The Cartouche of Tutankhamen

The top three heiroglyphs, the feather, the zig-zag line, and the box with little spikes, reads "Amun."

The Ankh reads, "Ankh," of all things :-) and means "Life."

The half-circle, bird, and half-circle spell out the sounds T U T, the half-circles being T's and the Quail being U. The last three symbols mean, "Ruler of southern On." On was the ancient name for the city of Thebes.

All together, in the order in which we would read it today and in which it would have been pronounced back then, it reads, "Tutankhamen, Ruler of Thebes." Tutankhamen means "Living image of Amun." Ankh meaning Life, Amun meaning Amun, the god, and Tut meaning image.

The hieroglyphs wouldn't have been this detailed on a wall or papyrus, this os on the lid of a box, so it was more intricate. usually it was only the outlines. I was trying to find for you a picture of Tutankhamen's old cartouche of "Tutankhaten" but couldn't. I will look some more, though.

-Akhenaten-

Here's the cartouche of Nefertiti. I don't know what all the hieroglyphics mean, sorry. But I do know that the one that looks like a spoon with a crossed handle means Nefer, or Beautiful. The lady at the bottom means that the name is feminine.

Nefertiti means, "The Beautiful One Has come."

If you need any more hieroglyphics I won't be able to get them to you until after I get back from my trip.

Thanks,

-Akhenaten-

Akhenaten's cartouche.

The top set of symbols (The Feather, half-circle, zig-zag, and double circle) Read "Aten" The feather being the vowel, in this instance pronounced "a" although it can be, in other cases, an "e" or "i." The half-circle is a "t" and the wavy line, which represents water, is "t" so it spells out "atn" The double-circle is the pictograph for Sun, and is thus a difinitive, since it doesn't spell anything. So all together it reads, "Aten."

The ibis bird is also an A. The Circle with lines is "k" and the water is "n," spelling, "akn." Together it is pronounced "Akhen." So all together, the cartouche reads, "Akhenaten," Which means, "He who is benificial to the Aten."

For more Cartouches and more on Hieroglyphics, please visit http://www.neferchichi.com

Go to "Pharaohs" and then pick the Pharaoh you want the cartouche of. It gives information about the Pharaoh, and the cartouche of that Pharaoh. The top cartouche is the Pharaoh's birth name, the second is the Pharaoh's throne name.

Talk to you when I get back from the trip,

-Akhenaten-