The Language of the Pyramids: Decoding Hieroglyphics from Ancient Egypt

The pyramids of Egypt stand as monumental testaments to the ingenuity and devotion of the ancient Egyptians. But beyond their grand structures, the walls of these pyramids and their surrounding temples are inscribed with hieroglyphics—messages left behind by the people who built them.

Sacred Symbols of the Pyramid Builders

Hieroglyphics were more than just a form of writing; they carried deep religious and cultural significance. Many inscriptions on pyramids describe the journey of the pharaoh’s soul, offerings to the gods, and the divine nature of kingship. Here are some common hieroglyphs associated with pyramids and their meanings:

• 𓃳 (Ra - The Sun God): A central deity in Egyptian belief, often linked to the pyramid shape, representing the rays of the sun guiding the pharaoh’s soul.
• 𓂀 (Wedjat - The Eye of Horus): A symbol of protection and royal power, frequently found in pyramid inscriptions to ensure safe passage to the afterlife.
• 𓆏 (Djed - Stability): This pillar-like symbol, associated with Osiris, represented endurance and the eternal nature of the pharaoh’s rule.
• 𓆓 (Ka - Vital Force): A representation of the spirit, ensuring the king’s survival in the next world.
• 𓂕 (Pharaoh's Name Cartouche): The oval enclosing a ruler's name, seen throughout pyramid inscriptions, marking the eternal presence of the king.

What Do Pyramid Hieroglyphs Tell Us?

The texts inside the pyramids, known as the Pyramid Texts, are among the oldest religious writings in history. Found mainly in the pyramids of Saqqara, these inscriptions were meant to help the deceased pharaoh ascend to the heavens and unite with the gods. The hieroglyphs describe rituals, spells, and hymns dedicated to ensuring a successful journey to the afterlife.

"May the sky make your soul flourish! May you ascend and be among the stars!"

The Mystery of Pyramid Hieroglyphs Today

Many of these inscriptions remain a puzzle, with scholars still debating their exact meanings. However, thanks to the Rosetta Stone and years of research, we have uncovered much of their significance.

Next time you look at the pyramids, remember: they are not just tombs but also libraries of ancient wisdom, inscribed in a language that has outlived its creators.

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The pintail duck Hieroglyphic.

The same Hieroglyph can have various meanings in Egyptian Hieroglyphics depending on the how it is used.

the duck Hieroglyph (s3) carved in stone

A pintail duck symbol by itself represents the phonetic value of s3 or sa.The '3' is the Egyptian alef.

s3 or sa

Sometimes a vertical line is used along with a character which makes it a logogram. A logogram notes an entire word, s3 in this case.

the duck logogram with a vertical line

S3 can be found in various words with entirely different meanings.One of these is the homophone word s3 which means son. As you can see the word for son is made up of the duck logogram (s3 and a vertical line) plus a sitting man determinative sign which is not read and determines the meaning of the entire word as son.Hence determinative.

Προσθήκη λεζάντας

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Egyptian Hieroglyphic chick and coil.

A quail chick stands for w or just u in the Egyptian Hieroglyphic alphabet.

Actually it is not a vowel but a w consonant usually followed by u.So we transcript it as w or u.

 In Egyptian Hieratic a coil is used instead of a quail which also marks the w or u in the Hieroglyphic alphabet.The coil also marks the number 'one hundred' in Egyptian numerals.

Both the Hieroglyphic chick and the coil are often found at the end of words as determinative signs which note the plural and they are not read.

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Medu neter -the divine words (Egyptian Hieroglyphics)

The Ancient Egyptians called their writing medu neter also transliterated as mdw ntr or medw netcher or medu netcher. Medu neter means 'dinine words'-medu is words ,neter is god,godly,dinine. Sacred writing was written in various ways in Egyptian Hieroglyphics.Here are two of them.

Now let's see what each of the symbol stands for.

plural of nouns Notice the three sticks (staffs) in the second variant.Repeating  symbols marked the plural in Ancient Egyptian.So,here the md symbol means word and is repeated three times thus meaning words.

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What is a Hieroglyph?

A Hieroglyph is literally a 'sacred carving'- a character usually an image carved in stone.From Greek hiero-sacred- and glyph-to carve,to sculpt.

The Greeks called the Ancient Egyptian writing Hieroglyphics because it was used by priests and was originally carved in stone and occasionally in wood.

Hiero comes from Greek and it means sacred. Glyphs is also Greek for carving.

Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics

Cursive forms of the script existed written on papyrus and wood.

Hieroglyphics were originally carved images of items,animals or elements like water and fire.

They stood for the image they depicted. For example the word for duck in Ancient Egyptian was sa or sȝ, sȝt.

sa or sȝ, sȝt 
Duck in Ancient Egyptian 

In time these images started being used only for what they sounded as a phonetic value. So the image of a duck (sa) was read as 'sa' and it didn't necessarily mean duck.

Each Egyptian Hieroglyph represented- to make things simple- either a syllable , a whole word or a whole idea.

Rubbing of a Zhou dynasty bronze inscription (c. 825 BC)

Some of the glyphs had alphabetic values-they marked one single letter.These are known as the Hieroglyphic alphabet.

Sumerian cuneiform

Technically Hieroglyphics can be this kind of complicated writing of any civilization such the Babylonian cuneiform script ,or  the Mayan glyphs or Chinese characters.

Mayan glyphs

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What is a Hieroglyph?

A Hieroglyph is literally a 'sacred carving'- a character usually an image carved in stone.From Greek hiero-sacred- and glyph-to carve,to sculpt.

Ra-the Sun-God in Egyptian Hieroglyphics

The Greeks called the Ancient Egyptian writting Hieroglyphics because it was used by priests and was originally carved in stone and ocassionaly in wood.

Cursive forms of the script existed written on papyrus and wood. Each Egyptian Hieroglyph represented- to make things simple- either a syllable or a whole word.Some of the glyphs had alphabetic values-marked one single letter.

These are known as the Hieroglyphic alphabet. Technically Hieroglyphics can be the sacred writting of any civilization such the Babylonian cuniform script or the Mayan glyphs.

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Cleopatra in Hieroglyphics

Cleopatra in Egyptian hieroglyphs was written as qljwp3drt3 -all consonants- hence Cleopatra.

only consonants
Ancient Egyptians used mainly consonants to write much like in Semitic languages.

The j,w,3 signs in the name are in fact consonants which we assume that were followed by i,o,a vowels accordingly.We cannot be sure about which vowels followed in the spoken language.So,we simply write i,o,a for ease of reading.

For example,the vulture sign is actually the '3' consonant followed by A.We just write it as A.

Vulture sign
'A' in Hieroglyphics

the egg determinative
At end it is used the egg determitative which means son,humanity and it is a common determitative for the name of goddesses.For example it was commonly used to write the name for Egyptian goddess Isis.
Garder listed it as H8.

the egg determinative sign

Being a determinative the egg is not read here.The word for egg in Egyptian was swht.

Cleopatra used this determitative for her name,too.


Variations

Of course there are other ways to write the name Cleopatra in hieroglyphics.Here is another one.

Read also
Ancient polyglots-Cleopatra
the Egyptian Hieroglyphic alphabet

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