Tag: hieroglyphs

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Cartouches of Akhenaten and Nefertiti

While this may just seem like the broken fragment of a statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ (and I guess it is), I love this piece at the MET because it contains the cartouches of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and Nefertiti ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“‡๐“˜๐“ป๐“—!ย 

The Amarna Period, and the reign ๐“‹พ๐“ˆŽ๐“ of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– and Nefertiti ๐“„ค๐“๐“‡๐“˜๐“— has always fascinated me, ever since I was a child ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€”. Professional Egyptologists have tried to piece together the series of events that shaped this tumultuous time period of Egyptian history, mostly by looking at the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช themselves.

Fragmented statue containing the cartouches of Akhenaten and Nefertiti

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Letโ€™s start at the right column, since the directional symbols point that way!

๐“†ฅ – King of Upper and Lower Egypt

๐“‹น – Life

๐“ – On

๐“ง – Maat

๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ – Lord of the Two Lands

๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“†ฃ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“Œก๐“ˆ–- Neferkheperura-waenre which means “Beautiful are the Forms/Manifestations of Re, the Unique one of Re” (Akhenatenโ€™s throne name)

๐“™๐“‹น – Given Life

Now on to the left column! This first part is cut off, but itโ€™s probably a variant Nefertitiโ€™s title of โ€œKingโ€™s Great Wife, as you can see the ending of the word โ€œ great ๐“…ฉ๐“‚‹๐“โ€

๐“ˆ˜๐“๐“†‘ – His Beloved

๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“‡๐“˜๐“ป๐“— – Nefertiti (Neferneferuaten Nefertiti)

๐“‹น๐“ – May She Live/The Living

๐“†– – Everlasting/Eternal/Eternity

๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž› – Eternity

What always gets me is Akhenatenโ€™s throne name of ๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“†ฃ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“Œก๐“ˆ–- Neferkheperura-waenre. This particular spelling of the throne name is only seen after he changed his given name from Amenhotep IV ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“Šน๐“‹พ๐“Œ€ to Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–. The original spelling, before the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– change was โ€œ๐“œ๐“„ค๐“†ฃ๐“ฆ๐“‡ณ๐“Œก๐“ˆ–.โ€ The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– is still pronounced the same and has the same meaning, but the falcon glyph ๐“œ was changed to just the sun disc ๐“‡ณ (both pronounced Re/Ra).ย  Also, all of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– other names (Horus name, etc) underwent a change, to remove the other deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, but this one didnโ€™t.ย 

I wonder why Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– didnโ€™t change the throne name (๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“†ฃ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“Œก๐“ˆ–) to represent the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, just like how all of his other names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ were changed.ย  Nefertitiโ€™s name also underwent a change; her name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– went from just Nefertiti ๐“„ค๐“๐“‡๐“˜๐“— to Neferneferuaten Nefertiti ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“‡๐“˜๐“ป๐“— around year 5 of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…ž๐“๐“ˆ– reign. Year 5 in the reign ๐“‹พ๐“ˆŽ๐“ of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…ž๐“๐“ˆ– is significant, because that is when we see most of the changes to Atenism begin to take place. Year 5 is when Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ became the supreme and only god ๐“Šน, and the other deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน could not be worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข.

Since this piece contains the โ€œupdatedโ€ version of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– throne name and the longer version of Nefertitiโ€™s ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“‡๐“˜๐“ป๐“— name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–, we can assume that this piece was made during or after year 5 of Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– reign ๐“‹พ๐“ˆŽ๐“.

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Reading Hieroglyphs

“Overseer of the King’s Scribe”

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

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to look at a word that appears a lot in funerary inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ! This word is simple, so it is easy to remember and to recognize! So letโ€™s get started – the word for today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ is โ€œOverseer ๐“…“๐“‚‹.โ€

People with the title of โ€œOverseer ๐“…“๐“‚‹โ€ worked for the nomarchs (kind of like governors and were appointed by the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป). The overseers ๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“ฆ helped the nomarchs run the local government, and the overseers ๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“ฆ had lots of people who worked for them, many of which were scribes ๐“Ÿ๐“€€๐“ช.ย 

We start reading from the right, because the directional hieroglyphs (like the owl) are pointing to the right! ๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‡“๐“ž is “Overseer of the King’s Scribe”

The word/title of โ€œOverseer ๐“…“๐“‚‹โ€ was always followed by what specifically the person was an overseer ๐“…“๐“‚‹ of. This brings me to the full inscription: ๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‡“๐“ž. 

๐“…“๐“‚‹ – Overseer

๐“‡“ – King/Royal

๐“ž – Scribe

So the person who this inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž– is for is the โ€œOverseer of the Kingโ€™s Scribe ๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‡“๐“žโ€ or โ€œOverseer of the Royal Scribe ๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‡“๐“ž.โ€ The word ๐“‡“๐“ž by itself can also mean โ€œKingโ€™s Secretary!โ€

The word Overseer ๐“…“๐“‚‹ can also be translated as โ€œCommander.โ€ Letโ€™s take a look at some other Overseer ๐“…“๐“‚‹ titles you might see:

๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“€† – Overseer of the Wab Priests

๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“ƒน๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ˆŠ๐“‰๐“‰๐“‰ – Overseer of the Forts

๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“๐“†‡ – Overseer of the Embalmers

๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“†“๐“ƒ€๐“‚๐“…ฑ – Overseer of the Seals

๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“†ผ๐“†ผ๐“†ผ – Overseer of the Herds

๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‡ – Overseer of the Fields

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Shrine or Pylon Stela

While this piece doesnโ€™t look like a regular stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ (stone, rounded top), it is still considered to be one! This stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ has taken the shape of a shrine ๐“๐“Šƒ๐“…“๐“‚œ๐“‰ or pylon ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ˆ–๐“๐“‰ and thatโ€™s what makes this wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ piece very unique! I also love this stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ because it shows the two ๐“ป sisters ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“ช Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ and Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ!

On the left, we see an image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡, and on the right we see an image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡. Part of a spell ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“› recited by the two ๐“ป sisters ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“๐“๐“ช are located in the middle of the stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ. I love how symmetrical ancient Egyptian art is!

The crowns on their heads is one of the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช that is used in their names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ (๐“‰ and ๐“Šจ), which makes both Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ very easy to identify in Egyptian art.

You can also identity Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ by reading the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! 

Starting on the left:

๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ– – Words Spoken By

๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ – Nephthys

Now on the right:

๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ– – Words Spoken By

๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡ – Isis

๐“…จ๐“‚‹๐“ – Great One

The Middle:

๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“๐“ฅ๐“ˆ– – Words Spoken By

๐“…’ – The Two Ladies (Nekhbet and Wadjet)

๐“‡…๐“๐“ญ๐“‡…๐“๐“ – The Two Crowns (๐“‡…๐“‡…๐“๐“ญ๐“๐“ and ๐“‡…๐“‡…๐“๐“ญ๐“†˜๐“†˜ is another way to write this)

๐“ŽŸ๐“ฒ๐“ฆ – Lords/Master

๐“‰๐“บ – House

๐“†– – Eternity

This piece is dated to the Ramesside Period (19th-20th Dynasties, c. 1295โ€“1070 B.C.E.).

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

“Wide Heart” or “Happiness”

๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ – โ€œBe Happy, โ€œHappiness,โ€ โ€œBe Cheerful,โ€ โ€œJoy,โ€ – or in Middle Egyptian, โ€œWide Heart.โ€ย 

๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ญ๐“‡‘๐“‡‘ – How beautiful is this piece!? While this piece of jewelry may be unassuming to most who walk past it in the galleries as it is very small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ, it carries such a universal message that has permeated for thousands of years – Happiness ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ! I LOVE how the actual Middle Egyptian version of the word is โ€œWide Heartโ€ – I think it carries so much meaning in such a little phrase. โ€œAncient Egypt makes my heart wideโ€ sounds cooler than โ€œAncient Egypt brings me joy/happinessโ€ 

I always love seeing Happiness/Joy ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ written on objects because that is exactly how I felt when I was in a museum and looking at Egyptian artifacts with my Nonno. The only emotion I could feel at the time was joy ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ and I was so lucky. I would do anything to go to a museum with my Nonno and experience those emotions again. While I do feel immense joy ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ in museums now, thereโ€™s always a sadness to it as well because I truly miss my Nonno more than anything. I would love a piece like this as a necklace – sometimes we all need a reminder to find joy ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ! 

๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ๐“, ๐“„ซ๐“๐“„ฃ๐“บ, and ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ๐“บ are all common variants of the word, that I have seen many times in inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ too! 

This beautiful ๐“„ค clasp belonged to the princess Sithathoryunet, who is thought to be the daughter ๐“…ญ๐“ of the 12th Dynasty (c. 1887โ€“1813 B.C.E) Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Senwosret II ๐“„Š๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ–. She is thought to be his daughter ๐“…ญ๐“ because her tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ is linked to his. Flinders Petrie was actually the one to discover her tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰. Despite being robbed in antiquity, the tomb robbers left a chest full of beautiful ๐“„ค jewelry behind! The clasp is made out of gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ and carnelian, which is a stone with a red color. I will speak more about the jewelry in future posts, it is is so beautiful ๐“„ค and I love jewelry!

Since I shared what makes me happy ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ, Iโ€™d love to hear from all ๐“ŽŸ of you! Share something that makes you happy/your heart wide ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ! 

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Book Recommendations Video

“Book of the Dead” Recommendation – Video

@ancientegyptblog

This book was essential to me learning hieroglyphics ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช as a child. My Nonno gave me this book – it was his long before it was mine. I loved the cover because Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ข was on it (and he’s my favorite), but what I didn’t know was how much this book was going to teach me. I will be very honest – I never sat down and intensely studied Egyptian grammar. I never really learned too much Coptic either. I used this book to learn the relationships between symbols and Egyptian words/phrases and it kind of just โ€œclickedโ€ for me. The Book of the Dead is very repetitive, which is very helpful when learning. I also have many other books on reading hieroglyphics ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช which were extremely helpful, but this book was probably the best one. In my opinion, you can sit down and study vocabulary all you want, but unless you are actively engaging in the material and reading real Egyptian texts, you aren’t going to learn. I still use this book as a reference very often! I also have a book ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› that is the complete Papyrus of Ani ๐“„ฟ๐“ˆ–๐“ผ๐“‡Œ๐“€€ in pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, and I would use both books side by side so I could actually see the real papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› as I was reading and learning the symbols. If you want to learn hieroglyphics ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, diving right into Egyptian religious text is the best way to do it (in my opinion – remember, I am completely self taught)! #ancientEgypt #egyptianhistory #booktok #bookrecommendations #bookofthedead #hieroglyphics #letsreadsomehieroglyphs #hieroglyphs

โ™ฌ original sound – ancientegyptblog Nicole Lesar

The book I recommend in this video was essential to me learning hieroglyphics ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช as a child.ย  My Nonno gave me this book – it was his long before it was mine. I loved the cover because Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ข was on it (and he’s my favorite), but what I didn’t know was how much this book was going to teach me.ย 

I will be very honest – I never sat down and intensely studied Egyptian grammar. I never really learned too much Coptic either.  I used this book to learn the relationships between symbols and Egyptian words/phrases and it kind of just โ€œclickedโ€ for me.  The Book of the Dead is very repetitive, which is very helpful when learning. I also have many other books on reading hieroglyphics ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช which were extremely helpful, but this book was probably the best one. 

In my opinion, you can sit down and study vocabulary all you want, but unless you are actively engaging in the material and reading real Egyptian texts, you aren’t going to learn. I still use this book as a reference very  often!

I also have a book ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› that is the complete Papyrus of Ani ๐“„ฟ๐“ˆ–๐“ผ๐“‡Œ๐“€€ in pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, and I would use both books side by side so I could actually see the real papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› as I was reading and learning the symbols.

If you want to learn hieroglyphics ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, diving right into Egyptian religious text is the best way to do it (in my opinion – remember, I am completely self taught)!

This video shows my honest opinions! However, I am an Amazon Associate and if you use my links to purchase the books I recommended, I will earn a small commission. This helps me keep my website and educational materials free for everyone!

Here is the Book of the Dead Affiliate Link!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Book Recommendations Video

Hieroglyph Book Recommendation – Video

@ancientegyptblog

Do you want to learn how to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs but donโ€™t know where to begin? Here are some book recommendations to get you started! I started to teach myself ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs starting at the age of six and Iโ€™ve been reading them for over 25 years now! I love teaching people how they can learn too – if I can do it, anyone can! This is not an ad – I brought all of these books myself and these are my honest opinions. Follow me to learn all about ancient Egypt, hieroglyphs, Egyptian mythology, art, culture and more! This is my personal video and original text. DO NOT repost. #ancientEgypt #hieroglyphics #egyptianhistory #languagelearningtips #languagelearning #bookrecommendations #hieroglyphs #letsreadsomehieroglyphs #ancientegyptblog

โ™ฌ original sound – ancientegyptblog Nicole Lesar

Hi ๐“‰”๐“‡Œ๐“€ everyone! Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ I am here with two ๐“ป book recommendations if you want to learn to read hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช too! The first book is โ€œHieroglyphs for Complete Beginnersโ€ by Bill Manley and the second book is โ€œHow to Read Egyptianโ€ by Mark Collier and Bill Manley!

This video shows my honest opinions! However, I am an Amazon Associate and if you use my links to purchase the books I recommended, I will earn a small commission. This helps me keep my website and educational materials free for everyone!

Here are the affiliate links:

โ€œHieroglyphs for Complete Beginnersโ€

โ€œHow to Read Egyptianโ€

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabti or Shabti?

Seeing ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures in museums will always bring me back to seeing them with my Nonno as a kid. Just like with the Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช, he was always so excited to show my sister ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ and I the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures and tell us all about them.ย I wish I could hear Nonno tell his ushabti stories again. I miss listening to him speak about ancient Egypt and ancient history more than anyone can even realize. He was always so passionate when he spoke about these things, and I think I get that from him because other people tell me that I am the same way.

Many people debate if the word is โ€œshabtiโ€ or โ€œushabti,โ€ when in reality, both pronunciations would be correct because it appears both ways in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช too! โ€œ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ usbtyโ€ is where โ€œushabtiโ€ comes from and  โ€œ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ sawabtiโ€ is where โ€œshabtiโ€ comes from! My Nonno always said โ€œUshabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พโ€ so that is what I tend to use as well!

Here are some other variations for โ€œushabtiโ€ in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช that arenโ€™t used as much as the ones I have listed above. These variants are basically shortened versions of ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ or just use a different determinative!

๐“†ท๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ

๐“†ท๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ

๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€ญ

๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€ญ

๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“ฒ๐“˜๐“‡‹๐“†ฑ (the ๐“†ฑ symbol as a determinative is interesting – probably because wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabtis were popular in the 19th Dynasty).

The text ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on the blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is a version of the โ€œShabti Spellโ€ from Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. This spell ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“› gives the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ the power to complete tasks (farming, manual labor, etc) for the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ in the Field of Reeds ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š–.

The โ€œShabti Spellโ€ usually starts off with the following phrase: 

๐“‹ด๐“Œ‰๐“†“๐“‡ถ – The Illuminated One

๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ – The Osiris

Then the โ€œShabti Spellโ€ will usually list the deceasedโ€™s ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ job/titles: 

๐“Ÿ – Scribe

๐“‰’ – Treasury

So this specific ushabtiโ€™s spell starts off with โ€œThe Illuminated One, The Osiris, The Scribe of the Treasuryโ€ฆโ€

Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

Colorful Hieroglyph Relief

A lot of the time, the pieces that catch my eye in the museums are the unassuming limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ fragments that contain colorful hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. Once upon a time, most Egyptian reliefs were as colorful as this piece, however with the passage of time, most of the colors faded. Itโ€™s so cool to almost catch a glimpse of what the colors were like thousands ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ of years ago!

Letโ€™s read some (very fragmented) hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช – or at least examine the symbols that we can! We are going to start from the left, since the symbols are pointing to the left!

๐“Ÿ – the โ€œibis headed godโ€ symbol is both an ideogram and determinative for โ€œThothโ€ and is associated with the sound โ€œแธแธฅwtj.โ€ 

๐“ŽŸ – the โ€œbasket ๐“ŽŸโ€ symbol is a biliteral phonogram that has the sound โ€œnbโ€ (pronounced like โ€œnebโ€). Can be used to represent the words Lord, All, Every, and many others! 

๐“Šน๐“‰ผ – This word means โ€œGreat God.โ€ โ€œ๐“Šนโ€ is the triliteral symbol for God and has the sound โ€œntrโ€ which would be pronounced like โ€œneter.โ€ โ€œ๐“‰ผโ€ is the symbol for โ€œGreat,โ€ which is a biliteral phonogram and has the sound of โ€œห3โ€ which would be pronounced like โ€œah.โ€ ย 

๐“‚ง๐“๐“ฅ – the first symbol ๐“‚ง looks like the uniliteral phonogram โ€œd,โ€ the second symbol ๐“ is the uniliteral phonogram โ€œtโ€ and then the third symbol ๐“ฆ is the โ€œthree strokesโ€ symbol which can be used to make a word plural, but can also mean they, them, their, of, three, and much more. This word might mean โ€œhands,โ€ or โ€œhandful,โ€ but I donโ€™t have a full inscription so I donโ€™t know! 

๐“Ž›๐“ญ๐“…ฑ – this word means โ€œwould thatโ€ or โ€œpleaseโ€ and can also be written as โ€œ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ญ.โ€ It is associated with the sound โ€œhwy.โ€ 

๐“€ญ๐“€ญ – the โ€œseated godโ€ symbol acts as a determinative for the words God or King, and can even be used as the pronoun โ€œIโ€ when the God or King is speaking! 

๐“ƒ – the โ€œwater jars in a rack ๐“ƒโ€ symbol is most commonly used as a triliteral phonogram, and is associated with the sound แธซnt. This symbol usually is used for the prepositional phrase โ€œIn Front Ofโ€ but can also be used to mean โ€œFirst.โ€

This relief is from an 18th-19th Dynasty tomb wall. The 18th-19th Dynasty was part of the New Kingdom Period of ancient Egypt, and is my favorite time period to study!

Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

Stela with a Dedication to Anubis

This sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™ piece, located in one of the tiny ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ offshoot galleries at the MET is a stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ from the New Kingdom (c. 1400โ€“1390 B.C.E.) with two ๐“ป people, Siamun and Taruy, worshipping Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ! Usually on stelae ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ๐“ช, people are shown worshipping Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ, so seeing Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ on one makes me very happy! 

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! I’m going to start on the right, with the cartouche!

(๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ๐“ผ) – Thutmosis IV 

Now, above Anubis: 

๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ – Anubis

๐“ŽŸ – Lord

๐“‡พ๐“ค๐“ˆ…๐“‚ฆ – Sacred Land

Above the Two People: 

๐“‚‹๐“๐“‚ž๐“€ข – Giving Praise

๐“‡‹๐“ˆ– – To

๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“ฒ – Anubis

๐“‡‹๐“ˆ– – by the 

๐“ƒ‚ – Wab Priest

(These hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช are etched out, but probably read โ€œSiamunโ€)

๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“ – Sister

๐“ˆ˜๐“ – Beloved

๐“†‘ – His

๐“๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“ค๐“ญ๐“…ฑ – Taruy

So all ๐“ŽŸ together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š—, the inscription ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ reads: 

โ€œ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ŽŸ๐“‡พ๐“ค๐“ˆ…๐“‚ฆโ€ – Anubis, Lord of the Sacred Land

โ€œ๐“‚‹๐“๐“‚ž๐“€ข๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“ฒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ƒ‚โ€ฆ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ˆ˜๐“๐“†‘๐“๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“ค๐“ญ๐“…ฑโ€ – Giving praise to Anubis, by the Wab Priest (Siamun) to his beloved sister Taruy.

Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

“Beloved of Maat”

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

This inscription ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ is very simple because it contains the shortened variant of both of the words! 

๐“Œบ – Beloved (๐“Œป๐“‚‹๐“‡Œ)

๐“ง – Maโ€™at (๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง)

I havenโ€™t spoken about Maat ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง in a while, so letโ€™s learn a bit more about her! So why would a pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป want to be the โ€œBeloved of Maat ๐“Œบ๐“ง?โ€

Maat ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง, the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of truth ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“†„, justice ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“†„๐“œ, harmony and was an extremely important goddess ๐“Šน๐“ in the Egyptian pantheon. 

Maat ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง was not only a goddess ๐“Šน๐“ but also a concept in ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– – to live ๐“‹น by Maโ€™at ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง was to always act truthfully and with good intentions, as opposed to chaotically – which is how the ancient Egyptians viewed other societies at the time. The goddess Maat ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง was the personification of these concepts and of cosmic order. 

Being a โ€œBeloved of Maat ๐“Œบ๐“งโ€ was the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป taking the place of Maat ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง in the creation myth. When Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“› emerged from the primeval mound, he set his daughter ๐“…ญ๐“ Maat ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง in the place of chaos and to keep cosmic order. One of the roles of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was to do the same. 

Maat ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง is always portrayed as having a feather ๐“†„๐“บ on her head, whether in reliefs or even in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! You can always tell that an image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ is of Maat ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง by looking for the feather ๐“†„๐“บ! 

Maatโ€™s ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง most important role was in the judgement of the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ.  The god ๐“Šน Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ข would weigh the heart ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ of the deceased against Maatโ€™s ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ฆ feather ๐“†„ to see if they lived a true ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“†„ and just life ๐“‹น. If the deceasedโ€™s heart  ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ was balanced with the feather ๐“†„, they were declared โ€œtrue of voice ๐“™๐“Šค,โ€ and could meet Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ. 

Also, notice the similarities between all of these words that have to do with Maat – the determinatives are different, which changed the meaning of the word, but they would have been pronounced the same! 

๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“†„ – Truth

๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“†„๐“œ – Justice

๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ง – Maat