The Nedj Nedj databases 7 Supplementaries 7.11: Gardiner number and category / 7.12: Common writings / 7.13: Source details

7.11 Gardiner number and category

For convenience, a pair of red fields provide the Gardiner code letter for a glyph appearing on its own, and the associated Gardiner category:

Fig. 7.111 ‘G Birds’ are the Gardiner details for the glyph <eagle>

The glyph insertion position for this entry provides the other data:

Fig. 7.112 Gardiner number G1, and the sound value 3 (A) for <eagle>

7.12 Common writings

The grey group on the far right of the ‘Mainly headings’ region of the Overview screen (see Fig. 6.11) is likely to be of little use to anyone not actively expanding the Hierolex database:

Fig. 7.121 Words commonly used, as a bank from which to copy and then paste

These are just some glyph names and groups than can be copied and used when completing the insertion positions of any new entry. They save endlessly typing out such long words as ‘squattermouth’, with the possibility of making typing errors in so doing. So these words do not actually do anything; they are there just for copying and pasting, and are are an elementary typing convenience only.

7.13 Source details

The source for a record is given as ‘EAWB’, ‘ColMan’. ‘Kamrin’, ‘Gardiner’, ‘Faulkner Concise’ and the like. 

Fig. 7.131 Source fields, showing source, page and line

On the surface a source reference such as ‘EAWB’ is not very helpful, but in fact each such reference is backed up with an entry in the {source details} field, as shown below:

Fig. 7.131 Example of how details are provided for sources

This field can be accessed in the ‘Narrow’ layout, by sliding the view to expose what is out of sight to begin with.

The Nedj Nedj databases 7 Supplementaries 7.8: Transcription characters / 7.9: Summary line / 7.10: Status field

7.8 Transcription characters and respelling equivalents

There are two bright blue bars in the ‘Mainly headings’ lower central region of the Overview screen:

Fig. 7.81 In each row are pairs of characters: transcription followed by respelling equivalents

Mac cht bar

The Mac cht bar features pairs of characters separated by a slash. The first character in each pair is a unicode character, and is the official symbol used for transcription of Ancient Egyptian words. The second member of each pair is the respelling equivalent used in this Hierolex database.

The content of the whole bar appears as soon as the word ‘Egypt’ is typed in the bright pink field headed DB . . .

Fig. 7.82 Type ‘Egypt’ in the {DB} [source DB] field and the Mac cht bar comes into operation

. . . towards the right-hand end of the illustration above. As described in Table 9 above, this information is drawn from the related database entitled ‘Mac cht sets’. Consequently although this complicated information appears on every record, it has been typed out only once, and is called up by just typing (or copying as in Fig. 7.62) the much simpler word ‘Egypt’ into the appropriate field in each record, as just described.

EAWB bar

In exactly the same manner, typing ‘EAWB’ into the adjacent {source EAWB} field brings in Wallace-Budge’s transcription characters, and the corresponding characters used in this database.

7.9 Summary line

The automatically generated summary line for every record has been repeatedly mentioned in the course of this description of the Hierolex database because it is central to the database’s use. As has been said earlier (see Section 2.16) the summarily line, until it has been manually activated, appears without without hieroglyph images:

Fig. 7.91 A summary line before activation

After activation

Fig. 7.92 The same summary line after activation (cmnd 3)

The line is activated by the key combination cmnd 3, occasioning the hieroglyphs for the word to appear. The combination cmnd 2 transfers the summary line to the green {meaning clue} field as described in the Mainly Language Info’ section earlier (see Fig. 2.166 in particular).

7.10 Status field

As was indicated in the ‘Columns and Fields section 4 above, ‘JS’ in the pink {status} field indicates that the original record has been varied in some way by the database author JS (Jeremy Steele). This occurs when a word is extracted from a multiple-word entry and examined on its own.

Fig. 7.101 The second record, extracted from the first, is marked JS in the {status} field

In the first record above, the small pink {status} field at the left is vacant, the original source (in this case Wallace Budge (EAWB)) being shown in the source fields at the right.

In the second record, ‘JS’ in this field indicates that your database compiler is responsible for the entry concerned. For the word ihAyit in this case has been extracted from the full Wallace Budge (EAWB) record appearing above it.

The Nedj Nedj databases 7 Supplementaries 7.6: Keys / 7.7: Buttons

7.6 Keys

There are several small fields called ‘key’, including {key} itself, {key general} and {key entry}, as well as {key omni} that is sometimes encountered.

These are fields for any temporary use. For example say you were looking at a group of fields to do with ‘elephant’, and wanted to do a search on something else. Perhaps you want to look up ‘rhinoceros’ and then come back to the ‘elephant’ records. You could type, say, ‘ele’ into the {key} field (or any identifier at all that you would remember for a moment or two), and then copy this into all the ‘elephant’ records in your ‘found set’:

Fig. 7.61 Entering a reminder into the {key} field at right

In FilemakerPro the means to do this is the keystroke combination cmnd-= (command + equal sign). This produces a temporary display as shown:

Fig. 7.62 How to copy from one field to all similar fields in a found set

By hitting ‘replace’ the following is the result:

Fig. 7.63 All {key} fields now feature the inserted reminder ‘ele’

A subsequent search for ‘ele’ in the {key} field will immediately bring back this exclusive set of records. The other {key ...} fields are to enable several such temporary collections or sets of records to be kept track of independently of each other.

Afterwards, to tidy up if you wish, it is a simple matter to delete all entries in any of the {key} fields.

7.7 Buttons

There is a group of buttons that take you instantly to other screen layouts

Fig. 7.71 Buttons taking you to some of the other screens

These are just four of about ten layouts in the database, although some of these are minor variants the one of the other and might be deleted, while others might be developed further should the need arise.

The first, SRCH, is the basic Overview screen, called ‘search’ for that is where the searches mostly take place.

‘Narrow’ is a layout with supposedly narrow columns. These columns are mostly off-screen to the right, but can be readily accessed by sliding the view so they appear on the screen.

‘Multi’ is the overview screen with 42 insertion positions in the glyphs panel, as seen in Fig. 2.21 earlier.

‘1 Line’ is a non-display layout with each record taking up a single line. It features many of the fields, which resemble columns on being viewed.

The Nedj Nedj databases 7 Supplementaries 7.4: Gender / 7.5: Determinatives

7.4 Gender

A common marker for the feminine gender is the suffix -et.

Fig. 7.41 Records with known gender, which is shown in the small black field

This can be seen in the first of the above two records, where seKHet is a feminine noun; shesep by contrast is masculine. Adjectives agree with nouns, so a feminine adjective would have the -et suffix attached to it, as in KHet nebet below:

Fig. 7.42 KHet nebet Adjective neb(et) agrees with feminine noun KHet

In the two records shown in Fig. 7.41, the gender is marked in the small black field towards the right. While this field is for the most part blank, where one of the principal authorities has indicated the gender of a word, this has been recorded in the database, as in the case of the next examples:

Fig. 7.43 Words where gender has been stated, and so marked in the black {gender} field

7.5 Determinatives

Across the lower centre portion of the Overview screen are to be found the headings for the records, and various other items. Among these are the determinative identifiers, with provision for up to three. 

Fig. 7.51 The three determinative fields, showing two in use

Many words in Ancient Egyptian apparently had the same sound: they were homophones. Or at least to a reader of the hieroglyphs they appear to be such. Perhaps they did not sound the same, but as the vowel sounds were often omitted, the similarity was there visually at least. It might have been for this reason that a means was adopted for differentiating words, to show which of the possible words the sight-reading actually intended to represent. The scribes added a hieroglyph or several to give these additional indications. They were later called determinatives. For example if the word was a bird, then there would be a picture of a bird at the end.

It is conceivable that the Ancient Egyptians had kites, the objects flown in the wind for pleasure. They certainly had kites of a sort. But which sort? There are four ‘kite’ records:

transliteration / respelt	English	EngJSM	source	page / line	glyph names	glyphs
(ḳdt: qedet)	"kitĕ"		Gardiner	[616.2:17]	<stilt bun stone>
(dryt: djerit)	"kite"		Faulkner Concise	[323:13.11]	<skip: bow mouth reeds bun duck>
(drt: djeret)	"kite"		Faulkner Concise	[323:13.12]	<skip: bow mouth bun hawk>
(drt: djeret)	"kite"		Faulkner Concise	[323:13.13]	<cobra-J mouth bun duck: spread>

Table 17 ‘kite’ and its diacritics

In the first example, Gardiner has given the word kitĕ, in italics with an overscoop on the final /e/. It is not clear what this word might be. But the next three ‘kite’ examples that Faulkner provides are plainly not a recreational item for a windy day but the hawk-like bird of prey, given that each is marked with a picture of a bird as the determinative.

So what does qedet in Gardiner’s example actually mean? The occurrences panel for this record reveals . . .

Fig. 7.52a qedet: ‘measure’

. . . that qedet is a measure

while a search in the searcher panel for qed shows . . .

Fig. 7.52b qed: ‘build’

. . . that qed is about constructing or building, and that qed-et is a relative form, ‘build what is’, giving the meaning ‘measure (of weight), no doubt a requirement of builders of the day.

The Nedj Nedj databases 7 SUPPLEMENTARIES 7.1: Parts of speech / 7.2: Category / 7.3: Numeral

7.0 SUPPLEMENTARIES

There are various supplementary elements in the Hierolex database, some of which were mentioned under the section 2.15 MAINLY HEADINGS.

7.1 Parts of speech

It was found useful to include parts of speech in the Hierolex database, and a subordinate parts-of-speech field was also considered sufficiently helpful to be included as well. However, the classification of a word into one part of speech or another has been broadly rather than exhaustively done, and grammarians could justly not concur with many of the decisions of parsing. Sometimes a word may be classified in a variety of ways; but in the present database there is only provision for one classification. So the choice made is often arbitrary.

Fig. 7.1 The two part-of-speech fields in use

The parts of speech commonly found in the Hierolex database are: noun / verb / adjective / pronoun / preposition / article / demonstrative / adverb. Other entries in the {part of speech} field include: phrase / sentence / NP (for ‘noun phrase’).

This is an admittedly crude rather than a precise area of the database, and one subject to alteration. But rough as it inevitably is, it is often useful nevertheless.

7.2 Category / subcategory

Nouns in particular have been categorised. For example, birds and animals have been classed as follows:

CATEGORY	SUBCATEGORY
fauna: activity
fauna: amphibians
fauna: birds
fauna: birds	parts and products
fauna: bodily state
fauna: fishes
fauna: insects and spiders
fauna: mammals
fauna: mammals	bat
fauna: mammals	cat
fauna: mammals	dog
fauna: mammals	macro
fauna: mammals	sex
fauna: mammals	parts and products
fauna: marine and aquatic life
fauna: parts and products
fauna: parts and products	insects
fauna: parts and products	marine and aquatic life
fauna: reptiles

Table 15 A selection (fauna) from around 200 categories and subcategories

So, for example, a search for ‘fauna: mammals > macro’ will bring up Ancient Egyptian words and the hieroglyphs for hippopotamus, elephant, rhinoceros, and giraffe.

7.3 Numeral

The Ancient Egyptians were more than capable with numbers, and had a system that could record any whole number at all.

(sefeX: sefeKH)	"seven"	seven	EAWB	[127:11]	<cloth viper string>
(diw: diwu)	"five"	five	Gardiner	[192:5.1]	<strokex5>
(: 1534)	"1534"	1534	EAWB	[131:8]	<bud unwindx5 magnetx3 strokex4>
(: )	"6823"	6823	Karnak inscribed wall	[:]	<budx6 unwindx8 magnetx2 strokex3>

Table 16 Examples of numbers, in words or numerals, and glyphs

However, knowledge today of the words they used for numbers greater than ten is very limited.

Fig. 7.31 The blue field in the bottom left-hand corner is the {numeral} field

All numbers recorded in the database are entered in the {numeral} field.

The Nedj Nedj databases 6 Searches 6.2 Other searches

6.2 OTHER SEARCHES

What is special about the searcher panels is that you can carry out searches from the screen you are in. That is you enter items into the searcher fields, and the results appear in the panels concerned. As has been indicated, a great deal of information is available by this means. You do not lose track of where you are, because you stay in the original place.

Many other searches can be undertaken, because this is a database after all. That means you can search for anything in the database. Thus, you can search for not only a whole word, as in the searcher fields, but part of a word, or any two or more words, or any sequence of letters, or any sequence of hieroglyphs, or indeed if hieroglyphs appear anywhere in a sentence, regardless of position or order. However, such more precise searching comes at the cost of leaving the record you were in at the start.

EXAMPLE OF A NORMAL SEARCHING OF THE DATABASE 

Here is an example. Consider that wall again in Karnak seen in Fig. 2.142a above. Select another area, as this portion in the lower centre of that illustration:

section of Karnak wall	glyphs
	mouth arm: teepee water eye bolt bun block mouth throne bun [damaged] viper basin rope quail tusk PLANE PLURAL

Table 10 redin section of the Karnak wall

Making a start

Where to begin? You do not know where the words start and finish. But after a short while you can make some guesses.

<viper> is a very common ending to a word, indicating 3sgGEN masc., or ‘his’.

<basin> is often a word on its own, meaning ‘lord’ and also ‘any’. 

< PLANE PLURAL> is a very common plural ending to words.

and <throne> is a common beginning to words

So it is a fair bet that the group at the end of the column pictured above (following <basin>) <rope quail tusk PLANE PLURAL> is a word. So why not try the group <rope quail tusk> in the Hierolex database by setting up a search (hit command-F) and inserting this group in the pink {identity JS} field? Each time this is done you get to a completely fresh screen; that is, you do not stay in the same screen as was the case with using the searcher panels.

There are several results. The first two appear below, but these are not words where the glyphs retain the <rope quail tusk> order:

Fig. 6.21a <rope> / <quail> / <tusk> appear among the resulting glyph sequences

The word for both is debeHu, probably meaning ‘requirement’. It appears to be a plural, as it ends in /u/. The singular form of this would be debeHe. A check in the respelt Searcher gives . . .

Fig. 6.21b Respelt Search finds meanings for debeHe 

. . . debeHe as meaning ‘request’, not unlike ‘requirement’.

What about the other results for the <rope quail tusk> search in the Hierolex database?

Fig. 6.22 Precise sequence <rope quail tusk>

There were five results all beginning with this precise sequence, four of which meaning ‘food’. One meant ‘decree’ or similar, but it had a distinctive <crouch> determinative suggesting something religious or official.

From this we can be fairly confident that the lower part of the column of glyphs might mean ‘food’.

Note that if you wanted to look only for the precise sequence <rope quail tusk>, then you can do so by searching using double inverted commas in the {identity JS} field, as:

“rope quail tusk”

Try another sequence

The next step would be to try searches for other glyphs in the column, such as the opening sequence:

<mouth arm: teepee water eye>

If that does not prove promising, try dropping off the last glyph, to make:

<mouth arm: teepee water>

If that yields too many results, many being sentences, try putting verb in the {part-of-speech} field and do the search again, to find verbs only.

In fact this search brings up results such as:

Fig. 6.23 Results for <mouth arm: teepee water> and verb search

of which the second record above is:

(erṭā - en - sen: redi-n-sen)

"did they give thee"

give did they-all

EAWB

[201:6.2]

<mouth arm: teepee water bolt water PLURAL>

Table 11 redi-n sen ‘give did they-all (they gave)

This is redi-n-sen meaning ‘give did they-all’ (they gave). While this result is somewhat close, as it omits the <eye> glyph, and so is not convincingly satisfying as a probably correct avenue to follow. And besides, our sequence ends in <bolt bun> set, not <bolt water PLURAL> sen ‘they-all’.

You could undertake further searches on this trial-and-error bases, such as for:

<eye bolt> / <eye bolt bun>

<bun block> / <bun block mouth>

<block mouth>

This last produces the following among many other similar results:

(hr: kher)	"under"	under	Gardiner	[587.1:7.1]	<block mouth>
(Xer: kher)	"under"	under	Col/Man	[117:21.01]	<block mouth>

Table 12 kher ‘under’

Next try <throne bun> / <throne bun viper> from the middle of the column group.

This last (while recognising there is a missing damaged glyph) produces:

(åuset f: set-ef)	"His seat"	place him-of	EAWB	[176:8.1]	<throne bun house viper>
(s(w)t=f: sut-ef)	"his places"	place him-of	Col/Man	[83:1.2]	<throne bun PLURAL viper>

Table 13 set-ef ‘place him-of’ (his place)

Based on these successful findings, the sequence that we began with for the central lower portion of the Karnak temple wall:

mouth arm: teepee water eye bolt bun block mouth throne bun [damaged] viper basin rope quail tusk PLANE PLURAL

is beginning to look as if it might be divided up into words as follows:

mouth arm: teepee water	give did
eye bolt bun
block mouth	under
throne bun [damaged] viper	place him-of
basin	lord / any
rope quail tusk PLANE PLURAL	food

Table 14 Preliminary findings after trial-and-error searches

The missing sequence in the second row < eye bolt bun> might read ir set, where ir is the verb ‘do’, ‘make’, and set a pronoun meaning either 3sg or 3pl, thus possibly ‘she/her’ or ‘they-all/them-all’, or even the forms ‘he/it’ or accusative ‘him’.

In the absence of more of the context, achievable by deciphering more of the writing on the wall, we are left with deducing a meaning such as:

... did give // make he/she/it / they [OR make him/her/it them] // under // his place // any / lord [of] // food

This might conceivably be:

... gave (did) he under his place any food ...

or any of a number of other possible interpretations.

Comment

You might justly think this rather unsatisfactory. The meaning is obscure, and the variables and possibilities numerous. But the more one does, the sharper becomes the result.

The purpose here has been only to demonstrate how the database is a means to make enquiries of the hieroglyphs displayed by the scribes so long ago. They and the readers of the day (who were their fellow scribes, and the priests and royalty, and one might suppose also the senior officials) would have been familiar with the formulaic writing used monumentally as on this temple wall in Karnak. They would have been far better placed to interpret the writing that we amateur assessors of the hieroglyphs today missing this cultural familiarity.