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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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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

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
Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Relief of Anubis

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ I am going to be re-sharing one of my absolute favorite reliefs of Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ! This relief of Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ is from a larger limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ piece that was made for Amenemhat Iโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“„‚๐“ โ€œHeb Sedโ€ festival,ย  better known as the 30 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž† Year Jubilee!ย 

There are so many amazing facts about Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ข; I could probably write a book about him! Aptly named, โ€œLord of the Necropolis ๐“ŽŸ๐“‡พ๐“‚ฆ๐“ˆŠ,โ€ he was guardian of tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ and cemeteries. Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ข was the god ๐“Šน of mummification ๐“‹ด๐“‚ง๐“๐“…ฑ๐“Ž, and the title โ€œHe who is in the mummy wrappings ๐“‡‹๐“ถ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“Ž๐“Š–โ€œ signifies Anubisโ€™ ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ role in the mummification ๐“‹ด๐“‚ง๐“๐“…ฑ๐“Ž process, which is what he is most known for.ย 

Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ also could act as a guide to souls ๐“‚“๐“‚“๐“‚“ in the Underworld ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰(referenced in the Pyramid Texts of Unas ๐“ƒน๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“‹ด). One of his most famous roles is in the Weighing of the Heart, in which the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ personโ€™s heart ๐“‡‹๐“ƒ€๐“„ฃ would be weighed against Maatโ€™s ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“ฆ feather ๐“†„๐“บ by Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ.  Basically, Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ played a big role in all aspects of a personโ€™s death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ, and death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ was a huge part of the Egyptian religion. 

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช (the ones above Anubisโ€™ ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ head)! This is part of a much larger inscription ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ!

๐“ถ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“Ž- He Who is in the Mummy Wrappings – (the first symbol is cut off in my picture, ๐“‡‹๐“ถ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“Ž๐“Š–, but it actually can be written both ways)

๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ – Lord of the Two Lands (we have seen this one many times before – part of the titles of the pharaoh)!

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Video

The Sarcophagus of Senemut

This large quartzite oval (that has been reconstructed from over 1200 pieces) is the Sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ of Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ!ย 

There are many interesting things about this sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ! For one, it is actually painted ๐“ž๐“œ red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ so it looks more like red quartzite, which is more valuable! Another, is that it is extremely similar to Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช second sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ in terms of composition/rock type, so they must have been quarried at the same time!

The inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on the sarcophagus are from various chapters of the Book of the Dead, and many deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน such as Nut ๐“Œ๐“๐“‡ฏ๐“€ญ, Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡, and Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ all make appearances along with the usual dedications that the deceased would make to these deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน. Unfortunately due to the state the sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ was found in, many of the inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ are now fragmented, but Egyptologists can put together the pieces!

Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ, although not of noble birth, became an extremely important figure during the reign of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช  Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ was Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช closest advisor, the tutor for her daughter Neferure ๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค, and the architect responsible for building her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰. Some of Senemutโ€™s ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ many titles appear on the sarcophagus as well, such as Steward of Amun, Chief Steward of the King, Overseer of the Treasury, Granary, Fields, Cattle of Amun, a Controller of Works, and so many more!

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Video

Canopic Jars (Video)

The Four Sons of Horus were an integral part of ancient Egyptian religion – usually in a funerary aspect. 

During the process of mummification ๐“‹ด๐“‚ง๐“๐“…ฑ๐“Ž (which took about 70 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž† days), the embalmers removed the internal organs ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น๐“ฆ and placed them in Canopic Jars. Each of the four ๐“ฝ jars was for one of the major internal organs ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น๐“ฆ and each jar had a different head which represented one of the four Sons of Horus.

Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘๐“€ญ (falcon head) held/protected the intestines ๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ผ. 

Hapi ๐“Ž›๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ๐“€ญ (baboon head) held/protected the lungs ๐“Šƒ๐“Œด๐“„ฅ๐“…ฑ๐“„บ

Duamutef ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘๐“€ญ (jackal head) held/protected the stomach ๐“‚‹๐“„ฃ๐“ป

Imseti ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟ๐“€ญ (human head) held/protected the liver ๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„น๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ธ

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Statue of Imhotep (Video)

My Nonno always made a point to make sure we saw Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช in every museum that we went to. It was part of the fun of going to the museum!! After seeing โ€œThe Mummyโ€ for the first time when I was about ten ๐“Ž† years old, I had already known about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช for years from a historical perspective!!

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช, meaning โ€œHe who comes in peace,โ€ was a non-royal man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค who became deified (reached godly status).  This is a very rare occurrence, as it was thought by the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช that the Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was the only god ๐“Šน on the Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ.  Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช was not deified in his lifetime – it was about 2,000 ๐“†ผ๐“†ผ years after his death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ that he began to be worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข as a god ๐“Šน.  

Not much is known about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช from his lifetime – much information about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is from Demotic texts or stelae ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ๐“ช that were written thousands of years after his death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. 

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is famous for being an incredible architect and is credited with designing Djoserโ€™s ๐“‚ฆ Step Pyramid (aka the first ever pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด) at Memphis ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“Š– (modern day Saqqara). He was also a physician! 

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is always depicted as a man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค seated in a chair, usually with a piece of papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› in his lap. Much like the god ๐“Šน Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ(who he is said to be the son ๐“…ญ of), he wears a cap on his head. Once you are able to remember what Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช look like, you will be able to recognize them in any museum that you go to!