The two most important royal names, the throne name and the birth name from The Five Royal Names, are written inside an oval ring, the cartouche. Two titles stand in front of the cartouches, and learning to separate titles from names is the key to reading them.
Key idea
nsw-bjt is written with the sedge plant 𓇓, the plant of Upper Egypt, and the bee 𓆤, the insect of Lower Egypt. Literally it means “he of the sedge and the bee”. zꜣ-rꜥ is the pintail duck 𓅭 zꜣ “son” and the sun 𓇳 rꜥ “Ra”: the king as the son of the sun god.
The cartouche itself
The oval is a stretched form of the šnw ring, a loop of rope tied at one end, perhaps a symbol of everything the sun encircles. Egyptians called it šnw; the modern word “cartouche” comes from French soldiers of Napoleon’s expedition, who thought it looked like a cartridge. The knot is at the end of the name, so it also shows the direction of reading.
Kings’ names are often followed by short wishes, such as ꜥnḫ ḏt “may he live forever” or dj ꜥnḫ “given life”. These too stand outside the cartouche. Queens and princesses were sometimes given cartouches as well.
Why it works
Common mistake
Worked example: Titles
- It stands before the cartouche of the throne name.
Answer: the throne name
Worked example: Read the title
- The duck is zꜣ “son”.
- The sun is rꜥ “Ra”.
Answer: zꜣ-rꜥ “son of Ra”