Letโs read some hieroglyphs ๐น๐๐ช! Today ๐๐๐๐ณ we are going to be looking at the birth name of pharaoh ๐๐ป โRameses II ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ด๐.โ

The name ๐๐ โRameses IIโ was given to him by historians, but his birth name was actually โRamessu Mery Amun ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ด๐,โ which translates to โRa has fashioned him, beloved of Amunโ or โRa Bore Him, Beloved of Amun.โ
Letโs look at the name ๐๐ more closely! The names of the gods ๐น๐น๐น are written first due to honorific transposition!
๐ฉ – Amun
๐ – Ra
๐ – Beloved (mry)
๐๐ด๐ – Bore Him/Fashioned Him/Born Of (msi-sw)
Letโs break down each of the symbols:
The โfalcon with the sun disc ๐โ symbol is both a determinative and ideogram for โRa.โ
The โAmun figure ๐ฉโ symbol is both a determinative and ideogram for โAmun.โ
The โcanal ๐โ symbol is a biliteral phonogram for the sound โmrโ and can also be โshorthandโ for the word โmeryโ which means beloved.
The โthree fox skins ๐โ symbol is a biliteral phonogram for the sounds โms.โ
The โfolded cloth ๐ดโ symbol is a uniliteral phonogram for the sound โs.โ
The โsedge ๐โ symbol can be a biliteral phonogram, ideogram (for sedge) and determinative (for king), but here it is representing the sound โsw.โ
Rameses IIโs birth name cartouche has many variants and can also be written like this: ๐๐ ๐๐๐ณ๐บ๐๐ด๐. Certain symbols can be substituted for each other because ๐๐ ๐ and ๐ฉ both mean Amun ๐ and ๐ณ๐บ both mean Ra.
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