Cleopatra's Needle Part 3

Thirdly. _Enigmatic_ hieroglyphs include all those wherein one object stands for some other object. Thus, a hawk stands for a solar deity; the bird ibis, for the G.o.d Thoth; a seated figure with a curved beard, for a G.o.d.

Fourthly. _Phonetic_ hieroglyphs, wherein each hieroglyph represents a sound, and is therefore called a phonetic. Each phonetic at first probably stood for a syllable, in which case it might be called a syllabic sign.

Thus, a chessboard represents the sound _men_; a hoe, _mer_; a triple twig, _mes_; a bowl, _neb_; a beetle, _khep_; a bee, _kheb_; a star, _seb_.

It appears that when phonetic hieroglyphs were first formed, the spoken language was for the most part made up of monosyllabic words, and that the names given to animals were imitations of the sounds made by such animals; thus, _ab_ means lamb; _ba_, goat; _au_, cow; _mau_, lion; _su_, goose; _ui_, a chicken; _bak_, a hawk; _mu_, an owl; _khep_, a beetle; _kheb_, a bee, etc.

It is easy to see how the figure of any such animal would stand for the name of the animal. According to Dr. Birch, the original monosyllabic words usually began with a consonant, and the vowel sound between the two consonants of a syllable was an indifferent matter, because the name of an object was variously p.r.o.nounced in different parts; thus a guitar, which is an ideograph meaning goodness, might be p.r.o.nounced _nefer_ or _nofer_; a papyrus roll, which stood for oblation, was called _hetep_ or _hotep_.

Most phonetics remained as syllabic signs, but many of them in course of time lost part of the sound embodied in the syllable, and stood for a letter sound only. Thus, the picture of a lion, which at first stood for the whole sound _labo_, the Egyptian name of lion, in course of time stood only for _l_, the initial sound of the word; an owl first stood for _mu_, then for _m_; a water-jug stood first for _nen_, then for _n_, its initial letter.

Phonetics which represent letters only and not syllables may be called _alphabetic_ signs, in contradistinction to _syllabic_ signs.

Plutarch a.s.serts that the ancient Egyptians had an alphabet of twenty-five letters, and although in later epochs of Egyptian history there existed at least two hundred alphabetic signs, yet at a congress of Egyptologists held in London in 1874, it was agreed that the ancient recognized alphabet consisted of twenty-five letters. These were as follows:--An eagle stood for _a_; a reed, _?_; an arm, _a_; leg, _l_; horned serpent, _f_; maeander, _h_; pair of parallel diagonals, _i_; knotted cord, ?; double reed, _i_; bowl, _k_; throne or stand, _?_; lion couchant, _l_; owl, _m_; zigzag or waterline, _n_; square or window shutter, _p_; angle or knee, _q_; mouth, _r_; chair or crochet, _s_; inundated garden or pool, _sh_; semicircle, _?_; la.s.so or sugar-tongs-shaped noose, _th_; hand, _t_; snake, _t'_; chicken, _ui_; sieve, _kh_.

1 [Glyph] a Eagle 'Aa

2 [Glyph] ? Reed Au

3 [Glyph] a Arm Aa

4 [Glyph] b Leg Bu

5 [Glyph] f Cerastes Serpent Fi

6 [Glyph] h Maeander Ha

7 [Glyph] h Knotted Cord Hi

8 [Glyph] i Pair of parallel diagonals --

9 [Glyph] i Double Reed iu

10 [Glyph] k Bowl K?

11 [Glyph] ? Throne (stand) Qa

12 [Glyph] l Lion couchant Lu or Ru

13 [Glyph] m Owl Mu

14 [Glyph] n Zigzag or Water Line Na

15 [Glyph] p { Square or Window-blind Pu { (shutter)

16 [Glyph] q Angle (Knee) Qa

17 [Glyph] r Mouth Ru, Lu

18 [Glyph] s Chair or Crochet Sen or Set

19 [Glyph] s Inundated(?) Garden (Pool) s.h.i.+

20 [Glyph] t Semicircle Tu

21 [Glyph] ? { La.s.so (sugar-tongs-shaped) Ti { Noose

22 [Glyph] ? Hand Ti

23 [Glyph] t' Snake --

24 [Glyph] ... Chick ui

25 [Glyph] ? Sieve Khi

About 600 B.C., during the XXVIth dynasty, many hieroglyphs, about a hundred in number, which previously were used as ideographs only, had a.s.signed to them a phonetic value, and became henceforth alphabetic signs as well as ideographs. In consequence of this innovation, in the last ages of the Egyptian monarchy, we find many hieroglyphs having the same phonetic value. Such hieroglyphs are called h.o.m.ophones, and they are sometimes very numerous; for instance, as many as twenty hieroglyphs had each the value of _a_, and _h_ was represented by at least thirty h.o.m.ophones. In spite of the great number of h.o.m.ophones, the Egyptians usually spelled their words by consonants only, after the manner of the ancient Hebrews; thus, _hk_ stood for _hek_, a ruler; _htp_ for _hotep_, an offering; _km_ for _kam_, Egypt; _ms_ for _mes_, born of.

The Egyptians began at an early age to use syllabic signs for proper names. Osiris was a well-known name; and as _os_ in their spoken language meant a throne, and _iri_, an eye, a small picture of a throne followed by that of an eye, stood for _Osiri_, the name of their G.o.d.

An ideograph was often preceded and followed by two phonetic signs, which respectively represented the initial and final sound of the name of the ideograph. Thus a chessboard was an ideograph, and stood for a gift, and sometimes a building. It was called _men_, and sometimes the chessboard is preceded by an owl, the phonetic sign of _m_, and followed by a zigzag line, the phonetic sign of _n_. Such complementary hieroglyphs are intended primarily to show with greater precision the p.r.o.nunciation of _men_, and they are known by the name of complements.

Phonetic hieroglyphs are often followed by a representation or ideograph of the object referred to. Such explanatory representations and ideographs are called determinatives, because they help to determine the precise value of the preceding hieroglyph.

They were rendered necessary on the monuments from the fact that the Egyptians had few vowel sounds; thus _nib_ meant an ibis; _nebi_, a plough; _neb_, a lord; but each word was represented by the consonantal signs _n-b_; and consequently it was necessary to put after _n-b_ a determinative sign of an ibis or a plough, to show which of the two was meant.

From the earliest to the latest ages of the Egyptian monarchy, all kinds of hieroglyphs are used in the same inscription, iconographs, ideographs, and phonetics are mingled together; and if it were not for the judicious use of complements and determinatives, it would often be impossible to interpret the inscriptions.

The hieroglyphs const.i.tute the most ancient mode of writing known to mankind. They were used, as the name hieroglyphs, that is, "sacred sculptures," implies, almost exclusively for sacred purposes, as may be proved from the fact that the numerous inscriptions found on temples, tombs and obelisks relate to the G.o.ds and the religious duties of man.

Hence the Egyptians called their written language _neter tu_, which means "sacred words." The hieroglyphs at present known are about a thousand, but further discoveries may augment their number. On the monuments they are arranged with artistic care, either in horizontal lines or in vertical columns, with all the animals and symbols facing one way, either to the right hand or the left.

The hieroglyphs on obelisks and other granite monuments are sculptured with a precision and delicacy that excite the admiration of the nineteenth century. In tombs and on papyri the hieroglyphs are painted sometimes with many colours, while on obelisks and on the walls of temples they are generally carved in a peculiar style of cutting known as _cavo relievo_, that is, raised relief sunk below the surface. The beautiful artistic effect of the coloured hieroglyphs as seen on some of the tombs is as much superior to our mode of writing as the flowing robes of the Orientals as compared with the dress of the Franks. The spoken language of the Egyptians was Semitic, but it had little in common with the Hebrew, for Joseph conversed with his brothers by means of an interpreter.

Hieroglyphic inscriptions are found in the earliest tombs. The cartouche of Khufu, or Cheops, a king of the IVth dynasty, was found on a block of the great pyramid; and as hieroglyphic inscriptions were used until the age of Caracalla, a Roman emperor of the third century, it follows that hieroglyphs were used as a mode of writing for about three thousand years.

The Egyptians had two modes of cursive writing. The _hieratic_, used by the priests and employed for sacred writings only. The hieratic characters, which are really abbreviated forms of hieroglyphics, bear the same relation to the hieroglyphs that our handwriting does to the printed text. Another mode of cursive writing used by the people and employed in law, literature, and secular matters, is known as _demotic_ or _enchorial_. The characters in demotic are derived from the hieratic, but appear in a simpler form, and phonetics largely prevail over ideographs.

To any students who wish to pursue the absorbing study of hieroglyphics, the following works are recommended:--"Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphics," by Dr. Samuel Birch; "Egyptian Texts," by the same author, and "Egyptian Grammar," by P. Le Page Renouf. The two latter works are published in Bagster's series of Archaic Cla.s.sics. Wilkinson's "Ancient Egyptians," and Cooper's "Egyptian Obelisks," are instructive volumes. The author obtained much help from the works of Champollion, Rosellini, Sharpe, Lepsius, and from Vol. II. of "Records of the Past."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER VII.

THOTHMES III.

Thothmes III. is generally regarded as the greatest of the kings of Egypt--the Alexander the Great of Egyptian history. The name Thothmes means "child of Thoth," and was a common name among the ancient Egyptians.