Tag: nut

Categories
Reading Hieroglyphs

“Nut” in Hieroglyphs

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

Today π“‡π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‡³ we are going to look at the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– of the goddess π“ŠΉπ“ Nut π“Œπ“π“‡―π“€­! Nut π“Œπ“π“‡―π“€­ is the goddess π“ŠΉπ“ of the sky π“Šͺ𓏏𓇯 and the cosmos. In the inscription π“Ž˜π“…±π“Ž– pictured, the determinative symbol is missing and Nut’s name π“‚‹π“ˆ– is spelled with just the phonograms – β€œπ“Œπ“π“‡―.”

Nut

Let’s break down the symbols in Nut’s name! 

The β€œpot π“Œβ€ symbol has a lot of varying and confusing functions! Most commonly, it is used as a biliteral phonogram for the sound β€œnw.” It can also replace and act as a variant for the β€œgrain of sand π“ˆ’β€ symbol on special occasions.

The β€œflat loaf of bread 𓏏” is a uniliteral phonogram used to represent the sound β€œt.” It also functions as the ideogram for the word β€œbread 𓏏𓏺” and can be used to make words feminine when placed at the end of the word!

The β€œsky 𓇯” symbol is mostly used as a determinative and ideogram in the words for β€œsky/heaven,” β€œabove,” and β€œceiling.” When used in the word β€œsky,” it is associated with the sound β€œpt” since it is acting like an ideogram. This symbol can also be associated with the sounds β€œhrt,” β€œhry,” and β€œnwt” – depending on which symbols come before it and how it is used!

If you look closely, the words for β€œsky π“Šͺ𓏏𓇯” and β€œNut π“Œπ“π“‡―β€ look extremely similar but they are pronounced differently! In these words, the β€œsky 𓇯” symbol is working as an ideogram and complementing the sounds of the previous symbols! This is what we call a β€œphonetic complement” – the sounds are written twice but pronounced once!

π“Œπ“π“‡― – Nut is pronounced like β€œnwt” and the β€œnw π“Œβ€ + β€œt 𓏏” is the complemented by the sky symbol which is also β€œnwt” in this case! This is how phonetic complements work! β€œπ“Œπ“ is technically β€œnwtnwt” but is only pronounced like β€œnwt (Nut).” 

Bonus Grammar:

π“Šͺ𓏏𓇯 – Sky is pronounced like β€œpt π“Šͺ𓏏” (β€œpπ“Šͺ” + β€œt 𓏏”) and the β€œsky 𓇯” symbol would also be associated with the sound β€œpt” in this case since it is complementing the two previous symbols! Sky is technically written as β€œptpt” but only pronounced as β€œpt.” 

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost without permission.

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Ancient Egyptian Earth Day!

Yesterday was Earth Day and I forgot about it but I have a good excuse I promise – I’m an Earth Science teacher and for me, everyday is Earth Day!!Β 

It’s incredible to me how much the ancient Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ knew about our beautiful 𓄀𓆑𓂋 planet, and how that knowledge was reflected in their intricate mythology. The Earth 𓇾𓇾 itself is differentiated (interior is divided into layers), has an atmosphere, and that atmosphere fades and thins away until space is reached. We can see all of these different β€œlayers” in this art from a sarcophagus π“ŽŸπ“‹Ήπ“ˆ–π“π“Š­ which is showing part of the creation myth! Let’s take a closer look!Β 

Earth Day
A close-up image of a sarcophagus at the Brooklyn Museum depicts (from top): Nut, Shu, Khnum and Geb!

The goddess π“ŠΉπ“ of the cosmos, Nut π“Œπ“π“‡―π“€­, is depicted as a woman 𓂑𓏏𓁐 arched over the rest of the figures, because as the goddess π“ŠΉπ“ of the cosmos, she surrounds the Earth 𓇾𓇾 – just like space actually does! Directly underneath Nut π“Œπ“π“‡―π“€­ is Shu 𓆄𓅱𓀭, the god π“ŠΉ of the atmosphere. Shu 𓆄𓅱𓀭 is seen holding up the sky π“Šͺ𓏏𓇯 (which is depicted as the sky 𓇯 hieroglyph). Shu 𓆄𓅱𓀭 is responsible for raising the atmosphere from the Earth’s 𓇾𓇾 surface! 

Underneath Shu 𓆄𓅱𓀭 is Geb 𓅭𓃀𓀭, the god π“ŠΉ of the Earth’s 𓇾𓇾 surface, which the ancient Egyptians called the Upper Earth. Tantanen (not pictured) is the god π“ŠΉ of the Lower Earth (aka Earth’s interior). I still think it’s amazing that the ancient Egyptians knew there was an interior to the Earth 𓇾𓇾, and the mythology is how they conceptualized that. 

Khnum π“ŽΈπ“€­/π“ŽΈπ“π“€­, the ram headed creator god, is also pictured. Khnum π“ŽΈπ“π“€­ is one of the oldest deities; he is the god π“ŠΉ of the source of the Nile π“‡‹π“π“‚‹π“…±π“ˆ—π“ˆ˜π“ˆ‡π“Ί, fertility and was thought to have made humans out of clay from his potters wheel! 

Take a closer look at the picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏 and see if you can see the names π“‚‹π“ˆ–π“¦ of all of these gods π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ in the hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ! 

So in this beautiful 𓄀𓆑𓂋 image 𓏏𓅱𓏏, we have a representation of Space (Nut π“Œπ“π“‡―π“€­), the atmosphere (Shu 𓆄𓅱𓀭), the Earth’s surface (Geb 𓅭𓃀𓀭) and the source of the Nile (Khnum π“ŽΈπ“€­). This is how the Egyptians saw Earth 𓇾𓇾 and I think it’s incredible!! 

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost without permission.