A quadrat block (or ''quadrate block'') is a virtual

rectangle In Euclidean geometry, Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a Rectilinear polygon, rectilinear convex polygon or a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that a ...

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

Egyptian hieroglyphic Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined Ideogram, ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct char ...

text. The glyphs (hieroglyphs) can be variable in number within the ''virtual block'', though they are often proportioned according to variable standardized rules of scribal methods. The definition for the block in ''Illustrated Hieroglyphics Handbook'' by Schumann-Antelme and Rossini, is: "A 'quadrate' is a virtual square, which although not drawn, guides the hand of the scribe. Hieroglyphs must be aesthetically positioned within the quadrate and their size must be proportioned accordingly. They form groups that are pleasing to the eye and based on the laws of balance."

Rosetta Stone closeup

An example of five lines of text from 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 ...

, (lines 9, 10, 11, 12, 13), shows a width of about six to seven virtual blocks. Line 12, (fourth line) is illustrative of the variable size, in this case the widths, of the 'virtual quadrate blocks'. :The time of the festivals are stated as: "...day 1 up to day 5...", (three blocks)

N5:Z1-(day-1)-(tall-narrow-block)

nfr-t:D21-(up to)-(square-block)

O4*N5:Z1*Z1*Z1*Z1*Z1-(day-5)-(square-block)

:The three blocks:

N5:Z1-nfr-t:D21-O4*N5:Z1*Z1*Z1*Z1*Z1-(day-1-up to-day-5)

In running text blocks, prepositions can sometimes start or end a block, but may be part of the next block's translation. Running texts will sometimes actually end in the very middle of the next square. This can be accomplished because some of the prepositions come in vertical and horizontal forms: O34-s-(horizontal-vert-eSSes), M-m-(horizontal-vert-eMs), N-n-(vert-horizontal-eNs)

(See:

N-red crown (n hieroglyph) Deshret () was the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. It was red bowl shaped with a protruding curlicue. When combined with the Hedjet (White Crown) of Upper Egypt, it forms the Pschent (Double Crown), in ancient Egyptian called the ''sekhemti''. The Re ...

N-water ripple (n hieroglyph) The total number of distinct Egyptian hieroglyphs increased over time from several hundred in the Middle Kingdom to several thousand during the Ptolemaic Kingdom. In 1928/1929 Alan Gardiner published an overview of hieroglyphs, Gardiner's sign ...

)

Amun-Ra's block

Most commonly in hieroglyphs,

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

is referenced without Amun-Ra. The two blocks for Amun and Amun-Ra are: M17-Y5:N35, (or M17-Y5::N35 ), and i-Y5:N35:N5*Z1

. Note how the vertical hieroglyph for ''reed''-(the ''i'' for 'Amun') is actually part of the block, though at its side. File:Egypte louvre 222 hieroglypes.jpg,

Register Register or registration may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), ...

1, (line 1, right to left), blocks 2 and 3:
''Hotep, "Amun-Ra"''
(htp-t-p, i-mn-n-Ra-(stroke) File:Egypt Hieroglyphe6.jpg, A Ptolemy, cartouche with various quadrate blocks. File:Egypte louvre 144 hieroglyphes.jpg, Finely executed hieroglyphs in sunken relief. Line 3, 2nd block in (from left), the H-Ra -H block Eternity (hieroglyphs)
/ref>

References

*Budge. ''The Rosetta Stone,'' E.A.Wallace Budge, (Dover Publications), c 1929, Dover edition(unabridged), 1989. (softcover, ) *Schumann-Antelme, and Rossini, 1998. ''

Illustrated Hieroglyphics Handbook The ''Illustrated Hieroglyphics Handbook'' is part of a new genre of books focused on Egyptian hieroglyphs. The book is a graphics based book with four to seven word examples of each Egyptian hieroglyph; the words are graphically explained for ea ...

'', Ruth Schumann-Antelme, and Stéphane Rossini. c 1998, English trans. 2002, Sterling Publishing Co. (Index, Summary lists (tables), selected uniliterals, biliterals, and triliterals.) (softcover, {{ISBN, 1-4027-0025-3)

External links

''Glyphotext'' definition for 'quadrat'
Egyptian hieroglyphs

Rosetta Stone closeup

Amun-Ra's block

See also

References

External links