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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

The Sistrum of Pharaoh Teti

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

TodayΒ π“‡π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‡³Β we are going to be looking at a sistrumΒ π“Šƒπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™π“π“£Β which has the various names π“‚‹π“ˆ–π“¦ of the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Teti π“Šͺπ“‡Œ on it!

While most sistrumsΒ π“Šƒπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™π“π“£π“ͺ contain an image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 of the goddess π“ŠΉπ“ Hathor 𓉑 on the handle, this is actually one of the earliest sistrumsΒ π“Šƒπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™π“π“£π“ͺΒ ever found (c.Β 2323–2291Β B.C.E.) and is dated to the 6th Dynasty (Old Kingdom) so it is a little bit different than the sistrumsΒ π“Šƒπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™π“π“£π“ͺΒ we are used to seeing! The top part of the sistrumΒ π“Šƒπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™π“π“£ which contains the hieroglyphsΒ π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺΒ is supposed to be a shrineΒ π“π“Šƒπ“…“π“‚œπ“‰.

The hieroglyphsΒ π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ on the sistrumΒ π“Šƒπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™π“π“£ are a list of theΒ pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Teti’s π“Šͺπ“‡Œ various names π“‚‹π“ˆ–π“₯! Something interesting is that Teti’s π“Šͺπ“‡Œ names (except the birth name) are only mentioned on this sistrumΒ π“Šƒπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™π“π“£Β – I don’t think the names π“‚‹π“ˆ–π“₯ have been inscribed anywhere else! Usually just Teti π“Šͺπ“‡Œ is seen! Also, Teti π“Šͺπ“‡Œ Β doesn’t seem to have a throne name π“‚‹π“ˆ–!! Let’s take a closer look!Β 

Let’s start from the right-most column:

π“†₯ – King of Upper and Lower Egypt

(𓅭𓇳π“Šͺπ“‡Œ) – Son of Ra, Teti (in the Old Kingdom, the titles were sometimes placed in the cartouche) (Birth Name) 

Left-most column: 

π“…’π“‹΄π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ – Sehotep Nebty (The One Who Has Satisfied the Two Lands) (Nebty Name)

π“„₯π“…‰ – Bik Nebu Sema (The Uniter) (Golden Horus Name)

Middle column:

π“‹΄π“Š΅π“π“Šͺπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™ – Sehotep Tawy (The One Who Pacifies the Two Lands) (Horus Name) 

The bottom row: 

𓏙 – Given 

π“‹Ή – Life

π“Œ€ – Strength

𓆖 – Eternity