Hakor c. 393–380 BC
Hakor, Achoris to the Greeks, ruled 13 years, more than half of the 29th Dynasty, and with Greek mercenaries held off Persian attempts to retake Egypt. He finished a chapel for Amun's sacred boat in front of the first pylon at Karnak and built at Luxor, Medinet Habu, Elkab and the Hibis temple. A basalt sphinx with his name is in the Louvre.
Throne name: Khnemmaatre
ḫnm-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ: “He who joins the justice of Ra”
Sign by sign
- Sun N5rꜥ The sun, the sun god Ra. Day.
- Stone jug with a handle W9ẖnm The god Khnum.
- Goddess Maat C10mꜣꜥt The goddess Maat: truth and cosmic order.
Birth name: Hakor
hkr
Also written hgr, Hagar.
Sign by sign
- Reed shelter O4h The sound h.
- Basket with handle V31k The sound k. Also means 'you, your'.
- Mouth D21r The sound r. Also means 'mouth'.
Where to see Hakor's name today
Karnak Temple
Karnak has more royal hieroglyphs in one place than anywhere else in Egypt: battle texts, obelisks, chapels and the cartouches of dozens of pharaohs. It was the great temple of the god Amun, built and rebuilt for about 2,000 years.
SiteMedinet Habu
Medinet Habu has some of the deepest-cut and most colourful hieroglyphs in Egypt, on the memorial temple of Ramesses III (c. 1184–1153 BC), the best preserved temple on the West Bank.
MuseumLouvre, Paris
The Louvre's Department of Egyptian Antiquities, mostly in the Sully wing, holds a whole Old Kingdom tomb chapel, the cartouches of several kings on one sphinx and a painted stela you can read sign by sign. Champollion himself was its first curator.
Names of gods (Ra, Amun, Ptah) are written first out of respect, even when they are read later. Dates are approximate; we follow Ian Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000).