King of Upper and Lower Egypt 𓆥

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to look at the common title “King of Upper and Lower Egypt 𓆥.”

King of Upper and Lower Egypt 𓆥 as seen on the King’s List on display at the British Museum

𓆥 can either be translated as “He of the Sedge and the Bee” or more simply “King of Upper and Lower Egypt.” 

𓆥 is an extremely common title that is seen across many different types of monuments across Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 and museums around the world. A title is a phrase that appears before a cartouche, which is the oval that encloses the name 𓂋𓈖 of a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻. 

Let’s take a closer look at each of the hieroglyphic symbols involved in this title:

The “sedge 𓇓” is a biliteral phonogram and has the sound of “sw.” The symbol can also function as an ideogram for both the words “king (nswt)” and “sedge (swt).” The sedge 𓇓 is also the symbol to represent Upper Egypt! Normally if you see the sedge 𓇓 in an inscription, the word “king” is going to be involved!

The “flat loaf of bread 𓏏” is a uniliteral phonogram used to represent the sound “t” and can also be used to make words feminine when placed at the end of the word! It can also be used as a phonetic complement, meaning it will add emphasis to the sounds of the symbol that comes before it, which is its function in the title we are examining today (𓆥)

The “bee 𓆤” is an ideogram for the words bee, wasp, or honey and has the phonetic sound of “bjt.” More commonly, the bee 𓆤 is the symbol that is used to represent Lower Egypt. 

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