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Reading Hieroglyphs Video

Doorjamb of Rameses II – Video

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

This large piece is referred to as a โ€œDoorjamb from a Temple of Rameses II.โ€ Basically, that means these blocks came from a gateway at a temple that was built in honor of one of Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ– royal jubilees. 

๐“†ฅ – King of Upper and Lower Egypt

๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ– – Usermaatre setep en Ra (Throne Name of Rameses II which translates to โ€œThe Justice of Ra is powerful, Chosen of Ra.โ€)

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ – Amun-Ra

๐“ŽŸ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ – Lord of the Thrones

๐“Œบ – Beloved

๐“™๐“‹น- Given Life

So all together the inscription reads โ€œKing of Upper and Lower Egypt, Usermaatre, Beloved of Amun-Ra, Lord of the Thrones, Given Life.โ€ 

Also Rameses IIIโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“ˆ˜๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– cartouches appear on this too on the bottom of the doorjamb – he clearly usurped this piece for his own use and didnโ€™t change all of the cartouches!

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Video

The Mastaba of Perneb – Video

Perneb ๐“‰๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ŽŸ๐“ƒ€ was a palace administrator during the 5th Dynasty, and he had his tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ built at Memphis ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“Š– (modern day Saqqara). This type of tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ is commonly referred to today as a mastaba, but in ancient Egyptian times they were referred to as a โ€œHouse of Eternity ๐“‰๐“†–.โ€ The word โ€œmastabaโ€ is Arabic for the word โ€œbench,โ€ and these tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช got their modern name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– due to their rectangular structure and flat roofs!ย 

I am standing inside the mastaba ๐“‰๐“†– of Perneb ๐“‰๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ŽŸ๐“ƒ€ at the MET in front of his False Door! I will never forget seeing it for the first time with my Nonno – the first time I saw it, there was no glass on the reliefs! Seeing this for the first time will always be one of my greatest memories! I love being inside the mastaba ๐“‰๐“†– because I feel like I am in Egypt – ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– I love being in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช!

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 and there is a spot at the base of the False Door where offerings ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ are meant to be left. 

The False Door acted as a link between the land of the living ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“ and the land of the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. The ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช believed that the soul ๐“‚“ of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ could travel between the two lands ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ through the False Door. They are also known as โ€œka ๐“‚“ doorsโ€ or โ€œsoul ๐“‚“ doors.โ€ย 

If you’re interested in the beautiful reliefs that are on the walls of this mastaba ๐“‰๐“†–, you can read my previous post about them here!

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Video

Wax Ushabtis – Video

Before ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช evolved in the 12th Dynasty, wax ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Ž›๐“ธ๐“ฆ figurines that looked like humans (and had their own mini coffins ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ๐“ฆ) were placed in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช with the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ! 

These precursor-ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช were made of beeswax and beeswax was said to have magical ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œ powers of protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ, resurrection, and regeneration. The figures are somewhat detailed and were wrapped in a linen cloth ๐“ฑ and placed in the mini-coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ. The coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ did not identify any role or jobs that the figure had (like the text on a ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ could identify what itโ€™s job was), but it did identify the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. Sometimes even the standard Offering Formula (๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“™ an offering the king gives) appeared on the mini-coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ as if it were a real one! 

If these figures werenโ€™t workers, then what was their purpose? It is thought that this figure would take the place of the body should the body of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ be destroyed. 

These particular wax ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Ž›๐“ธ๐“ฆ figures belonged to Queen Neferu, who lived during the 11th Dynasty (c. 2051โ€“2030B.C.E) during the reign of Montuhotep II ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช. Her tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ had many of these wax ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Ž›๐“ธ๐“ฆ figures, however in general, not many similar ones have been found (in comparison to the amount of ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช that have been found). 

Ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช evolved into the little worker figures we know today during the 12th Dynasty, but became very popular during the New Kingdom. 

Wax Ushabtis
Wax Ushabtis on display at the MET

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Reading Hieroglyphs Video

Happiness and Joy in Hieroglyphs – Video

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

I LOVE how the actual Middle Egyptian version of the word is โ€œWide Heart ๐“„ซ๐“๐“„ฃโ€ – 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€ – in my opinion at least!

I always love seeing Happiness/Joy ๐“„ซ๐“๐“„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“๐“„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“๐“„ฃ in museums now, thereโ€™s always a sadness to it as well because I truly miss my Nonno more than anything.

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Here are some common variants for โ€œHappiness,โ€ and โ€œJoyโ€:

๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ

๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ๐“

๐“„ซ๐“๐“„ฃ๐“บ

๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ๐“บ

Happiness and Joy in Hieroglyphs
Here is a closeup of the word for Happiness and Joy in Hieroglyphs that I highlight in the video!

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Reading Hieroglyphs Video

Cartouches of Montuhotep II – Video

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Today we are going to learn about the Cartouches of Montuhotep II!

In the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, you can see Montuhotep IIโ€™s ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช birth name and throne name (both with titles). 

๐“†ฅ(๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช) – King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Montuhotep II (Birth Name)

๐“…ญ๐“‡ณ(๐“‡ณ๐“Šค๐“ŽŸ) – Son of Ra, Nebhapetra (Throne Name)

Letโ€™s look even closer at the individual glyphs!

Cartouches of Montuhotep II
The Throne Name cartouche of the pharaoh Montuhotep II

๐“‡ณ – Ra

๐“ŽŸ – โ€œNebโ€ (nb)

๐“Šค – โ€œHapetโ€ (แธซrw or แธฅjpt)

Cartouches of Montuhotep II
The Birth Name cartouche of the pharaoh Montuhotep II

Montuhotep ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is his birth name/given name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–! 

Letโ€™s look even closer at the individual glyphs!

๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ – Montu (๐“  – mn) (๐“ˆ– – n) (๐“ฟ- t) (๐“…ฑ – u/w)

๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช – Hotep (๐“Šต – htp) (๐“ – t) (๐“Šช – p) 

This raised relief is originally from Montuhotep IIโ€™s ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri. This relief was part of one of the main areas of the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ that was added at the end of Montuhotepโ€™s ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช reign ๐“‹พ. This dates the relief to c. 2010โ€“2000 B.C.E. (Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 11).

Cartouches of Montuhotep II
Relief of Montuhotep II at the MET. Can you see the Cartouches of Montuhotep II on the full relief?

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Blog Video

Birthday Haul – Video

Here’s a birthday haul video!

A big Thank You ๐“‹ด๐“๐“ฏ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข to my family ๐“…•๐“‰”๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ฆ for getting me such nice and thoughtful gifts for my birthday ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“๐“Žฑ!!! Donโ€™t you all love how everything was ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– themed??!!ย 

This is not an ad – just me sharing some stuff that I got for my birthday!!ย 

Birthday Haul
A closeup of the Anubis statue that my sister got me for my birthday!

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Video

White Limestone Statue of Hatshepsut – Video

Can you tell how excited/happy ๐“„ซ๐“„ฃ๐“ I am in this video? 

Itโ€™s no secret ๐“ƒ€๐“‹ด๐“†Ÿ๐“› that the White Limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ Statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is my absolute favorite artifact that has ever been found in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–! This is the piece that captured my imagination and Iโ€™ll never forget the first ๐“ƒ time I saw this statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ with my Nonno! 

Nonno was always so excited to tell me about Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช, because she was the most successful female pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป. Her twenty ๐“Ž†๐“Ž† year rule ๐“‹พ๐“ˆŽ๐“ was marked by big building projects (her mortuary temple ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰), economic prosperity (the expedition to Punt ๐“Šช๐“ƒบ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ˆ‰) and peace! 

Not only is this White Limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ Statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช just absolutely stunning ๐“„ค, I love the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on it because Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช refers to herself using the female form of words in the inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ! These were also some of the first inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ I learned how to read, so they are very special to me!ย 

White Limestone Statue of Hatshepsut
White Limestone Statue of Hatshepsut at the MET

Check out this post for a more in-depth look at this beautiful ๐“„ค statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ! No matter how many times I see it, I am still in awe of its beauty ๐“„ค!

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Video

Cartouche of Amenhotep III – Video

Let’s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! 

Today we are going to be looking at the cartouche of the throne name of pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Amenhotep III ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“‹พ๐“‹†! Amenhotep III ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“‹พ๐“‹† ruled during the 18th Dynasty and his rule ๐“‹พ was a time of prosperity for Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, especially in regards to the arts and international influence! 

This piece in the video is a reconstruction of the original by the MET – the blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ pieces are original, but the gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ and plaster are not. This beautiful ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹ decoration is a reconstruction using the tiles that were found during the excavation of Amenhotep IIIโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Šต๐“‹พ๐“‹† palace at Malqata.

Here is his cartouche: ๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž  – Nebmaatraย 

Cartouche of Amenhotep III
Cartouche of Amenhotep III at the MET. This is the artifact featured in my video!

Letโ€™s take a closer look at the symbols in the cartouche: 

๐“‡ณ – Ra

๐“ง – Maat (Truth)

๐“Ž  – Neb (Possessor)

The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– translates to Possessor is/of the Truth of Ra or Possessor is/of the Maat of Ra

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Video

Ushabti of Paser – Video

Here is a video of me at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with the Ushabti of Paser! This beautiful ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is on display in Gallery 122!

The blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผย  ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ belongs to Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ! Objects made of faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ were thought to hold magical ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œ powers!ย  The ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ served as substitutes for the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ and would perform labor or jobs for them in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰. They are usually inscribed with specific spells ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“›๐“ฆ which assigned each ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ to a certain task!ย 

Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ was one of the most prominent men of his time and he served under two ๐“ป pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป – Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  and then Rameses II ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ–.  Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ served many different roles over twenty-five ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“พ years! He was vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ and one of his most famous works is the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ of Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  in the Valley of the Kings! A vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ was the highest ranking official ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“€€ and was the most powerful position in the government, besides the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป. 

Not only was the vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ the most trusted advisor to the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, but he also saw to the day-to-day operations of the government. The vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ was in charge of architecture, taxation, agriculture, military, judicial, financial, and many other things.

Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ had many different titles, including โ€œHigh Preist of Amun,โ€ โ€œsuperintendent of every work of the king,โ€ and โ€œchief of secrets of the hieroglyphs.โ€ 

Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ was my Nonnoโ€™s absolute favorite non-royal, so itโ€™s always so special to see objects that belonged to Paser ๐“…ฎ๐“€™๐“€ฝ in museums.ย 

Ushabti of Paser

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Reading Hieroglyphs Video

Video – Hieroglyphs on Sarcophagus

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

This very simple limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ from the Middle Kingdom (Dynasty 11, c. 2051โ€“2030 B.C.E.) is one of my absolute favorite pieces! This sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ belonged to a priestess ๐“Šน๐“› of Hathor ๐“‰ก named Henhenet ๐“‰”๐“ˆ–๐“‰”๐“ˆ–๐“. The hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on this sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ are incredibly well preserved!

Here is the full inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–: 

๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“™๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“ƒฃ๐“ถ๐“บ๐“ˆ‹๐“†‘๐“‡‹๐“ถ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“Ž๐“ŽŸ๐“‡พ๐“‚ฆ๐“ˆŽ๐“‚‹๐“Œ ๐“‹ด๐“€๐“‰ฌ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“…“๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“‹ด๐“ˆ–๐“Šผ๐“‰“๐“๐“‚‹๐“ƒฃ๐“…๐“Šน๐“‰ฑ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“Œณ๐“„ช๐“๐“‡Œ๐“๐“‡“๐“๐“†ญ๐“Œก๐“๐“๐“‰ก๐“Šน๐“›๐“‰”๐“ˆ–๐“‰”๐“ˆ–๐“๐“™๐“…ฑ๐“๐“Šค

Here is the inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž– broken down by word/phrase:

๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“™ An Offering the King Gives 

๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“ƒฃ – Anubis

๐“ถ๐“บ๐“ˆ‹๐“†‘ – Upon his Hill/Mountain

๐“‡‹๐“ถ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“Ž- He Who is in the Mummy Wrappings

๐“ŽŸ๐“‡พ๐“‚ฆ – Lord of the Sacred Land

๐“ˆŽ๐“‚‹๐“Œ ๐“‹ด๐“€๐“‰ฌ – Burial

๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“- Good 

๐“…“ – In Her

๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ – Tomb 

๐“‹ด๐“ˆ–๐“Šผ – Necropolis

๐“‰“ – A Voice Offering 

๐“๐“‚‹ – Before

๐“ƒฃ – Anubis 

๐“… – In Front At 

๐“Šน๐“‰ฑ – Godโ€™s Booth (Shrine for Anubis)

๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹- For The/By The

๐“Œณ๐“„ช๐“๐“‡Œ๐“ – Venerated/Revered

๐“‡“ – King 

๐“๐“†ญ๐“Œก๐“๐“ – Sole Ornament 

๐“‰ก – Hathor

๐“Šน๐“› – High Priestess

๐“‰”๐“ˆ–๐“‰”๐“ˆ–๐“ – Henhenet

๐“™๐“…ฑ๐“๐“Šค – True of Voice

โ€œAn Offering the King Gives Anubis, Upon his Hill, He Who is in the Mummy Wrappings, Lord of the Sacred Land, A Good Burial In Her Tomb of the Necropolis, A Voice Offering Before Anubis In Front At the Godโ€™s Booth, For the Venerated Sole Ornament of the King, High Priestess of Hathor, Henhenet, True of Voice.โ€