#separator:tab #html:true # edubba-hieroglyphs-101 — one card per sign taught in the course, generated by # bin/deck_export.rb from the Edubba registries and Sign Codex. # Import into Anki (File > Import), then enable FSRS in the deck # options for evidence-backed scheduling. 𓄿 vulture · G1 · [ꜣ] · Egyptian vulture
The vulture opens its beak and what comes out is barely a sound — ꜣ, the catch in the throat. Big bird, smallest of noises: that mismatch is the memory.
qr bḏꜣ — "heating the bread-molds" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:2PGN6CK4QBEKNEP7VZX3WBVXSY:IBUBd8PxTjqTAkthkbPkGuGBHcI, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓇋 reed · M17 · [j] · flowering reed
A single reed bows its flowered head — as slight as the sound it writes. Where the wind barely moves through the marsh, the voice barely moves through j.
Mnj — Meni — a man's name (approximate) (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:3FCGH3KKMBDVBCHD4EIIYXVJ3A:IBUBd7PkbU9E5kZNsHhsrmn2Rwc, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓏭 pair · Z4 · [y] · two strokes
A pair of ticks: y is j twice, and the scribes kept the arithmetic — two little strokes instead of two whole reeds. Count the marks, hear the doubling.
tm rn≡k — "your name is no more" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:A2PTGDCYB5E4XK6OORW6V4QHOE:IBUBd51vtWV1sE3hgOxarVpeWf8, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓂝 forearm · D36 · [ꜥ] · forearm
The forearm reaches out flat — the sound ꜥ comes from just as deep as an arm is long. It waits inside the sun-god's own name: Rꜥw, mouth-arm-sun.
Rꜥw-wr — Ra-wer — "Ra is great" (approximate) (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:3SOT6RKYAJBX7IYKESFMZXREDM:IBUBdyvvHw5gX0VdlhJYRxrccqw, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓅱 chick · G43 · [w] · quail chick
The chick says w — the small round "oo" of a small round bird. Wherever a word needs that vowel-ish glide, the chick trots in on its two drawn legs.
wt,j — "the embalmer" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:3TSEPTYRMBEHZKKCC4SXVWMSIE:IBUBd52Rp691nUHmlpfkUsUQBqU, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓏲 coil · Z7 · [w] · coil (cursive quail chick)
The coil is a chick drawn by a scribe with no time: body, beak, and feet collapsed into one curl. When you meet the spiral, hear the same w — the bird is in there, compressed.
mw≡n pw — "it is our water" (urn:nabu:aes:sawlit:GJA5VMSJDFAOPG6TP6ZYY3KCRI:IBUBdz4GvuvTV0SLspFbeDzffeo, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓃀 leg · D58 · [b] · lower leg and foot
One leg, standing its ground — b as in bear the weight. Two legs walk; one leg holds. When negation needs a firm stance (bn, "not"), this is the leg it stands on.
j:ḫr sbn — "fallen, sliding away" — said of the god's enemy (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgraeberspzt:XH7T6KK7WRE7TB5GUFPKZLMOPQ:IBUBdxBipvFMG0ylvsWUHGXoK7o, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓊪 stool · Q3 · [p] · reed mat or stool
A stool is the simplest thing that holds you up — and pw, "it is," is the simplest sentence that holds a claim up. Square seat, square sound, load-bearing both.
mw pw — "it is water" (urn:nabu:aes:sawlit:3W45TQYQ3RCX5DXZ7DIZ43JWNQ:IBUBd5xZ0i0MAUPIoKrsdwrJETo, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓆑 viper · I9 · [f] · horned viper
The viper hisses f — a snake sound if ever there was one — and then coils at the end of words as "his": his house, his majesty, his life. Small, horned, and possessive.
ḏd≡f — "he says" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawamarna:AHWOVKY54FDQ3IG3XIPVIBY7DM:IBUBdQNyVsBq10VRri8gWAqV3jo, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓅓 owl · G17 · [m] · owl
The owl stares out of the wall at you, and you cannot pass a line without meeting it — m is "in," and the owl is IN everything. Face-on bird, everywhere: that is m.
m ꜣz — "do not hurry" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:3CYQDCHYP5FNFPWZI5CSROZUAQ:IBUBd7brvDZIoUzRpdguU4cR2xU, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓈖 ripple · N35 · [n] · ripple of water
One ripple joins two banks — and n joins two words: "the spell OF water," "give it TO him." Wherever Egyptian needs a little bridge, a line of water runs under it.
rʾ n mw — "a spell of water" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtempelbib:QQUPR5AIGZCXTA4YSXKA6ILTAM:IBUBd98zcEGyikWLm52Te9NxGEw, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓂋 mouth · D21 · [r] · mouth
The mouth is an open oval — the shape your own lips make saying r. Everything spoken in this script starts here: the spell is a "mouth," and the mouth writes itself.
rʾ n mw — "a spell of water" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtempelbib:QQUPR5AIGZCXTA4YSXKA6ILTAM:IBUBd98zcEGyikWLm52Te9NxGEw, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓉔 shelter · O4 · [h] · reed shelter
A shelter of reeds barely holds back the wind — and h is barely a sound, just breath through an open door. Light building, light letter.
tw≡tw hꜣy.ṱ r mw — "one goes down to the water" (urn:nabu:aes:sawlit:IQTYOQXOPVCALF3EWJIZIXLNZU:IBUBd2y4WkjlHE0kn2w1qJt4y4w, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓎛 wick · V28 · [ḥ] · twisted wick
The wick is h with a twist — literally: the plain breath wound tighter, ready to burn. Where h is an open door, ḥ is a braided cord.
ḥwi̯ mḥꜥ — "beating the flax" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:LA52ETBPSBG7NAVV4L7HMTI26A:IBUBd92d0kl2YENfkaxOX7knJ9c, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓐍 sieve · AA1 · [ḫ] · sieve? placenta?
A sieve rasps when you shake it — grain against mesh, the sound of ḫ. Whether or not the Egyptians drew a sieve, the hatched disc scratches, and that scratch is the letter.
fsw Wnḫ,w — "the cook Wenechu" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:TCT7T7R2FBBWHKBPYYLTK3TWR4:IBUBd7PCYgGV4k5ckHGQomnpN9E, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓄡 belly · F32 · [ẖ] · animal's belly and tail
The belly is the soft side — and ẖ is the soft rasp, underneath its hard cousin the way a belly is under a back. Soft picture, soft sound; and "son of his body" wears it.
zꜣ≡f n ẖ,t≡f Rꜥw-wr — "his bodily son, Ra-wer" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:SFHXXMQOD5BQXBNVA5LYKTI6QQ:IBUBd0DxaJECXkhYjvjlrTQXSiY, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓊃 bolt · O34 · [z] · door bolt
The bolt slides with a buzz — zzz — straight across its door. One long bar, one flat sound; when a word keeps the old z, this is the bar that locks it in.
sn tꜣ n nb-tꜣ,wj — "kissing the earth for the Lord of the Two Lands" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawamarna:EIKGCKAHNZGOTKGBXIR2SFEYWU:IBUBd6hlDXaq3U8ygzfYpV2CjOY, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓋴 cloth · S29 · [s] · folded cloth
The cloth hangs in folds that hiss when they slide — s. And put the cloth in front of a verb and it dresses the verb up into a causing: ꜥnḫ live, s-ꜥnḫ bring to life.
sꜥnḫ — "the sculptor" — literally, "he who makes live" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawamarna:Y2HZBORZEVBELK7FCF5B37I3U4:IBUBd7qytTen0EjxuszCxZlWTcQ, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓈙 pool · N37 · [š] · pool of water
A pool asks for quiet — sh — and the sign is exactly the calm rectangle you'd hush someone beside. Flat water, flat sound.
jri̯ š≡k rf — "do your work, then!" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:3CYQDCHYP5FNFPWZI5CSROZUAQ:IBUBdzCSAY5BFE8hoQloF7TgixY, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓈎 slope · N29 · [q] · slope of a hill
Climbing a sand slope takes effort from deep in the chest — and so does q, the k with weight behind it. Plain k walks on flat ground; q climbs.
qr bḏꜣ — "heating the bread-molds" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:2PGN6CK4QBEKNEP7VZX3WBVXSY:IBUBd8PxTjqTAkthkbPkGuGBHcI, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓎡 basket · V31 · [k] · basket with handle
The basket has a handle because it is meant to be YOURS to carry — and ≡k is exactly that: your name, your house, your heart, each with the little basket hooked on. Its mirror twin V31A faces the other way.
Jr,w-kꜣ — Iru-ka — a man's name (approximate) (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:DL2RSV5A3BFCXMRISIT2I6IOKA:IBUBd9A6c0edRkbMhoImeTpVF3M, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓎼 stand · W11 · [g] · jar stand
A stand with no jar on it is the picture of wanting — and Egyptian agrees: gꜣ, "lack," is spelled with this very sign. The rack holds the sound g the way it holds a jar: snugly, whatever gets set on it.
wni̯≡n ꜥnḫ m gꜣ≡k — "we have grown weary of life in your absence" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:45APBFH7ENHZVHELL64L5XSRBY:IBUBdyZZXpxImU00kiEqVcYpWLQ, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓏏 loaf · X1 · [t] · loaf of bread
The loaf is daily bread — you will not read three words without one. Every feminine word ends in this little bun; count the loaves on any wall and you are counting the grammar.
ḏꜣ,t — "the grey crane" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:CIL2AO35INF2DFDTQ2NG7TEVFU:IBUBd6xLgjMlu0mzoZpwkXg8JKE, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓍿 tether · V13 · [ṯ] · tethering rope
The tether is t with a twist of rope on it — ṯ. Where the loaf's plain t sits still, the tether-sound tugs; it holds the enclitic "you" (ṯw) the way a rope holds a calf.
wni̯ ṯw — "hurry, you!" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:RHA4B6LY25ABLG2ZCL4OWGL47A:IBUBd44UPGt3wEjcmDbjE3yZew4, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓂧 hand · D46 · [d] · hand
The hand does — and d is the doing sound: ḏd "say" carries it, and every craftsman's caption keeps it busy. Where the arm reaches, the bare hand works.
dw sjn — "applying the clay" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:D6W7KCYSB5BZPNGLGV53DHHC4A:IBUBdxkYkpwLcEhHgGHCQiLfSWE, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓆓 cobra · I10 · [ḏ] · cobra at rest
The cobra speaks first: ḏd, "say," begins with it, so every storyteller's "then His Majesty said…" starts with a snake. Watch for the coil and hood — someone is about to talk.
ḏd ḥm≡f — "His Majesty says" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawhistbiospzt:XSMWRMUR4NB6XEXIJVRVHJK2R4:IBUCENVQliJVjULwvCZ2iqEPMrs, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓉐 house · O1 · [pr] · house (ground-plan)
A house seen from above — walls squared, one doorway open. Everything domestic starts at this plan, and everything that goes forth leaves through its one gap.
pr≡f ḫf.y — "his house is destroyed" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:2Z3OHH5EKZEUTAFMAIWR2PXTGE:IBUBd7UkuKHYoUOMgMmYlHKqeLY, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓏤 stroke · Z1 · — · the word-sign stroke — 'this sign means what it shows'
The stroke is the script pointing at its own picture: "yes, really, THE THING." One small mark, and a sound-sign turns back into the object it always drew.
rʾ n mw — "a spell of water" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtempelbib:QQUPR5AIGZCXTA4YSXKA6ILTAM:IBUBd98zcEGyikWLm52Te9NxGEw, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓂻 walking · D54 · — · walking legs — classifier for motion words
Walking legs at the end of a word are the script's stage direction: exit, moving. If you see them, something just went somewhere — read back to find out what.
Wsjr ꜥq≡f r≡tn — "Osiris — he enters against you" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:ADO4HPZ7DNBFPOKZ4AGZWM45HM:IBUBd2wdh4wirkJkopavDGHCUPQ, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓍷 cartouche · V10 · — · the cartouche — rope ring around royal names
The cartouche is a rope fence around the most valuable words in Egypt. Wherever you see the ring, a king or queen lives inside it — the frame is the crown.
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓇳 sun · N5 · [rꜥ] · sun disc; the god Ra
The sun needs one circle — the simplest drawing of the most worshipped thing in Egypt. When time or divinity enters a word, the disc rises at its end.
jtn≡f jtn≡k — "his disc — your disc" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawamarna:7TAGNLXXXRH5LFEBRCBEKPXU4E:IBUBd1bocB5iCUkHqkj2AJXLIp4, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓇓 sedge · M23 · [sw] · sedge plant; writes nswt, king
One sedge stem, and the whole south of Egypt stands behind it — the plant that means the king. And when a sentence needs a light "he," it borrows the royal plant for a commoner's pronoun.
sw m s,t≡f — "he is in his place" (urn:nabu:aes:sawlit:MTBRL3MIIJDKXAOF2336WRLMZA:IBUBd5NmCHOe70QOmEFGRHm2dc4, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓊵 offering · R4 · [ḥtp] · loaf on a reed mat — offering, peace
An offering is bread on a mat — nothing more is needed, and the sign never adds more. Where the loaf rests, there is peace: ḥtp is both the gift and the calm it buys.
ḥtp-ḏi̯ nswt — "an offering which the king gives" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:3NTVXEHQCRDYXH4ATYZ34LI3EE:IBUBd4bfBgCc7UBnlsf3s9iPQgw, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓏙 given loaf · X8 · [ḏi̯] · conical loaf held out — give
The given loaf is the present with the giver cropped out — just the bread, mid-air, changing hands. Wherever gods or kings give life, bread, or breath, this little cone does the giving.
ḥtp-ḏi̯ nswt — "an offering which the king gives" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:3NTVXEHQCRDYXH4ATYZ34LI3EE:IBUBd4bfBgCc7UBnlsf3s9iPQgw, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓂓 ka · D28 · [kꜣ] · two raised arms — the ka, the life-force
The ka lifts both arms — to receive, to embrace, to say here I am. When bread and beer are set out for the dead, these raised arms are what actually takes them.
jt(j)-nṯr.pl ḥr drp n kꜣ≡k — "the god's-fathers make offering to your ka" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:RFTZGOQ3QNAIZCGAORT46O6MPY:IBUBd4WZt0xyNU9cmVrN501FPpE, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓏠 board · Y5 · [mn] · game board with pieces — mn
The board holds its pieces steady in their squares — mn, firmly placed. A game that lasted three thousand years is a fair picture for "endure."
Mnj — Meni — a man's name (approximate) (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:3FCGH3KKMBDVBCHD4EIIYXVJ3A:IBUBd7PkbU9E5kZNsHhsrmn2Rwc, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓎟 lord · V30 · [nb] · wicker basket — lord; every
The lord owns whatever the basket holds — and the basket holds everything, which is why the same sign also means "every." A wide bowl under a word puts that word in someone's keeping.
jnk ḥm sḫpr.n nb≡f — "I am a servant whom his lord shaped" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawamarna:6BYA4RTC7NGLVPQRXR6VHBRT7A:IBUBd45xpfX8mEYlsF6SYCs0zHM, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓁷 face · D2 · [ḥr] · human face — face; upon
The face looks straight out at you, like the owl — and "upon" is where a face points. Turn your face to a task and you are ḥr it: the preposition is a gaze.
mj,tt ḥr(,j) mw pw — "the same holds for him who is upon the water" (urn:nabu:aes:sawlit:L4M2NZM2YZAZRBIKQQBAVX743U:IBUBd74JkfHjjEYAgTDDunKKnF4, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓄟 skins · F31 · [ms] · three fox skins tied — born of
Three skins knotted together — offspring bundled to a mother, the litter in one tie. Every royal name that ends in "-mose" or "-messes" was born through this sign.
msi̯≡tw≡k mj msi̯.w Jtn — "you are born like Aten is born" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawamarna:XC6QAUTJCVHPLDGRSYE6AQR4AM:IBUBd8adyZ8nckyKkFUqMLPRlds, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓅭 duck · G39 · [zꜣ] · pintail duck — son
The duck paddles with its brood behind it — and in the script the brood is the point: son of, daughter of, child of. One duck, and a family tree starts.
zꜣ,t≡f S,t≡s-kꜣ,w — "his daughter, Setes-kau" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:JLBCEUYJHNDBZOWRFVBJ52HIXU:IBUBd3Uo1rMncUEukkXQWYGwYX4, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓏌 pot · W24 · [nw] · round pot — nw
The pot is round as the mouth saying "nw." Small, common, easy to overlook — like the grammar it helps spell: the biggest word it lives in is "I."
Ḥnk,t-j — Henketi — "the offerer" (approximate) (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:63IPBDEULBAR3JVWA4KUNTUI6Q:IBUBdyt6uPCSK01ClozVkRAt8i4, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓀀 person · A1 · — · seated man — classifier: man, I
The person sits at the end of a word like a signature: a human is meant here — and when the text says "I," the little seated figure IS the speaker, drawn in person.
ḏd≡j n m mjn — "To whom shall I speak today?" (urn:nabu:aes:sawlit:XZIG534KFVGODK6N7G5RP7SSDE:IBUBdyJshy17akYyoQdiOwvfd84, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓁐 woman · B1 · — · seated woman — classifier: woman
The woman sits at the close of a name and settles the question the sounds leave open: a woman is meant. Wherever a mother, daughter, or goddess is written, she sits there in person.
Ḥḥ,w Ḥḥ,t kꜣ≡tw r-rʾ≡sn — "Huh and Hauhet — so one says of them" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtempelbib:L7D5AZI5SRBY7KDHPSKJURRZK4:IBUBd2sv6DkFSUBlmWYInjkWWlQ, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓀁 hand to mouth · A2 · — · man with hand to mouth — classifier: eat, speak, think
Hand to mouth covers every traffic through the lips — food in, words out, and the thoughts behind both. If a word wears this figure, something is happening at the mouth or in the mind behind it.
swr≡k jm≡sn — "may you drink from them" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:3ENAFOSI3ZCLJE7XZDY4TZ3WNI:IBUBd8WSKUTUuEo2guBje8CydTk, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓏥 plural · Z2 · — · three strokes — classifier: plural
Count the plural: one stroke is the thing itself, three strokes are things beyond counting. When gods, names, or loaves multiply, these three ticks do the multiplying.
nn rn.pl≡tn — "your names shall not be" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtempelbib:Q4OD2GDHL5HIXHU3MGUZ3PAMVM:IBUBd5fCxiuh40LfrVMQR1XNMws, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓏛 idea · Y1 · — · papyrus roll tied shut — classifier: abstract idea
An idea lives in a closed book: the scribes' own admission that some things exist only on paper. When a word wears the tied roll, the thing it names is thinkable, not touchable.
jw≡k dr.ṱ dm.ṱ — "you are driven off, annihilated" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:A2PTGDCYB5E4XK6OORW6V4QHOE:IBUBd6i2gM9AuU1GjDbiWGWhj68, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓅪 smallness · G37 · — · sparrow — classifier: small, bad, weak
Smallness with feathers: where the good gods get falcons, trouble gets the sparrow. If a word carries this bird, the news is bad, weak, or shrinking — brace before you translate. Its lookalike, the swallow of G36, means the opposite: watch the tail.
nn wnn≡k dm.ṱ — "you shall not exist, being annihilated" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:A2PTGDCYB5E4XK6OORW6V4QHOE:IBUBd4WnAWIbCEq9rLuvQoItCB4, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓋹 life · S34 · [ꜥnḫ] · sandal strap? knot? — the ankh: life
Life is the sign you already knew before you could read: the ankh. Loop, bar, and stem — whatever it once drew, forty centuries agreed on what it gives.
ꜥnḫ≡f m ꜥnḫ Rꜥw jm — "may he live on that whereby Ra lives" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtempelbib:QQUPR5AIGZCXTA4YSXKA6ILTAM:IBUBd5wVvVh9hE8JrxSE4SSIYGY, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓄤 beautiful · F35 · [nfr] · heart and windpipe? — nefer: good, beautiful
Beautiful is a lute-shaped charm of a sign — whatever organ it drew, it reads as everything Egypt wanted to be: good, lovely, complete. Queens wore it in their names like jewelry.
Nfr rn-ꜥꜣ≡f — "Nefer is his great name" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:6CRPOC6MRRG45B75JES3ABTHZE:IBUBd9muUqQ92ErXjUoKSTj9VwE, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓆣 scarab · L1 · [ḫpr] · scarab beetle — kheper: become, transform
The scarab rolls its ball and life comes out of it — becoming, engineered by a beetle. Every "become," every transformation, every Khepri-name carries this insect.
nn ḫpr≡tn nn wn≡tn — "you shall not become; you shall not be" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:A2PTGDCYB5E4XK6OORW6V4QHOE:IBUBdwS3H2bLl0S1n5N8U9CLN1A, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓊹 flag · R8 · [nṯr] · temple flag on a pole — netjer: god
The flag marks the god's address — you cannot see a god, but you can see where one is flown. Wherever divinity enters a word, the temple flag goes up.
jw≡k m nṯr pri̯ m nṯr — "you are a god, come forth from a god" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:45APBFH7ENHZVHELL64L5XSRBY:IBUBd8Y5Y422G0apoG4ESTPBbac, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓃭 lion · E23 · [rw] · recumbent lion — rw
The lion at rest still owns the ground — and it owns two alphabets' worth of sounds: Egyptian rw at home, and the borrowed L whenever Greeks came visiting. Decipherment walked in on its back.
ꜥꜣpp ḫr qrnr — "Apophis is fallen — the Qerner-snake!" (urn:nabu:aes:bbawtotenlit:2Z3OHH5EKZEUTAFMAIWR2PXTGE:IBUBdwKURW8Z1EbXp44g88XV2ug, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101 𓍯 lasso · V4 · [wꜣ] · lasso — wa
The lasso flies far before it lands — wꜣ is the far-away sound, the first half of "way." A rope thrown toward the horizon: distance, drawn.
Jmi̯,t-wꜣj — Imit-wai — a woman's name (approximate) (urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:6I3FE4B2CNBZ5DQZJV6FF6V24M:IBUBdyooTyWwe0DClagirkjg6fA, license: attribution)
Edubba · edubba.ac · CC BY-SA 4.0; quoted lines carry their own licenses edubba edubba-hieroglyphs-101