Cleopatra's Needle Part 7

GOOSE (=sa=) son.

CERASTES (=ef=) _he_.

CHICK (=u=) _is_.

HATCHET (=neter=) _divine_.

HUMAN FIGURE _person_.

Thothmes, in virtue of his royalty, styles himself a "divine person."

TWISTED CORD (=hi=) _limbs_. The three dots represent fragments of his body, and form a determinative of limbs.

HOUSE (=p=)} } The two form _per_, _issuing_.

MOUTH (=r=)}

OWL (=em=) _in_.

MaeANDER (=ha=) _place_.

BASKET (=neb=) _all_.

MOUTH (=er=) _according to_.

POOL (=mer=) _wish_.

MOUTH (=er=) _his_.

Then follows, "son of the sun, Thothmes of An," etc., the same hieroglyphs as those already explained at the lower part of the first column. The only new hieroglyph is the _pylon_, rendered _An_ in the cartouche. It may be explained as follows:--

[Ill.u.s.tration]

PYLON (=An=) _Heliopolis_. The sacred city of the sun must have been a city of obelisks, temples, and pylons, or colossal gateways. The latter must have formed a conspicuous feature of the place, inasmuch as the ma.s.sive masonry of the gateways would tower high above the other buildings. This being so, it is not surprising that a pylon with a flagstaff should be the usual symbol for Heliopolis.

The hieroglyphs following the cartouche mean, "Beloved of Haremakhu,"

etc., and have already been explained.

It ought to be observed that on three sides of the obelisk Thothmes'

columns of hieroglyphs ended alike, namely: face one, now almost obliterated in this part; face two, still distinct; and face four, more complete in its termination than any other side.

CHAPTER X.

THE HIEROGLYPHICS OF THOTHMES III.

_Translation of the Third Side._

"Horus, powerful Bull, beloved of Ra, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-men-Kheper. His father Tum has set up for him a great name, with increase of royalty, in the precincts of Heliopolis, giving him the throne of Seb, the dignity of Kheper, Son of the Sun, Thothmes, the Holy, the Just, beloved of the Bennu of An, ever-living."

The first part of the inscription, namely, "Horus, powerful bull, beloved of Ra, king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-men-Kheper," is the same as in the first and second side, the only new idea occurring in the lower part of the palatial t.i.tle, namely, "beloved of Ra."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

HAND PLOUGH (=mer=) _beloved_.

FIGURE (=Ra=) _sun-G.o.d_. The seated figure has a hawk's head, surmounted by the aten or solar disk. Ra being the supreme solar deity, the "beloved of Ra" was one of the favourite epithets of the king.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "His father Tum set up for him a great name, with increase of royalty."]

CHESSBOARD (=men=) _set up_.

ZIGZAG (=en=) _has_. After zigzag appears a thick line, which Dr.

Birch thinks to be a papyrus roll, the usual sign of possession.

SEMICIRCLE (=t=) with cerastes (_ef_) make up (_tef_) _father_.

SEMICIRCLE (=t=) phonetic consonantal complement of _t_ in _Tum_.

SLEDGE (=tm=) _Tum_. The setting sun, worshipped at Heliopolis, probably same as Atum. The G.o.d Tum appears on the four sides of the pyramidion, and some therefore think that the obelisk stood with its companion in front of the temple of Tum at Heliopolis.

MOUTH (=ru=) _for_.

ZIGZAG (=n=) } } The two form (_nef_) _him_.

CERASTES (=ef=)}

SWALLOW (=ur=) _great_. This is the usual hieroglyph for greatness.

CARTOUCHE (=khen=) _name_. The cartouche is usually the oval form in which the king inscribed his name. Here it stands for _name_.

OWL (=em=) _with_. The owl has generally the force of the ablative case.

TWISTED CORD (=uah=) _increase_. The top of this hieroglyph resembles papyrus flower, and ought therefore to be distinguished from the simple twisted cord.

REED (=su=) _royalty_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "In the precincts of Heliopolis, giving him the throne of Seb, the dignity of Kepher."]

OWL (=em=) _m_. Complement to _am_, preceding.

CROSS (=am=) _in_.

SEMICIRCLE (=ta=) _the_.

OBLONG (=hen=) _precincts_. The usual hieroglyph for temple.