The ancient Egyptian Sail hieroglyph is

Gardiner Gardiner may refer to: Places Settlements ;Canada * Gardiner, Ontario ;United States * Gardiner, Maine * Gardiner, Montana * Gardiner (town), New York ** Gardiner (CDP), New York * Gardiner, Oregon * Gardiner, Washington * West Gardiner, Maine ...

sign listed no. P5 for the ''sail of a ship''. The hieroglyph shows a hoisted sail, curved because of wind filling it. It is used in

Egyptian hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1, ...

as a

determinative A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they ma ...

for words related to ''wind, air, breath, sailors,'' (as "nefu"), ''floods-(of the Nile), etc.'' Also 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 familiarit ...

in 'puff', 'wind', Egyptian ''ṯꜣw''.

Breath, in the Book of the Dead

Because of the use of the word 'winds', the 'breath' concept became an equally important usage of the sail hieroglyph. The

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

current carried ships downstream-(north), but sometimes prevailing, or advantageous winds allowed upstream travel on the Nile. A replacement of the

sekhem scepter The sekhem scepter is a type of ritual scepter in ancient Egypt. As a symbol of authority, it is often incorporated in names and words associated with power and control. The sekhem scepter (symbolizing "the powerful") is related to the ('')'' sc ...

held in the hand in vignettes from the Books of the Dead refers to obtaining life-giving 'breath' in the afterlife. An example is

Nakht Nakht was an ancient Egyptian official who held the position of a scribe and astronomer of Amun, probably during the reign of Thutmose IV of the Eighteenth Dynasty. He was buried in the Theban Necropolis in tomb TT52. See also * List of ancien ...

, (Papyrus of Nakht, 18th-19th Dynasty), holding a large mast-on-a-staff, referring to Spell 38A, ''for living by air in the realm of the dead.'' Other stick figured caricature examples show the mast and an

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 pyrophosphate ...

in each hand, both signifying a "breath (of) life". Other spells in the Book of the Dead use the concept of 'breath' in even more storied forms and involving various gods.

References

*Betrò, 1995. '' Hieroglyphics: The Writings of Ancient Egypt,'' Betrò, Maria Carmela, c. 1995, 1996-(English), Abbeville Press Publishers, New York, London, Paris (hardcover, ) *Wilkinson, 1992. '' Reading Egyptian Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Egyptian Painting and Sculpture'',

Richard H. Wilkinson Richard H. Wilkinson (born 1951) is an archaeologist in the field of Egyptology. He is Regents Professor Emeritus, Ph.D. at the University of Arizona and founding director of the University of Arizona Egyptian Expedition. He conducted research an ...

, c 1992, 1994, Section: ''Seth Animal'', p. 66-67. Thames and Hudson; abbreviated Index, 224 pp. (softcover, ) Egyptian hieroglyphs: ships and parts of ships Egyptian hieroglyphs: arts and trades {{AncientEgypt-stub