Tag: hieroglyph lessons

“Wide Heart” or “Happiness”

Post author By ancientegyptblog7
Post date December 19, 2022

𓄫𓄣 – “Be Happy, “Happiness,” “Be Cheerful,” “Joy,” – or in Middle Egyptian, “Wide Heart.”

𓄤𓆑𓂋𓅱𓏭𓇑𓇑 – 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 𓈖𓆓𓋴𓅩, it carries such a universal message that has permeated for thousands of years – Happiness 𓄫𓄣! I LOVE how the actual Middle Egyptian version of the word is “Wide Heart” – I think it carries so much meaning in such a little phrase. “Ancient Egypt makes my heart wide” sounds cooler than “Ancient Egypt brings me joy/happiness”

I always love seeing Happiness/Joy 𓄫𓄣 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 𓄫𓄣 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 𓄫𓄣 in museums now, there’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 𓄫𓄣!

𓄫𓄣𓏏, 𓄫𓏏𓄣𓏺, and 𓄫𓄣𓏺 are all common variants of the word, that I have seen many times in inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥 too!

This beautiful 𓄤 clasp belonged to the princess Sithathoryunet, who is thought to be the daughter 𓅭𓏏 of the 12th Dynasty (c. 1887–1813 B.C.E) Pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Senwosret II 𓄊𓋴𓂋𓏏𓊃𓈖. She is thought to be his daughter 𓅭𓏏 because her tomb 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐 is linked to his. Flinders Petrie was actually the one to discover her tomb 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐. Despite being robbed in antiquity, the tomb robbers left a chest full of beautiful 𓄤 jewelry behind! The clasp is made out of gold 𓋞𓃉𓃉𓃉 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 𓄤 and I love jewelry!

Since I shared what makes me happy 𓄫𓄣, I’d love to hear from all 𓎟 of you! Share something that makes you happy/your heart wide 𓄫𓄣!

Tags artifact, hieroglyph lessons, hieroglyphs, jewelry, the met

Reading Hieroglyphs

Colorful Hieroglyph Relief

Post author By ancientegyptblog7
Post date December 17, 2022

A lot of the time, the pieces that catch my eye in the museums are the unassuming limestone 𓇋𓈖𓈙𓌉 fragments that contain colorful hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪. Once upon a time, most Egyptian reliefs were as colorful as this piece, however with the passage of time, most of the colors faded. It’s so cool to almost catch a glimpse of what the colors were like thousands 𓏲𓏲𓏲 of years ago!

Let’s read some (very fragmented) hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 – 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!

𓁟 – the “ibis headed god” symbol is both an ideogram and determinative for “Thoth” and is associated with the sound “ḏḥwtj.”

𓎟 – the “basket 𓎟” symbol is a biliteral phonogram that has the sound “nb” (pronounced like “neb”). Can be used to represent the words Lord, All, Every, and many others!

𓊹𓉼 – This word means “Great God.” “𓊹” is the triliteral symbol for God and has the sound “ntr” which would be pronounced like “neter.” “𓉼” is the symbol for “Great,” which is a biliteral phonogram and has the sound of “ˁ3” which would be pronounced like “ah.”

𓂧𓏏𓏥 – the first symbol 𓂧 looks like the uniliteral phonogram “d,” the second symbol 𓏏 is the uniliteral phonogram “t” and then the third symbol 𓏦 is the “three strokes” 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 “hands,” or “handful,” but I don’t have a full inscription so I don’t know!

𓎛𓏭𓅱 – this word means “would that” or “please” and can also be written as “𓎛𓅱𓏭.” It is associated with the sound “hwy.”

𓀭𓀭 – the “seated god” symbol acts as a determinative for the words God or King, and can even be used as the pronoun “I” when the God or King is speaking!

𓏃 – the “water jars in a rack 𓏃” symbol is most commonly used as a triliteral phonogram, and is associated with the sound ḫnt. This symbol usually is used for the prepositional phrase “In Front Of” but can also be used to mean “First.”

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!

Tags brooklyn museum, hieroglyph lessons, hieroglyphs

Reading Hieroglyphs

Stela with a Dedication to Anubis

Post author By ancientegyptblog7
Post date December 16, 2022

This sandstone 𓂋𓅱𓂧𓏏𓌗𓈙 piece, located in one of the tiny 𓈖𓆓𓋴𓅩 offshoot galleries at the MET is a stela 𓎗𓅱𓆓𓉸 from the New Kingdom (c. 1400–1390 B.C.E.) with two 𓏻 people, Siamun and Taruy, worshipping Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣! Usually on stelae 𓎗𓅱𓆓𓉸𓏪, people are shown worshipping Osiris 𓁹𓊨𓀭, so seeing Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣 on one makes me very happy!

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! I’m going to start on the right, with the cartouche!

(𓇳𓏠𓆣𓏼) – Thutmosis IV

Now, above Anubis:

𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱 – Anubis

𓎟 – Lord

𓇾𓏤𓈅𓂦 – Sacred Land

Above the Two People:

𓂋𓏏𓂞𓀢 – Giving Praise

𓇋𓈖 – To

𓇋𓈖𓊪𓏲 – Anubis

𓇋𓈖 – by the

𓃂 – Wab Priest

(These hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 are etched out, but probably read “Siamun”)

𓌢𓈖𓏏 – Sister

𓈘𓏏 – Beloved

𓆑 – His

𓏏𓄿𓂋𓏤𓏭𓅱 – Taruy

So all 𓎟 together 𓈖𓊗, the inscription 𓏟𓏛𓏥 reads:

“𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓎟𓇾𓏤𓈅𓂦” – Anubis, Lord of the Sacred Land

“𓂋𓏏𓂞𓀢𓇋𓈖𓇋𓈖𓊪𓏲𓇋𓈖𓃂…𓌢𓈖𓏏𓈘𓏏𓆑𓏏𓄿𓂋𓏤𓏭𓅱” – Giving praise to Anubis, by the Wab Priest (Siamun) to his beloved sister Taruy.

Tags anubis, gods and goddesses, hieroglyph lessons, hieroglyphs, the met

Reading Hieroglyphs

“Beloved of Maat”

Post author By ancientegyptblog7
Post date December 16, 2022

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪!

This inscription 𓏟𓏛𓏥 is very simple because it contains the shortened variant of both of the words!

𓌺 – Beloved (𓌻𓂋𓇌)

𓁧 – Ma’at (𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧)

I haven’t spoken about Maat 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧 in a while, so let’s learn a bit more about her! So why would a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 want to be the “Beloved of Maat 𓌺𓁧?”

Maat 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧, the goddess 𓊹𓏏 of truth 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓆄, justice 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓆄𓏜, harmony and was an extremely important goddess 𓊹𓏏 in the Egyptian pantheon.

Maat 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧 was not only a goddess 𓊹𓏏 but also a concept in ancient Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 – to live 𓋹 by Ma’at 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧 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 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧 was the personification of these concepts and of cosmic order.

Being a “Beloved of Maat 𓌺𓁧” was the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 taking the place of Maat 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧 in the creation myth. When Ra 𓇳𓏺𓁛 emerged from the primeval mound, he set his daughter 𓅭𓏏 Maat 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧 in the place of chaos and to keep cosmic order. One of the roles of the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 was to do the same.

Maat 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧 is always portrayed as having a feather 𓆄𓏺 on her head, whether in reliefs or even in hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! You can always tell that an image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 is of Maat 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧 by looking for the feather 𓆄𓏺!

Maat’s 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧 most important role was in the judgement of the dead 𓅓𓏏𓏱. The god 𓊹 Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓁢 would weigh the heart 𓇋𓃀𓄣 of the deceased against Maat’s 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁦 feather 𓆄 to see if they lived a true 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓆄 and just life 𓋹. If the deceased’s heart 𓇋𓃀𓄣 was balanced with the feather 𓆄, they were declared “true of voice 𓐙𓊤,” and could meet Osiris 𓁹𓊨𓀭.

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!

𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓆄 – Truth

𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓆄𓏜 – Justice

𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁧 – Maat

Tags gods and goddesses, hieroglyph lessons, hieroglyphs, maat

Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Relief of Anubis

Post author By ancientegyptblog7
Post date December 14, 2022

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 I am going to be re-sharing one of my absolute favorite reliefs of Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣! This relief of Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣 is from a larger limestone 𓇋𓈖𓈙𓌉 piece that was made for Amenemhat I’s 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓅓𓄂𓏏 “Heb Sed” festival, better known as the 30 𓎆𓎆𓎆 Year Jubilee!

There are so many amazing facts about Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓁢; I could probably write a book about him! Aptly named, “Lord of the Necropolis 𓎟𓇾𓂦𓈊,” he was guardian of tombs 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐𓏦 and cemeteries. Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓁢 was the god 𓊹 of mummification 𓋴𓂧𓐍𓅱𓐎, and the title “He who is in the mummy wrappings 𓇋𓏶𓅱𓏏𓐎𓊖“ signifies Anubis’ 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣 role in the mummification 𓋴𓂧𓐍𓅱𓐎 process, which is what he is most known for.

Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣 also could act as a guide to souls 𓂓𓂓𓂓 in the Underworld 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐(referenced in the Pyramid Texts of Unas 𓃹𓈖𓇋𓋴). One of his most famous roles is in the Weighing of the Heart, in which the dead 𓅓𓏏𓏱 person’s heart 𓇋𓃀𓄣 would be weighed against Maat’s 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁦 feather 𓆄𓏺 by Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣. Basically, Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣 played a big role in all aspects of a person’s death 𓅓𓏏𓏱, and death 𓅓𓏏𓏱 was a huge part of the Egyptian religion.

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 (the ones above Anubis’ 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣 head)! This is part of a much larger inscription 𓏟𓏛𓏥!

𓏶𓅱𓏏𓐎- He Who is in the Mummy Wrappings – (the first symbol is cut off in my picture, 𓇋𓏶𓅱𓏏𓐎𓊖, but it actually can be written both ways)

𓎟𓇿𓇿 – Lord of the Two Lands (we have seen this one many times before – part of the titles of the pharaoh)!

Tags anubis, artifact, gods and goddesses, hieroglyph lessons, hieroglyphs, the met

Reading Hieroglyphs

“Given Life”

Post author By ancientegyptblog7
Post date December 12, 2022

“Given Life 𓏙𓋹”

Such a simple and easy phrase, however, this phrase was extremely powerful in ancient Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖! If you look at inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥, it is literally everywhere! A lot of inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥 either started or ended with “Given Life 𓏙𓋹.” Usually, inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥 were meant to preserve the name 𓂋𓈖 of the deceased, so their soul 𓂓𓏺 could continue to live on.

My Nonno 𓈖𓍯𓈖𓈖𓍯𓀀 loved ancient Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 and shared his passion with me; he is the reason I’m able to read hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 and is the reasons I have a lifelong passion for the history of Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖. My Nonno 𓈖𓍯𓈖𓈖𓍯𓀀 gave life 𓏙𓋹 to my passion, and now I am giving life 𓏙𓋹 to his name 𓂋𓈖 and memory.

As Christmas approaches, dealing with the grief of not having Nonno here for a third Christmas has been extremely difficult. Grief can be an overpowering emotion. This morning I had no inspiration to write because while usually going through my pictures and writing helps me handle my grief on a daily basis, this morning that felt impossible until I came across this picture I took.

The simple phrase “Given Life 𓏙𓋹,” that I’ve read thousands of times over the years gave me comfort. It is wild how a phrase uttered and written by people thousands of years ago, can bring comfort to me today. The power of words, language, and ideas never cease to astound me.

Tags hieroglyph lessons, hieroglyphs, nonno

Reading Hieroglyphs

Reading Hieroglyphs – Stela of Irethoreru

Post author By ancientegyptblog7
Post date December 11, 2022

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪!

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to look at a stela 𓎗𓅱𓆓𓉸 for a man 𓊃𓀀𓏤 named Irethoreru and it is dated to the 25th Dynasty (Third Intermediate Period, c. 775-663 B.C.E.). I have posted about the full stela 𓎗𓅱𓆓𓉸 in the past, but today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to take a closer look at some of the inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥 on it! I like to highlight the titles/epithets associated with Gods 𓊹𓊹𓊹 and Goddesses 𓊹𓊹𓊹𓏏, because they are inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥 that you can easily recognize a lot!

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! We are starting right underneath the solar disc!

𓁹𓊨𓀭 – Osiris

𓉼𓊹 – Great God (this is actually written backwards and should be “𓊹𓉼”)

𓎟 – Lord

𓇯 – Sky

𓋾 – Ruler

𓆖 – Eternity

All 𓎟 together 𓈖𓊗, this reads: “Osiris, the Great God, Lord of the Sky, Ruler of Eternity.” “Lord of the Sky 𓎟𓇯” is usually Amun’s 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓀭 title, so it’s interesting to see it associated with Osiris 𓁹𓊨𓀭 here! Also, “𓇯” can mean the word “above,” as “sky” is more commonly written as “𓊪𓏏𓇯.”

Here’s the next inscription:

𓊨𓏏𓆇 – Isis

𓅨𓂋 – Great One

𓊹𓅐 – God’s Mother/Goddess

All 𓎟 together 𓈖𓊗, this reads: “Isis, the Great One, the God’s Mother.”

Next to each Uraeus 𓇋𓂝𓂋𓏏𓆗, the name 𓂋𓈖 of the city “Behdet 𓄑𓂧𓏏𓊖” (modern day Edfu) is written. Behdet 𓄑𓂧𓏏𓊖 is an Egyptian city 𓊖𓏺 in Upper Egypt 𓇓. Horus of the Winged Disc or “Behdetite” was the chief god 𓊹 of the city 𓊖𓏺.

Tags brooklyn museum, gods and goddesses, hieroglyph lessons, hieroglyphs, horus, isis, osiris

Reading Hieroglyphs

“Sem Priest” in Hieroglyphs

Post author By ancientegyptblog7
Post date December 10, 2022

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪!

Priests 𓊹𓍛𓏪 and the Priesthood 𓃹𓈖𓏌𓏏𓏭𓇼𓀀 were important roles in Egyptian society because religion was so central to life 𓋹𓈖𓐍 and death 𓅓𓏏𓏱 in ancient Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖. However, priests 𓊹𓍛𓏪 did not preach to the public – their main role was to care for the gods 𓊹𓊹𓊹 in the temples. The priesthood 𓃹𓈖𓏌𓏏𓏭𓇼𓀀 was established during the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150-2613 B.C.E.) and became more developed during the Old Kingdom (c. 2613-2181 B.C.E.). The Sem Priests 𓋴𓅓 ceased to exist in the New Kingdom forward.

Throughout inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥, we are used to seeing the word for priest/high priest as “𓊹𓍛” which literally translates to “God’s Servant.” However, in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, there were special priests 𓊹𓍛𓏪 who were referred to as “Sem” 𓋴𓅓 priests.

The Sem Priests 𓋴𓅓 were the priests who were responsible for the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony 𓄋𓏏𓂋𓏺. The Sem Priests 𓋴𓅓 performed this while dressed in leopard 𓍋𓃀𓇌𓃮 skin robes, and this ceremony is what allowed the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 to be able to speak, see, hear, eat and drink in the afterlife 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐. The Sem Priests 𓋴𓅓 were also responsible for mummification 𓋴𓂧𓐍𓅱𓐎; so they embalmed the corpse and recited all of the spells 𓎛𓂓𓏛𓏦 while wrapping the mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾.

The word we see here in the inscription, 𓋴𓅓𓎡, is a title that the Sem Priests 𓋴𓅓 had, and can even be a variant way to write just Sem Priest 𓋴𓅓.

Sem Priest 𓋴𓅓 can also be written with a determinative, and can be spelled as: 𓋴𓅓𓀀, 𓋴𓅓𓀙, 𓋴𓅓𓀼.

Tags hieroglyph lessons, hieroglyphs, the met

Reading Hieroglyphs

“Belongs to Me” in Hieroglyphs

Post author By ancientegyptblog7
Post date December 10, 2022

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪!

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to look at a word that sometimes pops up in inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥! These hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 are from a Middle Kingdom relief which is dated to the reign 𓋾𓈎𓏏 of the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Montuhotep II 𓏠𓈖𓍿𓅱𓊵𓏏𓊪 (c. 2010-2000 B.C.E.).

This simple word (or phrase in English) “𓈖𓈖𓎡” could mean either “belongs to me,” “mine,” or “on my part.”

The “ripple of water 𓈖” is a uniliteral phonogram sign, which means it has the sound of a single consonant. The “𓈖” is associated with the sound of “n!” The 𓈖 has many grammatical functions on its own, and it can mean “to,” “of,” “for,” “we/us/our,” “in,” “because,” “through,” and some others! How do we know which word it is? Context clues!

The “Basket with a Handle 𓎡” symbol is also a uniliteral phonogram that has the sound of “k.” A lot of people get this one confused with just the “basket 𓎟” symbol which is a biliteral phonogram that has the sound “nb.” These are very different symbols with different meanings so try not to confuse the two!

Another way to write “𓈖𓈖𓎡” in hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 is “𓈖𓈖𓎡𓇋𓀀,” which is a more uncommon variant.

Tags hieroglyph lessons, hieroglyphs, the met

Reading Hieroglyphs

“King with a White Crown and Flail” Hieroglyph

Post author By ancientegyptblog7
Post date December 6, 2022

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪!

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to look at the “King with a White Crown and Flail 𓀴” symbol! This symbol can act as both a determinative and an ideogram! It can be used as a determinative in the word for “King 𓇓𓀴” and also as a determinative for “Osiris 𓁹𓇓𓀴.”

The “King with a White Crown and Flail 𓀴” symbol is also one the many symbols that can be used as an ideogram to solely represent the word for “King 𓀴” in both titles and phrases.

The “King with a White Crown and Flail 𓀴” symbol is a variant of the symbol “King With a White Crown 𓀲” and the two symbols can usually be used interchangeably with each other in inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥!

Here are some ways we can use “𓀴” in inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥!

𓇓𓏏𓀴 – King of Upper Egypt/King

𓆤𓏏𓀴/𓆤𓏏𓀴𓏥 – King of Lower Egypt/King

𓀴 – King

𓁹𓇓𓀴 – Osiris/The Osiris King

𓁹𓊨𓂋𓀴 – Osiris

So if you see the “King with a White Crown and Flail 𓀴” symbol in an inscription, you are probably looking at a word that has to do with either a King or Osiris!

Tags gods and goddesses, hieroglyph lessons, hieroglyphs, osiris, the met

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