsrโ€ which means โ€œpowerfulโ€ or โ€œstrong.โ€ 

The โ€œgoddess with a feather ๐“งโ€ symbol is a determinative for โ€œMaatโ€ and is also an ideogram for the same. The word โ€œMaatโ€ can refer to the goddess or the word โ€œJustice.โ€ 

The โ€œadze and block of wood ๐“‰โ€ symbol is a triliteral phonogram for the sound โ€œstp.โ€

The โ€œripple of water ๐“ˆ–โ€ is a uniliteral phonogram. The โ€œ๐“ˆ–โ€ is associated with the sound of โ€œn!โ€ย 

This cartouche is part of the King’s List, which is on display at the British Museum.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Lintel of Amenhotep II

My sister ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“๐“, my brother ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“€€ and I are with a red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ relief, titled โ€œLintel of Amenhotep II!โ€ This is a really interesting piece that contains so much history!ย 

Lintel of Amenhotep II
My sister (left), brother (middle) and me (right) with the Lintel of Amenhotep II at the British Museum

This piece was originally carved for the 18th Dynasty pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Amenhotep II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช. Amenhotep II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช was the son ๐“…ญ of Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ and he even co-ruled with his father! It was during the co-reign of Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ and Amenhotep II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช that the destruction of Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช monuments ๐“ ๐“ began.ย 

This relief shows mirrored scenes of Amenhotep II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช wearing the khepresh crown ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“‹™ (also known as the blue crown) presenting nemset jars ๐“Œ๐“Œ๐“Œ (containing either wine or water ) to the god ๐“Šน Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ.

Over fifty ๐“ŽŠ years after this relief was carved, many of the figures (see the left side) and the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the god ๐“Šน Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ were destroyed by the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– in an attempt to erase images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ of the old religion. 

Then, many years after Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– during the 19th Dynasty, the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Seti I ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ– had some of the damage repaired – most of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช and the images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ of Amenhotep II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช and Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ were actually recarved! How can Egyptologists tell it was recarved? The sunken relief is deeper in the rock! 

In order to show that it was he, pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Seti I ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ– who restored this piece, he had his cartouches ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ท๐“ฆ and a record of the restoration carved in between the two ๐“ป images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ of Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ! Can you spot Seti Iโ€™s throne name (๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ ) and birth name (๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ–) cartouches ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ท๐“ฆ in the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“? 

The description of this piece from the British Museum gave a short timeline of the history of this fascinating piece! I remember being confused by seeing the cartouches ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ท๐“ฆ of both Amenhotep II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช and Seti I ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ– on the same relief because they are pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ from different dynasties! Whatโ€™s even more interesting is that this is not a case of the more common โ€œusurping of monuments ๐“ ๐“โ€ from previous pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Book of the Dead of Hunefer

The Book of the Dead ๐“‰๐“‚‹๐“๐“‚ป๐“…“๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“ฒ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“ผ๐“บ of Hunefer ๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“„ค๐“€ฝ is my favorite version of the Book of the Dead ๐“‰๐“‚‹๐“๐“‚ป๐“…“๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“ฒ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“ผ๐“บ due to the incredibly detailed drawings and beautiful script ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹. It was a dream come true to see it in person at the British Museum!

The text was clearly written by an expert scribe ๐“Ÿ๐“€€, and since Hunefer ๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“„ค๐“€ฝ was a scribe ๐“Ÿ๐“€€, was it possible that he wrote his own Book of the Dead?

Book of the Dead of Hunefer
Me with the Book of the Dead of Hunefer at the British Museum

The script in Huneferโ€™s ๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“„ค๐“€ฝ Book of the Dead ๐“‰๐“‚‹๐“๐“‚ป๐“…“๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“ฒ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“ผ๐“บ is known as โ€œCursive Hieroglyphsโ€ or โ€œHieroglyphic Book Handโ€ and I can read it because itโ€™s not in Hieratic like a lot of papyri ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“›๐“ฆ are!ย 

Book of the Dead of Hunefer
The Weighing of the Heart from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer at the British Museum

The โ€œWeighing of the Heart,โ€ or the โ€œJudgement of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญโ€ is my favorite part! In this scene, Huneferโ€™s ๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“„ค๐“€ฝ heart ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ is being weighed against Maatโ€™s ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ฆ feather ๐“†„๐“บ by Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ.  If Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ determines thereโ€™s balance between the two, then Hunefer ๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“„ค๐“€ฝ would be presented to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ ๐“€ญ by Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ. Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ records the findings.

In ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, the Book of the Dead was actually referred to as the โ€œBook of Coming Forth by Dayโ€ which is what the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช โ€œ๐“‰๐“‚‹๐“๐“‚ป๐“…“๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“ฒ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“ผ๐“บโ€ translate to!

Letโ€™s take a closer look: 

๐“‰๐“‚‹๐“๐“‚ป – Coming Forth

๐“…“ – By

๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“ฒ๐“‡ณ๐“บ – Day

๐“ผ๐“บ – Determinative for papyrus scroll (which is where โ€œbookโ€ comes from)ย 

In its simplest form, The Book of the Dead is a collection of magic spells ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“›๐“ฆ to help the deceased enter the Duat ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰, and eventually the Field of Reeds ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š–.ย 

The Book of the Dead ๐“‰๐“‚‹๐“๐“‚ป๐“…“๐“‰”๐“‚‹๐“ฒ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“ผ๐“บ of Hunefer ๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“„ค๐“€ฝ is dated to the 19th Dynasty. 

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost. 

@ancientegyptblogย 

Categories
Blog

British Museum Trip

In July 2015, I was so lucky to go on a vacation to London with my whole family, including Nonno and Nonna!ย This trip was so special because it included an afternoon at the British Museum!

When our plane landed in London July 5th, we checked into the hotel and then rushed over to the British Museum because I literally couldnโ€™t wait any longer to go. I had been waiting my whole life to go to the British Museum with my Nonno. It makes me both sad and happy to look back on these pictures because while Iโ€™m so incredibly grateful we all got to do this together, Iโ€™m so sad that itโ€™ll never happen again.ย 

The first book my Nonno ever gave me on Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– was Carol Andrewsโ€™ book on the British Museum. It was incredible to see these artifacts that I had been reading about for years in person. I cannot believe that this was eight years ago already. I wish I could go back in time and re-live this day because even though we were all exhausted, it was an incredible day.ย 

These are my personal photographs and original text. DO NOT repost.ย 

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Gilded Wooden Coffin

The British Museum has so many different sarcophagi ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ๐“ฆ in their collection that it was almost overwhelming trying to see everything! I loved getting to see all of the different types of coffins ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช/sarcophagi ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ๐“ฆ!

Gilded Wooden Coffin
A wooden coffin at the British Museum that was once fully covered in gold leaf. This was a popular way to make coffins seem like they were made of solid gold in ancient Egypt!

This particular sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ, or it is better defined as a โ€œmummiform coffin ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พโ€ due to its human appearance instead of an oval or rectangular shape. These mummiform coffins ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ๐“ช are usually made of wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ with a gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ leaf overlay. This is a really cool ancient Egyptian โ€œtrickโ€ because the gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ leaf makes it look like the sarcophagus ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ is made of pure gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ when it is not! Gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ is classified as a metal which means it is extremely malleable. Malleability is the ability of a metal to be hammered into very thin sheets. The gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ leaf overlaying this sarcophagus ๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ is probably thinner than aluminum foil! 

I love pieces like this that are a little โ€œwornโ€ because it allows you a deeper look into the processes by which they were made! There is a hole in the forehead, which is where the Uraeus ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— would be and the missing gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ leaf allows the underlying wood ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ to be seen. The eyes ๐“น๐“๐“ฆ have stood the test of time and are still striking! 

There are three ๐“ผ common ways to write โ€œcoffinโ€ or โ€œsarcophagusโ€ in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. There are definitely other variants, but this is what I have come across most often! 

๐“…ฑ๐“‡‹๐“€พ – The Mummiform Coffin, which usually takes on a human shape

๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ – A coffin, usually made of wood (hence the determinative for โ€œwood ๐“†ฑโ€ in the word) 

๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ – A sarcophagus, usually made of stone in a rectangular or oval shape. 

This is where translating English and Middle Egyptian together can be a tiny bit difficult because we tend to use all of these words interchangeably in English!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

False Door of Tjetji and Debet

This is an incomplete False Door (right and left panels) and a door jamb (upper panel) from the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ of Tjetji ๐“ฟ๐“ฟ๐“‡‹ and his wife Debet. False Doors are an extremely important part of ancient Egyptian funerary practices. False Doors served as ways for the living relatives to make offerings ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ to the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. The False Door acted as a link between the land of the living and the land of the dead.

False Door of Tjetji and Debet
False Door of Tjetji (left) and Debet (right) with their door jamb (top) at the British Museum.

This Large piece is from the 4th Dynasty reign of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Khafre ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“†‘. Khafre ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“†‘ is one of the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ that built the Great Pyramids at Giza, and Tjetji ๐“ฟ๐“ฟ๐“‡‹ was clearly part of the action! 

The top panel shows Tjetji ๐“ฟ๐“ฟ๐“‡‹ and Debet sitting at an offering table ๐“‚๐“ƒ€๐“…ก๐“„ฟ๐“‹ƒ. The hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช underneath the offering table show that bread ๐“,  beer ๐“Š, linen ๐“‹ฒ and alabaster ๐“ฑ were offered to them. On either side of the offering table ๐“‚๐“ƒ€๐“…ก๐“„ฟ๐“‹ƒ is a palace-facade, which still shows some signs of red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ and black ๐“†Ž๐“…“ paint ๐“‡จ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ญ๐“ธ๐“ฆ. 

Tjetji ๐“ฟ๐“ฟ๐“‡‹ (left) has the title of โ€œKingโ€™s Acquaintance ๐“‡“๐“‚‹๐“๐“.โ€ The title โ€œKingโ€™s Acquaintance ๐“‡“๐“‚‹๐“๐“โ€œ is taken to mean that the person was close to the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป! Tjetji ๐“ฟ๐“ฟ๐“‡‹ is also referred to as the โ€œOverseer of the Pyramid of Khafre ๐“…“๐“‚‹(๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“†‘)๐“…จ๐“‰ด,โ€ so clearly Tjetji ๐“ฟ๐“ฟ๐“‡‹ had a lot going on! This is probably why Tjetji ๐“ฟ๐“ฟ๐“‡‹ and his wife Debet got such a nice burial! 

On the side with Debet (right) their childrenโ€™s names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฅ are all written out! 

Can you spot Khafreโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ˆ๐“†‘ cartouche ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ท on the relief? It shows up quite a few times!!