Author: ancientegyptblog7

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Limestone Relief of Montuhotep II

This limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ relief of Montuhotep II ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช (11th Dynasty) is gorgeous ๐“„ค because the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช are so beautifully ๐“„ค carved! Itโ€™s amazing how pieces that are so old can be in such amazing condition!

This piece is interesting because the direction that you read the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช from keeps changing! The two ๐“ป lines Iโ€™m going to translate are actually from different inscriptions!!

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

๐“†ฅ๐“…ญ๐“‡ณ(๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช)๐“…’๐“„ฅ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ๐“™๐“‹น๐“Šฝ๐“Œ€ – โ€œKing of Upper and Lower Egypt, Son of Ra, Montuhotep II, Uniter of the Two Lands, Given Life, Stability and Strengthโ€

๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ – โ€œWords Spoken By Montuโ€

The phrase ๐“…’๐“„ฅ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ โ€œUniter of the Two Landsโ€ is a variant of Mentuhotep IIโ€™s ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช Nebty Name. The Nebty Name is honestly more of a title than a name. It means โ€œtwo ladiesโ€ and that refers to the goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ Nekhbet ๐“‡‘๐“ƒ€๐“๐“…๐“ŽŸ and Wadjet ๐“‡…๐“‡Œ๐“๐“†˜, who can both be represented by the hieroglyph โ€œ ๐“…’.โ€ Nekhbet ๐“‡‘๐“ƒ€๐“๐“…๐“ŽŸ is a goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of Upper Egypt and is represented by the vulture while Wadjet ๐“‡…๐“‡Œ๐“๐“†˜ is a goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of Lower Egypt and is represented by the cobra. Showing the two ๐“ป goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“ together represented a unified Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Seti I and the Goddess Hathor

The relief shows Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  and the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Hathor ๐“‰ก. Hathor ๐“‰ก was known as the Lady of the West (the underworld ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰). The West and the Underworld ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰ were equated by the ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช because the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ set in the west! Here, she is seen welcoming Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  into her domain, while offering him her menat necklace ๐“‹ง, a symbol of protection. They are even holding hands ๐“‚ง๐“๐“บ! This relief was originally from Seti Iโ€™s ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ– tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰, which is actually the biggest tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ in the Valley of the Kings!

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

๐“‰ก๐“ถ๐“ท๐“๐“๐“Š–๐“‹† – โ€œHathor, Chief one of Thebesโ€

๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ(๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ ) – โ€œLord of the Two Lands, Maatmenraโ€ (Maatmenra is the throne name)

๐“ŽŸ๐“ˆ๐“ฅ(๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฃ๐“‡Œ๐“Œธ๐“ˆ–) – โ€œLord of the Two Lands Seti, Beloved of Ptahโ€ (Seti is the birth name)

๐“™๐“‹น ๐“‡ณ๐“‡๐“บ๐“†– – โ€œGiven Eternal Life, Like Raโ€

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Egyptian Artifacts

Partial Granite Sphinx of Hatshepsut

This is another amazing piece from Gallery 115 at the MET – aka The Hatshepsut Room (as I call it). This granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ is from the joint reign of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช and Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ It is titled โ€œHead and Shoulders of a Sphinx of Hatshepsutโ€ because it used to be part of a large Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค.

Six ๐“ฟ large sphinxes ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ฆ of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช were found at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰ during the excavations done by the MET. Though it is hard to see in the picture๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, the sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค does actually have some remainders of the original paint on it! I canโ€™t even imagine how beautiful ๐“„ค it must have looked after it was just carved and painted!

Much like your typical Sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค, Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช is seen wearing the false beard and the nemes headcloth ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด, which was the normal style for how pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ were depicted.

A lot of Hatshepsutโ€™s statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช that are from her temple at Deir el-Bahri ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰ are made of either granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ or red granite ๐“…“๐“Œณ๐“๐“Žถ, which is a very hard rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ (aka very resistant to weathering/breakdown). Granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ was mined is Aswan ๐“‹ด๐“ƒน๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ฒ๐“Š– and then shipped up the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ- definitely an incredible journey!

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Stela of Hetepsi

This is a stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ for a woman ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“‚‘๐“๐“ named Hetepsi ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“‹ด๐“‡‹ who was a priestess ๐“Šน๐“› of Hathor ๐“‰ก during the Old Kingdom (6th-8th Dynasty, c. 2323-2100 B.C.E.). Hetepsi ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“‹ด๐“‡‹ is seen holding a sistrum ๐“Šƒ๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ™๐“๐“ฃ in her hand, which is a musical instrument which is associated with the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Hathor ๐“‰ก.

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“™๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“‰“๐“ˆ– – โ€œAn offering the king gives Anubis, a voice offering of…โ€ (Anubisโ€™ name is shortened here, most likely for spacing reasons because Anubis is usually always written as ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ or ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ข).

๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“Šช๐“๐“ – โ€œA royal offeringโ€ (๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช can mean โ€œpeaceโ€ or โ€œofferingโ€)

๐“‰ž๐“๐“‹๐“Šน๐“›๐“ŽŸ๐“ – โ€œPriestess of Hathor, Mistress of…โ€ (โ€œMistressโ€ can also be translated as โ€œLadyโ€)

๐“‰บ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Š–๐“‡‹๐“Œด๐“„ช๐“…ฑ๐“ – โ€œDendera, who is revered…โ€

๐“๐“‚‹๐“Šน๐“„ค๐“ŽŸ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“‹ด๐“‡‹ – โ€œ…before the great god lord of the sky, Hetepsiโ€

๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“™๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“‰“๐“ˆ–๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“Šช๐“๐“๐“‰ž๐“๐“‹๐“Šน๐“›๐“ŽŸ๐“ ๐“‰บ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Š–๐“‡‹๐“Œด๐“„ช๐“…ฑ๐“ ๐“๐“‚‹๐“Šน๐“„ค๐“ŽŸ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“‹ด๐“‡‹

โ€œAn offering the king gives Anubis, a voice offering for the royal offering, Priestess of Hathor, Mistress of Dendera, who is revered before the great god, lord of the sky, Hetepsi.โ€

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Egyptian Artifacts

“Royal and Divine Triad”

Triads (groups of three ๐“ผ) were popular among ancient Egyptian statuary and mythology. This piece from the Louvre is called the โ€œRoyal and Divine Triadโ€ (Dynasty 19, New Kingdom c. 1279-1203 B.C.E.) because it represents three ๐“ผ of the most powerful figures in the Egyptian pantheon. Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ or his son ๐“…ญ Merenptah ๐“‡ณ๐“ƒ’๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน is on the left, Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ is in the middle, while Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ is on the right. The pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was viewed as a god ๐“Šน on Earth, Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ was the king of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, and Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ was lord ๐“ŽŸ of the afterlife.

I find this piece super interesting because the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป kind of inserted himself amongst the most famous of the Egyptian triads – Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ – who were supposed to represent the divine family (mother ๐“…๐“๐“, father ๐“‡‹๐“๐“€€, and child ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€•). In some instances (like with this statue), the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป would function as the child in the statue.

Not all triads represented families, though that was the most common. Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ, Sekhmet ๐“Œ‚๐“๐“…“๐“๐“, and Nefertem ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“๐“ƒ๐“€ฏ was a family triad that was extremely popular in Memphis. During the New Kingdom (around the time of Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“), the triad of Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–, Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“›, and Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ became very popular due to the powerful nature of these three ๐“ผ deities

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Stela for Irethoreru

This is a stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ for a man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค named Irethoreru and it is dated to the 25th Dynasty (Third Intermediate Period, c. 775-663 B.C.E.). This stela is composed of the igneous rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ syenite, which is very similar to granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ except for the fact that it contains much less quartz ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œ๐“ˆ™. This property is what allows such beautiful ๐“„ค color contrast between the rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ itself versus the sunken relief. The contrast between the two ๐“ป makes this stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ particularly stunning in my opinion.

On the right side, we can see Irethoreru making an offering ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ to Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ. All three ๐“ผ figures are standing underneath Horus the Behdetite (the winged solar disc with uraei ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†—), which is a representation of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ that was popular on stelae ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ๐“ช and temple decorations throughout many Egyptian time periods.

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡ – Isis (Isis is more commonly written like this โ€œ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅโ€œ or โ€œ ๐“Šจ๐“๐“†‡๐“ฅโ€)
๐“…จ๐“‚‹ – Great One
๐“Šน๐“… – Godโ€™s Mother/Goddess

๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ – โ€œOsirisโ€
๐“Šน๐“‰ผ – โ€œGreat Godโ€
๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ฏ – โ€œLord of the Skyโ€ (๐“‡ฏ by itself usually means โ€œabove,โ€ but for this translation itโ€™s just the word sky/heaven which is usually written as ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ. This is usually Amunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“€ญ title so itโ€™s a little strange to see it associated with Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ!)
๐“‹พ – Ruler
๐“†– – Eternity

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Relief from the Tomb of Dagi

This beautiful ๐“„ค limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ relief is from the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ of a man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค named Dagi, who served as vizier ๐“…ท๐“๐“บ๐“€€ and treasurer ๐“‹จ๐“…ฑ during the reign of Montuhotep II ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช (Dynasty 11, c. 2010โ€“2000 B.C.E.). It is unclear if the two ๐“ป men ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“€€ shown in this relief are Dagiโ€™s sons, or if they are other officials ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“€€๐“ฆ. The two ๐“ป men ๐“‹ด๐“‚‹๐“€€ are wearing blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ armlets ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“Žก๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ช and broad collars ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹. This type of jewelry, while expensive to obtain in real life, was very common to see in reliefs.

While very simple, the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช in this relief show the name โ€œ๐“Šจ๐“๐“…ญโ€, which is pronounced as โ€œSaisetโ€ and translates to โ€œSon of Isis.โ€ This is actually one of the earliest examples of the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ actually being used as part of a name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–.

I am always a big fan of the simple reliefs that have a ton of color. Itโ€™s amazing how artifacts that are so old are still able to retain their color and beauty after thousands of years. No matter how many times I see stuff like this, it always amazes me!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabti of Sati

This is the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ of Sati, and the Brooklyn Museum has two ๐“ป of them! The ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ dates to either the reign of Amenhotep III ๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž  or Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– (New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, c. 1390-1352 B.C.E.).

This piece is unique because of the color (I love the blue ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“› accents) and extreme attention to detail – the process to make it was so labor intensive that only a few like these were made!! While Sati was not royal (the only title associated with her was โ€œmistress of the houseโ€), these ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ were clearly a royal gift just due to the craftsmanship that went into making it.

This ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is made out of faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ and is mummiform in appearance, with the arms ๐“‚๐“ฆ crossed along the chest. In each hand ๐“‚๐“บ, the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is holding a hoe and a basket. This indicates that the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ was meant to do some type of agricultural labor for the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰! The ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is also wearing a broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Statue of an “Amarna King”

The Amarna Period and Akhenatenโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– reign as pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป has always fascinated me. All of the radical changes that were made – such as changing the religion from polytheistic to the monotheistic worship of Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, to moving the capital, to the changes in the art – it must have been quite crazy during those years!

This is actually one of my favorite pieces in the Brooklyn Museum – the Museum has the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ labeled as โ€œAmarna Kingโ€ but to me itโ€™s clear that this piece represents Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–. He is represented in typical Amarna art style here: distended belly/large hips, very long arms, narrow neck and angular face. It is not known whether these are exaggerated features, or if the art was meant to be a more realistic representation of what the royal family looked like. Usually Egyptian art depicted people at their finest, with idealized features rather than realistic ones.

In this statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ, Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– is wearing the khepresh ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™๐“‹™ crown with the gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ Uraeus ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— preserved at the front, a broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹ necklace and a skirt. While this limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ statueโ€™s ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ paint is preserved beautifully the gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ that is seen is actually gold leaf and not paint!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Sunken Relief of Ptolemy II

This sunken relief in granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ depicts Ptolemy II Philadelphos ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“‚“๐“บ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜. Although the Ptolemaic Period of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– had Greek/Macedonian rulers, they were still depicted in the ways of classical Egyptian art. This relief shows Ptolemy II ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“‚“๐“บ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜ in full Egyptian fashion – he is wearing the nemes headdress ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด with a Uraeus ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†— on the forehead.

Above Ptolemy IIโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“‚“๐“บ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜ head ๐“ถ๐“บ, you can see the hieroglyphs โ€œ๐“ŽŸ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏโ€ which translates to โ€œlord of the skyโ€ or โ€œlord of the heavens.โ€ This title is usually associated with the god ๐“Šน Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–.

Above his raised arms, you can see the bottom of a cartouche, which most likely held Ptolemy IIโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–. Userkara ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“‚“๐“บ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜ โ€œThe strong one of the soul of Ra, beloved of Amunโ€ was Ptolemy IIโ€™s throne name, while his birth name in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช was simply ๐“Šช๐“๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“‹ด Ptolemaios. It was not uncommon for the Greek rulers to phonetically spell their names with the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! It can honestly make them very easy to read for people who are just beginning to learn!

This piece is from the Ptolemaic Period (c. 282-246 B.C.E.).