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 title, namely, "beloved of Ra."
[Illustration]
HAND PLOUGH (=mer=) _beloved_.
FIGURE (=Ra=) _sun-god_. 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.
[Illustration: "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 god 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_.
[Illustration: "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.
PYLON (=An=) _Heliopolis_.
CIRCLE with CROSS (=nu=) determinative of a city.
MOUTH (=r=)}
} The two phonetics form _ra_, _giving_.
ARM (=a=) }
SEMICIRCLE (=ta=) _the_.
CERASTES (=ef=) _him_.
THRONE (=kher=) _throne_.
GOOSE (=s=)} The two phonetics form _sb_ or _Seb_, name of a god. Seb
} was the Chronos of the Greeks, the Saturn of the Latins.
LEG (=b=) }
HORNS ON A POLE (=aa=) _dignity_. On the horns is a coiled rope.
ZIGZAG (=en=) _of_.
BEETLE (=khep=) _Kheper_. The scarabeus or sacred beetle, dedicated to
Ra and Ptah.
The remaining hieroglyphs of this column have already been explained
(_see_ p. 80), except the two small hieroglyphs beside the nomen Thothmes,
and the termination of the column.
[Illustration]
MUSICAL INSTRUMENT (=nefer=) _holy_. This instrument resembles a heart
surmounted by a cross. Some think it represents a guitar, and from the
purifying effects of music, became the symbol for goodness or
holiness.
OSTRICH FEATHER (=shu=) _true_. The usual symbol of truth. The nomen
therefore in this case may be rendered, "Thothmes, the holy, the
true."
[Illustration]
BENNU (=bennu=) sacred bird of An. This _bennu_ is usually depicted
with two long feathers on the back of the head.
[Illustration: "An or Heliopolis."]
PYLON or gateway, is a hieroglyph that stands for _An_ or _On_, the
Greek Heliopolis. Its great antiquity is shown from the fact that the
city is referred to in the Book of Genesis under the name of _On_,
translated [Greek: Ôn] in the Septuagint: "And Pharaoh called Joseph's
name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of
Poti-pherah priest of On.... And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were
born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah
priest of On bare unto him."
Heliopolis was by the ancient Egyptians named Benbena, "the house of
pyramidia;" but as no pyramids proper ever existed at On, the monuments
alluded to are either pylons, that is, gateways of temples, or obelisks.
[Illustration]