A guide to the Egyptian collections in the British MuseumBritish Museum. Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities
History
A guide to the Egyptian collections in the British Museum
British Museum. Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities
Egypt -- Antiquities
In the case of =A= it is quite clear that PTOL is the first part of the
name of Ptolemaios, therefore 𓐝𓇌𓋴 must represent the second part of the
name, or MAIOS. We may then say that 𓐝 is =M=, and the last sign 𓋴 is
=S=, and that 𓇌 represents some _i_-sound, or _e_-sound; in the case of
~B~ we are certain of the values of all the signs except 𓈎, 𓂋 and 𓆇, but
it is clear from their positions in the name that the first two must
represent ~K~ and ~R~. We have seen that the signs 𓏏𓆇 are added to the
names of goddesses, and as Kleopatra was regarded as a goddess, they are
added to her name. They do not affect the name itself. The two royal
names may now be taken out of the _cartouches_, and the values written
under the characters thus:
=A= 𓊪 𓏏 𓍯 𓃭 𓐝 𓇌 𓋴
P T O L M (I or E) S
=B= 𓈎 𓃭 𓇋 𓍯 𓊪 𓄿 𓂧 𓂋 𓄿 𓏏𓆇
K L E(?) O P A T R A ...
Taking another _cartouche_ 𓍹𓄿𓃭𓎡𓋴𓇋𓈖𓂧𓂋𓊃𓍺 we already know the signs,
𓄿𓃭𓋴𓇋𓂧𓂋, which represent ~A~, ~L~, ~S~, ~E~(?), ~T~, and ~R~. The only
Greek name which contains these letters in this order is =Alexandros=, or
Alexander, and we therefore conclude that the last sign, 𓊃, is ~S~, that
𓎡 is ~K~, that 𓇋 is ~A~, and that 𓈖 is ~N~.
A common title of the Roman Emperors was 𓎡𓇌𓋴𓂋𓊃, and as we know all the
signs but one (𓇌) with certainty we write down ~K~-𓇌-~S~-~R~-~S~, which
can only be “Kaisaros,” or “Caesar.” From this we again see that 𓇌
represents the αι in Καισαρος and Πτολεμαιος, or _ae_ in Caesar.
In this way the Egyptian alphabet was recovered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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