Tag: merenptah

Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

The Names of Pharaoh Merenptah (Usurped Statue Part II)

Let’s read some hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ!

TodayΒ π“‡π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‡³Β we are going to be taking a closer look at one of the statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ that MerenptahΒ π“‡³π“ƒ’π“ˆ–π“ˆ˜π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉΒ usurped from Amenhotep IIIΒ π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“Š΅π“‹Ύπ“‹†! There are definitely some familiar hieroglyphic π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ phrases here that some of you will recognize!! This statue is at the π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ MET!

The hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ here show three 𓏼 names π“‚‹π“ˆ–π“¦: the Horus Name, the Throne Name and the Given Name! Since the symbols are pointing to the left, let’s start reading from the left!Β 

π“‚‘π“ƒ’π“Ž›π“‚π“€ π“…“π“π“†„ – β€œThe Strong Bull Who Rejoiced in Truth” (Horus Name)

π“ŽŸπ“‡Ώπ“‡Ώ – Lord of the Two Lands

π“žπ“©π“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“ƒ’ – β€œThe Soul of Ra, Beloved of Amun” (Ba en Ra, mery Amun) (Throne Name)

π“ŽŸπ“ˆπ“₯ – Lord of Appearances 

π“°π“§π“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Š΅π“·π“Ί – β€œBeloved of Ptah, Maat is Satisfied” (Mer en Ptah hotep her Maat) (Birth Name) 

Now let’s look at the bottom line of hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ! 

π“ŒΊπ“žπ“©π“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“ƒ’ – Ba en Ra, mery Amun (Throne Name)

𓅭𓇳 – Son of Ra

π“ŽŸπ“ˆπ“₯ – Lord of Appearances 

π“ŒΊπ“°π“§π“ˆ˜π“ˆ–π“Š΅π“·π“Ί – Merenptah (Birth Name) 

π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“‡³π“Ί – Amun-Ra

π“ŒΉ – Beloved 

𓋍 – this symbol on the side of the statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ is thought to be representative of the unification of Upper π“‡“ and Lower π“†€ Egypt.

Something else that is interesting is that there are name π“‚‹π“ˆ– variants on the same statue π“„šπ“ˆ–𓏏𓏭𓀾! Name π“‚‹π“ˆ– variants were just different ways to write the same name π“‚‹π“ˆ– in hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ! 

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Usurped Statues of Amenhotep III (Part 1)

I must admit – I am very guilty of walking past these statuesΒ π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺΒ at the MET a lot because usually I want to go straight for the Temple of Dendur!! These pictures 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦 are from May, but when I went to the MET earlier this month I got some close up photos 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦 of these gorgeous π“„€ statuesΒ π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ, so I’m going to do a bit of a series on them! TodayΒ π“‡π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‡³Β we will learn the history, and then we will read the hieroglyphsΒ π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺΒ tomorrow 𓇼𓄿𓇳!Β 

These two 𓏻 statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ originally belonged to the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Amenhotep III π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“Š΅π“‹Ύπ“‹†. While these two 𓏻 statues π“„šπ“ˆ–𓏏𓏭𓀾π“ͺ now adorn the entrance to the museum exhibit of the Temple of Dendur, they originally were located at Amenhotep III’s π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“Š΅π“‹Ύπ“‹† temple π“‰Ÿπ“π“‰ dedicated to Amun-Ra π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–𓇳𓏺 at Thebes π“Œ€π“π“Š– (modern day Luxor). Amenhotep III π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“Š΅π“‹Ύπ“‹† ruled π“‹Ύ Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– during the 18th Dynasty. 

Then in the 19th Dynasty, along came the pharaoh π“‰π“‰» Merenptah π“‡³π“ƒ’π“ˆ–π“ˆ˜π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ! Merenptah π“‡³π“ƒ’π“ˆ–π“ˆ˜π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ was the son π“…­ of Rameses II π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ˆ˜π“‡³π“Ίπ“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“‡“, and like father π“‡‹π“π“€€ like son π“…­, Merenptah π“‡³π“ƒ’π“ˆ–π“ˆ˜π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ usurped the statues π“„šπ“ˆ–𓏏𓏭𓀾π“ͺ of other pharaohs π“‰π“‰»π“¦ and put his name π“‚‹π“ˆ– on them! 

Usurping can be thought of as ancient plagiarism, and was very common during this time period. While I equate usurpation to plagiarism to put it in a modern context, the purpose wasn’t to defame the previous pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏦 of EgyptΒ π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–. The purpose was for the common pharaoh to promote his own rule π“‹Ύ, and what better way to do that than to use statuesΒ π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ, templesΒ π“‰Ÿπ“π“‰π“¦, etc. that already are made!?

It is always funny to see a statue π“„šπ“ˆ–𓏏𓏭𓀾 that has the facial features of one pharaoh π“‰π“‰», but has the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– of another pharaoh π“‰π“‰» on it! Rameses II π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ˆ˜π“‡³π“Ίπ“„Ÿπ“‹΄π“‡“ did this all the time – that man’s name π“‚‹π“ˆ– is everywhere!