𓁶

Representing a male head wearing a wig, in profile, typically bearded. The style of the wig varies by time period; the earlier style, from the Old Kingdom, is longer. Sometimes there is no beard. The skin is conventionally colored red; the hair is black; in detailed examples, the sclera is white and the eye and other facial features are outlined in black.

(tp)

1. Biliteral phonogram for tp.
2. Logogram for tp (“head”).
3. Logogram for ḏꜣḏꜣ (“head”).
4. Determinative for a number of words relating to the head or actions implying movement of the head.
5. Determinative in gwꜣ (“to pull together”).

The reading of this sign (and the word tp (“head”) and its derivatives) has recently been contested. Werning and others have suggested that the traditional reading of tp is wrong, with the New Kingdom reading more likely being dp, and the original reading conceivably either dp or ḏp. However, other Egyptologists argue for the traditional reading, and indeed the bulk of the current evidence seems to point to the traditional value.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

• Gardiner, Alan (1957) Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs, third edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, pages 449–450
• Henry George Fischer (1988) Ancient Egyptian Calligraphy: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Hieroglyphs, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, →ISBN
• Betrò, Maria Carmela (1995) Geroglifici: 580 Segni per Capire l'Antico Egitto, Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A., →ISBN
• David Nunn, A Palaeography of Polychrome Hieroglyphs (Université Libre de Bruxelles - Faculté de Philosophie et Sciences sociales, 2020)