𓈙

Representing a lake or pool. Compare the Chinese character 𣶒. Detailed Old Kingdom forms cover the interior with vertical zigzags of green or blue rippling water: (𓈜). A form with a few diagonal lines across the interior (𓈚) appeared in hieratic and semi-cursive hieroglyphs during the Old Kingdom but rarely appeared in hieroglyphs proper before the Late Period. Another variant adds lines, perhaps to suggest depth: (𓈛). In general, the glyph is usually colored black/blue. The phonogrammatic value of š is derived by the rebus principle from its use as a logogram for š (“pool, lake”).

This glyph and the jnr (“stone”) logogram and determinative (𓊌) are extremely similar. The stone hieroglyph is often drawn shorter/squatter than the pool hieroglyph to distinguish the two. In some inscriptions they could also be distinguished by color: the sides of the pool glyph were blue and the interior water was green, while the stone glyph was often white (representing a whitish stone such as limestone), although sometimes the stone glyph was colored blue instead (perhaps representing a mud-brick, as Egyptian scribes generally used a limited color palette that did not include grey or brown, or a block of dark stone such as basalt or greywacke).