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N-red crown (n hieroglyph)
Encyclopedia
The ancient Egypt
ian Red Crown, the Deshret
crown, is one of the oldest Egyptian hieroglyphs
. As an iconographic
element, it is used on the famous Narmer Palette
of Pharaoh Narmer
as the "Red Crown of the Delta", the Delta being Lower Egypt
.
with the Nile Delta
. Later it came to be used in the Egyptian language – as an alphabet
ic uniliteral, vertical form for letter "n" as a phoneme
or preposition. It became functional in running hieroglyphic texts, where either the horizontal or vertical form preposition satisfied space requirements.
The Red Crown is also used as a determinative
, most notably in the word for deshret
. It is also used in other words or names of gods.
One older use of the red crown hieroglyph is to make the word: 'in'!, (formerly an-(a-with dot)-(the "vertical feather" hieroglyph a, plus the red crown). Egyptian "in" is used at the beginning of a text and translates as: Behold!, or Lo!, and is an emphatic.
Rosetta Stone
, the 'Red Crown' as hieroglyph has the usage mostly of the vertical form of the preposition "n". In running text, word endings are not always at the end of hieroglyph block
s; when they are at the end, a simple transition to start the next block is a vertical separater, in this case the preposition, vertical n, (thus a space saver).
Since the start of the next hieroglyphic block could also be started with a horizontal "n" at the bottom of the previous block, it should be thought that the vertical "n" is also chosen for a visual effect; in other words, it visually spreads out the running text of words, instead of piling horizontal prepositions in a more tight text. Visually it is also a hieroglyph that takes up more 'space'-(versus a straight-line type for the horizontal water ripple); so it may have a dual purpose of a less compact text, and a better segue
-transition to the next words.
The Red Crown hieroglyph is used 35 times in the Rosetta Stone; only 4 times is it used as a non-preposition. It averages once per line usage in the 36 line Decree of Memphis (Ptolemy V)-(Rosetta Stone).
One of the first uses in iconography
of the Red Crown is for Pharaoh Narmer, on his famous Narmer Palette
. Throughout wall scenes, stele
s, tomb relief
s, papyrus, and representation of gods-as-pharaoh, either the Red Crown, White Crown, Pschent
-crown, etc. are used.
A painted ostracon
from the Ramesside Period is located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
. Ostracons were often used as a 'trial piece'; some ostracons were used as individual expressions-(like a cartoon
), and their purpose, and usage often only guesswork.
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
ian Red Crown, the Deshret
Deshret
Deshret, from ancient Egyptian, was the formal name for the Red Crown of and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet, the fertile Nile river basin. The end has a curly wire on it, that represents the proboscis of a honey bee. Deshret or DSRT also represents the insect known as the honeybee...
crown, is one of the oldest Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
. As an iconographic
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
element, it is used on the famous Narmer Palette
Narmer Palette
The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great ierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, containing some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found. It is thought by some to depict the unification of...
of Pharaoh Narmer
Narmer
Narmer was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period . He is thought to be the successor to the Protodynastic pharaohs Scorpion and/or Ka, and he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and therefore the first pharaoh of unified Egypt.The...
as the "Red Crown of the Delta", the Delta being Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
.
Language usage of vertical "n"-the Red Crown
The first usage of the Red Crown was in iconography as the symbol for Lower EgyptLower Egypt
Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
with the Nile Delta
Nile Delta
The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 240 km of Mediterranean coastline—and is a rich...
. Later it came to be used in the Egyptian language – as an alphabet
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
ic uniliteral, vertical form for letter "n" as a phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
or preposition. It became functional in running hieroglyphic texts, where either the horizontal or vertical form preposition satisfied space requirements.
The Red Crown is also used as a determinative
Determinative
A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they may derive historically from glyphs for real words, and...
, most notably in the word for deshret
Deshret
Deshret, from ancient Egyptian, was the formal name for the Red Crown of and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet, the fertile Nile river basin. The end has a curly wire on it, that represents the proboscis of a honey bee. Deshret or DSRT also represents the insect known as the honeybee...
. It is also used in other words or names of gods.
One older use of the red crown hieroglyph is to make the word: 'in'!, (formerly an-(a-with dot)-(the "vertical feather" hieroglyph a, plus the red crown). Egyptian "in" is used at the beginning of a text and translates as: Behold!, or Lo!, and is an emphatic.
Rosetta Stone usage
In the 198 BC198 BC
Year 198 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Catus and Flamininus...
Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
, the 'Red Crown' as hieroglyph has the usage mostly of the vertical form of the preposition "n". In running text, word endings are not always at the end of hieroglyph block
Quadrat (hieroglyph block)
A quadrat block is a virtual rectangle or square in Egyptian hieroglyphic text.The glyphs can be variable in number within the virtual block, though they are often proportioned according to variable standardized rules of scribal methods.The definition for the block in Illustrated Hieroglyphics...
s; when they are at the end, a simple transition to start the next block is a vertical separater, in this case the preposition, vertical n, (thus a space saver).
Segue
A segue is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next.-In music:In music, segue is a direction to the performer. It means continue without a pause. It comes from the Italian "it follows". The term attacca is also used in classical music.For written music it implies a transition...
-transition to the next words.
The Red Crown hieroglyph is used 35 times in the Rosetta Stone; only 4 times is it used as a non-preposition. It averages once per line usage in the 36 line Decree of Memphis (Ptolemy V)-(Rosetta Stone).
Iconography of the Red Crown
- For the main article of the Red Crown, see: DeshretDeshretDeshret, from ancient Egyptian, was the formal name for the Red Crown of and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet, the fertile Nile river basin. The end has a curly wire on it, that represents the proboscis of a honey bee. Deshret or DSRT also represents the insect known as the honeybee...
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
of the Red Crown is for Pharaoh Narmer, on his famous Narmer Palette
Narmer Palette
The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great ierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, containing some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found. It is thought by some to depict the unification of...
. Throughout wall scenes, stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
s, tomb relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
s, papyrus, and representation of gods-as-pharaoh, either the Red Crown, White Crown, Pschent
Pschent
The Pschent was the name of the Double Crown of Ancient Egypt. The Ancient Egyptians generally referred to it as sekhemti , the Two Powerful Ones. It combined the Red Deshret Crown of Lower Egypt and the White Hedjet Crown of Upper Egypt....
-crown, etc. are used.
A painted ostracon
Ostracon
An ostracon is a piece of pottery , usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In archaeology, ostraca may contain scratched-in words or other forms of writing which may give clues as to the time when the piece was in use...
from the Ramesside Period is located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
. Ostracons were often used as a 'trial piece'; some ostracons were used as individual expressions-(like a cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
), and their purpose, and usage often only guesswork.
The Egyptian hieroglyph alphabetic letters
The following two tables show the Egyptian uniliteral signs. (24 letters, but multiple use hieroglyphs)| a |
i |
y |
' |
(w,u) |
B |
| P |
F |
M |
N |
R |
H1 |
| H2 |
Kh1 |
Kh2 |
S |
(Sh)=Š |
Q/K2 |
| K |
G |
T |
Ch—Tj |
D |
Dj |
| L/(R) (special) (Ptolemaic, etc) |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| a | i (ee) |
y ii |
' ah, (aïn) |
w, (u) (oo) |
B |
| P | F | M | N | R | H1 |
| H2 | (Kh)1 | (Kh)2 | S | Sh (Sh) |
K emphatic |
| K | G | T | Tj Ch Tsh |
D | Dj |
| (additionally 4 for vert/horiz) |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| M (horiz) M2-Plinth |
N (vert) (see: N (red crown)) |
S (vert) S (folded cloth) |
M (3rd-M -2nd-vert) M3-Baker's tool |
||
| (additionally 3 for equivalents) |
-- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
is— y2-Two strokes |
is— letter w, u (see w2-Coil) |
T (no. 2) T2-Pestle |
See also
- DeshretDeshretDeshret, from ancient Egyptian, was the formal name for the Red Crown of and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet, the fertile Nile river basin. The end has a curly wire on it, that represents the proboscis of a honey bee. Deshret or DSRT also represents the insect known as the honeybee...
, the Red Crown of the Pharaoh - Gardiner's Sign List#S. Crowns, Dress, Staves, etc.
- Gardiner's Sign ListGardiner's Sign ListGardiner's Sign List is a list of common Egyptian hieroglyphs compiled by Sir Alan Gardiner. It is considered a standard reference in the study of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs....