Ancient Egypt BlogThis little replica of the Rameses II ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐บ๐๐ด๐ statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ from the Museo Egizio in Torino was given to me by my Nonno, and I love it so much!
You can read more about this beautiful ๐ค statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ in my post about it!
Here is a picture ๐๐ ฑ๐ to show you where Rameses II ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐บ๐๐ด๐ (and a replica ushabti ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ figure, also from the Museo Egizio) sits on my bookshelf!
Todayโs ๐๐๐๐ณ pictures ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ฆ are from Nonnoโs point of view! While I have never been to the Museo Egizio in Torino, my Nonno had been there many times and always spoke so highly of it. He took these photos ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ฆ on one of his trips there. He spoke about this statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ a lot because he thought it was just stunning ๐ค. It is one of my dreams to go to the Museo Egizio one day – I just wish Nonno and I could have gone there together ๐๐.
This granodiorite ๐ ๐๐๐๐ statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ of Rameses II ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐บ๐๐ด๐ is one of the most majestic pieces in the museumโs collection and one of the most lifelike statues ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ๐ช there is of Rameses II ๐ณ๐๐ง๐ณ๐๐. This may just be mine (and Nonnoโs) opinion, but I think it is one of the most majestic of all of the pharaonic statues ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ๐ช (Besides Hatshepsutโs of course)!!!
Rameses II ๐ณ๐๐ง๐ณ๐๐ is depicted here wearing the khepresh crown ๐ฃ๐๐๐ (also known as the blue crown) and he is holding a scepter ๐พ in his hand. On his feet he is wearing sandals ๐ฟ๐๐๐ธ๐ช, but under those sandals ๐ฟ๐๐๐ธ๐ช are nine bows ๐บ๐๐๐ฆ which represent the enemies ๐๐๐๐๐ช of Egypt ๐๐ ๐๐!
On either side of Rameses IIโs ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐บ๐๐ด๐ legs, there are two ๐ป smaller figures. On the right side is Queen Nefertari ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ and on the left is Rameses IIโs ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐บ๐๐ด๐ and Nefertariโs ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ first ๐ born son ๐ ญ Amunherkhepeshef ๐๐ ๐๐ท๐บ๐๐ผ.
While it may be difficult to see in the photographs, a special symbol appears on both sides of the statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ. This symbol, called the sema-tawy ๐, is a combination of many different symbols all combined into one! Most prominently, it is thought to be representative of the lungs ๐๐ด๐ฅ๐ ฑ๐บ and the windpipe ๐ฅ. The lungs ๐๐ด๐ฅ๐ ฑ๐บ are a symbol of Upper Egypt ๐ and the windpipe ๐ฅ was a symbol of Lower Egypt ๐ค. Due to this, the sema-tawy ๐ is thought to be the symbol of a unified Egypt ๐๐ ๐๐.
The pharaoh ๐๐ป was always referred to as the โLord of the Two Lands ๐๐ฟ๐ฟโ or โKing of Upper and Lower Egypt ๐ฅโ because Upper ๐ and Lower ๐ค Egypt, although united, were in fact very different from each other. They each had their own natural resources, cultures and local gods ๐น๐น๐น. The lung ๐๐ด๐ฅ๐ ฑ๐บ and windpipe ๐ฅ design ๐ was usually found on objects that belonged to the pharaoh ๐๐ป. In this case, it is on the side of one of Rameses II’s ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐บ๐๐ด๐ most beautiful ๐ค statues ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ๐ช!
Some Egyptologists think that this statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ looks like Seti I ๐ช๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ธ๐, and that Rameses II ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐บ๐๐ด๐ usurped it from his own father ๐๐๐. However, there are no signs of reworking on the cartouche or on the inscription ๐๐ ฑ๐ as a whole, so the two ๐ป pharaohs ๐๐ป๐ฆ probably just resembled each other!ย
This statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ is dated to the first 30 ๐๐๐ years of the reign ๐พ๐๐ of Rameses II ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐บ๐๐ด๐, because Nefertari ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ died during Year 30 ๐๐๐ of Rameses IIโs ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐บ๐๐ด๐ reign ๐พ๐๐.
While this may just seem like the broken fragment of a statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ (and I guess it is), I love this piece at the MET because it contains the cartouches of Akhenaten ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ and Nefertiti ๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ณ๐ค๐๐๐ป๐!ย
The Amarna Period, and the reign ๐พ๐๐ of Akhenaten ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ and Nefertiti ๐ค๐๐๐๐ has always fascinated me, ever since I was a child ๐๐๐. Professional Egyptologists have tried to piece together the series of events that shaped this tumultuous time period of Egyptian history, mostly by looking at the hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช themselves.
Letโs read some hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช! Letโs start at the right column, since the directional symbols point that way!
๐ฅ – King of Upper and Lower Egypt
๐น – Life
๐ – On
๐ง – Maat
๐๐ฟ๐ฟ – Lord of the Two Lands
๐ณ๐ค๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ก๐- Neferkheperura-waenre which means “Beautiful are the Forms/Manifestations of Re, the Unique one of Re” (Akhenatenโs throne name)
๐๐น – Given Life
Now on to the left column! This first part is cut off, but itโs probably a variant Nefertitiโs title of โKingโs Great Wife, as you can see the ending of the word โ great ๐ ฉ๐๐โ
๐๐๐ – His Beloved
๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ณ๐ค๐๐๐ป๐ – Nefertiti (Neferneferuaten Nefertiti)
๐น๐ – May She Live/The Living
๐ – Everlasting/Eternal/Eternity
๐๐ณ๐ – Eternity
What always gets me is Akhenatenโs throne name of ๐ณ๐ค๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ก๐- Neferkheperura-waenre. This particular spelling of the throne name is only seen after he changed his given name from Amenhotep IV ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐น๐พ๐ to Akhenaten ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐. The original spelling, before the name ๐๐ change was โ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ก๐.โ The name ๐๐ is still pronounced the same and has the same meaning, but the falcon glyph ๐ was changed to just the sun disc ๐ณ (both pronounced Re/Ra).ย Also, all of Akhenatenโs ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ other names (Horus name, etc) underwent a change, to remove the other deities ๐น๐น๐น, but this one didnโt.ย
I wonder why Akhenaten ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ didnโt change the throne name (๐ณ๐ค๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ก๐) to represent the Aten ๐๐๐๐ณ, just like how all of his other names ๐๐๐ฆ were changed.ย Nefertitiโs name also underwent a change; her name ๐๐ went from just Nefertiti ๐ค๐๐๐๐ to Neferneferuaten Nefertiti ๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ณ๐ค๐๐๐ป๐ around year 5 of Akhenatenโs ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ reign. Year 5 in the reign ๐พ๐๐ of Akhenaten ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ is significant, because that is when we see most of the changes to Atenism begin to take place. Year 5 is when Aten ๐๐๐๐ณ became the supreme and only god ๐น, and the other deities ๐น๐น๐น could not be worshipped ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ข.
Since this piece contains the โupdatedโ version of Akhenatenโs ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ throne name and the longer version of Nefertitiโs ๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ณ๐ค๐๐๐ป๐ name ๐๐, we can assume that this piece was made during or after year 5 of Akhenatenโs ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ reign ๐พ๐๐.
Letโs read some hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช!
Today ๐๐๐๐ณ we are going to look at a word that appears a lot in funerary inscriptions ๐๐๐ฅ! This word is simple, so it is easy to remember and to recognize! So letโs get started – the word for today ๐๐๐๐ณ is โOverseer ๐ ๐.โ
People with the title of โOverseer ๐ ๐โ worked for the nomarchs (kind of like governors and were appointed by the pharaoh ๐๐ป). The overseers ๐ ๐๐ฆ helped the nomarchs run the local government, and the overseers ๐ ๐๐ฆ had lots of people who worked for them, many of which were scribes ๐๐๐ช.ย
The word/title of โOverseer ๐ ๐โ was always followed by what specifically the person was an overseer ๐ ๐ of. This brings me to the full inscription: ๐ ๐๐๐.
๐ ๐ – Overseer
๐ – King/Royal
๐ – Scribe
So the person who this inscription ๐๐ ฑ๐ is for is the โOverseer of the Kingโs Scribe ๐ ๐๐๐โ or โOverseer of the Royal Scribe ๐ ๐๐๐.โ The word ๐๐ by itself can also mean โKingโs Secretary!โ
The word Overseer ๐ ๐ can also be translated as โCommander.โ Letโs take a look at some other Overseer ๐ ๐ titles you might see:
๐ ๐๐ – Overseer of the Wab Priests
๐ ๐๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ – Overseer of the Forts
๐ ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ – Overseer of the Embalmers
๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ฑ – Overseer of the Seals
๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ผ – Overseer of the Herds
๐ ๐๐ – Overseer of the Fields
While this piece doesnโt look like a regular stela ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ (stone, rounded top), it is still considered to be one! This stela ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ has taken the shape of a shrine ๐๐๐ ๐๐ or pylon ๐๐๐๐๐ and thatโs what makes this wooden ๐ฑ๐๐บ piece very unique! I also love this stela ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ because it shows the two ๐ป sisters ๐ข๐๐๐๐ช Nephthys ๐ ๐๐ and Isis ๐จ๐๐ฅ!
On the left, we see an image ๐๐ ฑ๐ of the goddess ๐น๐ Nephthys ๐ ๐๐, and on the right we see an image ๐๐ ฑ๐ of the goddess ๐น๐ Isis ๐จ๐๐. Part of a spell ๐๐๐ recited by the two ๐ป sisters ๐ข๐๐๐๐ช are located in the middle of the stela ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ. I love how symmetrical ancient Egyptian art is!
The crowns on their heads is one of the hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช that is used in their names ๐๐๐ฆ (๐ and ๐จ), which makes both Isis ๐จ๐๐ and Nephthys ๐ ๐๐ very easy to identify in Egyptian art.
You can also identity Isis ๐จ๐๐ and Nephthys ๐ ๐๐ by reading the hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช! Letโs read some hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช!
Starting on the left:
๐๐๐๐ – Words Spoken By
๐ ๐๐ – Nephthys
Now on the right:
๐๐๐๐ – Words Spoken By
๐จ๐๐ – Isis
๐ จ๐๐ – Great One
The Middle:
๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ – Words Spoken By
๐ – The Two Ladies (Nekhbet and Wadjet)
๐ ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ – The Two Crowns (๐ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ and ๐ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ is another way to write this)
๐๐ฒ๐ฆ – Lords/Master
๐๐บ – House
๐ – Eternity
This piece is dated to the Ramesside Period (19th-20th Dynasties, c. 1295โ1070 B.C.E.).
๐ซ๐ฃ – โBe Happy, โHappiness,โ โBe Cheerful,โ โJoy,โ – or in Middle Egyptian, โWide Heart.โย
๐ค๐๐๐ ฑ๐ญ๐๐ – 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 ๐๐๐ด๐ ฉ, it carries such a universal message that has permeated for thousands of years – Happiness ๐ซ๐ฃ! I LOVE how the actual Middle Egyptian version of the word is โWide Heartโ – I think it carries so much meaning in such a little phrase. โAncient Egypt makes my heart wideโ sounds cooler than โAncient Egypt brings me joy/happinessโ
I always love seeing Happiness/Joy ๐ซ๐ฃ 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 ๐ซ๐ฃ 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 ๐ซ๐ฃ in museums now, thereโs 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 ๐ซ๐ฃ!
๐ซ๐ฃ๐, ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐บ, and ๐ซ๐ฃ๐บ are all common variants of the word, that I have seen many times in inscriptions ๐๐๐ฅ too!
This beautiful ๐ค clasp belonged to the princess Sithathoryunet, who is thought to be the daughter ๐ ญ๐ of the 12th Dynasty (c. 1887โ1813 B.C.E) Pharaoh ๐๐ป Senwosret II ๐๐ด๐๐๐๐. She is thought to be his daughter ๐ ญ๐ because her tomb ๐๐ซ๐๐ is linked to his. Flinders Petrie was actually the one to discover her tomb ๐๐ซ๐๐. Despite being robbed in antiquity, the tomb robbers left a chest full of beautiful ๐ค jewelry behind! The clasp is made out of gold ๐๐๐๐ 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 ๐ค and I love jewelry!
Since I shared what makes me happy ๐ซ๐ฃ, Iโd love to hear from all ๐ of you! Share something that makes you happy/your heart wide ๐ซ๐ฃ!
The book I recommend in this video was essential to me learning hieroglyphics ๐น๐๐ช as a child.ย My Nonno gave me this book – it was his long before it was mine. I loved the cover because Anubis ๐๐๐ช๐ ฑ๐ข was on it (and he’s my favorite), but what I didn’t know was how much this book was going to teach me.ย
I will be very honest – I never sat down and intensely studied Egyptian grammar. I never really learned too much Coptic either. I used this book to learn the relationships between symbols and Egyptian words/phrases and it kind of just โclickedโ for me. The Book of the Dead is very repetitive, which is very helpful when learning. I also have many other books on reading hieroglyphics ๐น๐๐ช which were extremely helpful, but this book was probably the best one.
In my opinion, you can sit down and study vocabulary all you want, but unless you are actively engaging in the material and reading real Egyptian texts, you aren’t going to learn. I still use this book as a reference very often!
I also have a book ๐ ๐๐๐ that is the complete Papyrus of Ani ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐๐ in pictures ๐๐ ฑ๐, and I would use both books side by side so I could actually see the real papyrus ๐ ๐๐๐ as I was reading and learning the symbols.
If you want to learn hieroglyphics ๐น๐๐ช, diving right into Egyptian religious text is the best way to do it (in my opinion – remember, I am completely self taught)!
This video shows my honest opinions! However, I am an Amazon Associate and if you use my links to purchase the books I recommended, I will earn a small commission. This helps me keep my website and educational materials free for everyone!
Here is the Book of the Dead Affiliate Link!
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Hi ๐๐๐ everyone! Today ๐๐๐๐ณ I am here with two ๐ป book recommendations if you want to learn to read hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช too! The first book is โHieroglyphs for Complete Beginnersโ by Bill Manley and the second book is โHow to Read Egyptianโ by Mark Collier and Bill Manley!
This video shows my honest opinions! However, I am an Amazon Associate and if you use my links to purchase the books I recommended, I will earn a small commission. This helps me keep my website and educational materials free for everyone!
Here are the affiliate links:
โHieroglyphs for Complete Beginnersโ
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Seeing ushabti ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ figures in museums will always bring me back to seeing them with my Nonno as a kid. Just like with the Imhotep ๐๐ ๐ต๐๐ช statues ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ๐ช, he was always so excited to show my sister ๐ข๐๐๐ and I the ushabti ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ figures and tell us all about them.ย I wish I could hear Nonno tell his ushabti stories again. I miss listening to him speak about ancient Egypt and ancient history more than anyone can even realize. He was always so passionate when he spoke about these things, and I think I get that from him because other people tell me that I am the same way.
Many people debate if the word is โshabtiโ or โushabti,โ when in reality, both pronunciations would be correct because it appears both ways in hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช too! โ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ usbtyโ is where โushabtiโ comes from and โ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ sawabtiโ is where โshabtiโ comes from! My Nonno always said โUshabti ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พโ so that is what I tend to use as well!
Here are some other variations for โushabtiโ in hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช that arenโt used as much as the ones I have listed above. These variants are basically shortened versions of ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ or just use a different determinative!
๐ท๐๐๐ฎ
๐ท๐๐๐ฎ๐พ
๐ท๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ
๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ
๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฑ (the ๐ฑ symbol as a determinative is interesting – probably because wooden ๐ฑ๐๐บ ushabtis were popular in the 19th Dynasty).
The text ๐๐๐ฅ on the blue ๐๐น๐๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฅ faience ๐ฃ๐๐๐ธ๐ผ ushabti ๐ท๐๐๐ฎ๐พ is a version of the โShabti Spellโ from Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. This spell ๐๐๐ gives the ushabti ๐ท๐๐๐ฎ๐พ the power to complete tasks (farming, manual labor, etc) for the deceased ๐ ๐๐ฑ in the Field of Reeds ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐๐ ฑ๐ฐ๐.
The โShabti Spellโ usually starts off with the following phrase:
๐ด๐๐๐ถ – The Illuminated One
๐น๐จ๐ญ – The Osiris
Then the โShabti Spellโ will usually list the deceasedโs ๐ ๐๐ฑ job/titles:
๐ – Scribe
๐ – Treasury
So this specific ushabtiโs spell starts off with โThe Illuminated One, The Osiris, The Scribe of the Treasuryโฆโ
A lot of the time, the pieces that catch my eye in the museums are the unassuming limestone ๐๐๐๐ fragments that contain colorful hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช. Once upon a time, most Egyptian reliefs were as colorful as this piece, however with the passage of time, most of the colors faded. Itโs so cool to almost catch a glimpse of what the colors were like thousands ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ of years ago!
Letโs read some (very fragmented) hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช – 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!
๐ – the โibis headed godโ symbol is both an ideogram and determinative for โThothโ and is associated with the sound โแธแธฅwtj.โ
๐ – the โbasket ๐โ symbol is a biliteral phonogram that has the sound โnbโ (pronounced like โnebโ). Can be used to represent the words Lord, All, Every, and many others!
๐น๐ผ – This word means โGreat God.โ โ๐นโ is the triliteral symbol for God and has the sound โntrโ which would be pronounced like โneter.โ โ๐ผโ is the symbol for โGreat,โ which is a biliteral phonogram and has the sound of โห3โ which would be pronounced like โah.โ ย
๐ง๐๐ฅ – the first symbol ๐ง looks like the uniliteral phonogram โd,โ the second symbol ๐ is the uniliteral phonogram โtโ and then the third symbol ๐ฆ is the โthree strokesโ 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 โhands,โ or โhandful,โ but I donโt have a full inscription so I donโt know!
๐๐ญ๐ ฑ – this word means โwould thatโ or โpleaseโ and can also be written as โ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ.โ It is associated with the sound โhwy.โ
๐ญ๐ญ – the โseated godโ symbol acts as a determinative for the words God or King, and can even be used as the pronoun โIโ when the God or King is speaking!
๐ – the โwater jars in a rack ๐โ symbol is most commonly used as a triliteral phonogram, and is associated with the sound แธซnt. This symbol usually is used for the prepositional phrase โIn Front Ofโ but can also be used to mean โFirst.โ
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!