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| Akhet (horizon) in hieroglyphs | ||
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Akhet (Ancient Egyptian: Ꜣḫt; Gardiner: N27) is an Egyptian hieroglyph that represents the sun rising over a mountain. It is translated as "horizon" or "the place in the sky where the sun rises".[1] Betrò describes it as "Mountain with the Rising Sun" (The hieroglyph for "mountain" is 𓈋) and an ideogram for "horizon".[2]
Akhet appears in the Egyptian name for the Great Pyramid of Giza (Akhet Khufu),[3] and in the assumed name of Akhetaten, the city founded by pharaoh Akhenaten.[4] It also appears in the name of the syncretized form of Ra and Horus, Ra-Horakhty (Rꜥ Ḥr Ꜣḫty, "Ra–Horus of the Horizons").[5]
In ancient Egyptian architecture, the pylon mirrored the hieroglyph.[6][7] The symbol is sometimes connected with the astrological sign of Libra[8] and the Egyptian deity Aker, who guards the eastern and western horizons.
References
editCitations
edit- ^ Gardiner, Alan H. (1957). Egyptian grammar : being an introduction to the study of hieroglyphs. 1969 printing (3rd ed.). London: Published on behalf of the Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, by Oxford University Press. p. 489. ISBN 9780900416354. OCLC 229894.
- ^ Betrò (1995), p. 161.
- ^ Verner 2001, p. 189.
- ^ David 1998, p. 125.
- ^ Watterson 2013, p. 59, Stroud, Gloucestershire.
- ^ Wilkinson 2005, p. 195.
- ^ Krupp 1993, p. 308-310.
- ^ Nozedar, Adele (2010). The illustrated signs & symbols sourcebook : an A to Z compendium of over 1000 designs. Sterling Publishing Company, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-4351-6181-8. OCLC 960951107.
Bibliography
edit- Betrò, Maria Carmela (1995), Hieroglyphics: The Writings of Ancient Egypt, New York: Abbeville Press, ISBN 978-0-7892-0232-1
- David, Rosalie (1998). Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt. Facts on File. ISBN 9780816033126.
- Krupp, Ed (1993) [1983]. Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilisations. Old Saybrook, Connecticut: Konecky & Konecky. ISBN 1-56852-460-9.
- Verner, Miroslav (2001). The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments. Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-1703-1.
- Watterson, Barbara (2013) [1984]. Gods of Ancient Egypt (e-book ed.). Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-9502-6.
- Wilkinson, Toby (2005). The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0500051375.
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