Category: Reading Hieroglyphs

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Hieroglyph Translation of a Statue of Thutmosis III

Todayย ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ, we are going to be looking at an inscriptionย ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–ย that is on a statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of Thutmosis IIIย ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ.

This statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of Thutmosis IIIย ๐“…๐“„ ๐“‹ดย depicts him in an offering position. An offering position is when the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป is depicted as kneeling, with nemset jarsย ๐“Œ๐“Œ๐“Œย in his hands. The only being a pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป would kneel for is another god ๐“Šน, and the god ๐“Šน that Thutmosis IIIย ๐“…๐“„ ๐“‹พ๐“†„ย is making an offeringย ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆย to is Amun-Raย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ. Based on the inscriptionย ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–, this statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ was probably intended to be placed in the Temple of Amun-Raย ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บย at Karnak.ย 

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

Since the directional hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช are pointing to the right, we will start reading from the right! Hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช are always read from top to bottom, so we will start with the top line too!

๐“‹น – Life/Living

๐“Šน๐“„ค – Perfect God

๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ – Menkhepperra (Lasting is the Manifestation of Ra)

๐“…ญ๐“‡ณ – Son of Ra

๐“…๐“„ ๐“‹พ๐“†„ – Thutmosis (Thoth is Born, Ruler of Maat)

Here is the bottom line (we will also start reading from the right):

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“€ญ – Amun-Ra

๐“ŽŸ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ – Lord of the Thrones

๐“‡“๐“๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน – King of the Gods

๐“Œธ๐“‡Œ – Beloved

๐“‹น – Life

๐“†– – Eternal/Eternity

So here is the full inscription: โ€œLife, the Perfect God, Menkhepperra, Son of Ra, Thutmosis, Beloved of Amun-Ra, Lord of the Thrones, King of the Gods, Eternal Life.โ€ 

This statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ is dated to the reign ๐“‹พ of Thutmosis III ๐“…๐“„ ๐“‹พ๐“†„ (c. 1479โ€“1425 B.C.E.) which was during the 18th Dynasty (New Kingdom). 

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Gold Ring of Tutankhamun

In order to commeorate 100 ๐“ฒ year anniversary of the discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰, let’s take a look at some artifacts related to Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“!

This gold ๐“‹ž๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰๐“ƒ‰ ring ๐“‚๐“ˆ–๐“๐“‹ช (the one in the back of the photo ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“), which was also used as a seal, has the throne name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ on it! 

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

In the middle of the ring ๐“‚๐“ˆ–๐“๐“‹ช, we see the throne name of Tutankhamun: ๐“‡ณ๐“†ฃ๐“ฆ๐“ŽŸ (Nebkheperure). Broken down, the name means:

๐“‡ณ – Ra

๐“†ฃ๐“ฆ – Forms/Manifestations

๐“ŽŸ – Lord 
So โ€œ

Nebkheperure ๐“‡ณ๐“†ฃ๐“ฆ๐“ŽŸโ€ means โ€œLord of the Manifestations of Ra.โ€

On either side of Nebkheperure ๐“‡ณ๐“†ฃ๐“ฆ๐“ŽŸ, there are other hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช too! 

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– – Amun

๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž› – Eternity

๐“ŽŸ Lord

๐“Œป – Beloved

So the full inscription ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ reads: โ€œ ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž›๐“ŽŸ๐“Œป Beloved of Amun, Lord of Eternity.โ€ 

Something really interesting about the inscriptionย ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅย is that the sun disc ๐“‡ณ symbol in the word โ€œeternityย ๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž›โ€ has the Ankh ๐“‹น or symbol for โ€œLifeโ€ with it, which was a common way to write โ€œeternityย ๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž›โ€ during the reign ๐“‹พ of Akhenatenย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–! Itโ€™s meant to represent the Ankhs ๐“‹น๐“‹น๐“‹น that usually appeared in depictions of the Atenย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ.ย 

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Reading Hieroglyphs

The Four Sons of Horus in Hieroglyphs

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

This sunken relief and inscriptionย ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–ย is from the sarcophagusย ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญย of a man named Harkhebit who lived during Dynasty 26 (c. 595-526 B.C.E.). This sarcophagusย ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญย is one of the better examples of Late Period ancient Egyptian stonework and is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

One of the best things about Egyptian art is that sometimes the hieroglyphsย ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ชย act as โ€œcaptionsโ€ and tell you exactly which deity ๐“Šน you are looking at! The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the deity ๐“Šน usually appears above their head in an inscriptionย ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–!

Duamutefย ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘ and Imsetiย ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟ.

On the left, we can see Duamutef ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘ who is one of the Four Sons of Horus that was tasked with protecting ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ the stomach ๐“‚‹๐“„ฃ๐“ป. ! Duamutef can also be spelled like ๐“‡ผ๐“‚Ÿ๐“๐“†‘, and it would be pronounced the same! A lot of the names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ of gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, goddesses ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“, and even pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ had variants. A variant is just an alternate spelling of a word! A determinative could also appear at the end of the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–, which would make them appear as ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘๐“€ญ and ๐“‡ผ๐“‚Ÿ๐“๐“†‘๐“€ญ. 

On the right, we can see Imsetiย ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟย who is also one of the Four Sons of Horus who was tasked with protectingย ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œย the liver ๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„น๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ธ! Imsetiย ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟ can also be spelled likeย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‹ด๐“˜๐“‡‹, and that variation is the one you will see most often so it was very cool to see this particular spelling!ย A determinative could also appear at the end of the name๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– , which would make them appear asย ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟ๐“€ญ andย ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‹ด๐“˜๐“‡‹๐“€ญ.ย 

Hapyย ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ and Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘

On the left, we can see Hapyย ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ, who is one of the Four Sons of Horus.ย Hapy ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ had the head of a baboon and protectedย ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œย the lungs ๐“Šƒ๐“Œด๐“„ฅ๐“…ฑ๐“„บ. Hapyโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–can also be spelled like in โ€œ๐“Ž›๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œโ€ย hieroglyphsย ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช. The spelling seen on this sarcophagus (๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ)is a less common variant! Even in English, Hapyย ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œย can also be spelled like โ€œHapi!โ€ย 

On the right, we can see Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ who is another one of the Four Sons of Horus.ย Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ย had the head of a falconย ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“…„ andย protectedย ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œย the intestines ๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ผ. The way thatย Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ is spelled on this sarcophagusย ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญย is the most common way I have seen the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– spelled!ย 

A determinative could also appear at the end of the name๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– , which would make them appear asย ๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ๐“€ญ andย ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘๐“€ญ.ย 

Much like Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ and Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ were popular deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน to see on funerary equipment ๐“ˆŽ๐“‚‹๐“‹ด๐“๐“๐“Šญ, the Sons of Horus were as well because they were tasked with protecting ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ organs ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น๐“ฆ of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. That is certainly an important job! Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ does appear on this sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ, heโ€™s just in a different spot! 

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Reading Hieroglyphs

The “Ripple of Water” Hieroglyph

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

The โ€œRipple of Water ๐“ˆ–โ€ has always been one of my favorite symbols because โ€œ๐“ˆ–โ€ is a uniliteral phonogram that has a sound like โ€œNโ€! As a kid ๐“๐“‡Œ๐“€• I loved it because you use โ€œ๐“ˆ–โ€ to write both โ€œNicole ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“ฏ๐“ƒญ๐“โ€ and โ€œNonno ๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ–๐“ฏ๐“€€โ€œ in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! I also loved this symbol because it is an easy one to write/draw! I am no artist and while I can definitely read hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, writing them is another story! I would have failed scribe ๐“Ÿ๐“€€ school!! 

While a simple symbol, the โ€œRipple of Water ๐“ˆ–โ€ has many uses in Middle Egyptian! On its own, ๐“ˆ– can mean: to, for, of, through, in, because, not, cannot, unless, no, they, we, us, and our! Thatโ€™s a lot of words! When reading inscriptions, you can figure out the meaning based off of the context clues! 

โ€œWe, us, and ourโ€ can also be written as: ๐“ˆ–๐“ฅ. โ€œTheyโ€ can be written as: ๐“ˆ–๐“ฎ or ๐“ˆ–๐“ญ. 

The โ€œRipple of Water ๐“ˆ–โ€ is used a lot on its own but is also used a lot as part of larger words and names! Here are some examples:

๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ – Anubis

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“„‚๐“ – Amenemhat II

๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ – Rock

๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ – Today

๐“†“๐“Œƒ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ– – Words Spoken By

๐“Œข๐“ˆ–/๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“ – Brother/Sister

๐“ˆ–๐“„ฟ – This, These, The

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Amun-Ra, “Lord of the Thrones”

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

Todayย ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to be looking at an inscriptionย ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–ย that includes the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of a god ๐“Šน, and the honorific that follows the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the god ๐“Šน!ย 

Hereโ€™s a breakdown of the inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž–: 

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“€ญ – Amun-Ra

๐“ŽŸ – Lord 

๐“Žผ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ – Thrones

So the inscription fully reads โ€œ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“€ญ๐“ŽŸ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ – Amun-Ra, Lord of the Thrones.โ€ โ€œLord of the Thrones ๐“ŽŸ๐“Žผ๐“Žผ๐“Žผโ€ was a popular honorific to use after the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of a deity ๐“Šน like Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“€ญ because as he rose to popularity during the New Kingdom, he was considered to be the King of the Egyptian Gods. Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“€ญ was also referred to as the โ€œSupreme Godโ€ and is the combination of the individual deities Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– and Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“œ. 

Here are some variants of Amun-Raโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช: 

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“€ญ

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“บ

๐“ฉ

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“…†

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Reading Hieroglyphs

“Revered” in Hieroglyphs

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

Todayย ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to be looking at a very popular word that appears on a lot of funerary equipmentย ๐“ˆŽ๐“‚‹๐“‹ด๐“๐“๐“Šญ (coffins ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ๐“ฆ, False Doors, Canopic Jar Cases, etc.)! This word can be tricky though because there are a lot of different variants of it – meaning that it can be spelled differently depending on how the word is used or the amount of space available on the object (in this case, the object is a woodenย ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บย coffinย ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ). Different variants of the word can even appear on the same object, as I illustrate with the picturesย ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆย Iโ€™m sharing todayย ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ!

The word for today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ is โ€œRevered/Revered One,โ€ which on the inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž– in the pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ, you can see two ๐“ป of the popular variants: 

๐“‡‹๐“Œด๐“„ช๐“

๐“‡‹๐“„ช๐“

Revered One/Revered can also be spelled like:

๐“‡‹๐“Œด๐“„ช 

๐“‡‹๐“Œด๐“„ช๐“…ฑ

๐“‡‹๐“Œด๐“„ช๐“๐“‡Œ

๐“‡‹๐“Œด๐“๐“‡Œ

๐“„ช๐“

๐“‡‹๐“„ช๐“๐“…ฑ

๐“‡‹๐“Œด๐“„ช๐“๐“…ฑ (Revered Man – Dead)

๐“„ช๐“๐“‡Œ๐“ (Revered Woman – Dead)

Iโ€™m sure I did not list all of the variants either! Word variants can be confusing for people who are just starting to read hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช and thatโ€™s okay! It will just take some practice, and the best way to practice is to just keep reading real Egyptian inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ! 

Next time you go to a museum, see if you can find a variant for โ€œRevered/Revered One!โ€ Iโ€™m sure you will!! 

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Thoth: Lord of the Divine Writing

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

Todayย ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to be looking at the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of not only a very popular deity ๐“Šน, but also one of my favorite deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน (besides Anubisย ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃย of course)!!ย 

This is the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the god ๐“Šน Thoth ๐“…๐“๐“ญ in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– Thoth ๐“…๐“๐“ญ is actually the Greek version of his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–; the ancient Egyptians referred to him as Djehuty ๐“…๐“๐“ญ!

Letโ€™s break down the hieroglyphic symbols ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š—! 

The โ€œ Ibis on Standard ๐“…โ€ symbol is a variant of the โ€œIbis ๐“…žโ€ symbol and has the sound of โ€œแธแธฅwtj,โ€ which we thing would sound like โ€œDjehuty.โ€ This symbol is an ideogram, so it represents the full sound of the word it is meant to represent. 

Whatโ€™s interesting about the Middle Egyptian Language, is that even though ideograms like โ€œ๐“…โ€ and โ€œ๐“Ÿโ€ would fully spell out Thothโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–, scribes would still add the phonograms to the end of the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– if there was enough space on the monument/object to do so! This made inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ easier to read ๐“Ž”๐“‚ง๐“€ and also look nicer! The ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช were all about the aesthetic!

The โ€œflat loaf of bread ๐“โ€ is a uniliteral phonogram used to represent the sound โ€œt.โ€ It also functions as the ideogram for the word โ€œbread ๐“๐“บโ€ and can be used to make words feminine! 

The โ€œtwo strokes ๐“ญโ€ symbol represents the sound โ€œjโ€ which in English would have the same sound as a โ€œy.โ€ It is usually only used at the end of a word!

Here are some variants of Thothโ€™s name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–:

๐“…ค๐“€ญ 

๐“Ÿ 

๐“…๐“๐“ญ๐“€ญ 

๐“…๐“๐“ญ

๐“…

Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ was thought to have invented writing ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ, and was thus the god ๐“Šน of all record keeping. Due to his vast knowledge,ย ๐“‚‹๐“๐“๐“œย Thoth ๐“Ÿ was thought to know magic and secrets that were unknown to the rest of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน in the Egyptian pantheon.ย He was also the god ๐“Šน of scribes ๐“Ÿ๐“€€๐“ช.

Letโ€™s read the inscriptionย ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž– in the picture above:ย 

๐“…๐“๐“ญ – Thoth (Djehuty)

๐“ŽŸ – Lord

๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“‚‚๐“‚‚๐“‚‚๐“Ÿ – Divine Words/Writing

โ€œLord of the Divine Words/Writing ๐“ŽŸ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“‚‚๐“‚‚๐“‚‚๐“Ÿโ€ was one of Thothโ€™s ๐“…๐“๐“ญ many titles! This title makes perfect sense since he was thought to have invented writing ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ/hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Fun Fact: โ€œwritingโ€ was usually written as โ€œ๐“Ÿ๐“‚‚๐“‚‚๐“‚‚,โ€ but on this coffin it is switched to โ€œ๐“‚‚๐“‚‚๐“‚‚๐“Ÿ!โ€

Thoth ๐“…๐“๐“ญ was originally god ๐“Šน of the moon ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“Ž›๐“‡น, but then later became associated with writing ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ and knowledge ๐“‚‹๐“๐“๐“œ. The moon ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“Ž›๐“‡น could be thought of as a โ€œnight sun,โ€ which kind of places him as an opposite of the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ god ๐“Šน Re ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“›. 

Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ is also credited with inventing the 365-day calendar which is one of the ancient Egyptiansโ€™ long lasting contributions to astronomy! As their math an astronomy got better, Egyptian astronomers even adjusted the year to be exactly 365.25 days, which is the exact time it takes the Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ to revolve around the Sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ! How amazing is that!?

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Reading Hieroglyphs

“Qebehsenuef” in Hieroglyphs

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

Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ we are going to be looking at one of the names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ of one of the Four Sons of Horus! 

Qebehsenuef ๐“‚๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ had the head of a falconย ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“…„, protectedย ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œย the intestines ๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ผ, and was associated with the West ๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ.ย 

Qebehsenuef can be written as both ๐“‚๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ and ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘, and sometimes a determinative was added to the end of the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–, which reads like ๐“‚๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘๐“€ญ. 

The โ€œwater jar with water ๐“ / ๐“‚โ€ symbols are both variants of each other and have the same meaning! These symbols mostly act as determinatives, however in the case of Qebehsenuef the symbols act as a triliteral phonogram with the sound โ€œkbb/qbbโ€ or โ€œkbh/qbh.โ€ 

The โ€œarrowhead ๐“Œขโ€ is a biliteral phonogram that is associated with the sound โ€œsn.โ€ Since the arrowhead ๐“Œข is repeated three times in the name, that pluralizes the symbol and causes it to have the sound โ€œsnw.โ€ 

The โ€œhorned viper ๐“†‘โ€ functions as a uniliteral phonogram and represents the sound โ€œf.โ€ In other words, it can function as a determinative. The ๐“†‘ can be confusing for people learning hieroglyphs because it can also function as the word โ€œheโ€! There are so many ways that ๐“†‘ and it takes practice to master them all!

So Qebehsenuef ๐“‚๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ may seem like a difficult name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– to pronounce but once you break down the symbols itโ€™s not too bad! How the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– is written with Romanized Letters is very similar to the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! Qebehsenuef ๐“‚๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘ would would like โ€œQbh-snu-f.โ€ 

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

The Cartouche of Pharaoh Nebra

Iย am standing with the Horus cartouche of the Second Dynasty Pharaoh Nebra ๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ณ (or Raneb).

Not much is known about Nebra ๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ณ besides his name, which mostly appears on alabaster bowls and cups. The length of his rule is also not known, since that section of the Turin Canon/Papyrus is destroyed but Egyptologists estimate it to be about 10 ๐“Ž† -14 ๐“Ž†๐“ฝ years.

The name Nebra ๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ณ (or Raneb) has puzzled Egyptologists because Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“› was not a big religious figure during the Second Dynasty. At that time, Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ was the main deity and Egyptian religion very much centered on the story of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ and Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ and the importance of keeping divine balance. The name Nebra ๐“ŽŸ๐“‡ณ can also be translated as either โ€œLord of the sun (Ra)โ€ or โ€œRa is my lord,โ€ which would show that the sun was already being worshipped separately as its own deity at this time instead of just being part of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ. The Third Dynasty (around the rule of Djoser ๐“‚ฆ) is really when evidence of the sun being an independent deity begins to show up in Egyptian society.

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Reading Hieroglyphs

Anubis – Names and Titles in Hieroglyphs

Itโ€™s no secret that Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ (Inpu in Egyptian – the name Anubis is actually Greek) is my favorite of the Egyptian gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน! I have always been a fan of mummies ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ๐“ช, so it makes sense that the god of embalming, tombs, cemeteries, etc ended up being my favorite! Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ also could act as a guide to souls in the Underworld ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰(referenced in the Pyramid Texts of Unas).

The inscription (which is read from left to right on this particular text) states: ๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“™๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ๐“ถ๐“บ๐“ˆ‹๐“†‘ ๐“‡‹๐“ถ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“Ž๐“Š–.

The translation is:
๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“™ – An offering the king gives
๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ- Anubis
๐“ถ๐“บ๐“ˆ‹๐“†‘ – Upon his hill/mountain
๐“‡‹๐“ถ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“Ž๐“Š– – He who is in the mummy wrappings

The title โ€œ๐“ถ๐“บ๐“ˆ‹๐“†‘โ€ refers to Anubisโ€™ role as the protector of the tombs while โ€œ ๐“‡‹๐“ถ๐“…ฑ๐“๐“Ž๐“Š–โ€ refers to Anubisโ€™ importance as the god ๐“Šน of embalming/mummification.