Hieroglyphs Addenda Β· Signs

𓇋

reed

NameM17
Readsj
Meansflowering reed
Taught in01 Β· Stone, reed, and papyrus

Where it comes from

A flowering reed β€” one stem, one bent head of bloom, the marsh plant of the Nile’s edges. It writes j, the light glide the convention reads as β€œi”; doubled, it strengthens into y. One of the first signs any student of Egyptian ever learns.

How to remember it

A single reed bows its flowered head β€” as slight as the sound it writes. Where the wind barely moves through the marsh, the voice barely moves through j.

In the wild

Old Kingdom tomb inscription (aes corpus). urn:nabu:aes:bbawgrabinschriften:3FCGH3KKMBDVBCHD4EIIYXVJ3A:IBUBd7PkbU9E5kZNsHhsrmn2Rwc Β· license: attribution. Name renderings are conventional.

Piece by piece:

  • mn β€” the game-board sign with its complement n
  • j β€” this reed, closing the name

A name Egyptian history knows well β€” tradition remembers a Meni (Menes) as the first king of all, though this tomb’s Meni was a private man. The reed is taught in 101’s chapter 01.