Egyptian
Glyph origin
Representing an irrigation canal. In hieroglyphic text, this glyph developed from a variant of
(
π) in the 11th Dynasty, which in turn had partly supplanted
(
π), its variants
(
π
) and
(
π), and
(
π) in the 8th Dynasty. However, in hieratic, a glyph much like this one was already in use since the Old Kingdom. Ultimately, the glyph
remained in use through the 18th Dynasty, when it was largely again supplanted by
(
π
) as a determinative for land.
As part of a determinative for time, this glyph instead developed from
(
π
), which became conflated with the irrigation-canal glyph.
Symbol
- Determinative for irrigated land, as in tκ£ (βlandβ).
- Used in , a determinative for time, as in tr (βseasonβ), rk (βtimeβ). [11thβ12th Dynasty]
- Used in , a composite determinative for bodies of water. [since the 18th Dynasty]
References
- Gardiner, Alan (1957) Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs, third edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, βISBN, pages 488, 490
- Henry George Fischer (1988) Ancient Egyptian Calligraphy: A Beginnerβs Guide to Writing Hieroglyphs, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, βISBN, page 35
- BetrΓ², Maria Carmela (1995) Geroglifici: 580 Segni per Capire l'Antico Egitto, Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A., βISBN