Development of hieroglyphic writing

Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements.

Hieroglyph Evolution Data
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.

Format
Please list the following:
 * Name,
 * Date,
 * notation,
 * known meaning,
 * if made into an object like the Ankh and size.

Ankh
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.

More on Wikipedia Ankh.

C4 & C5: Khnum
"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." Source: Tour Egypt: Khnum, Potter God of the Inundation Silt and Creation by Caroline Seawright

D24 & D25; edge, lip; both lips
Note that another depiction shows 2 arc'd lines filled with segments, not as shown here

D28 & D29
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".

D34 & D34a
Arms holding a shield and an axe. This is a logogram meaning to fight (`h3). means to fight.

D37, D39; derep
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. (there are many styles of jars)

D40; der
Arm with "stick of power" D40 is der, or  ṭer, "to destroy", for example "remit a tax" or

D50 and D50a
One finger represented the number 10,000. Two fingers stood for accurate or precise.

I9, I10 and I11:
The first glyph is a horned adder and is used to reresent the letter f. It means he, him or his in some constructions. His son would be written as: I10 and I11 depict cobras and represent D and DD respectively. The word for eternity is Dt

I12 and I13
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.

M3: Branch; khet


Phonetic value khet (from "khet", wood). A determinative for objects made-of or related to wood.

M4: "Year"-symbol&mdash;bald palm panicle
variants: M5, M6, M7: M4: Pronounced renpet. From Palermo Stone time.

N1: Sky; Heaven
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.

N2 and N3: Night, Darkness
Both N2 and N3 could be used as logograms or determinants representing night or darkness.

N5 and N6: Sun
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. 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.

N7: "The course of a day"
An abbreviation of the word "the course of the day"

N8: Sunshine, to shine; "The people of the Sun"
The Aten was the sun god depicted as a solar disk.

The N8 hieroglyph is closely related to N5 and N6. They all represent the sun.

N14: Star
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. 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.

N16, N17 : Land, Earth, Eternity
(Lord (of the) Two Lands) 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, pronounced t, to indicate a female form.

N20: Sandbank
Phonetically stands for Wedjeb or Udjeb (wDb) and is the determinant for the term sandbank.

N22: Sandbag, Land, Field
Determinant for sandbag, land or field.

N25: Foreign Land, Desert, Desert Land, "Land of Retjen"
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, where Kush is written with the N25 determinant.

N26: Mountain
Phonetically N26 stands for Dju (Dw) and it represents a logogram of a mountain.

N27: Horizon, Akhet
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?

N28: Crown, Hill of the Sunrise
One of the standard titles of the pharaoh was "sa Re neb khau" which is sometimes translated to "Son of Re, Lord of Horizons" I have also seen it translated as "Lord of Crowns" or "Lord of Diadems"

N29: Hill
Phonetically represents q. Determinant and logogram of hill.

N35 and N35A: Water
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.



N36: Canal, to love, Nile, river, lake


The canal glyphs could stand phonetically for "mer" (beloved of). Sety's name translates to "Sety beloved of Ptah".

In the scene with the musiscian and the three dancing girls from Thebes three "mer" signs appear as part of the inscription in the center.

N39: Pool; N38: (sloped)-Pool; N37: (also "pool-shape")




The garden scene from a tomb in Thebes (maybe 1400 BC) shows a pond with flowers and animals.

In the perfume making scene a depiction of a pool is shown above the vat, but there are no water waves indicated (rectangle, pool-shape).

O4 & O5, reed shelter
O4 has the phonetic value h. O5 is used in a wide variety of terms.

1. means to descend (ha(i)); 2. means to send (hab); 3. means day, daytime (heru); 4 means jubilation (henu).

O6 & O7, manor & street


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".

O24 & N25: pyramid (Memphis), obelisk
The O24 hieroglyph is used as a determinant in the names of the pyramids.

O36: wall, enclosure
like the perimeter wall?

O39: (short)-block
also (long)-block  (N37) various size blocks of stone.

P3: Barque; wia




R4: Originally gameboard & gamepiece; later, Mat w/ Loaf of Bread


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.).

R12: Insignia-Carrier, iat-Support (a "standard")
and R13 (support with Hawk & Feather)

Predynastic and Narmer Palettes. The 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 (zoomorphic palettes.

R20: Goddess Seshat's Emblem
and R21 (archaic form)

Goddess Seshat, from the Old Kingdom, can be seen on the Palermo Stone: "creation of a statue to Goddess Seshat and Mafdet", from Palermo piece, at Palermo Museum (confer with article Den (pharaoh)).

S-20: Seal
and S19 (later (curved-cording-Seal)

Alabaster vase of 1st Kingdom: "Seal-bearer-(of the)-King, H-ma-ka" (Hemaka). 2nd photo of later style Seal, with curved cord.

S24: Knot


The "reef knot" is often found on belt buckles. Ideogram in ṯst (tjst) for "knot", "vertebra", or similar words.

T26: Bird Trap (or Bird-Cage-Carrier)
and T27 (Old Kingdom style)

A scene from Ptahhotep's tomb, 5th Dynasty shows the hieroglyph, as well as a 'carrier-attendant' with pole, and a bird "trap" (cage) on each end. (Old Kingdom style hieroglyph)

U25: (vertical) Hand "Lathe" (=Drill)


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.

V13: Tethering Rope
V14-(variant)

Phonetic value Th

The procession leader (behind the 4–Standard-Bearers) has their name in front of their head:  using the female determinative, unless the person's name is Thet.

W21: 2-Wine-Jugs


2-Wine-Jugs.

W25: Pot w/Legs


Phonetic value an. A determinative for bring, brought, etc. The middle register (sculpture), center-right shows the destruction of an enemy stronghold. , with the "walking pot hieroglyph" (at left).

Aa10, unconfirmed
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?

Aa30: Frieze (ornament)
and Aa31 (older or archaic type, different usage)

"Kheker"-Ornament. Later usage.

Resources
Gardener's Sign List from Ancient Egypt Online

Comments and Questions
Talk: Development of hieroglyphic writing. Or click on discussion tab at the top of the page.