, signifying the soil of Egypt, N30: X1*Z2. Of the 22 placename uses for the "name of ancient Egypt", 7 are for another name of Egypt as iAt. The 198 BC Rosetta Stone uses the Black (hieroglyph) three times to make the name of Egypt: km.t. 'Km.t' ( □), the symbol to the right of the bottom-most calf, identifies it as "Black". It is a circle with a cross which represents a street, 'town intersection'. '□' (the determinative O49) is used to designate the term for 'country, inhabited/cultivated land', called the niw.t (a political designate). (Egyptian: km-m-t □ □ □ with "City-Region" determinative '□', " kmt")Īncient Egypt is commonly referred to as 'km.t' (one variant: □□□□), believed to be a reference to the black Nile Delta earth. km.t The name of Egypt on the Luxor Obelisk of Ramesses II. īesides 'black', the alternate use of the hieroglyph is for items terminating, coming-to-an-end, items of completion, hence a reference to charcoal, burning to its ending. Rossini and Schumann-Antelme propose that the crocodile skin hieroglyph actually shows claws coming out of the hide. The most common explanation for the hieroglyph is under the Gardiner's Sign List, section I for "amphibious animals, reptiles, etc" is a crocodile skin with spines.
The Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache ('Dictionary of the Egyptian Language') lists no less than 24 different terms of km indicating 'black' such as black stone, metal, wood, hair, eyes, and animals, and in one instance applied to a person's name.
The Egyptian hieroglyph for "black" ( □) in Gardiner's sign list is numbered I6. Look up □ in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.