Here are my recommendations of hieroglyphic dictionaries to get you started on your journey to reading hieroglyphs! Like with learning any language, getting a good dictionary to help you learn is going to be vital! I love all my dictionaries that I share in this video, and I hope you can all enjoy them too! I started to teach myself ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs starting at the age of six and Iโve been reading them for over 25 years now! I love teaching people how they can learn too – if I can do it, anyone can! This is not an ad – I brought all of these books myself and these are my honest opinions. You can check out my โRecommendationsโ highlight for links to the books! Follow me to learn all about ancient Egypt, hieroglyphs, Egyptian mythology, art, culture and more! This is my personal video and original text. DO NOT repost. #ancientEgypt#hieroglyphics#languagelearning#ancientegyptianlanguage#hieroglyphs#letsreadsomehieroglyphs#bookrecommendations#ancientegyptblog#egyptology
Hi ๐๐๐ everyone! Iโm back with another book ๐ ๐๐๐ recommendation! These are four ๐ฝ hieroglyphic ๐น๐๐ช dictionaries that I really like and use all the time! I would definitely recommend these dictionaries if youโre studying hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช!
The two ๐ป dictionaries by Bill Petty are easy to get because they are still in print, however, the Budge dictionaries are old and youโll probably have to get them second hand! My Nonno gave me the Budge dictionaries over 20 ๐๐ years ago and whatโs wild is they were old books 20 ๐๐ years ago!
Thank you ๐ด๐๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ข to my friend ๐๐๐๐ @elianubis for sending me this beautiful ๐ค shirt as a gift! I love it!!
Here are affiliate links, where you can purchase the books that I recommended in the video! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps to keep my website and educational content free for all!
For some reason, this very simple relief of two ๐ป hands ๐ง๐๐ฆ was one of my favorite things that I saw at the Petrie Museum in London!
Flinders Petrie was one of the main excavators at present-day Tel el-Amarna, the site of Akhenaten’s ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ ๐๐ new capital of Egypt ๐๐ ๐๐.ย Amarna as it is commonly referred to as, is the modern name ๐๐ for โAkhetaten ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ – Horizon of the Aten,โ which replaced Thebes ๐๐๐ as the capital of Egypt ๐๐ ๐๐.ย
During excavations at Amarna ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ the workshops ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฆ of artists were found, which contained a lot of unfinished reliefs. These “trial pieces” are though to have been made by young artists who were learning their craft. Even though this is such a simple relief of hands ๐ง๐๐ฆ with many cracks, I find it to be so beautiful ๐ค. The art of the Amarna period fascinates me because it is so different stylistically from other Egyptian art! I love seeing all of the unfinished pieces that were found at Amarna – itโs kind of like getting a behind the scenes view of the art!
A lot of reliefs in Egypt ๐๐ ๐๐ were made on limestone ๐๐๐๐. From a geological perspective, limestone ๐๐๐๐ (due to its composition of the mineral calcite ๐ฑ – which comes from dead marine organisms), is a very easy rock ๐๐๐๐ to sculpt and work with because calcite ๐ฑ is a softer mineral ๐๐ป๐๐ ฑ๐. Egypt ๐๐ ๐๐ used to be completely under water ๐ hundreds ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ of millions ๐จ๐จ๐จ of years ago, hence why limestone ๐๐๐๐ (and sandstone ๐๐ ฑ๐ง๐๐๐) are so abundant – both of these rocks ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ are classified as sedimentary rocks, which are primarily formed under large bodies of water ๐!
Limestone ๐๐๐๐ is composed of dead ๐ ๐๐ฑ marine organisms, which I find correlates with ancient Egypt ๐๐ ๐๐ as a whole – their entire life ๐น/religion focused on preparing for death ๐ ๐๐ฑ, and they basically built ๐๐ค๐ ฑ๐ด๐ง their civilization out of dead ๐ ๐๐ฑ things!
Itโs so fascinating how geology and Egyptian history are so closely interrelated! Did you know that Petrie was a geologist and that he was the first to apply stratigraphy (studying rock layers) to the field of archaeology?!
This limestone ๐๐๐๐ relief is called โRameses II adoring the Sphinx at Gizaโ and it is such a beautiful ๐ค piece! Letโs take a closer look!
By the time Rameses II ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ด๐ was pharaoh ๐๐ป, the Sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ๐ค at Giza was already ancient (~1200 years old) – which is almost mind blowing to think about!!! During the 18th Dynasty (the dynasty before Rameses II ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ด๐) the cult of the Sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ๐ค began to reach its peak in terms of religious importance.
During the first ๐ year of their reign ๐๐๐พ, the pharaoh ๐๐ป would take a trip to the Sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ๐ค as almost a right of passage. They would then build monuments ๐ ๐ to document the occasion. This relief is representative of that trip that Rameses II ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ด๐ took!
The New Kingdom pharaohs ๐๐ป๐ knew the Sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ๐ค as Hor-em-Akhet ๐ ๐๐ which translates to โHorus in the Horizon.โ The name ๐๐ most likely came from the fact that the Sphinxโs ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ๐ค head is seen in between Khufu ๐๐๐ ฑ and Khafreโs ๐ณ๐๐ pyramids ๐๐ ๐๐ด๐ช, and can appear like the sun disc ๐ณ when approached from a certain direction. Itโs definitely a creative name ๐๐!
Letโs read some simple hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช! Hereโs a breakdown of the name ๐๐ Horus in the Horizon ๐ ๐๐! Can you spot this on the relief?
๐ – Horus
๐ – em = in the
๐ – akhet = horizon
There are actually two ๐ป different versions of this relief! If you look at the pictures above versus the pictures ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ฆ below, the reliefs are facing two ๐ป different directions!
For a closer hieroglyphic study, we are going to be looking at the relief facing the left because I was able to get better pictures ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ฆ of the hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช on this one! Both reliefs are pretty much identical except for the direction that they face!
Letโs read some hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช! We are going to look at the picture ๐๐ ฑ๐ posted below. Some of the hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช are missing, but I was able to infer what was being written:
๐ – Given
๐น – Life
๐๐๐ฅ – Lord of Appearances
๐ณ๐ฉ๐๐ด๐ด๐ธ – Rameses II (Birth Name Variant) (this cartouche is too damaged for me to know which variant, so I made my best guess)
๐๐ฟ๐ฟ – Lord of the Two Lands
๐ณ๐๐ง๐ณ๐๐ – Usermaatre (Rameses II throne name)
๐น๐ค – Perfect God
๐ธ๐ (๐ฒ๐ )(๐ญ) – Khnum (these hieroglyphs are cut off, but my best guess is this is the start of the name of the god Khnum)
Hereโs the hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช translation for the picture ๐๐ ฑ๐ posted below:
๐ – Horus
๐ – in the
๐ – Horizon
๐ – Given
๐น – Life
๐ – His
๐ – All
๐ฝ – Stability
๐ – Strength
๐ด๐๐๐ – Health
๐ซ๐ฃ๐ – Joy
๐ – All
๐ณ๐ – Like Ra
๐ณ๐ – Every day
This beautiful ๐ค and unique relief is located at the Louvre in France!
Today ๐๐๐๐ณ we are going to be looking at a Title that appears ๐ on statues ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ๐ช and in funerary inscriptions ๐๐๐ฅ. The title of โ๐๐๐๐ – Kingโs Acquaintanceโ is used to denote people who were close to the pharaoh ๐๐ป and can be written in two ways:
๐๐๐๐ – if the person was female
๐๐๐๐ – if the person was male
In the case of this inscription ๐๐๐ฅ, which was for a female, Kingโs Acquaintance ๐๐๐๐ is written in the female form of the word! The Title has also been translated as โGentlewoman,โ and โCourt Lady,โ while the male version (๐๐๐๐) can also be translated as โCustodian of the Kingโs Property.โ
Letโs take a closer look at the hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช that make up this title!
The โSedge ๐โ symbol is one of the most common hieroglyphs you will see in inscriptions! It functions as a biliteral phonogram and is associated with the sound โsw.โ Most commonly, the symbol is used as an ideogram for the word โKing,โ which is associated with the sound โnswt.โ In this case of this title, the sedge is functioning as an ideogram!
The โplacenta or sieve ๐โ symbol is a uniliteral phonogram and is associated with the sound โแธซ.โ This symbol is actually considered โunclassifiedโ because Egyptologists actually donโt know what it exactly represents!
The โmouth ๐โ symbol functions most commonly as a uniliteral phonogram and is used to represent the sound โr.โ It can also be used as an ideogram for the word โmouth ๐๐บ.โ
The โflat loaf of bread ๐โ is a uniliteral phonogram used to represent the sound โt.โ It also functions as the ideogram for the word โbread ๐๐บโ and can be used to make words feminine when placed at the end of the word!
If an object has Hatshepsutโs ๐๐ ๐๐น๐๐๐๐ผ๐ช name ๐๐ on it, I am going to get excited about it – no matter what the artifact is!
This piece is a type of ancient Egyptian board game called Senet ๐๐๐๐ ! Senet ๐๐๐๐ is the worldโs oldest board game – thereโs evidence of its existence all the way back to the First Dynasty (though this particular board is dated c. 1390-1353 B.C.E.).
During the New Kingdom, the game represented the journey of the Ka ๐ (soul) to the afterlife/Duat ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐. The word โSenetโ ๐๐๐๐ actually means passage or gateway (though there are other ways to write these words as well)! If you look really closely, you can see details of the โAnkh ๐น,โ which is the symbol that means โLifeโ along with the โDjed Pillar ๐ฝโ which means โStabilityโ painted on the side of the game! On both the left and right sides, you can also see the word ๐ด๐๐ which means โHealth!โ Such lovely messages on the side of a board game!
Senet ๐๐๐๐ is still a game that can be played today, though some of the rules are debatable! I find it so interesting that board games have been around for so long in history! Some things an about humanity have not changed!ย
The version of Hatshepsutโs ๐๐ ๐๐น๐๐๐๐ผ๐ช name ๐๐ that appears on the side of the Senet ๐๐๐๐ board is her throne name, which is the name she took when she became pharaoh ๐๐ป! Her throne name is โMaatkare ๐ณ๐ฆ๐โ which translates to โTruth is the Soul of Re.โ
How cute is this lion ๐ณ๐น๐ฟ๐ cub?! Whenever I am at the MET, I always make sure to stop by and see him!ย
When I was a kid ๐๐๐, I absolutely loved this quartzite statue ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ of a lion ๐ณ๐น๐ฟ๐ cub because it reminded me of Simba from The Lion King! Only the main features of the lion ๐ณ๐น๐ฟ๐ cub are seen, and none of the features are โsharply defined ๐ด๐ช๐ง๐๐บ๐,โ however, it is clear that this is a statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ of a lion ๐ณ๐น๐ฟ๐ and it is one of my favorite examples of early Egyptian art!
This cute little lion ๐ณ๐น๐ฟ๐ is from the First Dynasty (c. 3100โ2900 B.C.E.)! During the Pre-Dynastic through Early Dynastic periods, statues ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ๐ช of animals were usually smaller in size (amulet ๐๐ช๐ size or just a little larger – look above the lion ๐ณ๐น๐ฟ๐ statue ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ in the picture ๐๐ ฑ๐ to see examples) This statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ thought is almost like a transition piece towards the larger and grander statues ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ๐ช of the later dynasties. This little lion ๐ณ๐น๐ฟ๐ was originally found in southern ๐๐ Upper Egypt ๐. I love being able to see the changes in Egyptian art through time!
Geology Time!!! Since quartzite is a very hard stone ๐๐๐๐ช, the Egyptians had to learn how to work with and sculpt these types of rocks ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ! Quartz ๐ ๐๐๐, the mineral ๐๐ป๐๐ ฑ๐ quartzite is mostly composed of has a hardness of 7 out of 10 on Mohโs Hardness Scale, which means it is very resistant to being scratched! Quartzite is a metamorphic rock, which means it was originally sandstone ๐๐ ฑ๐ง๐๐๐ before it was subjected to intense heat and pressure, which recrystallized it into quartzite. Quartzite is a much stronger and durable rock ๐๐๐๐ than the original sandstone ๐๐ ฑ๐ง๐๐๐.
Today ๐๐๐๐ณ we are going to look at a wooden ๐ฑ๐๐บ stela ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ that is dated to the Third Intermediate Period (c. 924โ889 B.C.E., 22nd Dynasty) which belonged to a man ๐๐๐ค named Aafenmut ๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐. This stela ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ shows a typical funerary stela ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ offering ๐ต๐๐ช๐๐๐ฆ scene, and this style of stela ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ was very popular during this time period. I love this particular style because it is so colorful!ย This stela ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
The Solar Barge ๐ง๐ช๐๐ is shown at the top of the stela ๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ and the Solar Barge ๐ง๐ช๐๐ represents Raโs ๐ณ๐บ๐ journey across the sky ๐ช๐๐ฏ. Raโs ๐ณ๐บ๐ journey is supposed to be representative of his birth/resurrection (sunrise), growth (day) and then death (sunset). In between Aafenmut ๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐ and Ra-Horakhty ๐ ๐๐๐ค is a table filled with offerings ๐ต๐๐ช๐๐๐ฆ of bread ๐๐, fruit, and flowers ๐ผ๐ ฑ๐ฐ๐ฆ.ย
Letโs read some hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช!
๐ ๐๐๐ค – Ra-Horakhty
๐น๐ผ – Great God
๐ – Lord
๐ฏ – Sky/Heaven
๐ – Give
๐ – He
๐ต๐๐ช๐๐๐- Offerings
๐ – To
๐ฉ๐น – Osiris
๐ – To
๐ – Scribe
๐บ๐๐๐บ๐ – Treasury
๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐ – Aafenmut
๐๐ค – True of Voice (Justified)
So all ๐ together ๐๐, this inscription ๐๐ ฑ๐ reads: โRa-Horakhty, the Great God, Lord of the Sky/Heaven, may he give offerings to Osiris, to the scribe of the treasury, Aafenmut, True of Voice.โ
The Horus Name is one of five ๐พ ways to write the name ๐๐ of a pharaoh ๐๐ป, and it is the oldest way to do so. The purpose of the Horus Name was to identify the king ๐ as an earthly representation of the god ๐น Horus ๐ ๐ญ.ย
The Horus Name consists of three elements: the palace facade ๐, Horus the Falcon ๐ standing on top of the palace ๐, and the name ๐๐ of the pharaoh ๐๐ป within the palace ๐. The palace ๐ hieroglyph ๐น๐ is pronounced like โserekhโ and some Egyptologists are now referring to the Horus Name as the Serekh Name. This was basically the early version of the cartouche!
On the sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ of Pharaoh ๐๐ป Senwosret III ๐ณ๐๐๐๐, you can see the Horus name, however, the throne name is also in the serekh! This is unusual to see both names ๐๐๐ฆ in the serekh!
Letโs read some hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช!
๐น๐ฃ๐ ฑ – โHorus, Divine of Formโ (Neter-kheperu) (Horus Name)
๐ณ๐๐๐๐ – โThe Souls of Ra have Appearedโ (Kha kau ra) (Throne Name)
Something I love about this sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ, is that it is made out of gneiss, which is one of my favorite rocks ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ! Gneiss is a foliated metamorphic rock ๐๐๐๐ which means that it was subjected to such extreme heat and pressure during its formation (probably due to mountain ๐๐ ณ building or plate tectonics), that the minerals ๐๐ป๐๐ ฑ๐๐ฆ have separated into bands of light (felsic) and dark (mafic) colored minerals ๐๐ป๐๐ ฑ๐๐ฆ! This gives gneiss a natural zebra-like appearance!
Gebel el-Asr is the only quarry ๐๐๐๐ in Egypt ๐๐ ๐๐ where gneiss can be found, and gneiss was prized from the Predynastic to Middle Kingdoms for statue ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ making!
The following pictures ๐๐ ฑ๐ show a close up of one of my samples of gneiss, so you can see this banding!
Pharaohs ๐๐ป๐ฆ were commonly represented as sphinxes ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ in ancient Egyptian art for many reasons. A sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ is a mythical creature that has the body of a lion ๐ณ๐น๐ฟ๐ and the head of a human. In ancient Egypt ๐๐ ๐๐, lions ๐ณ๐น๐ฟ๐๐ช have been associated with kingship ๐๐ since prehistoric times due to their strength ๐ and ferocity. The sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ was the perfect representation of the strength ๐ of the pharaoh ๐๐ป due to its lion ๐ณ๐น๐ฟ๐ body, while the face still preserved the image ๐๐ ฑ๐ of the king ๐ himself.
This magnificent sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ is a representation of the 12th Dynasty Pharaoh ๐๐ป Senwosret III ๐ณ๐๐๐๐. Senwosret III ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ has very distinctive facial features, so he is very easy to spot in Middle Kingdom art. Senwosret III ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ is wearing the characteristic nemes head cloth ๐๐ ๐ด and false beard ๐๐๐๐ ฑ๐๐ธ, which are both signs of kingship ๐๐.
While this is not a professional term, to me, Senwosret III ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ looks like a โsad and tired old man,โ which is how I distinguish him from statues ๐๐ ฑ๐๐พ๐ช of other pharaohs ๐๐ป๐ฆ. This depiction of a pharaoh demonstrates how in the Middle Kingdom, some of the art took a more realistic approach, instead of the typical idealistic approach. Usually, pharaohs ๐๐ป๐ฆ and people were shown at their best, not how they actually looked. However, this sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ shows a detachment from idealistic depictions.
This sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ is in a crouching position, which to the Egyptians ๐๐๐๐๐ช meant that it was a guardian of a sacred place, such as a temple ๐๐๐ or an important building. This is why rows or lines of sphinxes have been found at various temples ๐๐๐๐ช around Egypt ๐๐ ๐๐ – the sphinx ๐๐ ฑ๐ญ, and therefore the pharaoh ๐๐ป, was using his strength ๐ and might to protect these sacred places!ย
Today ๐๐๐๐ณ, we are going to take a look at this unique ushabti ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ that was discovered in the mortuary temple ๐๐๐ of the pyramid ๐๐ ๐๐ด of the pharaoh ๐๐ป Senwosret I ๐๐ด๐๐๐๐ (Dynasty 12). This was probably left as some type of offering ๐ต๐๐ช๐๐๐ฆ. The ushabti ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ and coffin ๐ด๐ ฑ๐๐๐ฑ are made out of wood ๐ฑ๐๐บ and are covered in gold ๐๐๐๐ leaf.
The ushabti ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ and coffin ๐ด๐ ฑ๐๐๐ฑ contain the name ๐๐ of Wahneferhotep, who was probably the son ๐ ญ of Senwosret I ๐๐ด๐๐๐๐ due to the title โKingโs Son ๐๐ ญโ appearing in the hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช. These two ๐ป objects seen here are the only place where Wahneferhotepโs name ๐๐appears, so we know nothing about him!ย
What is so cool about the miniature coffin ๐ด๐ ฑ๐๐๐ฑ is that it is so detailed and similar to an actual coffin ๐ด๐ ฑ๐๐๐ฑ! The text ๐๐๐ฅ on the miniature coffin ๐ด๐ ฑ๐๐๐ฑ is inscribed with the same funerary spells as regular sized coffins would be! The eyes ๐น๐๐ฆ on this side of the coffin ๐ด๐ ฑ๐๐๐ฑ would allow the mummy ๐๐น๐ ฑ๐พ (or in this case, the ushabti ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ) to see outside of it! The ushabti ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ was even found covered with linen ๐ฑ and laying on its side! This was very typical of Middle Kingdom burial practices ๐๐๐ด๐๐๐ญ, and it was something my Nonno would always point out to me when we were in a museum!
The text ๐๐๐ฅ on the ushabti ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ is a version of the standard โShabti Spell. This spell ๐๐๐ gives the ushabti ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ the power to complete tasks (farming, manual labor, etc) for the deceased ๐ ๐๐ฑ in the Field of Reeds ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐๐ ฑ๐ฐ๐ so the deceased ๐ ๐๐ฑ doesnโt have to do any work in the afterlife ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐.
