Looking at some of the ancient objects found at for instance Hierakonpolis it may be interesting to find examples of the oldest form of hieroglyphs and see how they are used. We are looking at examples of interest in relationship to Architecture.
Note: this is not meant to be a complete list of hieroglyphs, please refer to the Resources link at the bottom for sites that offer more.
I'm not entirely sure but the falcon on top of the serekh often seems to hold something in one of its claws. Sometimes it looks like an ankh, sometimes it looks more line a twig. In this example it looks more like an ankh. This artefact is a vessel fragment with the name of king Aha (first dynasty). The other image shows a similar scene but here the bird (falcon) does not seem to be grabbing an ankh, but some other object.
Egyptologists do not have a commonly agreed upon theory about the origins of the ankh. Over the years several theories have been put forth. Below is a list of some of the proposed origins of the ankh:
A union of the male and female. (Thoman Inman, 1869)
The belt buckle of the mother goddess Isis. Similar to the Tyet symbol (also known as the Isis Knot). (Sir Wallis Budge, and later Westendorf)
A sandal strap where the loop is the part wrapping around the ankle. (Sir Alan Gardiner)
The sun crowning over the horizon.
The path of the sun from east to west (with the loop representing the Nile)
A stylized person
A combination of the male and female symbols of Osiris (the cross) and Isis (the oval) respectively, and therefore signifies the union of heaven and Earth.
"Khnum (Khenmew, Khnemu, Khenmu, Chnum), from the Egyptian 'unite', 'join' or 'build', was an ancient deity of fertility, water and the great potter who created children and their ka at their conception.... inundation and silt. Sometimes he was shown with four ram heads, aligning him with the sun god Re, the air god Shu, the earth god Geb and Osiris, lord of the dead. In his four headed form, he was known as Sheft-hat."
D28 is a logogram representing the Ka. It could also be used as a determinant for the Ka. D29 is purely a logogram used to represent the Divine Ka. The direction and precise position of the arms is not known. Some have seen D28 as representing an embrace, while others see it as a gesture of praise or even defensive in nature.
The ka represents a soul or spirit and was part of any human being. In some depictions the ka was created right along with the person by the god Khnum on his potter's weel.
The term ka also appears in the ancient name for the city Memphis (or at least its great temple): Hut-ka-Ptah which means "House of the ka of Ptah". [1]
Tuthmosis III shown offering. This gesture is shown in D39.
D37 and D39 was a determinant meaning to offer. D37 shows an arm and hand offering a stylized loaf of bread. D39 shows an arm and hand with an offering jar. [1] (there are many styles of jars)
These cobras represent the uraeus and Buto respectively.
The Nebty name of a Pharaoh is always listed with the G16 glyph whiuch seems to contain I13 as a component:
Nekhbet, the vulture goddess, represents Upper Egypt and Wadjet, the cobra goddess represents Lower Egypt.
Pronounced pet the sky hieroglyph represents the heavens. This glyph was sometimes decorated with stars. The sky goddess Nut was sometimes depicted in a pose that reminds us of the sky sign[1].
In some depictions the sun disk is shown with a uraeus on both sides. In the depictions of the sun disk as the Aten, the disk with its rays often has a uraeus depicted attached to the bottom center of the disk. The disk is related to the worship of Horus, Re, and later Amun-Re. [1] They could both be used as a logogram or a determinant. N5 may have had a slightly broader meaning. Its meaning may have included time, day, hour, and to rise.
The star is sometimes known as seba. Stars played an important role in the development of the Egyptian calendar. The image of the five pointed star appears on ceilings of tombs and temples. There are for instance examples of the goddess Nut depicted with a dress covered with stars. The goddess Seshat's symbol involved a star. [1]
N14 could also stand for dwa (dua). It was part of the title duat netjer, which is often translated as divide adoratrix and referred to a priestess of Amun.
Phonetically: ta. These glyphs represent land, earth and eternity. One of the main titles of the king was Lord of the Two Lands which was neb tawy in egyptian. The hieroglyphics were a basket (for Neb)
and usually two copies of N17 (or N16) to represent the Two Lands (tawy) - i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt. The female version of the title Nebettawy was written almost the same, except for an extra breadloaf
Determinant and logogram representing foreign land, desert and desert land. The title of the King's Son of Kush (Viceroy) was for instance written sa nsw n Ksh
Double cartouche of the names of the Aten showing 3 references to the horizon.
N27 is a logogram representing the horizon. The horizon appears in the official names of the sungod Aten.
and
The second version being a later form of the name of the Aten, representing the elimination of names of old deities.
Interesting is that in the name of Khufu's pyramid Akhet is written "phonetically":
The bird is a crested ibis and represents the idea of spirit. Here akhet is formed by the glyphs for the crested ibis, the horizon, and the bread loaf (making it a female word?). The natural question would be: does this akhet represent the same idea as the akhet represented by the sun disk emerging from a hill? [3]
The water glyph is a common hieroglyph found in texts. In the scene shown here - usually attributed to Queen Kiya, the secondary wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten - the royal lady is shown in a purification scene with water poured over her head.
Hieroglyphs from the tomb of Seti I - 19th dynasty - ca 1300 BC
Horemheb before Hathor. ca 1320 BCThe goddess Nephthys depicted on a sarcophagus
The name of Hathor actually reads hwt-hor Which means something like "House of Horus". The hieroglyph is the house glyph with Horus as a falcon depicted inside the house.
Nephthys's name is written as a house (manor) with the hieroglyph neb (the basket) on top and a bread glyph to give the female ending. Her name in Egyptian then is nebet-hwt "lady of the manor".
Pharaoh-(King) Semerkhet Vase, from 1st Dynasty, c. 2920 BC. Shows original use as gaming board (with winning) surviving Gamepiece—w:Game piece (hieroglyph).[citation needed] (The translation is at w:Semerkhet.)
Phonetic value htp, (hotep); for content, peace, satisfied, (happy, etc.). Many pharaohs used "Hotep" as part of their name: ex: Amenhotep: for "Amun is Complete", or "(The) Peace of Amun", "Satisfier (of) Amun" (etc.).
Predynastic (late 4th millennium BC) w:Bull Palette, with 3 different styles of Insignia-Carrier; the third one carries the symbol for the "Thunderbolt of Min"-(God Min)(R23)
Predynastic and Narmer Palettes. The w:cosmetic palettes have some of the first uses of hieroglyphs, with the Narmer Palette probably culminating the timeperiod.
Originally, the beginning cosmetic palettes were 'rough', 'crude', in a rhomboidal-shape, unadorned, but later incorporated with a powder mixing circle, and highly thematic, including animal-shaped (w:zoomorphic palettes.
Goddess Seshat, from the Old Kingdom, can be seen on the w:Palermo Stone: "creation of a statue to Goddess Seshat and Mafdet", from Palermo piece, at Palermo Museum (confer with article w:Den (pharaoh)).
2-opposing Stone-weights, an offset handle, and a cutting-tool tip at shaft's end; used for drilling holes into stone, typically small unguent bowls, or larger ceremonial bowls.Probable "drilled" unguent container.
2-opposing Stone-weights, an offset handle, and a cutting-tool tip at shaft's end; used for drilling holes into stone, typically small unguent bowls, or larger ceremonial bowls.
Examples of "sets" of zoomorphic bowls are known from the Old Kingdom time. First drilled, then the outside of the bowl turned into an animal figure.
Ebony Label(tag) of possession of King Den w:Den (pharaoh), c. 3000BC. (Note: Size variation of some hieroglyphs: "Lion-forepart"-
and "branch"-(M3))
Phonetic value an.[2] A determinative for bring, brought, etc. The middle w:register (sculpture), center-right shows the destruction of an enemy stronghold.
Note, as drawn elsewhere (see reference below) this is shown as a triangle with the bottom horizontal, shortest side vertical.
ramp/stair in sed-hed court? ramp to access heights, as in for people or to build pyramids? ramp to the heavens?
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