Akhet (hieroglyph)

{{short description|Egyptian hieroglyph that represents the sun rising over a mountain.}}

{{about|the hieroglyph||Akhet (disambiguation)}}

{{Hiero|Akhet (horizon)|N27|align=right|era=egypt}}

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Akhet ({{langx|egy|Ꜣḫt}}; Gardiner:{{nbsp}}N27) is an Egyptian hieroglyph that represents the sun rising over a mountain. It is translated as "horizon" or "the place in the sky where the sun rises".{{Cite book|title=Egyptian grammar : being an introduction to the study of hieroglyphs |last=Gardiner|first=Alan H.|date=1957|publisher=Published on behalf of the Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, by Oxford University Press|isbn=9780900416354|edition=3rd|others=1969 printing|location=London|pages=489|oclc=229894}} Betrò describes it as "Mountain with the Rising Sun" (The hieroglyph for "mountain" is 𓈋) and an ideogram for "horizon".{{sfnp|Betrò|1995|p=161}}

Akhet appears in the Egyptian name for the Great Pyramid of Giza (Akhet Khufu), but in this case, it is written with the sign of the crested ibis, as shown by Verner, 2001, at page 189.{{sfn|Verner|2001|p=189}} The symbol of the sun rising between hills is present in the name of Akhetaten, the city founded by pharaoh Akhenaten. In the name of Akhenaten, there is the sign of the crested ibis {{sfn|David|1998|p=125}} It also appears in the name of the syncretized form of Ra and Horus, Ra-Horakhty ({{lang|egy|Rꜥ Ḥr Ꜣḫty}}, "Ra–Horus of the Horizons").{{sfn|Watterson|2013|p=59|loc=Stroud, Gloucestershire}}

File:Aker_or_ruti_and_the_akhet.jpg

In ancient Egyptian architecture, the pylon mirrored the hieroglyph.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2005|p=195}}{{sfn|Krupp|1993|p=308-310}} The symbol is sometimes connected with the astrological sign of Libra{{Cite book |last=Nozedar |first=Adele |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/960951107 |title=The illustrated signs & symbols sourcebook : an A to Z compendium of over 1000 designs |year=2010 |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Incorporated |isbn=978-1-4351-6181-8 |oclc=960951107}} and the Egyptian deity Aker, who guards the eastern and western horizons.