Akhet (horizon) in hieroglyphs

Akhet (Ancient Egyptian: Ꜣḫt; Gardiner: 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".^[1] Betrò describes it as "Mountain with the Rising Sun" (The hieroglyph for "mountain" is 𓈋) and an ideogram for "horizon".^[2]

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 ^[3]. 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 ^[4] It also appears in the name of the syncretized form of Ra and Horus, Ra-Horakhty (Rꜥ Ḥr Ꜣḫty, "Ra–Horus of the Horizons").^[5]

In ancient Egyptian architecture, the pylon mirrored the hieroglyph.^[6][7] The symbol is sometimes connected with the astrological sign of Libra^[8] and the Egyptian deity Aker, who guards the eastern and western horizons.

• Betrò, Maria Carmela (1995), Hieroglyphics: The Writings of Ancient Egypt, New York: Abbeville Press, ISBN 978-0-7892-0232-1
• David, Rosalie (1998). Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt. Facts on File. ISBN 9780816033126.
• Krupp, Ed (1993) [1983]. Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilisations. Old Saybrook, Connecticut: Konecky & Konecky. ISBN 1-56852-460-9.
• Verner, Miroslav (2001). The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments. Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-1703-1.
• Watterson, Barbara (2013) [1984]. Gods of Ancient Egypt (e-book ed.). Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-9502-6.
• Wilkinson, Toby (2005). The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0500051375.

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