The Ancient EgyptiansAbout 5000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians created a civilisation that continues to fascinate people even now.

How do we know what the hieroglyphs mean?

Until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone (now held in the British Museum) we had no way of interpreting the mysterious pictures that lined the inside the ancient tombs and monuments.

The Rosetta StoneThe Rosetta Stone is famous because it contains hieroglyphic script

that specialists were able to decode (make sense of).

It was found in 1799 and took twenty years to translate. It is inscribed in three parts; the top and middle texts written in Ancient Egyptian

hieroglyphic script, and the bottom written in Ancient Greek.

They can be written from the top to the bottom of the page, or across the page just as we write.

CartouchesThe word ‘hieroglyph’ means sacred (or special) carving. There are

over 700 hieroglyphs.

The Egyptians wrotethe names of theirkings or queensinside an oval shapecalled a cartouche,to show that theywere special.

What’s in a Name?

A cartouche is an oval ring.

An important person's name, such as a pharaoh, would be surrounded by a cartouche.

It would usually be vertical with a horizontal line at the bottom.

This is from the mortuary temple of

Queen Twosret from the 19th Dynasty in Egypt.

Cartouche

The word ‘cartouche’ means ‘gun cartridge’. When French soldiers were in Egypt in the 19th century, they saw cartouches carved on the walls of tombs. The soldiers thought that they looked like gun cartridges.

Egyptians call cartouches ‘shenu’, which means ‘encircle’.

HieroglyphsThe name within the cartouche would be written in hieroglyphs.

Heiroglyphs were a form of writing created by the ancient Egyptians.

Each symbol represents a letter. Can you spell your name using the hieroglyphs?

a b c d ef g

nmlkjih

o p q r s t u

v w x y z ch

sh man woman

Symbolism

Symbolism was very important to the ancient Egyptians. The oval shape of the cartouche represented a rope which was tied at one end. This represented the pharaoh’s rule over the universe.

Henry Walters

Eternity and ProtectionThe shape of a cartouche is similar to the shen sign. The shen sign represents eternity and the ancient Egyptian god of eternity, Heh.

It was believed that anyone who had their name inside a cartouche would be protected for eternity by the gods.

A Useful DiscoveryIf archaeologists discover a cartouche, they can identify the era that the tomb was built and who the pharaoh was.

Cartouches were later used in decorative objects like rings and amulets.

Asta, Pharos, file upload bot

These cartouches are carved into a tomb in

Luxor, Egypt.

Task – use the hieroglyphs alphabet sheet and the cartouche template sheet to design your own Cartouche. As well as including your name, use symbols to represent yourself, your hobbies and interests.

Asta, Pharos, file upload bot

These cartouches are carved into a tomb in

Luxor, Egypt.