What about that? Please help me with my questions.

Copyright 2003. Used with permission of Wim Leeuwis

Answer: Firstly, congratulations on the clarity of your photograph of the inscription at Kom Ombo. Although I have been to Kom Ombo twice, I have not seen this. I am sorry I missed photographing it as it would be a good photo for Archaeological Diggings, the magazine I write for.

A quick (and not intensive) look shows In the top register - the winged solar disk - which is a representation of Horus which put everything and everyone beneath it under the protection of Horus, the god of war (among other things). [...] 2nd Register shows the crocodile-headed god Sobek, mirror images of the eye of Horus and a lion. Other images and the inscriptions are too small to recognise. Below the wide band there is the goddess Maat spreading her protective wings. She is identified as Maat by the feather on her head. Quite often she is represented simply by the ostrich feather. She is flanked by a winged sphinx - an unusual type - probably ptolemaic or Greek - and a sacred bull. There are cartouches above her head, but either the names are not big enough to be photographed or the cartouches are empty. Underneath Maat the falcon would be Horus and the twin cobras probably have the twin crowns of upper and lower Egypt - too small to see clearly, but it would represent the unification of north and south into one nation. Again the mirrored eyes of horus beside the niche which probably has, or would have held a statue of some local deity. The ears to which you refer were often carved on inscriptions so that the praises and requests would go through them and be heard by the deity they were worshipping.

Copyright 2003. Used with permission of Wim Leeuwis

The second photo of what looks like a wall at the Osirion at Abydos is very curious. The design etched in the stone resembles the design of the beaded garment which has been found on some mummies. Whether the people actually wore these bead dresses, I can't say. It would be very unlikely because have you ever sat on a number of beads? If the stone you photographed was part of a sarcophagus, it would make sense seeing the fact that the same design was a covering for a mummy.

Copyright 2003. Used with permission of Wim Leeuwis

The third photo has the problem of context. The parts around the two ankhs have been destroyed, so we don't know what other hieroglyphs accompanied the two ankhs. Ankhs were often used as decoration in inscriptions and on objects.

The writing of the same sign twice indicates duality: A pair of…(whatever the hieroglyph meant), or two… You would need three ankhs to indicate a simple plural word. Two ankhs and two ears mean a pair of ears in hieroglyphic text. To date I haven't seen a word represented by two ankhs. The hieroglyph of the single ankh came to mean the word "life". On reliefs the ankh also represents purification by water. The pharaoh can be seen standing between to gods/goddesses who are pouring water represented by a stream of ankhs coming from a libation jug. This was interpreted as water purification of the deceased. A god or goddess placing an ankh to the lips of the deceased is said to have symbolised the god/ess giving the deceased eternal life.

In many statues and coffins the deceased (usually pharaohs or principal queens) have their arms crossed and hold an ankh in each hand. The two ankhs in the photo might have been part of a pharaoh's inscription. The cartouches in the photo were too damaged to say which pharaoh.