Cleopatra's Needle Part 6

SOLAR DISK (=aten=) _the sun_. It stands for Ra, the sun-G.o.d. The goose and disk mean "son of the sun," and almost invariably precede the nomen of the king, because kings were thought to be lineal descendants of the supreme solar deity.

IBIS. A common bird in Egypt, resembling the crane, phnix, and bennu. It was sacred to, and an emblem of, Thoth, the G.o.d of letters, who is usually depicted with an ibis head. As Thoth represented both the visible and concealed moon, he was fitly represented by the sacred bird ibis, which on account of its mingled black and white feathers, was an effective emblem of both the dark and illumined side of the moon. The ibis alone on a standard, as depicted on the obelisk, stood for Thoth, the first syllable of the word Thothmes.

TRIPLE TWIG (=mes=) means _born_, and is a symbol of birth. Thus _ibis_ and _mes_ together form the rebus Thothmes, which name thus means, "born of Thoth."

In this particular cartouche will be noticed a small scarabeus or beetle, which is an emblem of existence and immortality, and probably indicates the self-existent nature and immortality of Thothmes; but this part of the obelisk is much defaced, and what follows is well nigh obliterated.

In ancient times kings and great persons were frequently named after the G.o.d they wors.h.i.+pped; thus among the Egyptians, Rameses from Ra, Amen-hotep from Amen, Seti from Set, etc. Similarly in Scripture we find Joshua, Jeremiah, Jesus, derived from Jehovah; Jerubbaal, Ethbaal, Jezebel, Belshazzar, and many others, from Baal or Bel, the sun-G.o.d; Elijah, Elisha, Elias, Elishama, etc., from El or Eloah, the true G.o.d. The same mode of deriving names from deities prevailed more or less among all ancient nations. On this principle Thothmes, the mighty Egyptian monarch, was named after the G.o.d Thoth.

What follows on this side of the obelisk is well nigh obliterated, but the hieroglyphs were probably the same as those following the cartouche of Thothmes at the bottom of the central column on the second and fourth sides of the obelisk, and therefore would mean, "Beloved of Haremakhu, ever living."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Beloved of Haremakhu, ever living."]

HAWK (=bak=), as has been already explained, is the emblem of any solar deity, but surmounted by the _aten_ or solar disk, and accompanied by two ovals called _khu_, which indicate the two horizons, in the east and west parts of the sky, the hawk, as here, stands for Horus, or Haremakhu, the sun in the horizon.

The hoe, called =mer= or =tore=, is equal to the phonetic _m_, and was one of the commonest implements used in agriculture. It is sometimes spoken of as a hand-plough, or pick or spade, and probably it answered all these purposes. In shape it somewhat resembled our capital letter A, as it consisted of two lines tied together about the centre with a twisted rope. One limb was of uniform thickness, and generally straight, and formed the head; while the other, curved inwards, and sometimes of considerable width, formed the handle. The hoe stands here for the phonetic sound of _m_, the first letter of the word =mai=, which means _beloved_.

TWO REEDS. One reed is equal to _a_, the double reed equals phonetic _i_, and is generally a plural sign. Here the double reed is an intensive, so that the hoe and double reeds spell _mai_, which means "much beloved."

These hieroglyphs, taken in the order in which they ought to be translated into English, consist of a hoe, two reeds, a hawk, two ovals, and a solar disk.

The last group of hieroglyphs consists of a long serpent, a semicircle, and a straight line. The long serpent is equal to the phonetic _t_, or _th_, or _g_. The semicircle, which represents the upper grindstone for bruising corn, equals phonetic _t_. It is often called a muller or millstone. The straight line is a phonetic equal to _ta_. The three hieroglyphs therefore form the word _getta_ or _tetta_, a term which means everlasting.

_Getta_ appears as the last group of hieroglyphs at the bottom of the central column on the third and fourth sides. They were probably at first at the end of the central column on the first and second sides also, although they have been obliterated on the two latter faces.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER IX.

THE HIEROGLYPHICS OF THOTHMES III.

_Translation of the Second Side._

"Horus, the powerful Bull, crowned by Truth, Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-men-Kheper. The Lord of the G.o.ds has multiplied Festivals to him upon the great Persea Tree within the Temple of the Phnix; he is known as his son--a divine person, his limbs issuing in all places according to his wish. Son of the Sun, Thothmes, of Holy An, beloved of Haremakhu."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Horus, the powerful bull, crowned by Truth, lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-men-Kheper."]

SEATED FIGURE (=Ma=) _G.o.ddess of Truth_. She was called Thmei or Ma, and was generally represented by a seated female, holding in one hand the ankh, the symbol of life, and on her head an ostrich feather. The ostrich feather alone is also the symbol of truth or justice, because of the equal length of the feathers. In courts of justice the chief judge wore a figure of Thmei suspended from his neck by a golden chain.

Thmei or Ma is always represented as present at the dreadful balance in the hall of justice, where each soul was weighed against the symbol of divine truth.

The above is the same as face one, the only new idea being that of _Truth_, mentioned in the palatial t.i.tle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "The lord of the G.o.ds has multiplied Festivals to him."]

LIZARD (=as=) _multiplied_. _As_ is the usual verb to multiply.

With the zigzag line under the sign of the perfect, the two hieroglyphs mean _has multiplied_.

BACK OF CHAIR (=s=) phonetic hieroglyph. Is here the consonantal complement of _as_, the preceding hieroglyph.

ZIGZAG (=en=) _to_. A preposition here.

CERASTES (=ef=) _him_. Personal p.r.o.noun.

BASKET (=neb=) _lord_. This hieroglyph might be thought to be a basin, but in painted hieroglyphs it appears as a wicker basket.

THREE HATCHETS (=neteru=) _G.o.ds_. A hatchet or battle-axe was called neter, and was the usual symbol for a G.o.d. Plurality is often indicated by a hieroglyph being repeated three times. The letter _u_ is a plural termination; thus _neter_ is G.o.d, _neteru_ G.o.ds.

PALACE (=se?=) _festival_.

HALL (=se?=) _festival_. Here used as a determinative to the preceding.

Every syllabic sign possesses an inherent vowel sound, or an inherent consonant sound, or both. The vowel sign is often placed before, and the consonant sign after the syllabic sign. Such alphabetic hieroglyphs are called complements, and are very frequently used in the inscriptions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Upon the great Persea Tree within the Temple of the Phnix."]

HUMAN HEAD (=Her=) _upon_.

The vertical line preceding is the masculine article. The defaced signs on the left were probably three short vertical lines, to indicate the plurality of festivals.

POOL (=s.h.i.+=). Here a phonetic united with succeeding hieroglyph.

HAND (=t=) alphabetic phonetic. The two spell _s.h.i.+t_, the name of _persea_, a beautiful tree abounding in ancient Egypt, bearing pear-shaped fruit.

TREE (=persea=) _tree_. A determinative to the preceding hieroglyphs.

The tree here referred to may have been situated at Heliopolis; and it is worthy of notice that in a picture at Thebes, the G.o.d Tum appears in the act of writing the name of Thothmes on the fruit of the persea.

PERSON ON THRONE (=sep=) _great_. The throne is a common symbol for greatness.

CHAIR BACK (=s=) alphabetic phonetic. Here an initial complement to _sep_.

OWL (=em=) } } The two form _emkhen_, the preposition DECAPITATE FIGURE (=khen=)} _within_.

SEMICIRCLE (=tu=) _the_. Feminine article.

OPEN SQUARE (=ha=) _house_. The figure probably represents the ground plan of an ancient house.

LARGE SQUARE (=ha=) _temple_. This square is not open, but it encloses a smaller square in one corner, and thus resembles a stamped envelope.

The G.o.d or sacred bird that dwells in this temple is depicted within the square. On the third face of the obelisk, right lateral column, the G.o.ddess Athor or Hathor--literally the abode of Horus, thus implying that she was Horus' mother--is represented by a large square, enclosing a hawk, the emblem of Horus. Within the square hieroglyph now under consideration will be noticed the figure of a bird somewhat defaced, probably the crane or phnix. The square itself is perhaps the ground plan of a temple, or adytum of a temple. Thus the sentence means, "within the house, the temple of the phnix." Cooper thinks the bird depicted is the _bennu_, the sacred bird of Heliopolis, and that the temple of the bennu, called _habennu_, is the great temple of the sun at Heliopolis.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "He is known as his son, a divine person. His limbs issuing in all places, according to his wish."]

MOUTH (=ru=) } } The two, _ru-aten_, equal _known_.

CIRCLE (=aten=)}