Illustration 1: Egyptian Winged Serpent

The Serpent and the Egg The Egyptian Feathered Serpent

Clifford C. Richey August 2013 Minor Revision 8-20-13 Revision 8-29-13

It might be helpful to read: http://www.scribd.com/doc/125076415/Universal-Prehistoric-Depicted-Sign-Language when reading this paper as it explains the use of Form, Imagery, Gesture signs, Stance, allusion and position as used in composing glyphs.

Illustration 2: Egyptian Winged Serpent

Illustration 3: Egyptian Serpent Form

Illustration 4: Ohio Serpent Mound Form

Illustration 6: Egyptian Serpent Form

Illustration 5: Ohio Serpent Mound Form

In making a comparison between the Ohio Serpent Mound and the Egyptian Serpent we must remember that one of the rules for Depicted Sign Language was that the overall or Total Form must be taken into account before one concentrates on the Imagery and Gesture signs. Unlike the Imagery found in the Egyptian Serpent depiction the Ohio Serpent was composed solely of Form. The following signs are held in common by the two Serpents: 1, Both have a Crook at the end of their Tails that indicates something taken in a particular direction. 2. Both Serpents have a Body that is in the Form of an Undulating Line which means, moving. 3. Both Serpents have U shaped Curves in their Bodies that indicates, turning. 4. Both Serpents have Three Turns in their bodies which was shorthand for the count of, many turnings. 5. Both Serpents Have an Open Mouth that was in the Form of a V. a sign for an opening. 6. Both Serpents have Mouths as part of their composition. A Mouth was the sign for a source of water. 7. Both Serpents have an Egg Form positioned within the area of the Mouth which was alluded to by the V shaped gesture sign. Both position and allusion were part of the rules used in depicted sign language, the one within the water source. 8. Both Serpents have Egg shaped signs in their composition which mean, the one who will emerge. 9. Both Serpents have Imagery of an Eye in their composition. The eye of the Sun, a metaphor for Venus. The main differences between the two Serpent Forms is that the Tail of the Ohio Serpent is Spiraled which indicated levels of height or depth depending on context. The Egg Form in the Ohio depiction has a Dot in the Center of the Egg Form while the Egyptian Serpent's Egg Form is Underlined. The Egyptian serpent also has a second Egg Form over its Head. The Ohio Serpent has a Triangular Form at its Head which indicated the female-earth. The Egyptian Serpent also contains this Triangular sign but at the level of Imagery not Form.

Illustration 7: Egyptian Winged Serpent's Imagery We understand, from past papers, that the Form or Imagery of a Serpent was an Associative for a stream of water. A major distinction between the two Serpents is that the Ohio Serpent indicated through its Coiled or Spiraled Tail that it was intended to be viewed as taken upwards from several levels below. The Triangular sign at its Head or possibly Throat (allusion to a tube or tunnel), was positioned so that the flat or surface side of the Triangle would indicate the surface of the earth-female. In the case of the Egyptian Serpent we note that the Triangular sign with its Flat side upwards was positioned so that it also alluded to the Throat of the Serpent's Head resting upon it. Thus the Egyptian Serpent was indicated as upon the surface of the earth. This position was further emphasized by the Surface Line that was drawn under the Egg Form. Thus, the one who will emerge at the surface of the earth. Above we stated that the Serpent Form or Imagery was the Association made with a stream of water. The Egyptian sign, as well as the American Indian sign for water was the Saw-toothed or (blue) Zigzag sign which we find within the Body of the Serpent. We also see a series of Dots within the Serpent's Body that meant a trail of moisture. Thus the water, taken, moving, turning, and arising (the Form of Neck of the Serpent). The Double Lines of the Serpent's Body indicate, unseen. The Three Lines at the base of the Neck indicated an unseen pathway. Within the Neck or Throat (a tube or tunnel) of the Serpent we find a series of stacked surface lines that were indicative of levels. There was a count of 15 but the meaning of this count is unknown. We observe that the levels are Between two Vertical Rectangles (their curved side based on the Form for arising, places of arising} which means, the center, or between the vertical places. The center probably refers to a cosmological center of the earth. As we move further up the Throat we find two Half-Circles which are the signs for sides, between the sides. We now find ourselves back at the surface of the earth. There is a (white) Severed Finger pointing a direction, here that terminates at the Egyptian Serpent's Head which alludes to the area of the Eye in the Serpent's Total Form. The small Head of such a large Serpent is explained through its depiction as an Eye as well as Forming the Eye in the Total Form. Here, the Eye. Above the Eye is the Egg Form, the one who will emerge (be reborn). The orange or gold color of the Egg indicates, of the Sun. The One of the Sun who will be reborn. Looking back on

the illustrations of the Ohio Serpent Mound we note that the Egg in the Mouth of the Serpent has its inner form in the shape of an Eye with a Dot in the Center for its Pupil. It appears that the Pupil was also the area in which fires were, anciently, lit perhaps to indicate the Eye as the fiery eye of the Sun or as a signal that predicted and signaled the imminent appearance of Venus. We now come to the Wings of the Serpent. The Body of the Serpent was depicted as a stream of water and it is this water that will take flight. This was the Egyptian equivalent of the Feathered Serpent of the Aztecs and Maya as well as the Winged Serpents of the Moche and Nazca of South America, as well as some of the cultures in Southeastern North America. In all cases the concept was of water particles in flight (based on feathers being parts of a Bird which is the sign for flight) meaning evaporation. Finally, as we look more closely at the Serpents Wings we see that they are attached to Human Arms and Hands. We are thus notified that the Eye of the Sun is the Arm and Hand, the warrior and the steward of the Sun. It is the spirit of the warrior-priest that is taking flight. We have found this same context among many other ancient cultures that had leaders who were viewed as son's of the Sun and who also held positions as warrior-priests. Finally we take a close look at the Right Hand and see that the Form of the Hand (a steward of the Sun) with its back the Form of the Triangular earth-female Form. The other signs indicate a (yellow) vertical-place sign and next to it a Circular, the one, the location sign and two horizontal-places signs that are positioned as on the side (of the earth). The steward of the Sun, the one, his location, a vertical-place, positional, on the side of the earth female, the horizontal-places within, positional, the earth-female. We have seen how, in depicted sign language, similar messages could look quite different due to the use of sign or visual paraphrasing made by the addition or absence of some signs. In this comparison it is primarily the Wings that make the main difference but the observer's eyes are attracted to the Imagery and its details. This encourages the observer to focus on the Imagery as opposed to the Form where the similarities between the Ohio Serpent and the Egyptian Serpent are more noticeable. In this paper we are able to see that the ancient depicted sign language system and it accompanying cosmology was known about and used by the Egyptians. At some time during the following Greek and Roman cultures the system as well as the cosmology began to break down. This was probably a result of increasingly large national populations with less need for inter-cultural communication, the shift to phonetic alphabets, as well as the result of conflicts over cultural authority, politics, and changing religious views. Additional informational about the Egyptian use of depicted sign language has been added below.

Illustration 8: Egyptian Standing Bird It is not clear why the literature continues to label the object above the head of this Egyptian object as a Sun Disk when the definition of a disk is a flat circle. It is obviously the Form of an Egg and is golden in color which is a reference to the color of the Sun. The Stance of the Egg is Slanted Rightward which means, the one awaiting emergence. The Egg was positioned on the flat line made by the top of the Head which represents the ground's surface. The Stance of the Bird is Standing (arising or arisen) as opposed to a Sitting Bird (awaiting). This Stance relates to the Total Form of the Bird which equates to the sign for, flight. The Feet of the Bird are also gold and are the Hands of the Bird. Thus the steward of the Sun, a Sun-priest. It is he who has arisen in flight. Here is part of the Egyptian: OF PERFORMING TRANSFORMATIONS (From the Papyrus of Nu, British Museum, No. 10,477, sheet 10) The chapter of performing the transformation into a hawk of gold

The chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith: 'I have risen, I have risen like a mighty hawk--of gold--that cometh forth from his egg; I fly and I alight like the hawk which hath a back four cubits wide'... The Egyptian concept of transformation and ascension in flight is little different than the other ancient cosmologies we have translated in earlier papers. In these cosmologies the Form and Imagery depict a Bird and in the American Indian cultures the Bird is often an Eagle (a sign for the daytime Sun), The quote from the papyrus re-enforces the idea that the the object over the Bird's head is an Egg, the one who will emerge, as opposed to a Sun disk. The Human Face of the Bird, his appearance, is in the form of a male-spirit and is golden, of the Sun, in color. His appearance, he of the Sun, the male-spirit. Under the Wing is a (dark) Arm (a warrior) with a (white) Hand (a steward of the Sun, a Sun-priest). The Hand has Fingers delineated by the Forms of Four small Serpents, streams of water, positioned as a series of horizontal levels. The meaning is, the streams, their levels, in all four directions, --everywhere. The Hair on the side of the Human Face is darker than the rest and is in the Form of the Shepherd's Crook that means, taken downward, At the end of the black crook (darkness) is a (red) lower Half Circle that means, the lower half or the underworld. The Crook is aligned with the Ear which alludes to the orifice or the hole, on the side (of the earth). Taken downward, in a hole, on the side, to the underworld. The Nose of the Face creates a center line and the Eyes (of the Sun), Venus, are positioned on either side (Left and Right or east and west in gesture signing). The Line of the sides of the Eyes indicate they are partly beneath and partly on the surface, The Nose itself alludes to the Nostrils or dual holes. The holes and Eyes of the Sun refer to, the arising of Venus in the east and west. The Wing if the Bird is interesting as it was In the Form of a Large Drop of Water (the great water-particle) with its Stance as heading upwards. The upper part of the Wing is in the Form of a (black meaning, within the darkness, positional) Large male-spirit sign (based on the Form of the glans penis), the great male-spirit. Next we find the Middle Section of the Wing composed of (red, indicating, rebirth) Multiple Lines that are the sign for, flowing. Finally, at the base, we find the Triangular sign for the earth-female whose interior appears filled with Vertical Rectangles, indicating vertical-places.. The great water-particle, a part in upward flight, the great male-spirit in the darkness, the flowing water of rebirth, the vertical-places, toward the surface of the earth-female. There are probably more signs and more to the message than can be derived from the photograph. However enough of the message has been translated so that it can be understood as cosmological in nature. From the above we can understand that the Egg in the Mouth of the Ohio Serpent Mound and in the Mouth of the Form of the Egyptian Flying Serpent was a very ancient concept. That this concept was about the emergence of a Sun-priest's spirit from the underworld --a form of rebirth of the spirit. The Sun-priest also held the title of the Eye of the Sun which was a metaphor for Venus. It is unlikely that these cosmological concepts were invented separately by the Egyptians. Rather they became known to them through far more ancient cultures along with the system of depicted sign language. At some point in time the signs came to be used phonetically as part of a complex alphabet. It may be that the

illustrations found in Egyptian tombs or other Imagery maintained their sign language roots for a period of time despite their use in a phonetic alphabet.

The following are papers related to Serpents and Depicted Sign language: http://www.scribd.com/doc/19926389/The-Serpents-Arm-and-Hand http://www.scribd.com/doc/33683231/The-Ohio-Serpent-Mound http://www.scribd.com/doc/21978715/The-Nazca-Cat-Demon