/r/AncientEgyptian

Photograph via //r/AncientEgyptian

A place for all things related to the ancient Egyptian languages. All stages: Old, Middle, Late, Demotic, and Coptic. All scripts: Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, Abnormal Hieratic, Demotic, and Coptic.

Description

A place for all things related to the ancient Egyptian languages. All stages: Old, Middle, Late, Demotic, and Coptic. All scripts: Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, Abnormal Hieratic, Demotic, and Coptic. Please flair posts with language or script stage.

This may be a hub for interesting news or a place for students to ask questions and get help from experts. Translation requests for texts believed to be written in Egyptian may also be submitted here. Posts without a linguistic component should be submitted to /r/ancientegypt.

As of now, posts espousing a fringe view are permitted, provided that they are somehow rooted in linguistic evidence. E.g. "Aliens built the pyramids" is allowed so long as the evidence cited appears in an ancient Egyptian text.

Egyptian Fonts

Occasionally texts on this site use characters in the Unicode Standard Egyptian Hieroglyphic block. If you don't have a font on your system that supports hieroglyphic characters, you will see a bunch of missing characters. If so, install an Egyptian font, such as Google's Noto Sans Egyptian Hieroglyphs. You may need to restart your browser before you see the updated glyphs. Feel free to message us if you need help.

Answering Questions

If you plan to answer questions about Egyptian language, please flair your username with the relevant credentials. Self-taught users are welcome. Experts in one particular phase of the language should mark themselves as such for the sake of the asker. (E.g. an expert in Coptic might answer a question about Old Egyptian, with the caveat that it is slightly outside of their exact area of expertise. An appropriate flair accomplishes this neatly.)

Requesting Translations into Ancient Egyptian

It is common for people to want to translate modern phrases into ancient Egyptian for various reasons (logos, tattoos, t-shirt designs, etc.). There are people here who can help, but you must pay them for this service. Because this subreddit is a free educational resource, we would like to keep business transactions to a minimum. For now, please flair any such queries as "Composition Request" so that they will be clearly marked in the feed and easy to filter if we come up with a better system in the future.

Related communities

Community Rules

  1. Be polite and kind.
  2. No advertising.
  3. No political soapboxing.
  4. Keep it linguistic.
  5. Flair posts appropriately
  6. No unprovenanced artifacts

/r/AncientEgyptian

9,654 Subscribers

5

What is the difference?

Is the “bring, to” a verb? Is “bring” a noun? or vice versa? Thank you very much

8 Comments
2024/11/11
02:25 UTC

6

Sopdet spelling

Hello, I’m planning to have a tattoo of the hieroglyphs for Sopdet (it was my late cat’s name) and I’ve done some research, but found many different spellings. I’m wondering which one is the best / most used ? Thx

4 Comments
2024/11/07
15:33 UTC

9

Pharaoh Finder - a new App

Aviametrix has just released “Pharaoh Finder” a new iOS App to the App Store. This app is the easiest, quickest way to identify a Pharaoh from their cartouche, or Horus name, Nebty name, or Golden Horus name!

This comes up a lot in Reddit subs!

You don’t even have to know how to read hieroglyphs. Just recognize a few of the symbols in the inscribed name and drag & drop them in the App. The order does not matter!

The App includes over 320 Pharaohs, including the minor kings of the intermediate periods and includes all known attested variances of spelling. That’s over 2,200 names!

Check it out! There’s a seven day free trial. If you like it, then you can buy it for an unlimited use. No subscriptions, just a one-time buy!

https://pharaohfinder.aviametrix.com

0 Comments
2024/10/28
20:07 UTC

7

Edfu Translation

I'm working on translating (French to English) and transcribing glyphs. I'm having trouble finding these glyphs in Jsesh. Top is original; right is corrections. And bottom with red boxes the ones I'm struggling with.

4 Comments
2024/10/27
19:12 UTC

10

(Attempted) Translation of the Goose with the Golden Eggs into Middle Egyptian

So I tried to put the story of The Goose with the Golden Eggs (from Aesop) into middle Egyptian. The text I was working off of is here and is bolded below. I'd love to hear your opinions on it:

The Goose with the Golden Eggs

RꜤ.t ḥnꜥ swḥw.t-nbw

𓂋𓏏𓏤𓅬 𓎛𓈖𓂝𓋴𓅱𓎛𓏏𓆇𓏦 𓋞

A certain man had the good fortune

z pn nb rnn.t nfr.t [This man, a possesor of a good fortune,]

𓊃𓀀𓏤 𓊪𓈖 𓎟 𓂋𓈖𓈖𓏏𓁔 𓄤𓂋𓏏

to possess a goose that laid him a Golden Egg every day.

nb rꜤ.t wꜣḥ n.f swḥ.t-nbw m hrw nb [i.e. A possesor of a goose who lays to-him eggs of gold on every day]

𓎟 𓂋𓏏𓏤𓅬 𓎝𓎛𓏛 𓈖𓆑 𓋴𓅱𓎛𓏏𓆇 𓋞 𓅓 𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤 𓎟

But dissatisfied with so slow an income,

nj ḥtp.n.f m špss wdf.y [i.e. he was not satisfied with the wealth that-is-delayed]

𓂜 𓊵𓏏𓊪𓆑 𓅓 𓀻𓋴𓋴𓏛 𓅱𓂧𓆑𓇌𓂻

and thinking to seize the whole treasure at once,

kꜣ.f ḫmt.f ḥꜣq špss nb m zp [imperfective "then he was planning" the looting of all the wealth at once]

𓎡𓄿𓆑 𓐍𓂸𓏏𓆑 𓇉𓄿𓈎𓂡 𓀻𓋴𓋴𓏛 𓎟 𓅓 𓈖𓊃𓊪𓊗

he killed the Goose; and cutting her open,

ẖdb.jn.f rꜤ.t kꜣ.f wgs.f sj [i.e. So he killed the goose, then he was gutting her]

𓄡𓂧𓃀𓀜𓇋𓈖𓆑 𓂋𓏏𓏤𓅬 𓎡𓄿𓆑 𓅱𓎼𓋴𓌪𓆑 𓋴𓏭

found her just what any other goose would be!

gm.jn.f ntt nts rꜤ.t ꜥšꜣ.t [i.e. So he found that she (was, A B sentence) an ordinary goose]

𓅠𓅓𓇋𓈖𓆑 𓈖𓏏𓏏 𓈖𓏏𓋴 𓂋𓏏𓏤𓅬 𓆈𓏏

2 Comments
2024/10/20
00:24 UTC

18

Meaning of the name Idi (jdj, jdy)

In recent news, a Middle Kingdom lady's burial was found in Asyut:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-discover-intricately-decorated-coffins-belonging-to-the-only-daughter-of-an-ancient-egyptian-governor-180985217/

A friend asked if I knew what her name meant. I said I did not as I'm just an amateur, but I would look it up. I first went to the Persons and Names of the MK database, guessing it was "jdj", and I quickly found it there, meaning "deaf". The word also means "senseless, dumb".

Oddly, the Persons and Names DB shows over a hundred people with that name!

https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/2/name/325

I thought "That's a weird name", so I looked very carefully at the picture of her coffin in the article, and sure enough, the top line of the end towards the camera ends with:

nb.t pr jdy mꜣꜥ ḫrw

"the lady of the house, Idi, justified"

and her name even has the cow's ear determinative (F21) as it should for the word "deaf".

Anyone know more about this (apparently fairly common) name and why someone would be named that? In a land of Nodjmets and Nofrets, it's a bit odd to see "Deaf". Even if someone earned the nickname in life, it would seem strange to take that name into eternity!

2 Comments
2024/10/18
16:39 UTC

6

word translation-ish

did the ancient egyptians have a word or term for “cheers” when toasting?

5 Comments
2024/10/16
14:26 UTC

9

Do you know any place where I can learn hieratic? I really want to learn

5 Comments
2024/10/14
05:30 UTC

0

Translate for me pls

17 Comments
2024/10/12
19:06 UTC

17

Asterix character's name in actual Egyptian?

Hi everyone! I'm a big history geek, as well as a huge fan of Asterix. One of my favorite albums is Asterix and Cleopatra, where Cleopatra makes this dorky architect Numérobis (Edifis in English) construct a palace for Caesar in just three months just to prove Egypt is not decadent. Numérobis enlists the help of our indomitable Gaulish friends -- Astérix, Obélix, Panoramix, and the lovely dog Idéfix -- but it doesn't all go to plan. Numérobis' competitor Amonbofis (Artifis in English) and his henchman Tourvenis (Krukhut in English) seek to sabotage his efforts.

Numérobis (numéro bis meaning repeated street number as in 3, 3A, 3B). In English, Edifis.

Amonbofis (à mon beau-fils, to my son-in-law) and Tournevis (screwdriver). In English, Artifis and Krukhut.

Ptenisnet in English, not from Asterix and Cleopatra, but real fun character in Asterix the Legionary.

Ginfis (gin fizz), Caesar's spy. Mintjulep in English.

Tumehéris (tu me hérisses), Numérobis' ship captain. English name is Sethisbackup. Ship is Napadélis (n'a pas d'hélice) or Nastiupset.

Misenplis (Exlibris), Numérobis' scribe.

The whole joke behind the Egyptian names in Asterix is that they all end in "-is," like Anubis, Isis, Osiris, Apis, and Serapis. I'm no Egyptologist, but I know that's just the Greek rendition. The real Egyptian names are Inpu/Inpw, Rusat/Aset, Wesir/Wsjr, Hapu, and Wesir-hep -- respectively.

So that got me thinking, how would the French and English names of the Egyptian characters be transcribed in ACTUAL Egyptian? Again, the names are just pseudo-Hellenization, so what would names like "Numerobis" or "Courdetenis" have originally been written or pronounced like in Egyptian (assuming they're real names in the first place)? Is anyone willing to translate these names? I'll enjoy it! I've provided some images of the Egyptian characters btw. While we're at it, how about make a petition to translate Asterix into Ancient Egyptian? They've already done that with Classical Latin, so why not Egyptian? ;)>!​!<

5 Comments
2024/10/10
15:50 UTC

2

Verification of my Coptic translation

Hi everyone! I'm a kemetic pagan and I wrote four short prayers for Khepri, Ra, Atum and Amun (for the four phases of the sun) that I painstakingly slowly translated with the coptic [dictionary](https://coptic-dictionary.org/) and [translator](https://www.coptictranslator.com). I started learning the language with Lambdin's book but I would really appreciate if any one could check if my translation seems wrong
Thanks in advance !

Texts:
Hail to you Khepri, in thy rising
Hail to you Khepri, for thy force
Who passes through the heavens in thy boat in the morning
Glory be to thee, thou that bringest life
Glory be to thee, thou that bringest light
Praise be to Khepri
Ⲭⲉⲣⲉ ⲛⲉ Ϣⲟⲡⲉ ϩⲙⲡⲉⲕϭⲓⲛϣⲁ
Ⲭⲉⲣⲉ ⲛⲉ Ϣⲟⲡⲉ ⲉⲧⲃⲉⲧⲉⲕϭⲟⲙ
Ⲡⲉⲧⲡⲁⲣⲁⲅⲉ ϩⲓⲧⲙⲡⲏⲩⲉ ϩⲙⲡⲉⲕϫⲟⲓ ⲙⲡⲛⲁⲩ ϩⲧⲟⲟⲩⲉ
Ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲡⲉⲧϫⲡⲟ ⲙⲡⲱⲛϩ
Ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲡⲉⲧϫⲡⲟ ⲙⲡⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ
Ⲥⲙⲟⲩ Ϣⲟⲡⲉ

Hail to thee Ra, in thy triumphing
Hail to thee Ra, for your beauty
Who passes through the heavens in thy boat at noon
Glory be to thee, thou who grantest abundance
Glory be to thee, thou who grantest prosperity
Praise be to Ra
Ⲭⲉⲣⲉ ⲛⲉ Ⲣⲏ ϩⲙⲡⲉⲕϫⲣⲟ
Ⲭⲉⲣⲉ ⲛⲉ Ⲣⲏ ⲉⲧⲃⲉⲡⲉⲕⲥⲁ
Ⲡⲉⲧⲡⲁⲣⲁⲅⲉ ϩⲓⲧⲙⲡⲏⲩⲉ ϩⲙⲡⲉⲕϫⲟⲓ ⲙⲡⲛⲁⲩ ⲙⲙⲉⲉⲣⲉ
Ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲡⲉⲧϯ ⲛⲟⲩⲥⲉⲓ Ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲡⲉⲧϯ ⲛⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ
Ⲥⲙⲟⲩ Ⲣⲏ

Hail to thee Atum, in thy setting
Hail to thee Atum, for your generosity
Who passes through the heavens in thy boat in the evening
Glory be to thee, thou who hast ended the Nun
Glory be to thee, thou who will end the world
Praise be to Atum
Ⲭⲉⲣⲉ ⲛⲉ Ⲁⲧⲟⲩⲙ ϩⲙⲡⲉⲕϭⲓⲛϩⲱⲧⲡ
Ⲭⲉⲣⲉ ⲛⲉ Ⲁⲧⲟⲩⲙ ⲉⲧⲃⲉⲧⲉⲕⲙⲛⲧⲣⲉϥϯ
Ⲡⲉⲧⲡⲁⲣⲁⲅⲉ ϩⲓⲧⲙⲡⲏⲩⲉ ϩⲙⲡⲉⲕϫⲟⲓ ⲙⲡⲛⲁⲩ ⲣⲟⲩϩⲉ
Ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁϥϫⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲙⲡⲚⲟⲩⲛ
Ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲡⲉⲛⲧϥⲛⲁϫⲱⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲙⲡⲕⲟⲥⲙⲟⲥ
Ⲥⲙⲟⲩ Ⲁⲧⲟⲩⲙ

Hail to thee Amun, in thy setting
Hail to thee Amun, for your charity
Who passes through the heavens in thy boat in the evening
Glory be to thee, thou who slayest the serpent
Glory be to thee, thou who slayest evil
Praise be to Amun
Ⲭⲉⲣⲉ ⲛⲉ Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ ϩⲙⲡⲉⲕⲕⲱⲡ
Ⲭⲉⲣⲉ ⲛⲉ Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ ⲉⲧⲃⲉⲡⲉⲕⲕⲁⲣⲱϥ
Ⲡⲉⲧⲡⲁⲣⲁⲅⲉ ϩⲓⲧⲙⲡⲏⲩⲉ ϩⲙⲡⲉⲕϫⲟⲓ ⲙⲡⲛⲁⲩ ⲟⲩϣⲏ
Ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲡⲉⲧⲕⲱⲛⲥ ⲙⲡϩⲟϥ
Ⲡⲉⲟⲟⲩ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲡⲉⲧⲕⲱⲛⲥ ⲙⲡⲉⲧϩⲟⲟⲩ
Ⲥⲙⲟⲩ Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ

3 Comments
2024/10/10
15:22 UTC

14

Turin egyptian museum pencil

Hi, I bought this pencil in the museum shop from the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy. I wonder what the hieroglyphs mean! Is someone able to translate this?

1 Comment
2024/10/09
20:44 UTC

10

Comparison between Coptic and Hieroglyphic

(2) هيروغليفي = قبطى = مصرى. لغة واحدة لكن طريقة الكتابة مختلفة. Ϩⲓⲣⲟⲅⲗⲏⲫ = ⲅⲩⲡⲧⲓⲟⲥ = ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ. Ⲟⲩⲁ̀ⲥⲡⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲩⲱⲧ, ⲥ̀ⲥ̀ϧⲏⲟⲩⲧ ϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩ ⲕⲉⲣⲏϯ معلومات أساسية عن تاريخنا وعن الهوية المصرية.

5 Comments
2024/10/09
20:00 UTC

11

This is an odd ask but…

I’ve been attempting to draw out a hieroglyph for art I’m working on. Specifically a drawn cartouche.

It’s uhhhh very shittily drawn at the moment but that’s because I was still doing this at like midnight and needed to stop lol. I’ll be fixing it later today.

​

It’s meant to be for a character that’s supposed to be like a god — I didn’t want to just transliterate because.. I have to do everything the hard way instead.

This is incredibly nerdy but I was trying to toy with the name Cipher, and change it around to sound more appropriate for the setting and I worked out something like Siferimun but I have no idea if it’s even halfway decent

Do I have something usable here or should I just start over? And if I need to start over, could I get some advice?

11 Comments
2024/10/09
16:44 UTC

4

Overview of Contemporary Alternatives to the Standard Theory?

I hope you're all well. I've been studying Coptic for a few years, & have more recently been learning Middle Egyptian from Hoch's grammar. I understand that there is at present no consensus on the "Standard Theory"—that most but not all Egyptologists think it incorrect, but that nothing has replaced it as a new consensus. I'd like to get a sense of where Egyptologists today may differ from Hoch; Allen's textbook is a starting point for one clear alternative, but I don't know where to look for others. Does anyone know of a good overview article that presents the major alternatives to the Standard Theory, or a bibliography of major alternatives? I'm a graduate student in linguistics, & am happy to read challenging work: please don't hesitate to offer technical recommendations. I read English & French well; German is still a challenge, but I'm (actively) working on it. Thanks for any advice!

2 Comments
2024/10/09
16:41 UTC

8

Any updates on Leiden Unified Transliteration?

The announcements from August 2023 about LUT mentioned:

Several details still need to be worked out, such as the use of diacritics (brackets and dots), the possible abandonment of capital letters, the possible systematic inclusion of the final weak radical of verbs, and other matters. 

Are there any updates on any of these questions?

2 Comments
2024/10/09
01:20 UTC

11

Anyone know what the symbol in the middle of this Ancient Egyptian scarab is? The symbol that looks like a vertical half infinity sign or open top number 8? Any and all help, suggestions or ideas to identify are super helpful and appreciated! Thanks so much :)

11 Comments
2024/10/07
22:00 UTC

1

Anyone know or identify the symbol that is in the middle of this Ancient Egyptian scarab? The symbol that looks like a vertical half infinity sign or open top number 8? Any and all help, suggestions or ideas are super helpful and appreciated! Thanks so much :)

0 Comments
2024/10/07
21:46 UTC

3

Can someone Put these in the Gardeners Code?

So I was writting the lyrics for the Ancient Egyptian Love song from Peter Pringle and he says "snt nn snw.s" and "nfr Hr-nb" and finally "ptri.s mi spdt xay" can some one put this in the Gardiners Code Example : B1, X1 etc.

2 Comments
2024/10/07
18:05 UTC

6

Question for translation (ME, Hoch)

pḥ.k ẖnw wn.k im.f m qꜣb snw.k

"May you reach home, that you would be midst of your brothers"

but what does im.f mean in this sentence? I've learnt that im means 'therein' (adv.) and f - 3ms. But for me it doesn't make sense.

5 Comments
2024/10/06
15:41 UTC

5

Can someone help me analyze (and maybe reconstruct?) the word ḫry-ḥb.t?

According to a number of sources, the word <ḫry-ḥb.t> means "Lector Priest," which one site analyzes as "Keeper of the Sacred Scrolls." Now, I've tried to look for these words individually, and the best I can come up with is not all that confidence inspiring.

For the first term, I did find a ḫrj, meaning "in the presence of," which isn't impossible as "keeper," but it seems a bit of a leap. I found another, ẖrj, meaning "carrying or having," which is a pretty good match for "keeping," but has a different initial consonant. It also has a reconstruction /çəˈɾej/, which is nice.

For the second term, the closest I could find was ḫꜣb, which also has a different consonant. It's an intransitive verb meaning to bend or become bent, which is a pretty good description of what scrolls do, so I do see how that could be nominalized into a word for one, but I can't find any evidence that it actually happened. And even if it were the case, is that something that anyone would be able to hazard a guess at a reconstruction of?

4 Comments
2024/10/06
15:29 UTC

8

Help with a Sentence from Hoch's Egyptian Grammar?

https://preview.redd.it/su51iphrhesd1.png?width=1984&format=png&auto=webp&s=19c300e4427f1396e1c1c9a7933f501ae0ea841a

It's Exercise VI B 5. I currently have:

i͗w wḏ·n ṯꜢty qd š n pr·f n(y) sḫt m mꜢwt

"The vizier commanded the building of the pool for his house of the fields again."

That feels a little awkward, though.

5 Comments
2024/10/02
20:12 UTC

60

Hieroglyph tattoo

Does anybody know the meanings of hieroglyphs in this tattoo? Or is it gibberish?

10 Comments
2024/10/02
11:51 UTC

19

Found this in our local clinic, What does it say?

sorry my camera sucks :(

8 Comments
2024/10/02
08:43 UTC

0

Hiring researcher for Afroasiatic studies (Egyptian topics included)

I want to start a channel on Afroasiatic studies, but there doesn't seem to be any place for that specifically, so I wanted to try the this subreddit, as topics relevant to this subreddit will be featured on the channel. I'm looking for someone who has a passion for these subjects who wants to make some money on the side compiling research for me. I am a small YouTuber, so I can afford $100 for 2500 words. If I like your work and my channel grows that price can go higher. I just want to find a buddy who is interested in helping me share this information to new audiences. My Indo-European channel is linked on my profile, and my video descriptions have links to research documents for examples of the kind of research I am looking for. Let me know if you are interested, and I would be interested to know your passion/background on the subject.

1 Comment
2024/10/01
01:36 UTC

20

Can someone point me to resources where the text here is reconstructed?

12 Comments
2024/09/28
16:09 UTC

8 Comments
2024/09/25
14:09 UTC

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