TheCodeBreakers
rebus are essentially those of ordinary Egyptian writing; it was through
them that the hieroglyphics originally acquired their sound values. The
Egyptian transformations merely carry them further, elaborate them, and
make them more artificial.
The transformations occur in funerary formulas, in a hymn to Thoth,
in a chapter of the Book of the Dead, on the sarcophagus of the pharaoh
Seti I, in royal titles dis-
played in Luxor, on the architrave of the Temple of Luxor, on stele, in
laudatory biographic inscriptions. There is nothing meant to be
concealed in all this; indeed, many of the statements are repeated in
ordinary form right next to the altered ones. Why, then, the
transformations? Sometimes for essentially the same reason as in
Khnumhotep's tomb: to impress the reader. Occasionally for a
calligraphic or decorative effect; rarely, to indicate a contemporary
pronunciation; perhaps even for a deliberate archaism as a reaction
against foreign influence.
annaabi.ee 
