Egyptian cartouche is a distinctive sign of the pharaohs

The magical and mysterious world of Ancient Egypt still attracts people from all over the planet. Many of his everyday attributes are today a mystery to most.

In this article, we will try to slightly lift the veil of secrecy. You will learn what an Egyptian cartouche is. Is it an amulet, a punctuation mark or something?

How were the hieroglyphs deciphered?

This strange and unusual letter captures at first sight. "Sacred signs", as they were called by the ancient Greeks, or hieroglyphs were engraved on stone blocks of pyramids, stellas, clay tablets, were written on papyrus and parchment. But none of the neighboring nations set out to penetrate their secret.

Therefore, the process of deciphering this letter was delayed for many years. Breakthrough occurred only by chance. French researcher Francois Chompolon was able to decipher a significant part of the characters with the help of Rosetta stone. There were two identical texts on it. One in ancient Greek, the second in Egyptian.

The first were deciphered the names of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, enclosed in cartouches.

Thus, the beginning of Egyptology was put exactly by these hieroglyphs. Photos of the Rosetta inscription you can see below.

Kinds of hieroglyphic writing

This writing system has developed a very long time. An approximate date the researchers consider the boundary of the 4th and 3rd millennia BC.

In the beginning there were simple pictograms, that is, the drawing denoted the word. If the sun was painted, then it only meant this shone and nothing more.

Later they begin to expand the scope of pictograms. Now the sun can mean not only itself, but also a word like "day."

Over time, the letter becomes more complicated. Now the hieroglyphs denote letters, syllables, words.
Other writing systems appear. Now there is a demotic and hieratic letter, as well as classical sacred hieroglyphs. Photos of the first two fonts are located below.

What is a cartouche? A photo

Since the Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered by the Frenchman, this character was also named from this language. "Cartouche" means "packing, bundle", which, in fact, it reminds.

In fact, as it turned out later, this is a stylized image of the ring of eternity. We'll talk about it a little later.

So, what did this symbol mean? The Egyptians called it "shena" - "eternity". Cartouche is a special outline with an emphasis - the ringing of the text of the royal name. Something similar to the modern way of writing with a capital letter. In hieroglyphs, after all, there were no big and small letters, punctuation marks.

The first occurrences of this symbol are dated by the reign of Pharaoh Snoffre, about 2500 years BC.

In the cartouche inscribed the first two of the five names of the pharaoh, since the remaining three were just titles. The first word denoted the name given upon ascension to the throne, and the second - the one obtained at birth.

As mentioned before, in Egypt there were several systems of writing, fonts. In the cursive (demotic) cartouche - it's just a pair of brackets and a vertical line.

Ring Shen

Initially, this symbol stands for eternity and protection from hostile forces. Later, in the Greco-Roman period, he is associated with Ouroboros, a serpent who bites his own tail.

In the middle of the third millennium BC Pharaohs began to apply this protective magic form to their names. The first two words, denoting the throne name and given at birth, were known to many.

It used to be that if you find out the real name of a person or things, you will get power over them. This superstition was preserved until the XIX century, when the brothers Grimm wrote a fairy tale "Rumpelstiltschen".

Often the sign "shena" connects the ruling pharaoh with Gore, the god-falcon. The latter not only protects the king, but also allows him to reign forever as his heir. This is indicated by a palm branch on which there is a stylized cartouche. It is a symbol representing the period of government.

Thus, the pharaohs officially claimed their divine authority over the Upper and Lower Egypt.

Amulets

Faith in magic, witchcraft, the possibility of secretly harming another person has given development to such a direction as making amulets and talismans.

At first it was only a sign of the royal family. They surrounded the name of Pharaoh and his wife. But later, when the country came under the influence of different conquerors, this symbol passed into the category of consumer. Since that time, the Egyptian cartouche is just a piece for an amulet.

This oval plate of stone, metal, wood or clay, which inscribed the name of the person who bought it.

There are several legends about the origin of the cartouche in the role of an amulet.

According to the first of them, this is a stylized woolen rope, which nomads and Bedouins surround their tents. This prevents small insects, scorpions, snakes and other reptiles from getting inside.

The second version says that this is a normal protective magic circle.

The third is closest to the Egyptian tradition. Here in the cartouche see a stylized image of the god of the earth Geba (horizontal line), over which stands the great goddess Nut. It closes and protects everyone from misfortunes and misfortunes.

In principle, in the mystical tradition of ancient Egypt, it was believed that the cartouche contained a part of the soul of a man whose name is inscribed inward.

Thus, dear readers, today we have learned what an Egyptian cartouche is.