The ancient Egyptian Papyrus stem hieroglyph is one of the oldest

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

hieroglyphs from Ancient Egypt. The papyrus stalk, (or stem) was incorporated into designs of columns on buildings, also facades, and is also in the iconographic art portrayed in ancient Egyptian decorated scenes. The papyrus stem hieroglyph shows a single stalk and

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

of the plant. It is used for the color 'green', and for vigour, or youth-(growing things).

Language usage of papyrus stem

The basic usage of the papyrus stem hieroglyph is as an

ideogram An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek "idea" and "to write") is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by famili ...

, (graphic picture), in the word for ''"papyrus stem"'', the ''w3dj'', or the older representation of ''"uatch"''. As the

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

plant is from the Nile Delta, and is a symbol of Lower Egypt and its

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

and productive quality of food growing, the usage of the ''papyrus stem'' is also used to represent ''growth, vigour, youth'', all things fresh, new and growing. The green color, or the Nile Delta's connection to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

, gave rise to the word the ''"Great Green"'', the Mediterranean, and thus its hieroglyphic spelling of the sea, using the papyrus stem hieroglyph-(green, great, or green-great-sea-"w3dj-wr"). Other words in the family of '' 'w3dj' '', or ''"uatch"'' words are related to: green, yellow green, green stones, eyepaint; also trees, plants, and amulets, to name a few.

Rosetta Stone examples

The

Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancien ...

use of the papyrus stem occurs in three places. The first half of the Rosetta Stone is represented by the

Nubayrah Stele The Nubayrah Stele is a mutilated copy of the Decree of Memphis (Ptolemy V) on a limestone stele. The same decree is found upon the Rosetta Stone. From 1848, it was known that a partial copy of the Decree was on a wall at the Temple of Philae, b ...

, lines N-1 to N-27, (the Rosetta starts at line N-22, and is from R-1 to R-14). Line N-19 of the Nubayrah Stele refers to the ''"Great Green"'', the Mediterranean Sea and uses the Papyrus with Cobra, (Gardiner No. M14). The opening of the

Decree of Memphis (Ptolemy V) The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancien ...

, (the Rosetta Stone) begins by addressing Ptolemy V Epiphanes and uses the ''papyrus stem'' in two lines, N-1, N-2 and addresses the gods and the Pharaoh as follows: (It illustrates the vigor aspect of the green papyrus stem) :...like a king upon the throne of his father, (the

Two Ladies In Ancient Egyptian texts, the "Two Ladies" ( egy, nbtj, sometimes anglicized ''Nebty'') was a religious epithet for the goddesses Wadjet and Nekhbet, two deities who were patrons of the ancient Egyptians and worshiped by all after the unificati ...

)-lord of the Vulture Crown-(Upper Egypt), lord of the Uraeus Crown-(Lower Egypt), mighty one of strength, establisher of the

Two Lands In Egyptian history, the Upper and Lower Egypt period (also known as The Two Lands) was the final stage of prehistoric Egypt and directly preceded the unification of the realm. The conception of Egypt as the Two Lands was an example of the dua ...

-(i.e. Egypt), (papyrus stem for the Delta-north), benefactor of Ta-Mer, (i.e. Egypt), benevolent of heart towards the gods, the Horus, making vigorous the life of men and women-(2nd usage of papyrus stem), lord of the Sed festivals,...

Papyrus stem amulet

Besides the personal use of the amulet in life, the body was often provided with amulets in burial, with more amulets implying more protection. The most common funerary amulets were the

heart scarab The heart scarab is an oval, scarab artifact dating from ancient Egypt. Mostly an amulet, it was also used as jewelry, a memorializing artifact, or a grave good. The heart scarab was used by referring to Chapter 30 from the Book of the Dead ...

, Wadjet Eye, Djed Pillar amulet, ''Wadj amulet'',

Tyet The tyet ( egy, tjt), sometimes called the knot of Isis or girdle of Isis, is an ancient Egyptian symbol that came to be connected with the goddess Isis. Its hieroglyphic depiction is catalogued as V39 in Gardiner's sign list. In many respect ...

amulet, and the Golden-vulture collar, (for goddess

Mut Mut, also known as Maut and Mout, was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush in present-day North Sudan. In Meroitic, her name was pronounced mata): 𐦨𐦴. Her name means ''mother'' in the ancient Egyptian l ...

). Amulet usage changed greatly over the millenniums of Ancient Egypt. The papyrus stem, or Wadj amulet was made from 'green feldspar' as prescribed in Chapter 160, Charpter 159 from the Book of the Dead.Ancient Egyptian Religion, etyptologypage.tripod.com
/ref> The most common explanation for the amulet is that it provided 'eternal youth' to the deceased.

14 kaU of Ra-(Spirits of Ra)

The papyrus stem is one of the 14 Spirits of Ra: :–"Word of Power":–see: :–light:–see: :–strength:–see for similar use:

Djsr (arm with powerstick) The ancient Egyptian ''horizontally-outstretched'' Arm with powerstick is a hieroglyph with the meaning of "force", or "power of action". As a baton, or macehead. Power is obvious, but the origins may have also had references to magic, or the i ...

:–power:–see:

Was Was or WAS may refer to: * ''Was'', a past-tense form of the English copular verb ''to be'' People * David Was (born c. 1952), the stage name of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter David Weiss * Don Was (born 1952), the stage name of bass guita ...

:–vigour:–see: Papyrus stem (hieroglyph),

Papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

:–abundance:–see: :–majesty:–see:

Hatshepsut Hatshepsut (; also Hatchepsut; Egyptian: '' ḥꜣt- špswt'' "Foremost of Noble Ladies"; or Hatasu c. 1507–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh, af ...

-(the hieroglyph as a component of her name) :–burial:–see: :–preparedness:–see: :–stability:–see:

Djed The ''djed,'' also ''djt'' ( egy, ḏd 𓊽, Coptic ''jōt'' "pillar", anglicized /dʒɛd/) is one of the more ancient and commonly found symbols in ancient Egyptian religion. It is a pillar-like symbol in Egyptian hieroglyphs representing sta ...

:–sight:–see: Eye of Horus :–hearing:–see: :–feeling, perception:–see:

, used in line 13, before the 3-writing scripts, so that: ''"...each month, and each year, will know-(be cognizant-Grk:

gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

, 'gnorimon')), all the dwellers in Egypt,.." construct and erect a stone stele in script 1, script 2, etc....
see:-

Sia (god) Sia or Saa, an ancient Egyptian god, was the deification of perception in the Heliopolitan Ennead cosmogony and is probably equivalent to the intellectual energies of the heart of Ptah in the Memphite cosmogeny. He also had a connection with writi ...

-(deification of

wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowle ...

, Egyptian mythology) :–taste:–see: Hieroglyph 13 for "feeling, perception" is not part of Gardiner's Sign List; the sign is similar to an upside-down pennant, or flag, positioned above the head of a seated man. A minor Egyptian god,

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

, can be found at the front of the

Solar Barque Solar barques were the vessels used by the sun god Ra in ancient Egyptian mythology. During the day, Ra was said to use a vessel called the Mandjet ( egy, mꜥnḏt) or the Boat of Millions of Years ( egy, wjꜣ-n-ḥḥw), and the vessel he ...

, with other gods, leading pharaoh's bark, as Saa can "see", or "know" the path forward. Saa is pictured with the 'knowing'-gnostic sign on top of her head. Image:Louvre cuiller joueuse luth.JPG, Cosmetic spoon using the ''Papyrus stalk'' Image:ThutmoseIII-PillarInHallOfRecords-Karnak.png, Pillar for

Thutmosis III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 28 ...

Iconography

Examples of

iconographic Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...

use of the papyrus stem ranges to wall scenes, tombs, architectural components, including complete columns; also amulets. Besides the building columns as the papyrus stem, the pillars that support the sky, the four corners of the earth, were also sometimes represented by the papyrus stem, ( Gardiner list no. O-40).

Gallery

Many artifacts of Ancient Egypt, as well as architecture elements used the ''papyrus stem'' motif. Some specific examples are the kohl spoons, or the papyrus handled mirror.

Papyrus-handled mirror

File:Ancient Egiptian mirrors Louvre.JPG, mirror group File:Illustrerad_Verldshistoria_band_I_Ill_010.jpg, 1–Papyrus-handled, & 2–

Ankh Progressive ankylosis protein homolog (ANK ilosis H omolog) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''ANKH'' gene. This gene encodes a multipass transmembrane protein that is expressed in joints and other tissues and controls pyrophosphat ...

-handled mirror File:Planche 30 Monuments Historiques (1872) - TIMEA.jpg, mirror, etc.

References

*Budge. ''An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary,'' E.A.Wallace Budge, (Dover Publications), c 1978, (c 1920), Dover edition, 1978. (In two volumes) (softcover, ) *Budge. ''A Hieroglyphic Dictionary to the Book of the Dead,'' E.A.Wallace Budge, Dover edition, 1991; Original: c 1911 as: A Hieroglyphic Vocabulary to the Theban Recension of the Book of the Dead with an Index to All the English Equivalents of the Egyptian Words, (Kegan Paul, etc. Ltd, London, publisher). Dover: (softcover, ) *Budge. ''The Rosetta Stone,'' E.A.Wallace Budge, (Dover Publications), c 1929, Dover edition(unabridged), 1989. (softcover, {{ISBN, 0-486-26163-8)

External links

Amulets of Egypt & history of Mummification, Egypt
amulets: Djed Pillar, Staircase amulet, Headrest amulet, Heart amulet, Foot amulet & Hand amulet Egyptian hieroglyphs: trees and plants