hieroghlyphs 2

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Hieroglyphs LessonsJacques Kinnaer

If you have missed a lesson, or want to refresh your memory,here is a list of the lessons which have featured on

Egyptvoyager, together with a taste of what is to come.

I

IIII

IV

VVI

VII

VIIIIX

X

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Orientation of signs

Basic signs 1 - Types of different signsBasic signs 2 - Signs representing oneconsonant

Basic signs 3 - Signs representing twoconsonants

Basic signs conclusion - Signs representing

three consonantsUnderstanding the royal titularyNumbers and dates

Some gods and their titularyA typical offering formula

Funerary statues


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Lesson I : Orientation of the signs

The comparison of different hieroglyphic texts shows that the signswere not always written in the same direction. Hieroglyphic textscould indeed be written both in rows and columns, from right to left

or from left to right. Even within the same block of text, it was

possible for one part to be written in columns and the other in rows.

With this kind of flexibility, however, it is necessary to firstestablish the orientation of the signs and where to start reading. As

a general rule, signs representing people or animals all look towardsthe beginning of the text. Thus, if the signs in a text all "look" to the

left, one should start reading from the left to the right, and viceversa. Also as a rule the signs are written from top to bottom.

The following example uses a piece of fictive text to show thedifferent orientations of hieroglyphic signs.

The texts withCandD are written in columns, with a vertical line

dividing the different columns. The signs in textClook to the left soagain the text is to be read from left to right (and from top to

bottom), whereas the signs in textDlooks to the right.

This kind of flexibility allowed a symmetrical construction of textson the walls of temples and tombs. The example belowdemonstrates how symmetry was obtained while writing on the

lintel of a door.


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The text in the second row starts in the middle of the lintel with

the and runs to the sides. Thus the text to the left is read from

the middle to the left and the text to the right is read from themiddle to the right.

An additional benefit of the way signs could be oriented is that it is

also possible to add text to an image of a person, a god, an animal

or even an object and give it the same orientation. This way, thetext, acting as a legend to a representation is linked more closely to

the image. In scenes with two figures facing each other, the

respective texts of the figures face each other as well. It thusbecomes easier to distinguish between the legends and speeches of

different actors in a scene and to find the starting point of eachactors accompanying texts.


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3)


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from right to left. The text of the person to the right (looking to the

left) is read from left to right. The following image shows which textbelongs to which actor.


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word for house, for instance, consisted of the consonants p+r. Thesign that was used to write the word "house" could also be used as aphonetic sign to represent the sound pr.When such a sign is used to represent what it means rather than a

sound, it is often followed by a small vertical line, the so-calledstroke-determinative. For instance, when the sign that represents a

house is used to convey the word "house", it will be followed by a

stroke. A stroke-determinative thus indicates that the preceding signis an ideogram and that it means what it represents.A stroke-determinative can also be used as a space filler. In that

case, it does not necessarily indicate that the previous sign meanswhat it represents.

2) Some ideograms

The following is a non-exhaustive list of signs that were used as

ideograms. Several of these ideograms have a more general meaning.As noted above, some of these signs may also have had a phonetic

value. These are covered in the following lessons.

Sign General meaning

man, person

woman

people, mankind, Egyptians

child, (to be) young

old man, (to be) old, to lean

man of authority

noble person, dead person

god, king

king

god, king

goddess, queen

Sign General meaning

bird

small, bad, weak, negativ

fish

snake, worm

tree

plant, flower

wood, tree

corn

grain

sky, above

sun, light, time


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be high, rejoice, support, exalt

praise, pray

force, effort

eat, drink, speak, think, feel

lift, carry

be weary, weak

enemy, foreigner, rebel

enemy, death

to lie down, death, bury

mummy, form, likeness

head

hair, mourn

eye, to see

nose, smell, joy, contempt

ear, to listen

tooth

force, action, effort

offer, present

night, darkness

star, night, time

fire, heat, cook

air, wind, sail

stone

copper, bronze

sand, minerals, pellets

water, liquid

lake, channel

irrigated land

road, to travel, position

desert, mountain, foreign land

foreign (country or person)

town, village (in Egypt)

house, building

door, to open, to close

box, coffin

boat, ship, navigation


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arm, bend, cease

embrace

phallus, beget, urinate, moisture

leg, foot

walk, run

move backwards

flesh, part of the body

tumour, odour, disease

cattle, cow, bull

savage, storm

skin, mammal

clothe, linen

bind, document

knife, cut

hoe, cultivate, hack up

break, divide, cross

cup

loaf, cake, offering

festival, ritual

book, writing, abstract things

one, stroke-determinative

plural, several, multitude


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Exercise II

To read hieroglyphic texts, it is necessary to be able to distinguish

words. Often, but not always, words would end with one or more

ideograms. Below you will find a random grouping of words. Try to

distinguish the different words and find a general meaning for

them.


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2) SokarName of a god. The last sign is a

determinative.

3) boat The last sign is a determinative.

4) man

The stroke before the determinative

representing a man, is used as a space

filler.

5) to rise The last sign is a determinative.

6) heaven, sky The last sign is a determinative.

7) to adore The last sign is a determinative.

8) child The last sign is a determinative.

9) to approach The last sign is a determinative.

10) hungry man

This word is written with two

determinatives. The first indicates an

activity of the mouth or head (to be

hungry), the second that the word

refers to a man.

11) PtahName of a god. The last sign is a

determinative.

12) to knowThe last sign is a determinativeindicating something abstract.

13) joyful

This word is written with twodeterminatives. The first indicates joy,

the second an activity of the mouth orhead.

14)people, mankind,

Egyptians

Strictly speaking, the man and the

woman are two separate

determinatives, with the three strokes

indication a plural.

15) sun The last sign is a determinative.

16) royal child The last sign is a determinative.

17) AnubisName of a god. The last sign is adeterminative.


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18) birdsThe second last sign is a determinative.

The three strokes indicate a plural.

19) day The last sign is a determinative.

20) mouth

The first sign is used as an ideogramand represents a mouth, the stroke is a

determinative stroke that informs usthat the first sign means what it

represents.

21) bull The last sign is a determinative.

22) widowThe second last sign indicates

mourning, the last sign a woman.

23) animal hide The last sign is a determinative.

24) to row

The last sign is a determinative. Note

how the first sign also conveys the

meaning of the word in this case.

25) house The stroke is a determinative stroke.

26) land The stroke is a space filler.

27) sun The stroke is a determinative stroke.

What else can you learn from this exercise?

y Take a look at the words with the numbers 16 and 17. One sign, thedeterminative, can make the difference between two words that are

written in an almost identical manner. The phonetic part of the two

words is identical and you can only derive their precise meaning from thedeterminative. This example shows a practical purpose of

determinatives.y Compare the words 15 and 27. Both have the same meaning. In fact,

word 27 is just a variant writing of word 15. Egyptian hieroglyphs were a

flexible way to write words, depending on the context, the available

space, the preferences of the writer...y Compare words 2, 11 and 17, or 5, 15 and 19. The same determinative

can be used for words with a different meaning.

Back to Lesson 2


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Lesson III : Basic signs (2)

1) Different types of phonograms

In the previous lesson, we have already seen that hieroglyphicbasically consisted of two types of signs: those that convey ideas

and those that represent sounds. Words were normally written by

combining these two types of signs. Signs that represent soundsthus make up an important part of the hieroglyphic writing. These

signs are also called phonograms.

There are basically 3 types of phonograms:

y signs representing one consonant, or uniliteral signs,y signs representing two consonants, or biliteral signs,y signs representing three consonants, or triliteral signs.

Some exceptional signs also represent four or even five signs.

Lesson III will cover the uniliteral signs. The biliterals and triliteralswill be the subject of the following lessons.

It can not be stressed enough that, regardless of any conventional

reading, the Ancient Egyptians did not write the vowels of their

words. They only wrote the consonantal skeleton of the words that

made up their language. On occasion some unilterals and biliteralsmay have been used to indicate the presence of a vowel in foreign

words. This was certainly the case when the Egyptians had to usetheir signs to write Greek and Roman names during the Greek-

Roman Period, and perhaps also when they wrote the names of

foreign places during the New Kingdom or earlier.

2) Transcription and conventional reading

Egyptologists use a special kind of notation, known as transcription,


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to write Ancient Egyptian words in a more readable way. In

transcription, each consonant in an Ancient Egyptian word is writtenusing one sign based on our own writing. For instance, the sound kh

is rendered as x in transcription. Transcription is useful in

grammars, sign-lists, dictionaries but also in scientific articles andstudies. It will be used throughout this course and will be part of

the exercises of this and the following lessons.

Hieroglyphic writing was used to reflect a language that was spokenfor more than 3000 years. The spoken language is bound to haveevolved and changed over such a long timeframe. The student may

wish to consider how his or her own language has changed over thepas generations. Regional differences also are very likely to have

caused different pronunciations of the same words within a given

timeframe. This, along with the absence of vowels in hieroglyphicwriting, makes it near-impossible to try to reconstruct how the

Ancient Egyptians pronounced their words.

In order to make conversation easier and to make abstraction of theevolution and regional differences noted here, Egyptologists thus

have had to come up with a conventional reading of transcribed

texts. This conventional reading, whereby some weak consonantsare read as if they were vowels and whereby a mute "e" is inserted

after a consonant, is a modern-day fiction and does not reflect at allhow the Ancient Egyptians themselves may have pronounced theirlanguage.

3) Uniliteral signs

Uniliteral signs are signs that represent one single consonant. The

table below lists all uniliteral signs of classical Egyptian, used fromthe Middle Kingdom on. The first column gives the hieroglyphic sign,

the second its transcription, the third its conventional reading and

the last column any notes and remarks about the sign or the

consonant it represents. The order by which the consonants havebeen sorted is the same as the one used to sort words in

dictionaries.

Sign TranscriptionConventionNotes

A long a

This sign represents a glottal stop and is

unknown in most western languages. Theclosest relative would be the Hebrew

"Aleph".

i i (as in ee)

This sign usually approaches thej but at

the beginning of words, it sometimes

represents the sound A . The sign is,however, not interchangeable with the

previous sign.

j y (as in yes)Normally used under specific conditions

in the last syllable of words.

a short aThis sign represents a guttural sound

unknown in western languages. It

corresponds to the Arabic "ayn".


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w w or u

b b

p p

f f

m m

n n

r r

h h

H h Emphatic "h".

x kh

X khOnly rarely interchangeable with the

previous sign.

z ors z or s

c ors s

In early Egyptian this sign represented a

sound that was different from theprevious one, but at the latest during the

Middle Kingdom, they became

interchangeable.

S sh

q q

k k

g g

t t

T tshFrom the Middle Kingdom on, replaced

more and more by the previous sign.


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d d

D djFrom the Middle Kingdom on, replacedmore and more by the previous sign.

4) Additional uniliteral signs

Some consonants could be represented by alternative signs, be it

that they were less common than the signs above and are notalways interchangeable with them.

The alternative signs are for w, for m, for n and for

t. The sign was also used in a few old words.

Click here for Exercise 3


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9) Xam khamto

approach

10) Hqr heqerhungry

man

11) ptH peteh Ptah

12) rx rekh to know

13) rS resh joyful

14) ra ra sun

15) inpw inepuroyal

child

16) inpw inepu Anubis

17) hrw heru day


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bA

bH

pA

pr

nH

ns

nD

rw

sA

sw

sn

sk

Dw

Dr

Dd

Some biliteral signs can also be used as ideograms. For instance,

the sign can be used purely for its phonetic value in words such

as Hrj.t, "dread" and as an ideogram in the word

, Hr, meaning "face". Note the use of the determinative stroke inthe latter example to indicate that the sign (Hr) is to be interpreted

as an ideogram. Also note that the reading of still is Hr and that

the sign thus could also be viewed as being a phonogram.

In fact, the phonetic value of the sign can be explained as beingderived from the word "face" that consists of the consonants H+r.

2) Phonetic complement

Biliteral signs are often combined with one or exceptionally twouniliteral signs that have the same phonetic value as one of the

consonants of the biliteral sign. Uniliterals used in this way

complement the reading of the biliteral signs and are called"phoneticcomplements". They are not read separately but are partof the phonetic value of the biliteral sign.

For instance, the biliteral sign is very often accompanied by

the uniliteral , but the combination of these two signs is

transcribed as mn and not as mnn. The added n only serves to

complement the phonetic value of the biliteral sign .

In some cases, phonetic complements can help to distinguish


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between different values of the same sign. The sign , for instance,

can be read as Ab or mr. The combination , however, must beread as Ab because the added b is a phonetic complement.

Similarly, the combination is read mr because the added m

and r are phonetic complements.

An additional benefit, at least for the modern-day reader, is thatphonetic complements betray at least part of the reading of the

signs they accompany.

It must, however, be noted that none of the biliteral signs actually

needs to have phonetic complements. Thus the signs and ,for instance, can be written with or without any phonetic

complements. This can cause some ambiguity in reading and in text

interpretation, particularly for a sign such as that has more than

one reading.

One of the conjugated forms of the verb iri, "to do, to make" is irr,

which can be written both as and as . In the latter case,

the first r is a phonetic complement and the second r is part of theverb's conjugation. Another conjugated form of the same verb,

however, is ir, which can be written as and as . The group

can therefore be read as ir and as irr.O

nly a carefulexamination and a clear understanding of the context may helpdetermining the intended reading.


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Exercise IV

Try distinguishing and transcribing the words in the random list below.

Signs that you do not know, are new ideograms.


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Solutions to Exercise IV

Did you find the following words? The translations are provided

between brackets after the transcription. Parts of transcriptions

between brackets are parts of the words that are not written in the

hieroglyphic text.

Hs(i) (to turn back) - ir.t (eye) - mni (to moor) - SAa (to begin) - msw.t (birth) -

msH (crocodile) - Hr (far)

sswn (to destroy) - ssAw (provisions) - swnw (tower) - Aw (long) - rmn (shoulder)- swAS (pay honour)

swrd (to weary) - wDA.t (udjat-eye) - mr (pyramid) - is (tomb) - bkA (be pregnant)- btA (crime) - HD (white)

imn (Amun) - smsw (eldest) - itj (monarch) - mAi (lion) - Hr (upon)

As an additional exercise, try composing a short vocabulary

containing all the words from this and the previous exercises. Try toget the words in the order used for the uniliteral signs.


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distinction between phonogram and ideogram is rather vague for

the triliterals. The following list provides an overview of the mostcommon signs.

anx

aHa

wAs

wAD

bnr

mAa

nfr

nTr

nDm

HqA

Htp

xpr

xrw

sxm

sDm

As was the case with biliteral signs, triliteral signs can be

accompanied by one or two uniliteral signs as phoneticcomplements. The phonetic complement either repeats the last or

the last two consonants of the triliteral sign: reads aHa, "toarise", and not aHaa , with the last a being used as phonetic

complement ; reads anx, "to live, life" and not anxnx. In

some more exceptional cases, all three consonants can be repeated.The triliteral signs can, like the biliterals, be used without any

phonetic complement.

Biliteral signs are normally not used as phonetic complements for

triliteral signs. Note however the group mAa that combines

the biliteral sign mA with the triliteral mAa.

2) Special cases and peculiar writings

a) Abbreviations

It has already been mentioned that phonetic complements are

optional and that some words may be written with phonetic orideographic signs only. Some of the most common words,

stereotyped phrases and formulae are often also abbreviated. Theseare some of the most frequently used abbreviations:

y is an abbreviation for anx wDA snb, "may he live,prosper and be healthy". It is used after words referring to


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anything royal, including the king and his name. This phrase

was so stereotype that it was reduced to three vertical linesin hieratic writings and later to just a number of vertical lines.

y or , fuller writing is read mAa-xrwand literally means "true of voice", although it is also

translated as "justified". It is an epithet that was added tothe names of the deceased. It refers to the fact that the

deceased has passed the judgement and is allowed to enjoy

the afterlife.

y was used as an abbreviation for , nsw, "King (ofUpper Egypt)". The full writing of this word itself is a special

cases and will be explained in the next paragraph.

y is read nsw-bi.ty and is usually translated as "theKing of Upper and Lower Egypt". It was part of the royal

titulary that will be elaborated in the next lesson.

y is used as abbreviation for kA nxt ,"victorious bull", often used to refer to the king.

In addition to these abbreviations, it must also be reminded that

words can be written using ideograms only. E.g. the sign can be

used for ra, "sun" and for ra, "Re", the solar god.

b) Transpositions ofsignsand words

The normal order of signs as explained in Lesson I, can be changed,either for graphic or for honorific reasons. Transposition of signs for

graphic reasons was led mostly by a concern to use the available

space as much as possible.Small signs may be placed under the breast of a sign representing a

bird, even when the latter sign needs to be read first. The group

can thus be read tw and wt, depending on the context.Long narrow signs are usually written before a sign representing abird, where the normal sign-order would expect them to follow.

Thus we find for wD.

More drastic are the transpositions with honorific intent, which

could not only change the order of single signs, but also of wordsand entire phrases. Words referring to the king or to the gods areoften written before other words to which they are closely

connected. For instance, the sign-group , meaning "scribe of

the king" must be read sS-nsw and not nsw-sS. The plant, usedas an abbreviation for the word "king" is placed before the sign sS,


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"scribe" because the king was more important than his scribes.

For the same reason the sign meaning "god" is written before the

sign meaning "servant" in Hm-nTr, "servant of god", "priest".The names of gods may be moved to the front of phrases, even if,

grammatically, they belong at the end. Thus needsto be read mry imn, "beloved of Amun". Any honorific titles addedto the name of a god, are moved to the front as well:

mry imn, nb ns.wt tA.wj,"beloved of Amun, Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands".


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Solutions to Exercise V

Did you find the following words? The translations are provided

between brackets after the transcription. Parts of transcriptions

between brackets are parts of the words that are not written in thehieroglyphic text.

sxm (power) - Hmt-nTr (god's wife) - aHa(w) (lifetime) - nfr.t(beautiful one / Nefret; Nefretisacommon namefor women) -

snTr (cense) - snTr (cense; thisisindeedthesame wordasthe

previous one) - sA-nsw (son of the king / prince)

mAa.t (thegoddessMaat) - swAD (make to flourish) - Htp.t(peace) - xpr.w (shape) - xprr (thegodKheprer) - mw.t-nsw

(king's mother)

mry ptH (beloved of Ptah) - mi ra (like Re) - xprS (khepreshcrown) - mry mnTw nb wAs.t (beloved of Montu, the lord of

Waset; Wasetisthe name ofthecitywecurrentlyreferto asThebes)


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Lesson VI : Understanding The Royal Titulary

1) The King

The Ancient Egyptians used several words to denote their king. In

some cases, the exact meaning of a word referring to the king or itsrelationship to other, similar words is not known.

The most common word to refer to the king was , nsw, often

abbreviated to . Note the graphical, or perhaps honorific

transposition of the signs, whereby , sw, was moved to be the

first sign of the group. The word nsw is derived from nj-sw.t, "theone who belongs to the sedge plant", with the sedge plant as theheraldic symbol for Upper Egypt. This word is therefore normallytranslated as "King of Upper Egypt", although its context often

favours the shorter translation "King".

A word often used together with nsw was , bi.tj, "the one whobelongs to the bee", where the nee is normally taken as a reference

to Lower Egypt. bi.tj is thus translated as "King of Lower Egypt".Contrary to nsw, however, bi.tj is only rarely used in contextswhere the shorter translation "King" should be favoured.

The combination of these two words results in nsw-

bi.tj, "King of Upper- and Lower-Egypt", or more literally "he whobelongs to Upper-Egypt (the sedge plant) and Lower-Egypt (thebee)". This combination is part of the royal titulary and will bediscussed below. It can, in some contexts, be translated simply as

"King".

We commonly refer to the kings of Ancient Egypt as "Pharaohs". Thiswas the word used by the Greeks and the Hebrews to denote the

rulers of the Nile-country. It is derived from the Egyptian pr aA,"the Great House", a word originally meaning "palace" or "court".

From the end of the 12th Dynasty onwards the health wish "may itlive, prosper and be in health" was often added when referring to

"the Great House", but still it seems to mean only the palace or thecourt.

The earliest certain instance where "the Great House" actually refers

to the king is in a letter to Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), which isaddressed to "Pharaoh, may he live, prosper and be in health, the

Master".

From the 19th Dynasty onward pr aA is used occasionally to refer tothe King instead of the palace. We read "Pharaoh did such and such".


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The final development was when a proper name was added to the

title, as in "Pharaoh Hophra". The earliest known Egyptian exampleof this use is under one of the Shoshenks of the 22nd Dynasty.

All words related to royalty, including the names of the Pharaohs,

could be followed by the auspicious wish-formula "may he (or

she orit)live, prosper and be in health". This could be carried to theextreme, where almost every word referring to a king might befollowed by this wish.

2) The Royal Titulary

a) The Horus-name

The oldest known part of the royal titulary is the Horus-

name , sometimes also called the banner-name or theKa-name. It represents the king as the earthly embodiment of the

god Horus, the divine prototype and patron of the Egyptian kings.

This name is ordinarily written within a rectangular frame, at thebottom of which is seen a design of recessed panelling, such as we

find in the facades of early tombs and in the false doors of manyprivate tombs. The Ancient Egyptian name for this facade was

serekh. This name is often used in modern texts as well whenspeaking of the (palace) facade.On the top of the serekh is perched the falcon of Horus, hence the

appellation "Horus-name". In more elaborate New Kingdom

examples Horus is wearing the double crown and is accompanied bythe sun and a uraeus.

In the Early-Dynastic Period, the perched falcon of Horus was in factpart of the name of the king. Aha, for instance, was actually called

Horus-Aha, "Horus who fights".

This name was not the birth name of the king, but it was given to him

when he ascended the throne. During the first three dynasties it wasthe kings official name. His name of birth would not appear in

official documents. This has complicated the identification of many

early kings mentioned in the king lists, where only the name of birthis mentioned.Although it would continue to be used throughout the entire Ancient

Egyptian history, it lost its importance to the Prenomen en nomenfrom the end of the Old Kingdom on.

b) TheNebti-name

The Nebti-name shows the king in a special relation to two

goddesses: the vulture-goddess Nekhbet of the Upper Egyptian cities

of Elkab and Hierakonpolis and the cobra-goddess Uto of the LowerEgyptian city Buto. Both goddesses are the deified personification of

Upper- and Lower-Egypt respectively, and as such, the Nebti-name

denotes the king as "the one of Nekhbet (Upper-Egypt) and Uto(Lower-Egypt)", i.e. as the "one belonging to Upper- and Lower-Egypt". It is often translated as "Nebti" or "The Two Ladies".

1st Dynasty king Den is the first to have assumed this Nebti-name.


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The use of this title by Den may perhaps indicate some governmental

reforms that may have occurred during this king's reign.

c) The "golden Horus name"

The meaning of the third part of the royal titulary, the "golden Horus

name" , is more disputed. It represents the falcon god Horus

perched on a symbol that usually represents "gold".Based on the Greek equivalent of this title on the Rosetta Stone,which translates into English as "superior to (his) foes", it has beenproposed that the hieroglyphs symbolised Horus as victorious overSeth, "the Ombite" (another possible reading of the hieroglyph on

which the falcon is standing). This was, no doubt, the interpretationof Greek times, when the opposition between Horus and Seth was

much more pronounced than in earlier times. For these earlier

periods, however, the evidence may point in another direction.If the "golden Horus name" symbolised Horus victory over his

enemy Seth, one might expect that the names following this group

should be aggressive in nature, but most of the time, those namesare far from being bellicose.In a context dealing with the titulary of Thutmosis III that king says"he (Amun) modelled me as a falcon of gold". Thutmosis IIIs co-regent Hatshepsut calls herself "the female Horus of fine gold". Theconcept of the golden falcon can be definitely traced back to the 11thDynasty. An inscription of the 12th Dynasty describes the golden

Horus name as the "name of gold".

The notion of "gold" is strongly linked to the notion of "eternity". Theburial chamber in the royal tombs of the New Kingdom was often

called the "golden room", not (only) because it was stacked up with

gold, but because it was there for eternity. The "golden Horus name"may convey the same notion of eternity, expressing the wish that the

king may be an eternal Horus.

d) ThePrenomen

The Prenomen is the name that follows the title "King ofUpper- and Lower-Egypt". The oldest known example of this title is

again dated to the reign of 1st Dynasty king Den, when it was oftencombined with the Nebti-name, without a distinct name added to it.

It would take until the end of the 3rd Dynasty before this title really

came into use. It would, eventually, replace the Horus-name as mostimportant official royal name.

The Prenomen itself almost always contained the name of the godRe. Typical examples are "pleasing to the heart of Re" (Amenemhat

I) and "lord of the cosmic order is Re" (Amenhotep III). One of thefirst cases of Re as an element in a kings name is with Khephren ofthe 4th Dynasty (Khaf-Re).

The title "King of Upper- and Lower-Egypt" can sometimes be

followed by the phrase "the Lord of the Two Lands", whichsometimes even replaces it entirely. A queen can be called "the

Mistress of the Two Lands".


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e) The nomen

The nomen is introduced by the epithet "son of Re". It wasadded to the royal titulary in the beginning of the 4th Dynasty. It was

from that time on that the royal titulary became established in the

form discussed here.The name following this title was, as a rule, the kings name of birth.

It is almost the equivalent of our family name, for the 11th Dynastyaffect the names Antef and Mentuhotep, the 12th Dynasty the namesAmenemhat and Sesostris, the 13th Dynasty shows several kings of

the name Sebekhotep and the 18th Dynasty consists almost entirelyof ruler named Amenhotep or Thutmosis.

Sometimes, the phrase "the good god" is placed before thenomen of the king, in addition to or in place of the "son of Re".

Another title sometimes placed between "son of Re" and the actual

nomen was "lord of the apparitions", sometimes also

translated as "lord of the crowns". This title again confirms the

narrow link between the king and the sun: the kings apparition onthe throne is compared to the rising of the sun on the Eastern

horizon.

From the later half of the Old Kingdom on, the principal name is thePrenomen, and this is often found alone or accompanied only by thenomen. The Horus-name would serve only rarely for identification

purposes.Both Prenomen and nomen are almost invariably written within

"cartouches" or "royal rings". The cartouche depicts a loop formed

by a rope, the ends tied together so as to offer to the spectator the

appearance of a straight line: . Strictly speaking this loop

should be round as it conveys the notions of "eternity" and"encompassing the entire creation". It is elongated and oval because

of the length of the hieroglyphic names enclosed in it. Intranscription, it is a good practice to indicate a cartouche by

parenthesis: (ppy), Pepi.Occasionally, one may find the name of a god or goddess in acartouche. This was especially the case for Osiris-Onnophris and Isis

in the temple inscriptions of the Greek-Roman Period.

Cartouches were often followed by either a wish-formula such

as "livingeternally" or "bestowed with eternal life",or by a phrase which relates the king to a particular deity, for

instance "beloved by Amun-Re". Note the honorifictransposition whereby the name of Amun-Re was moved to the startof the phrase.

3) Some royal names

We will now proceed with a list of prenomen and nomen of some of

the most popular kings. It is possible that you do not know all thesigns, but it should be possible to derive the value of some unknown

signs through the transcription that is provided. It should be noted


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that for most, if not all names provided here, there are several

variants.

Cheops (Khufu)

xwfwKhufu (Greek version: Cheops).

This name is an abbreviation for Xnmw-xw=f, "Khnum is his

protector".

Chefren (Khafre)

xa=f raKhafre (Greek version: Chefren).

This name means "Re appears".

Mykerinos (Menkaure)

mn-kA.w-raMenkaure (Greek version: Mykerinos)

This name means "The Kas of Re remain". Note that repeating a sign

three times indicates a plural, which, in transcription is rendered as

.w.

Neferirkare

nsw-bi.tj (nfr-ir-kA-ra) sA ra (kAkAi)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Neferirkare), the son of Re

(Kakai).Neferirkare means "It is good what the Ka of Re has done". Kakai isprobably the king's personal name. Neferirkare is the oldest knownking to have had a prenomen and a nomen.

Unas

wnisUnas.

Pepi I


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nsw-bi.tj (mry-ra) sA ra (ppj)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Merire), the son of Re (Pepi)

Merire means "Beloved of Re".

Pepi II

nsw-bi.tj (nfr-kA-ra) sA ra (ppj)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Neferkare), the son of Re (Pepi)Neferkare means "The Ka of Re is beautiful".

Mentuhotep II

nsw-bi.tj (nb-xrw-ra) sA ra (mnTw-Htp)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Nebkherure), the son of Re(Mentuhotep)Nebkherure means "Re is the master of the voice". Mentuhotepmeans "(the war-god) Mentu is at peace".

Amenemhat I

nsw-bi.tj (sHtp-ib-ra) sA ra (imn-m-HA.t)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Sehetepibre), the son of Re(Amenemhat)

Sehetepibre means "The one who appeases the heart of Re".Amenemhat means "Amun is the foremost".

Sesostris I

nsw-bi.tj (xpr-kA-ra) sA ra (s-n-wsr.t) The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Kheperkare), the son of Re

(Senuseret).

Kheperkare means "The Ka of Re has come into being". Senuseret

(Greek version: Sesostris) means "The man of Useret". Useret is areference to a goddess meaning "the strong one". It is oftenassumed that Useret refers to Hathor.

Sesostris III

nsw-bi.tj (xa-kA.w-ra) sA ra (s-n-wsr.t)


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The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Khakawre), the son of Re

(Senuseret).Khakawre means "The Kas of Re have appeared".

Amenemhat III

nsw-bi.tj (n-mAa.t-ra) sA ra (imn-m-HA.t)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Nimaatre), the son of Re

(Amenemhat).

Nimaatre means "The one who belongs to Maat is Re".

Seqenenre

nsw-bi.tj (sqnn-ra) sA ra (tA-aA qn)

The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Seqenenre), the son of Re (Taathe Valiant).

Seqenenre means "The one whom Re has made valiant".

Ahmose

nsw-bi.tj (nb-pH.t-ra) sA ra (iaH-ms)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Neb-peht-Re), the son of Re(Iahmes).

Neb-peht-Re means "Re is the master of Force". Iahmes means "themoon has born (him)".

Amenhotep I

nsw-bi.tj (Dsr-kA-ra) sA ra (imn-Htp)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Djeserkare), the son of Re

(Amenhotep).Djeserkare means "the Ka of Re is holy". Amenhotep means "Amun isat peace".

Thutmosis I

nsw-bi.tj (aA-xpr-kA-ra) sA ra (DHwtj-ms)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Aakheperkare), the son of Re

(Thutmosis).Aakheperkare means "The shape of Re is great". Thutmosis means

"Thot has born (him)".


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Thutmosis III

nsw-bi.tj (mn-xpr-ra) sA ra (DHwtj-ms HqA-wAs.t)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Menkheperre), the son of Re

(Thutmosis, ruler of Waset).Menkheperre means "The shape of Re remains". Waset was the

Ancient Egyptian name for Thebes.

Hatshepsut

nsw-bi.tj (mAa.t-kA-ra) sA ra (Xnm.t-imn HA.t-Sps.wt)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Maatkare), the son of Re (Joinedwith Amun, Hatshepsut).Maatkare means "Maat is the Ka of Re". Hatshepsut means

"Foremost of the noble ladies".

Amenhotep III

nsw-bi.tj (nb-mAa.t-ra) sA ra (imn-Htp)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Nebmaatre), the son of Re

(Amenhotep).Nebmaatre means "Re is the master of Maat".

Amenhotep IV / Akhenaten

nsw bi.tj (nfr-xpr.w-ra wa-n-ra) sA ra (imn-Htp nTr-HqA-wAs.t) sA ra (Ax-n-itn)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Neferkheperure Waenre), theson of Re (Amenhotep, de god who rules in Waset). This nomen waslater replaced by the following: the son of Re (Akhenaten).Neferkheperure means "the shapes of Re are beautiful". Waenre

means "The One of Re". Akhenaten means "Ray of the Sun".

Tutankhamun

nsw-bi.tj (nb-xpr.w-ra) sA ra (twt-anx-imn)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Nebkheperure), the son of Re

(Tutankhamun).

Nebkheperure means "Re is the master of shapes". Note that threestrokes can also be used to indicate a plural. Tutankhamun means


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"the living statue of Amun".

Seti I

nsw-bi.tj (mn-mAa.t-ra) sA ra (mrj-n-ptH stXj)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Menmaatre), the son of Re

(beloved of Ptah, Seti).Menmaatre means "The Maat of Re remains". Seti means "The one of

Seth).

Ramesses II

nsw-bi.tj (wsr-mAa.t-ra stp-n-ra) sA ra (mrj-imn ra-ms-

sw)

The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Usermaatre Setepenre), the sonof Re (beloved of Amun, Ramesses).Usermaatre means "The Maat of Re is Strong". Setepenre means

"The chosen one of Re". Ramesses means "Re has born him". Notehow in the second cartouches the signs representing Amun and Re

are placed together, making this variant of Ramesses' name a

wordplay on the name of Amun-Re.

Ramesses III

nsw-bi.tj (wsr-mAa.t-ra mrj-imn) sA ra (ra-ms-sw HqA-iwnw)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Usermaatre, beloved of Amun),

the son of Re (Ramesses, the ruler of Iunu).Iunu was the Ancient Egyptian name of Heliopolis.

Ramesses IV

nsw-bi.tj (wsr-mAa.t-ra stp-n-imn) sA ra (mrj-imn ra-ms-s HqA-mAa.t)

The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Usermaatre Setepenamun), theson of Re (beloved of Amun, Ramesses, ruler (in) Maat).Setepenamun means "the chosen one of Amun".

Ramesses IX

nsw-bi.tj (nfr-kA-ra stp-n-ra) sA ra (ra-ms-s xa-wAs.t


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mrr-imn)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Neferkare Setepenre), the son of

Re (Ramesses, who appears (in) Waset, beloved of Amun).

Psametikos I

nsw-bi.tj (wAH-ib-ra) sA ra (psmTk)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Wahibre), the son of Re(Psamtek).Wahibre means "the heart of Re endures".

Neko II

nsw-bi.tj (whm-ib-ra) sA ra (nkAw)

The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Wehemibre), the son of Re(Nekau).Wehemibre means "the heart of Re is repeated".

Amasis

nsw-bi.tj (Xnm-ib-ra) sA ra (iaH-ms sA-nt)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Khenemibre), the son of Re

(Iahmes, son of Neith).Khenemibre means "Joined (with) the heart of Re".

Nectanebo I

nsw-bi.tj (xpr-kA-ra) sA ra (nxt-nb=f)The King of Upper and Lower Egypt (Kheperkare), the son of Re(Nekhetnebef).

Nekhetnebef (Greek version: Nectanebo) means "His master is

victorious".


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b)

c)

Solutions to Exercise VI

1)

Pepi II:

a) Golden name: Hr nbw sxm Golden Horus, the powerful one

b) Horus-name: Hr nTr xa.w Horus, the god of appartionsc) Prenomen: nsw-bi.tj (nfr-kA-ra) The King of Upper and LowerEgypt (Neferkare)


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d) Nebti-name: nb.tj nTr xa.w The Two Ladies, the god ofappartions

e) Nomen: sA ra (ppj) The son of Re (Pepi)

Mentuhotep III:

f) Prenomen: nsw-bi.tj (sanx-kA-ra) The King of Upper and

Lower Egypt (Seankhkare)g) Nomen: sA ra (mnTw-Htp) The son of Re (Mentuhotep)

h) Horus-name: Hr sanx tA.wj=f Horus, who lets his Two Landslive

i) Nebti-name: nb.tj sanx tA.wj=f The Two Ladies, the one wholets his Two Lands live

j) Golden name: Hr nbw Htp Golden Horus, the one who issatisfied

2)

a) (wsr-mAa.t-ra stp-n-ra) (Usermaatre Setepenre), the

prenomen of Ramesses II on an architrave in the Great HypostyleHall of the temple of Amun at Karnak.

b) (DHwtj-ms xa-xa.w) (Thutmosis, shining of appartions), thenomen of Thutmosis IV on a block in the Open Air Museum at

Karnak.

c) (xpr-kA-ra) (Kheperkare), the prenomen of Sesostris I on theWhite Chapel, not reconstructed in the Open Air Museum at Karnak.

Lesson VII : Numbers and dates

1) Whole numbers and fractions.

The Ancient Egyptian numeric system consisted of a sign for units,

and special signs for the various powers of ten.


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Units Tens Hundreds

Thousands Tenthousands Hundredthousands

Millions

Whole numbers were written by using as many of these signs as

needed to make up the total number, starting with the highest. Thus

the number 5 was written by repeating the unit-sign 5 times: ; 50

by repeating the sign for "tens" 5 times: ; and 55 by repeating

the sign for "tens" 5 times, followed by 5 times the unit-sign:. The latter could be interpreted as (5 times 10) + (5 times 1) = 55.

Care must be taken not to confuse the number 1 with the

determinative stroke mentioned in Lesson IV.

The sign for million, which also means "many" and "infinity", earlyfell into disuse. Higher numbers and values were sometimes written

in a different way: means 4 times 100,000 = 400,000.

The numeric system did not include a decimal point. Decimal

numbers were written as fractions. With the exception of 1/2, 2/3

and 3/4, fractions were always written using the sign ,

combined with a whole number, to convey the meaning 1/x. E.g.

means 1/5. This example can be transcribed both as r-5 and

as 1/5.

Fractions with numerators bigger than 1 were written as a sum of

fractions with numerators equal to 1. Thus 2/5 was written as

. Complex fractions were always broken down to the

simplest sum of 1/x type fractions. 3/8 was written as ,

1/4 + 1/8 and not by repeating the group for 1/8 three times.

The already mentioned exceptions to this rule are 1/2, which is

written as , 2/3 and 3/4 .


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2) The use of numbers to indicate amounts.

Amounts were written after the word of which they render theamount. The word to which the number is added, is normally written

in singular. Some examples follow:

ds 2, "two jugs"

HfAw 75, "75 snakes"

s 2, "two men"...

3) Dates

The Ancient Egyptians used three different kinds of calendars: an

agricultural, a lunar and an astronomical. The latter two weremainly used for liturgical purposes and were mostly limited to

temples. Thus the lunar calendar was used to make specific ritualsfor lunar gods, such as Khonsu, coincide with specific lunar phases.

The agricultural calendar, on the other hand, was used to date all

kinds of events, documents, It divided the year into 3 seasons of

4 months:

Ax.t, the season of inundation

pr.t, the season of sowing

Smw, the season of harvesting (summer).

Although months had names they were only rarely used in dates.

Most often, months numbered from the start of each season on; e.g.

ibd 3 (n) Ax.t, "the third month of Akhet" or "thethird month of inundation". The word for month is transcribed ibd

or Abd and was written using a sign that represents a part of themoon.

Each month was divided into 30 days. Days were counted from the

beginning of each month on. E.g. ibd 3 (n)


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Smw ssw 25, "the 3rd month of Shemu, the 25th day". The wordfor "day" in dates can be either ssw or hrw. When it is only writtenusing the sign that represents the solar disk, one can chose betweeneither two of them.

The Egyptian year thus counted 12 months of 30 days, or 360 days

in total, to which 5 so-called "epagomenal" days were added tomake the year correspond more or less to the solar cycle.

In theory, the first day of the first month ofAx.t was supposed tocoincide with the start of the annual inundation of the Nile. There

were no leap years, so the agricultural calendar lacked one dayevery four years. For this reason, the 1st day of the 1st month of

Ax.t could fall on any day of our calendar.

From the Middle Kingdom on, years were numbered starting the

accession to the throne of a new king. A regnal year was written as

, HA.t-sp, followed by the number of that year; e.g. ,HA.t-sp 15. The regnal year can be followed by a more precisedate, following the agricultural calendar, and the name of a king.

The name of the king could simply be his prenomen or his nomen,

but it could also be his full titulary.

E.g. HA.t-sp 2, ibd3 (n) Ax.t, ssw 1 xr Hm n (n-mAa.t-ra), Year 2, the 3rdmonth (of) Akhet, the first day under the Majesty of (Ni-Maat-Re).


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Exercise VII

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)


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Solutions to Exercise VII

1) 966

2) 152,128

3) 18

4) 26

5) 26. Note that the disposition of the signs is different but that the

number is the same is in the previous exercise.

6) 5 + 1/2 + 1/7 + 1/14 = 5 + 5/7

7) 2 + 1/2 + 1/14 + 1/28 = 2 + 6/7

8) 2 + 2/3 + 1/6 + 1/12 + 1/36 + 1/54 = 2 + 26/27

9) r-9 n 9 m 1 : 1/9 of 9 (is) as 1.

10) HA.t-sp 24 ibd 2 (n) pr.t hrw 30 xr nsw-bi.tj (mn-xpr-ra), year 24, month 2 (of) Peret, day 30 under the King of Upperand Lower Egypt (Menkheperre).


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Lesson VIII : Names and titles of Gods

In this lesson you will learn to recognise the names of some of

Ancient Egypt's most popular gods and the epithets (titles) that very

often accompanied these names. The reader should be aware that

the names and epithets presented here can be and were written inmany different ways. This lesson covers the most frequent spellings.

1. Some more general epithets

Some epithets had a more general nature and applied to a wide

range of gods or goddesses. As the Ancient Egyptians loved

stereotypes, such epithets occur throughout religious texts. Some ofthe most recurring epithets are:

y , nb p.t, "lord of the heavens" (gods); ,nb.t p.t, "mistress of the heavens" (goddesses)

y , nb mAa.t, "lord of the cosmic order". Thisepithet is often used for creator-gods or gods related to

justice.

y , nTr aA, "the great god"y , Hnw.t nTr.w, "mistress of the gods"y , xpr Ds=f, "who created himself". This is

usually applied to a creator-god.

2. Some gods and their epithets

, imn, is the most common way to write the name of Amun.

Variant writings may add different determinatives to this name:

, , or the more generic determinative for a god . Amun's

name can also me written using the first two determinatives alone.Associated with the solar god Re, Amun became a solar god himself,

named , imn-ra, Amun-Re.The most common titles for Amun (-Re) are:


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y , imn-ra nsw nTr.w, "Amun-Re, king ofthe gods". This combination was so frequent, that it becamethe name of a manifestation of Amun-Re: Amunrasonther.

y, nb ip.t-s.wt, "lord of Ipet-Sut". Ipet-Sutis one of the names of Amun's temple at Karnak. It means

"the (most) secret of places".

y , nb wAs.t, "lord of Waset (=Thebes)"

y , nb ns.wt tA.j, "lord of the Thrones of theTwo Lands". The "Thrones of the Two Lands" is a reference toAmun's principal temple at Karnak.

, inpw, Anubis. Variant writings may use different

determinatives: , , His most common epithets are:

y , imj-wt, "the one who is in Ut". "Ut" refers tothe embalming tent.

y , tpj-Dw=f, "the one who is on his mountain"

, transcribed is.t or As.t, is the wife ofOsiris and the motherof Horus, Isis.

, wsir, is the most common way to write the name ofOsiris. Aplayful writing found mostly in Thebes during the Greek-Roman era

combines part of the name of Thebes with part of the name ofOsirs:

.One of his most common titles is:

y , nb AbDw, "the lord of Abedju (=Abydos)


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, ptH, Ptah, was the primary god of Memphis.

, mAa.t, Maat, the goddess representing the cosmicorder.

, mw.t, is Amun's wife, "Mut". Her name literally means"mother". One of her most common titles is:

y nb.t iSrw, "the mistress of Isheru", whereIsheru is the name of Mut's sanctuary south of Amun's greattemple at Karnak.

, ra, Re. Variant writings may either abbreviate this name to

or even , or add some determinatives: .

Alternative determinatives are or . The latter determinative

may also be used to refer to this god. The name of Re is combined

with the names of different other gods who gain a solar aspect bythis association.

, Hw.t-Hr, Hathor, the goddess of love, music andprocreation. Among her epithets, we find:

y , nb.t iwn.t, "mistress of Iunet (=Dendara)"

, Hr, is the god of kingship, Horus, the son ofOsiris and Isis.Such was his popularity, that different manifestations were

worshiped as individual gods. Here are the names of some of the


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more popular manifestations:

y , Hr-Ax.tj, "Harakhte", or "Horus of the horizon",a reference to Horus as the rising sun. This name is often

combined with the name of the solar god Re as , ra-

Hr-Ax.tj, Re-Harakhte, "Re-Horus of the horizon". Note that

Ax.tj can also be written as .

y , Hr-wr, Haroris, or "Horus the Old", referring tothe grown up Horus who has avenged his father.

y , Hr-pA-Xrd, Harpocrates, or"Horus the Child", the young Horus

y , Hr-sA-is.t, Harsisis, or "Horus, the son ofIsis"

, xnsw, is a lunar-deity considered to be the son ofAmun at Thebes, Khonsu. The actual translation of his name is not

known. Khonsu is sometimes associated with Re as ,

xnsw-ra, Khonsu-Re, making him the god of the two mostimportant celestial bodies. He is also often associated with another

important lunar god, Thot , xnsw-DHwtj,Khonsu-Thot.

, sxm.t, Sekhmet, "the powerful one".

, or more frequent , DHwtj, Thot, the god of wisdom,justice and writing.


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Exercise VIII

Transcribe and translate the following names and epithets. Note

that the given examples are ficticious.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)


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Solutions to Exercise VIII

1) wsir nTr aA nb AbDw, Osiris, the great god, lord of Abydos

2) inpw tpj Dw=f imj wt, Anubis, who is upon his mountain,who is in the embalming tent

3) Hr nb p.t, Horus, lord of the sky

4) Hw.t-Hr nb(.t) p.t nb.t iwn.t, Hathor, mistress of the sky,mistress of Dendara

5) imn-ra nTr aA nb ip.t-s.wt, Amun-Re, the great god, lord ofKarnak

6) ptH nb mAa.t, Ptah, lord of Maat

7) imn-ra-nsw-nTr.w nTr aA nb p.t nb wAs.t,Amunrasonther, the great god, lord of the heaven, lord of Thebes.


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Lesson IX : A typical offering formula

The Ancient Egyptian society was a very traditional one. This

explains the love of the Ancient Egyptians for repetition and

stereotypes. Quite often, many texts that have been discovered thus

far are variations on texts that have been discovered before. This

makes it easier to fill in the gaps, or to read words that have beenwritten with different or previously unknown signs.

Nowhere is this love for stereotypes more obvious and present than

in religious texts. This is not surprising, as religion in general tendsto be conservative and traditional. This lesson will use the

knowledge acquired in the previous lessons to explain the standard

structure of a funerary offering formula known as Hetep-di-nesu. Asit was a funerary formula, it can be found in tombs, on lintels of

doorways, on false doors, on stelae, ... Most museums with anEgyptian collection at least have a couple of objects with this

formula.

The formula consists of different parts:

1. The introduction is invariably , to be read Htp dinsw, "an offering which the king gives". Note how the

abbreviation for king, , (n)sw(.t), is moved to the frontof the group for honorific reasons. This word is notnecessarily abbreviated.The triangular sign representing the word (r)DI, "to give", issometimes written at the end of the group, which isgrammatically correct, or just after the abbreviation for king.In the latter case, the scribe has preferred to move the sign

to the front for esthetic reasons.This phrase is of great antiquity and has been found from the

Old Kingdom on. It suggests that, at least at its origin, this

type of funerary offering was a special favour from the kingfor the deceased, in that it is the king and not the deceased

who presents the offering.

2. Next, the names and sometimes titles of one of more gods aregiven. Typically, funerary gods such as Osiris or Anubis can be

invoked, although gods that do not have a direct relationship

with the funerary cult may also be prominent. The latterindicates a special relationship between that god and the

deceased.The meaning of the presence of this list of gods can vary.

Either the king presents the offerings to these gods, in which

case the preposition , n, "to" may or may not be written;or the gods also participate in presenting the offering. As arule of thumb, texts from the Middle Kingdom on usually have

the king as sole actor making the offering to the gods,

whereas during the Old Kingdom, the gods activelyparticipated in the offering.


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3. This can be followed by a conjugated form of the verb "to

give". If only the king gives the offering, then the form ,DI=f, "that he may give" is used. If the gods also play an

active part in the offering, then DI=sn, "that theymay give", is used.When this part of the formula is lacking, it is safe to assume

that only the king presents the offering if the text dates from

the Middle Kingdom or later.

4. The actual list of offerings is then given. This list is very

variable and would probably depend on the wealth of thedeceased, his or her personal preferences and perhaps evenon the gods that are mentioned. Typical offerings that arementioned are:

, pr.t-xrw, "invocation-offerings" (literally: "the comingout of the voice")

, t, "bread"

, H(n)q.t, "beer"

, kA.w, "(meat of) bulls"

, Apd.w, "(meat of) birds"

, x.t nb.t nfr.t, "every good thing", sometimes with the

additional adjective , wab.t, "pure". This part of the

offering can be followed by the phrase , anx.t

nTr im, "in which the god lives".A mention of the amount of these offerings is sometimes also

provided; e.g. , Apd.w 1000, "a thousand birds".

5. The last part of the formula usually starts with , n kA n,"to the Ka of" or "on behalf of the Ka of", followed by the

titulary and name of the deceased. In some cases, n kA n, "tothe kA of" is not mentioned and the formula proceeds with

the identification of the deceased..

Often, this will start with , imAxj, "venerable", an

honorary title used for deceased people. This can sometimes


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be followed by , xr, "by" or "with", and the name of agod such as Anubis.The name of the deceased itself can be followed by the

indication , mAa xrw, "true of voice" or "justified", yet

another way of expressing that the person is deceased. Insome cases, this may be followed by the mention of the name

of the mother or father of the deceased.

Despite the traditional nature of the Ancient Egyptian society, it is

clear that this formula allowed for many variations: the list of godsthat were included, the choice of their titulary, the list of actual

offerings and the titles of the deceased can all be used to createindividual instances of the Hetep-di-nesu formula.

Exercise IX

The object of this exercise is to try to recognize the different parts of

the Hetep-di-nesu formula on the picture below. The picturerepresents a stela from a man named Senuseret (can you find his

name?) on display at the Louvre. It was scanned from Christianne

Ziegler e.a., Le Louvre.Lesantiquits gyptiennes, Editions Scalla,1997, p. 37.


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The two top lines of this stela read as follows (from right to left).

Htp DI nsw(n) wsir nb imn.t tA-nTr nb AbDw


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Solutions to Exercise IX

The standard parts of the formula are underlined in red on the black-and-white

version of the picture.


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Htp DI nsw(n) wsir nb imn.t tA-nTr nb AbDw


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The standard parts of the formula are underlined in red on the black-and-whiteversion of the picture.

Solutions to Exercise IX


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Htp DI nsw

(n) wsir nb imn.t tA-nTr nb AbDwpr.t-xrw 1000 kA.w Apd.w x.t nb(.t) nfr(.t) wab(.t)

n imAxj xr inpw tp(j) Dw=f sDAw.tj bi.tj smr wa.tj imj-rAaXn.tjw s-n-wsr.t mAa-xrw

An offering that the king gives

(to) Osiris, the lord of the West of Ta-Netjer, the lord of Abydos,

1000 invocation-offerings, bulls and birds and every good and pure thing,on behalf of the one who is venerable with Anubis, who is upon his mountain,

the royal seal-bearer, the sole friend (of the king), the overseer of the royal

audience room, Senuseret, true of voice.

Also note that in the vertical column just in front of Senuseret, his name is

mentioned again.

Lesson X : Funerary statues

Another frequently occurring formula can be found mainly on a typeof funerary statues known as Ushebties.Ushebties are usually mummiform statues made out of stone, woodor faience, of varying size and quality. The crudest ones are barelyrecognizable as Ushebties and the typical formula is sometimes

lacking or unreadable. Others are of such high quality that they canbe counted as being among the finest examples of Ancient Egyptian

art.

Ushebties owe their name to their function: the word

wSb.tj comes from the verb wSb, "to answer" and

literally means "the one who answers", for if called upon to do sometask for their (deceased) owner, they would answer and fulfill their

chore. In their hands, Ushebties often hold agricultural or other

tools, the tools that they need to complete their tasks.In Ancient Egyptian texts, Ushebties are sometimes also called

SAwAb.tj or SAb.tj, both forms

being derived from the original wSb.tj. In modern-day literature,Ushebties are sometimes also referred to in modern-day texts as


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Shabties or Shawabties.

The text on Ushebties can vary from nonexistent to quite verbose.

Ushebties without any text can only be identified because of theirshape, the presence of tools (if any) and the archaeological context

in which they are found.

Text can be written in a single column on the front and/or back of

the statue, or in multiple rows across the front and back, dependingon the length of the formula and the size of the Ushebtie inquestion.

The following elements are usually present in the short formulafound on Ushebties:

* sHD, "Illuminate".

* wsir, "Osiris". The deceased is normally associated with thegod Osiris.* Name of the deceasedThe name of the deceased can sometimes be preceded by his

titulary, and followed by , mAa-xrw, "true of voice", anindication that the deceased has passed the judgment of the dead.

In addition, the name of the deceased can also be followed by

ms or more complete ms n, "born of" and the name of thedeceased's mother. The name of the father is but rarely mentioned.

The longer formula has more elements and there is a lot more

variation possible:

i wSb.tj, "O, Ushebtie".

ir ipw wsir NN, "if Osiris NN calls", where NNrepresents the name of the deceased. As was the case with the

shorter formula, the name of the deceased is usually preceded by

the name of the funerary god Osiris. A titulary can sometimes alsobe present and is written between the name Osiris and the name of

the deceased.

r ir.t kA.t nb(.t) irj m Xr.t-nTr, "to do any task that is done in the underworld". This generaldescription can be followed by some more specific tasks that the

Ushebtie can be required to do. It should be noted that the presence

of agricultural objects in the hands of the Ushebtie does not perdefinition imply that the tasks would be limited to the argricultural.

mk wi, "behold, I am (here)". This part can be

preceded by Dd=k, "you shall say". It can be omitted in

abbreviated versions of the longer formula.

The longer formula is also referred to in modern literature as


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chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. Both formulas can also be

combined into one, which increases the number of possiblevariations of the formula. For the standard parts of all formulae

provided here, variant spellings are, of course, always possible.

Exercise X

1) Identify the type of formula below, and identify its standard parts.

Can you also indicate the name of the owner and tell whether or nothis mother was named?

2) Identify the type of formula below, and identify its standard parts.


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3) Identify the type of formula below. You will normallly not be able

to identify all standard parts, as some different words are used. Who

did this Ushebtie belong to?


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Solutions to Exercise X

1) This exercise represents the shorter formula. The name of thedeceased's mother is mentionned at the end.

The transcription and translation of the text go as follows:

sHD wsir irw ms n tA-Xbs

Illuminate Osiris Iru born ofTakhebes.

2) This exercise represents the longer type of formula, as youprobably already derived by its length. The standard parts of the

formula are underlined in red:


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i wSb.tj.w ipt ir ip.wj wsir imj-r p(r) n dwA.t-nTr p(A)-di-

n.t r ir.t kA.t nb(.t) m Xr.t-nTr iS.tw sDb.wim m s r Xr.wt=f mk wi sw///.tw tn ip.tw tn ir//////w ir im r srwd

sx.t ir ir mH wDb.wjr Xnt Sa.j n imn.t(j).t r iAb.t(j).tmk wi

tn

O, Ushebties, if Osiris, the overseer of the house of the DivineAdoratrice, Pa-di-Neith, calls you

to do any task in the underworld, (if) obstacles are imposed

there like a man who has his duties, behold you will/// you shall make yourselves accountable and do ///

/// what is done there, by cultivatingthe fields, by irrigating the banks

and by transporting sand from the West to the East

(you shall say:) "Behold, here I am".

Note that the text calls upon Ushebties in plural. It has been foundon an Ushebti that is likely to be considered as the chief of some

other Ushebties. It is dated to the later part of the Late Dynastic


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Period (26th Dynasty or later).

3) This text is a variation on both types of formula. The presence of

the cartouches should already have shown you that this is a royalUshebti. It belonged to Tutankhamun. In red, I have indicated the

words that you should normally have been able to recognise.


Dd in wsir nsw (nb-xpr.w-ra) sHD

SAb.tj ipn irj Hsb irj aS.twip.t(w) wsir nsw (twt-anx-imn HqA iwnw Sma)

m Xr.t-nTr r ssrd sx.t r smHj wDb.wr Xnt Sa n iAb.t r imn.t

Said by Osiris, the king (Neb-kheperu-re), who illuminates :

"These ushebties, if one reckons, if one criesor one calls Osiris, the king (Tutankhamun, the ruler of Southern

Heliopolis)

in the underworld, to cultivate the fields, to irrigate the banksor to transport sand from East to West".

This concludes the introductory course to the language of theAncient Egyptians. If you have gone through all the lessons, youshould now be able to distinguish between the different types ofsigns, transcribe most texts, recognise royal names, names of gods

and some stereotype formulae.

For those who wish to study hieroglyphs beyond this introduction,there is a list of recommended books at

http://www.geocities.com/amenhotep.geo/bib/ in the section"Language".


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Writing inAncient Egypt

The Ancient Egyptian

civilisation was one of the first,

if not indeed the first, to gobeyond the mere pictorialrepresentation of events and to

develop some kind of writing.

The oldest known samples ofAncient Egyptian writing were

discovered in Abydos and are

dated to 3.100 BC or before.They are the oldest samples of

writing known to mankind upto now.

Coloured hieroglyphs from a royal tomb at

the Valley of the Kings.

Throughout their more than

3.000 year long history, the

Ancient Egyptians developedand used three kinds ofwriting: hieroglyphic, hieratic

and demotic.

HIEROGLYPHIC

The writing most commonlyassociated with the Ancient

Being handwriting, hieratic

would change and evolve over

time. The hieroglyphic basis ofhieratic would, however,

always remain present. Mosthieratic texts are therefore

transcribed into hieroglyphic by

modern-day researchers.

Hieratic was originally mainlyused in administrative texts,

but because it was morepractical and less time-consuming than hieroglyphics,it found its way into literature,

wisdom texts and evenreligious writings. From the

25th/26th Dynasty on, its usewould become more and more

restricted to religious texts. It

was normally written using areed brush on sheets of

papyrus, but hieratic writing is

also seen on tissues, pieces ofcloth, and occasionally on other

substrates. Like hieroglyphic

writing, it could originally bewritten in rows or columns. In

time, however, the writingorientation would become

standardised and hieratic

would only be written in rowsfrom right to left.

DEMOTIC

Demotic evolved from an even

more cursive form of hieratic

and became the standard forthe administration from the25th or 26th Dynasty on.

Contrary to hieratic, demotictexts are normally not


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Egyptians is called

hieroglyphic, a name thatcomes from the Greek words

hieros (sacred) and glypho

(inscription). It consists of alarge variety of images

representing sounds as well as

ideas and actions. The imageswere normally clearly drawn,although the amount of detail

would depend on such mattersas the size of the signs, the

available time to actually write

the texts, and personal taste.Thus the quality of writing can

vary from exquisitely carvedsigns to clumsily drawn ink

marks.

The entire scene symbolises the unity of

Upper- and Lower-Egypt.

Its versatile nature allowed it

to be written in rows or incolumns, oriented from right toleft or from left to right. All

signs are normally positioned

as if looking towards thebeginning of the text. Just how

versatile this orientation was,is shown in the many temple

reliefs that show a king facing

one or more gods. The textsshare the orientation of the

representations they

accompany and like the kingfaces the gods, so do their

respective texts.

Hieroglyphic writing was used

from the end of Prehistory,until 396 AD, when the last

hieroglyphic text was writtenon the walls of the temple of

Isis on the island Philae. It was

used in many differentsituations; for monumental

transcribed into hieroglyphics

prior to translation because itis often impossible to relate a

demotic sign to a hieroglyphic

counterpart. Sometimes onehieroglyphic sign would be

written as a group of demotic

signs; or a group ofhieroglyphic signs would mergeinto one single demotic sign.

Deeply carved hieroglyphs in the temple ofRamesses III at Medinet Habu. The text is

part of the ritual scene where the king,

burns some incense for Amun-Ra.

The variety of possible readings

for one single demotic sign is

far greater than with anyhieroglyphic sign. As a further

evolution of hieratic, demotic

was only written in rows fromright to left. Older demotic

texts were written with a reed

brush, but from the Ptolemaicera on, the reed pen would be

favoured. Demotic was mostlyused for administrative and

private texts, but also for some

stories and quite exceptionally

in inscriptions. The last knowndemotic text is an inscription in

the temple of Philae, dated tothe 5th century AD.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

HIEROGLIPHIC, HIERATIC &

DEMOTIC

It is important to note that no


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inscriptions on walls of temples

and tombs, on furniture,statues, papyrus, jewellery,

sarcophagi and coffins,

amongst others. It could eitherbe carved into a hard surface,

or written in ink. In time, its

use would become more andmore restricted to religioustexts on temples or in tombs,

or to official royal decrees.

HIERATIC

The earliest known examples ofhieratic are only slightly more

recent than hieroglyphic. It is amore cursive form of

hieroglyphic, the result of

quickly drawing signs by hand

on a sheet of papyrus with areed brush. Here the original

hieroglyphic signs werereduced to their simplest form.Some common signs could even

be reduced to a simple stroke,smaller signs would become

mere dots or would becombined into one new sign.

single type of writing

would entirely replaceanother, but it would

merely restrict the other

writings to specific domainsand be restricted itself to other

domains. Thus demotic would

become the writing of theadministration from the 26thDynasty on, but it did not

entirely replace hieratic as ahandwriting, which was still

being used in religious texts.

Hieratic, on its part, did notreplace hieroglyphic either.

From its beginnings it was

hieroglyphic, but more cursive,and written by a speedier hand

than hieroglyphic. As the two

writings evolved, practicalitycaused hieratic to be used

when a text need not bewritten in the slow but detailedhieroglyphic signs. Therefore

hieratic was used in suchcontexts as administrativetexts; texts that were not to beinscribed on monuments orfunerary objects and texts thatmattered for their contents

only.(Jacques Kinnaer)

hieroghlyphs 2

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