The

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian Papyrus stem hieroglyph is one of the oldest

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

hieroglyphs from Ancient Egypt. The papyrus stalk, (or stem) was incorporated into designs of columns on buildings, also facades, and is also in the iconographic art portrayed in ancient Egyptian decorated scenes. The papyrus stem hieroglyph shows a single stalk and

umbel UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...

of the plant. It is used for the color 'green', and for vigour, or youth-(growing things).

Language usage of papyrus stem

The basic usage of the papyrus stem hieroglyph is as an

ideogram An ideogram or ideograph (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'idea' + 'to write') is a symbol that is used within a given writing system to represent an idea or concept in a given language. (Ideograms are contrasted with phonogram (linguistics), phono ...

, (graphic picture), in the word for ''"papyrus stem"'', the ''w3dj'', or the older representation of ''"uatch"''. As the

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

plant is from the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...

, and is a symbol of

Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ') is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, the Nile River split into sev ...

and its

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

and productive quality of food growing, the usage of the ''papyrus stem'' is also used to represent ''growth, vigour, youth'', all things fresh, new and growing. The green color, or the Nile Delta's connection to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, gave rise to the word the ''"Great Green"'', the Mediterranean, and thus its hieroglyphic spelling of the sea, using the papyrus stem hieroglyph-(green, great, or green-great-sea-"w3dj-wr"). Other words in the family of '' 'w3dj' '', or ''"uatch"'' words are related to: green, yellow green, green stones, eyepaint; also trees, plants, and amulets, to name a few.

Rosetta Stone examples

The

Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is a stele of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a Rosetta Stone decree, decree issued in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty of ancient Egypt, Egypt, on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts ...

use of the papyrus stem occurs in three places. The first half of the Rosetta Stone is represented by the

Nubayrah Stele The Nubayrah Stele is a mutilated copy of the Decree of Memphis (Ptolemy V) on a limestone stele. The same decree is found upon the Rosetta Stone. From 1848, it was known that a partial copy of the Decree was on a wall at the Temple of Philae, ...

, lines N-1 to N-27, (the Rosetta starts at line N-22, and is from R-1 to R-14). Line N-19 of the Nubayrah Stele refers to the ''"Great Green"'', the Mediterranean Sea and uses the Papyrus with

Cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

, (Gardiner No. M14). The opening of the Decree of Memphis (Ptolemy V), (the Rosetta Stone) begins by addressing

Ptolemy V Epiphanes Ptolemy V Epiphanes Eucharistus (, ''Ptolemaĩos Epiphanḗs Eukháristos'' "Ptolemy the Manifest, the Beneficent"; 9 October 210–September 180 BC) was the Pharaoh, King of Ptolemaic Egypt from July or August 204 BC until his death in 180 BC. ...

and uses the ''papyrus stem'' in two lines, N-1, N-2 and addresses the gods and the Pharaoh as follows: (It illustrates the vigor aspect of the green papyrus stem) :...like a king upon the throne of his father, (the Two Ladies)-lord of the Vulture Crown-(Upper Egypt), lord of the Uraeus Crown-(Lower Egypt), mighty one of strength, establisher of the Two Lands-(i.e. Egypt), (papyrus stem for the Delta-north), benefactor of Ta-Mer, (i.e. Egypt), benevolent of heart towards the gods, the

Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...

, making vigorous the life of men and women-(2nd usage of papyrus stem), lord of the

Sed festival The Sed festival (''ḥb-sd'', Egyptian language#Egyptological pronunciation, conventional pronunciation ; also known as Heb Sed or Feast of the Tail) was an ancient Egyptian ceremony that celebrated the continued rule of a pharaoh. The name is ...

s,...

Papyrus stem amulet

Besides the personal use of the amulet in life, the body was often provided with amulets in burial, with more amulets implying more protection. The most common funerary amulets were the heart scarab, Wadjet Eye, Djed Pillar amulet, ''Wadj amulet'', Tyet amulet, and the Golden-vulture collar, (for goddess Mut). Amulet usage changed greatly over the millenniums of Ancient Egypt. The papyrus stem, or Wadj amulet was made from 'green feldspar' as prescribed in Chapter 160, Charpter 159 from the

Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' is the name given to an Ancient Egyptian funerary texts, ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom (around 1550 BC) to around 50 BC ...

.Ancient Egyptian Religion, etyptologypage.tripod.com
/ref> The most common explanation for the amulet is that it provided 'eternal youth' to the deceased.

14 kaU of Ra-(Spirits of Ra)

The papyrus stem is one of the 14 Spirits of Ra: :–"Word of Power":–see: :–light:–see: :–strength:–see for similar use: Djsr (arm with powerstick) :–power:–see: Was :–vigour:–see: Papyrus stem (hieroglyph),

Papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

:–abundance:–see: :–majesty:–see:

Hatshepsut Hatshepsut ( ; BC) was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from until (Low Chronology) and the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II. She was Egypt's second c ...

-(the hieroglyph as a component of her name) :–burial:–see: :–preparedness:–see: :–stability:–see: Djed :–sight:–see:

Eye of Horus The Eye of Horus, also known as left ''wedjat'' eye or ''udjat'' eye, specular to the Eye of Ra (right ''wedjat'' eye), is a concept and symbol in ancient Egyptian religion that represents well-being, healing, and protection. It derives from th ...

:–hearing:–see: :–feeling, perception:–see:

, used in line 13, before the 3-writing scripts, so that: ''"...each month, and each year, will know-(be cognizant-Grk:

gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

, 'gnorimon')), all the dwellers in Egypt,.." construct and erect a stone stele in script 1, script 2, etc....''
see:- Sia (god)-(deification of

wisdom Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...

, Egyptian mythology) :–taste:–see: Hieroglyph 13 for "feeling, perception" is not part of Gardiner's Sign List; the sign is similar to an upside-down pennant, or flag, positioned above the head of a seated man. A minor Egyptian god, Sia, can be found at the front of the Solar Barque, with other gods, leading pharaoh's bark, as Saa can "see", or "know" the path forward. Saa is pictured with the 'knowing'-gnostic sign on top of her head. Image:Louvre cuiller joueuse luth.JPG, Cosmetic spoon using the ''Papyrus stalk'' Image:ThutmoseIII-PillarInHallOfRecords-Karnak.png, Pillar for Thutmosis III

Iconography

Examples of iconographic use of the papyrus stem ranges to wall scenes, tombs, architectural components, including complete

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s; also

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

s. Besides the building columns as the papyrus stem, the pillars that support the sky, the four corners of the earth, were also sometimes represented by the papyrus stem, ( Gardiner list no. O-40).

Gallery

Many artifacts of Ancient Egypt, as well as architecture elements used the ''papyrus stem'' motif. Some specific examples are the kohl spoons, or the papyrus handled mirror.

Papyrus-handled mirror

File:Ancient Egiptian mirrors Louvre.JPG, mirror group File:Illustrerad_Verldshistoria_band_I_Ill_010.jpg, 1–Papyrus-handled, & 2– Ankh-handled mirror File:Planche 30 Monuments Historiques (1872) - TIMEA.jpg, mirror, etc.

References

*Budge. ''An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary,'' E.A.Wallace Budge, (Dover Publications), c 1978, (c 1920), Dover edition, 1978. (In two volumes) (softcover, ) *Budge. ''A Hieroglyphic Dictionary to the

,'' E.A.Wallace Budge, Dover edition, 1991; Original: c 1911 as: A Hieroglyphic Vocabulary to the Theban Recension of the Book of the Dead with an Index to All the English Equivalents of the Egyptian Words, (Kegan Paul, etc. Ltd, London, publisher). Dover: (softcover, ) *Budge. ''The Rosetta Stone,'' E.A.Wallace Budge, (Dover Publications), c 1929, Dover edition(unabridged), 1989. (softcover, {{ISBN, 0-486-26163-8)

External links

Amulets of Egypt & history of Mummification, Egypt
amulets: Djed Pillar, Staircase amulet, Headrest amulet, Heart amulet, Foot amulet & Hand amulet Egyptian hieroglyphs: trees and plants