Gardiner's sign list is a list of common Egyptian hieroglyphs compiled by Sir Alan Gardiner. It is considered a standard reference in the study of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Gardiner lists only the common forms of Egyptian hieroglyphs, but he includes extensive subcategories, and also both vertical and horizontal forms for many hieroglyphs. He includes size-variation forms to aid with the reading of hieroglyphs in running blocks of text. In contrast, for example, the Budge Reference has about 1,000 hieroglyphs listed in 50 pages, but with no size variations.
Gardiner does not cross-index signs; once a sign is put on one of his lists, other significant uses may be overlooked. One example of this is ðÂÂ
 G16, nbtá»Â, the ideogram for the Two Ladies, goddesses Wadjet as the cobra and Nekhbet as the white vulture. These are the protective and patron goddesses of the separate Egyptian kingdoms that joined into ancient Egypt, who were both then displayed on the uraeus of Wadjet when the unification occurred and afterward considered jointly to be the protectors of Egypt and the pharaohs. This ideogram is listed only in the bird list (G), and overlooked on the deity list (C) and the reptile list (I).
Other subcategories included by Gardiner are abbreviations and personalized forms, and also a complete subset, used on papyrus, specifically for the Book of the Dead.
Categories
A. Man and his occupations <span class="anchor" id="A"></span>
56 signs in Gardiner (1957:242–247), with A59 "man threatening with stick" inserted after A25 "man striking with left hand hanging behind back", and two variants A14* "blood interpreted as ax" of A14 "man with blood streaming from his head"; and A17* "child sitting with arms hanging down" of A17 "child sitting with hand to mouth".
B. Woman and her occupations <span class="anchor" id="B"></span>
7 signs in Gardiner (1957:448).
C. Anthropomorphic deities <span class="anchor" id="C"></span>
11 signs in Gardiner (1957:448f.) with the addition of five 19th Dynasty signs, C12 Amun, C17 Mont, C18 Tjanen, C19 and C20 Ptah.
D. Parts of the human body <span class="anchor" id="D"></span>
Expected quantity: 63
E. Mammals <span class="anchor" id="E"></span>
Expected quantity: 34
F. Parts of mammals <span class="anchor" id="F"></span>
Expected quantity: 52
G. Birds <span class="anchor" id="G"></span>
Expected quantity: 54
H. Parts of birds <span class="anchor" id="H"></span>
Expected quantity: 8
I. Amphibious animals, reptiles, etc. <span class="anchor" id="I"></span>
15 signs in Gardiner (1957:475f).
K. Fish and parts of fish <span class="anchor" id="K"></span>
Expected quantity: 7
L. Invertebrates and lesser animals <span class="anchor" id="L"></span>
Expected quantity: 7
M. Trees and plants <span class="anchor" id="M"></span>
44 signs in Gardiner (1957:478–484).
N. Sky, earth, water <span class="anchor" id="N"></span>
42 signs in Gardiner (1957:485–492). N3 is an Old Kingdom variant of N2. N11 "moon" has vertical (increscent and decrescent) variants, N12 is a 19th-Dynasty variant of N11.
O. Buildings, parts of buildings, etc. <span class="anchor" id="O"></span>
51 signs (with variants, U+13250–1329A).
P. Ships and parts of ships <span class="anchor" id="P"></span>
Expected quantity: 11
Q. Domestics and funerary furniture <span class="anchor" id="Q"></span>
Expected quantity: 7
R. Temple furniture and sacred emblems <span class="anchor" id="R"></span>
Expected quantity: 25
S. Crowns, dress, staves, etc. <span class="anchor" id="S"></span>
Expected quantity: 45
T. Warfare, hunting, and butchery <span class="anchor" id="T"></span>
Expected quantity: 35
U. Agriculture, crafts, and professions <span class="anchor" id="U"></span>
41 signs.
V. Rope, fiber, baskets, bags, etc. <span class="anchor" id="V"></span>
40 signs (38 in Gardiner 1957). V39 is the Tyet or "Knot of Isis". V40 is the numeral 10 in dates.
W. Vessels of stone and earthenware <span class="anchor" id="W"></span>
25 signs.
X. Loaves and cakes <span class="anchor" id="X"></span>
8 signs.
Y. Writings, games, music <span class="anchor" id="Y"></span>
8 signs.
Z. Strokes, signs derived from Hieratic, geometrical figures <span class="anchor" id="Z"></span>
11 signs.
Aa. Unclassified
31 signs in Gardiner (1957).
Unicode
These hieroglyphs have unicode code points and so, given a suitable font, can be displayed or printed. The block starts at U+013000 for A001.
See also
References
Bibliography
- Budge, Sir E.A.Wallis, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, in Two Volumes, Sir E.A.Wallis Budge, (Dover Publications, Inc. New York), c 1920, Dover Edition, c 1978. (Large categorized listings of Hieroglyphs, Vol 1, pp. xcviiâÂÂcxlvii (97âÂÂ147) (25 categories, 1000+ hieroglyphs), 50 pgs.)
- A.H. Gardiner, Catalogue of the Egyptian hieroglyphic printing type, from matrices owned and controlled by Dr. Alan (1928).
- A.H. Gardiner, "Additions to the new hieroglyphic fount (1928)", The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 15 (1929), p. 95.
- A.H. Gardiner, "Additions to the new hieroglyphic fount (1931)", The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 17 (1931), pp. 245âÂÂ247.
- A.H. Gardiner, Supplement to the catalogue of the Egyptian hieroglyphic printing type, showing acquisitions to December 1953 (1953).
- A.H. Gardiner, '. 3rd Ed., pub. Griffith Institute, Oxford, 1957 (1st edition 1927), pp. 438–548 (pdf).
- Wilkinson, Richard, Reading Egyptian Art, A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Egyptian Painting and Sculpture, Richard H. Wilkinson, with 450 Illustrations, (Thames & Hudson Ltd, London), c 1992.
Further reading
- : A primer based on Gardiner's sign list, focussing on major signs in seven categories.
External links