DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10362#0016
BENT HASAN.
row of great list of offerings, seventh column
from right. H.C., 1895.
This sign usually shows a coloured feather
or tuft projecting from the front of the bird's
neck just below the head, as here, or from the
breast.
The sign represents the common syllabic ba.
The root ba has the meaning of a soul in bird
form ; it was therefore probably at one time
the name of an actual bird.
Compare Fig. 10, and Petrie, Meclum,, PI. xiii.,
risen from the water or was about to settle.
The figure is very hybrid and conventional, the
tail alone being actually distinctive ; the rest
of the details are indeterminate. The tail is
that of the pintail duck, Dafila acuta, a dull-
coloured species which is common in Egypt.
The verb pa, the full form of which is perhaps
pay, in Egyptian means " to fly," ^j^^za;
hence this hieroglyph obtains its phonetic value
as the common syllabic for pa.
Compare Fig. 8.
_. _ , . „. , , ,n. 4i i lower left-hand corner, group () ° (without
Fig. 2, Plover (species?), bustard . & JT Y ^
From south-west wall in shrine of Tomb 2;
B. H., I., PI. xx., lowest row, group
H.C., 1895.
The drawing in the shrine is by no means
equal to that on the south wall of the main
chamber. The original outline of the bird was
in red, and has been corrected by the artist in
colouring the figure, the first line being clearly
visible above the back. The length of the legs
seems to indicate some species of plover.
This is a rare sign, and the reading of it
is uncertain. The group in which it occurs
evidently designated the office of one of the
chief functionaries on the estate of Amenemhat,
the bearer of the title being followed by the
steward of the " white house," or store. The
sign is perhaps identical with that read ub by
W. Max Muller,1 but the group in which it
occurs recalls the title <Sjk rekhti, " fuller."
Fig. 4. Crested ibis (species?), read
I akh. From east end of south wall in
main chamber of Tomb 2 ; B. II., I., PI. xvii.,
inscription in second row from top depicting
human figures, group "t'^.Q^j"^. M.W.B.,
1391.
The bird is highly conventionalized.
The sign is used to spell the root akh, which
occurs with the meanings: (1) "brilliant,"
also "excellent," "useful"; (2) the glorified
spirit of man after death. As in the case of
the ba (Fig. 3), this spirit also was perhaps
considered to exist in a bird form.
w
Fig. 3. Plover (species ?), ; read JJ
ba. From east end of south wall in main
chamber of Tomb 2; B. II., I., PI. xvii., lowest
1 Ilecueit de Travaux, ix., 163.
Fig. 5, Name of the goddess Hathor,
read j[ Q j[ Het-Rer. From west end of
south wall in main chamber of Tomb 2;
B. II., I., Fl. xviii., second line of inscription
in large characters over the lady Hetept.
M.W.B., 1891.
The sign is composite, consisting of | ^ Het,
and Her. [ *"| is clearly the plan of some
structure. The word het, which it represents,
appears to have been used especially of a place
row of great list of offerings, seventh column
from right. H.C., 1895.
This sign usually shows a coloured feather
or tuft projecting from the front of the bird's
neck just below the head, as here, or from the
breast.
The sign represents the common syllabic ba.
The root ba has the meaning of a soul in bird
form ; it was therefore probably at one time
the name of an actual bird.
Compare Fig. 10, and Petrie, Meclum,, PI. xiii.,
risen from the water or was about to settle.
The figure is very hybrid and conventional, the
tail alone being actually distinctive ; the rest
of the details are indeterminate. The tail is
that of the pintail duck, Dafila acuta, a dull-
coloured species which is common in Egypt.
The verb pa, the full form of which is perhaps
pay, in Egyptian means " to fly," ^j^^za;
hence this hieroglyph obtains its phonetic value
as the common syllabic for pa.
Compare Fig. 8.
_. _ , . „. , , ,n. 4i i lower left-hand corner, group () ° (without
Fig. 2, Plover (species?), bustard . & JT Y ^
From south-west wall in shrine of Tomb 2;
B. H., I., PI. xx., lowest row, group
H.C., 1895.
The drawing in the shrine is by no means
equal to that on the south wall of the main
chamber. The original outline of the bird was
in red, and has been corrected by the artist in
colouring the figure, the first line being clearly
visible above the back. The length of the legs
seems to indicate some species of plover.
This is a rare sign, and the reading of it
is uncertain. The group in which it occurs
evidently designated the office of one of the
chief functionaries on the estate of Amenemhat,
the bearer of the title being followed by the
steward of the " white house," or store. The
sign is perhaps identical with that read ub by
W. Max Muller,1 but the group in which it
occurs recalls the title <Sjk rekhti, " fuller."
Fig. 4. Crested ibis (species?), read
I akh. From east end of south wall in
main chamber of Tomb 2 ; B. II., I., PI. xvii.,
inscription in second row from top depicting
human figures, group "t'^.Q^j"^. M.W.B.,
1391.
The bird is highly conventionalized.
The sign is used to spell the root akh, which
occurs with the meanings: (1) "brilliant,"
also "excellent," "useful"; (2) the glorified
spirit of man after death. As in the case of
the ba (Fig. 3), this spirit also was perhaps
considered to exist in a bird form.
w
Fig. 3. Plover (species ?), ; read JJ
ba. From east end of south wall in main
chamber of Tomb 2; B. II., I., PI. xvii., lowest
1 Ilecueit de Travaux, ix., 163.
Fig. 5, Name of the goddess Hathor,
read j[ Q j[ Het-Rer. From west end of
south wall in main chamber of Tomb 2;
B. II., I., Fl. xviii., second line of inscription
in large characters over the lady Hetept.
M.W.B., 1891.
The sign is composite, consisting of | ^ Het,
and Her. [ *"| is clearly the plan of some
structure. The word het, which it represents,
appears to have been used especially of a place