DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10362#0013
I. HIEEOGLYPHS.
PLATES L—VI.
The first six plates contain a selection of '
hieroglyphic signs copied by Mr. Blackden in
1891 and by Mr. Carter in 1895 ; of these the
greater number are from the finely painted
south wall of the tomb of Ameny.1 Figs. 2, 23,
and 32 are from other parts of the same tomb ;
Figs. 6, 10, 14, 30, 35, 52, 60, 68, 87, 91, 96
are from the tomb of Khnemhetep, Tomb 3,
and Fie;. 80 is from Tomb 17. Four of the
signs, Figs. 82-84 and 90, were copied by
Mr. Percy E. Newberry in Tomb 14.2
It is perhaps well to remind the general
reader that in the hieroglyphic inscriptions the
signs may have either a phonetic value express-
ing sound, or an ideographic value expressing
meaning. Very often a group of phonetic
hieroglyphs is followed by an ideograph which
defines more or less the meaning of that group ;
in that case the ideographic sign is called the
determinative.
A large number of the hieroglyphs shown in !
Pis. i.-vi. are taken from the great list of
offerings given on PI. xvii. of Beni Hasan, I.
1 Sec Beni Hasan, I., Pis. xvii.-xviii.
- Tomb 17 is published in Beni Hasan, II , the other
tombs mentioned in Beni Hasan, I.
In each of the three rows of inscription com-
posing this list the name of the offering is
written out at the top of the column, and a
picture of the object offered is placed at the
foot as a determinative. But these pictures
are more precise than determinatives are wont
to be in ordinary writing, and while many
of them are regular hieroglyphs, they must
not be considered as being all necessarily
such; some, however, of the more excep-
tional, viz. Figs. 21, 27-29, 38-40, 45, are
admitted into the plates on account of their
interest. We have called them " picture-
determinatives."
There is also another class of hieroglyphic
signs, rare, and unnoticed in the grammars.
These may be termed "punning hieroglyphs" :
they have peculiar forms and values, and were
apparently invented in a playful moment by
the artist and scribe, who would write brief
and well-known formulae in them as a riddle
for the amusement of visitors. Good examples
of this class are found in Beni Hasan, II.,
Pis. xiv. and xvi., and one of them is shown
in the present volume on PL v. (Fig. 80). It
is hardly justifiable to include in this category
the rare signs Figs. 82-84 and 90, since the
B 2
PLATES L—VI.
The first six plates contain a selection of '
hieroglyphic signs copied by Mr. Blackden in
1891 and by Mr. Carter in 1895 ; of these the
greater number are from the finely painted
south wall of the tomb of Ameny.1 Figs. 2, 23,
and 32 are from other parts of the same tomb ;
Figs. 6, 10, 14, 30, 35, 52, 60, 68, 87, 91, 96
are from the tomb of Khnemhetep, Tomb 3,
and Fie;. 80 is from Tomb 17. Four of the
signs, Figs. 82-84 and 90, were copied by
Mr. Percy E. Newberry in Tomb 14.2
It is perhaps well to remind the general
reader that in the hieroglyphic inscriptions the
signs may have either a phonetic value express-
ing sound, or an ideographic value expressing
meaning. Very often a group of phonetic
hieroglyphs is followed by an ideograph which
defines more or less the meaning of that group ;
in that case the ideographic sign is called the
determinative.
A large number of the hieroglyphs shown in !
Pis. i.-vi. are taken from the great list of
offerings given on PI. xvii. of Beni Hasan, I.
1 Sec Beni Hasan, I., Pis. xvii.-xviii.
- Tomb 17 is published in Beni Hasan, II , the other
tombs mentioned in Beni Hasan, I.
In each of the three rows of inscription com-
posing this list the name of the offering is
written out at the top of the column, and a
picture of the object offered is placed at the
foot as a determinative. But these pictures
are more precise than determinatives are wont
to be in ordinary writing, and while many
of them are regular hieroglyphs, they must
not be considered as being all necessarily
such; some, however, of the more excep-
tional, viz. Figs. 21, 27-29, 38-40, 45, are
admitted into the plates on account of their
interest. We have called them " picture-
determinatives."
There is also another class of hieroglyphic
signs, rare, and unnoticed in the grammars.
These may be termed "punning hieroglyphs" :
they have peculiar forms and values, and were
apparently invented in a playful moment by
the artist and scribe, who would write brief
and well-known formulae in them as a riddle
for the amusement of visitors. Good examples
of this class are found in Beni Hasan, II.,
Pis. xiv. and xvi., and one of them is shown
in the present volume on PL v. (Fig. 80). It
is hardly justifiable to include in this category
the rare signs Figs. 82-84 and 90, since the
B 2