The
ancient Egyptian Hand hieroglyph is an
alphabet
An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...
ic hieroglyph with the meaning of "d"; it is also used in the word for 'hand', and actions that are performed, i.e. by the 'way of one's hands', or actions. (Used as a
determinative.)
Iconographic usage
Also used in
iconography. Pharaoh
Den
Den may refer to:
* Den (room), a small room in a house
* Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth
Media and entertainment
* ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler
* Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita ...
of the
1st Dynasty used the hand as part of his name: ''"d + n"''.
An even earlier usage of hand can be compared to the sister hieroglyph:
Hand-fist (hieroglyph). Five fists are held onto a
rope
A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarl ...
bordering a hunt scene on a
predynastic
Prehistoric Egypt and Predynastic Egypt span the period from the earliest human settlement to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period around 3100 BC, starting with the first Pharaoh, Narmer for some Egyptologists, Hor-Aha for others, with th ...
cosmetic palette. The damaged
Bull Palette from
Hierakonpolis is notable since each hand forms the base of a
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...
en vertical standard, with
god-like animals, one standing on top of each!
Rosetta Stone usage as word: "hand"
The Hand as hieroglyphic also forms the word for 'hand' in the Ancient Egyptian
hieroglyphic language: "ţet." In line 13, (R-13), one of ten ways for honoring the Pharaoh
Ptolemy V was to:
:....''"and let be engraved the Rank:'' ''"Priest of the god appearing-(
epiphanous), lord of benefits -(eucharistos-Greek)"'', ''upon the rings worn on their hands-(hieroglyph)."''
In the 1st half of the Rosetta Stone, (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 Ancient E ...
), supplied 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, but ...
, line N-22, there is use of the Hand-hieroglyph as part of an important word that ''implies'' the use of 'hands', or 'action'. In speaking of the district, or town that defiled Pharaoh, and had to be defeated, the town is referred to as: ...(the rebels) ''"they led astray-(Hand hieroglyph: ''seţeman-sen'') the nomes."''
[Budge, ''The Rosetta Stone'', p. 146.]
The Egyptian hieroglyph alphabetic letters
The following two tables show the
Egyptian uniliteral signs. (24 letters, but multiple use hieroglyphs)
See also
*
Gardiner's Sign List#D. Parts of the Human Body
*
List of Egyptian hieroglyphs
*
Hand-with-droplets (hieroglyph)
*
References
*Budge. ''The Rosetta Stone,''
E.A.Wallace Budge, (Dover Publications), c 1929, Dover edition(unabridged), 1989. (softcover, )
*Wilkinson. ''Reading Egyptian Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Egyptian Painting and Sculpture.''
Wilkinson, Richard H., c 1992. Paperback, c 1994, 2000. Thames and Hudson, (softcover, )
Egyptian hieroglyphs: alphabet-vulture-a-to-cobra-dj
Egyptian hieroglyphs: parts of the human body
{{AncientEgypt-stub