The

Egyptian hieroglyph Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1, ...

Emblem of the East (𓋁 Gardiner no. R15) is a portrayal of a standard, surmounted by the "Symbol of the East". It represents the Goddess

Iabet Iabet (Iabtet, Iab, Abet, Abtet, Ab) is a goddess in Egyptian mythology, counterpart of Imentet. Mythology She is a cleanser of the Sun god Ra, and goddess of the east. Her main husband is the fertility god Min. She was worshiped in Panopol ...

. Her companion goddess

Imentet Imentet (Ament, Amentet or Imentit, meaning "She of the West") was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion representing the necropolises west of the Nile. She was the consort of Aqen, a god who guided Ra through parts of the underworld. Although ...

is represented by the " Emblem of the West". As an

ideogram An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek "idea" and "to write") is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by familiarit ...

, it represents either ''iꜣbt'' "east" or ''iꜣby'' "left". The symbol for the "West"/"right" was considered 'good', and thus the East symbol sometimes symbolized the opposite of good, evil. However, as the sun rises in the East, the solar cult often used the symbol.Betrò, 1995, p. 212.

References

*Betrò, 1995. '' Hieroglyphics: The Writings of Ancient Egypt'', Maria Carmela Betrò, c. 1995, 1996-(English), Abbeville Press Publishers, New York, London, Paris (hardcover, ) Egyptian hieroglyphs: temple furniture and emblems {{AncientEgypt-stub

See also

References