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 Gods has multiplied Festivals to him
upon the great Persea Tree within the Temple of the Phoenix; 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."
[Illustration: "Horus, the powerful bull, crowned by Truth, lord of Upper
and Lower Egypt, Ra-men-Kheper."]
SEATED FIGURE (=Ma=) _goddess 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 title.
[Illustration: "The lord of the gods 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 pronoun.
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=) _gods_. A hatchet or battle-axe was called
neter, and was the usual symbol for a god. Plurality is often
indicated by a hieroglyph being repeated three times. The letter _u_
is a plural termination; thus _neter_ is god, _neteru_ gods.
PALACE (=seh=) _festival_.
HALL (=seh=) _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.
[Illustration: "Upon the great Persea Tree within the Temple of the
Phoenix."]
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 (=shi=). Here a phonetic united with succeeding hieroglyph.
HAND (=t=) alphabetic phonetic. The two spell _shit_, 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 god 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 god or sacred bird that dwells in this temple is depicted within
the square. On the third face of the obelisk, right lateral column,
the goddess 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 phoenix. 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 phoenix." 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.
[Illustration: "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=)}
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_.
MÆANDER (=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:--
[Illustration]
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 massive 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.