𓅡

Glyph origin
Originally representing the saddle-billed stork. The stork is depicted with decreasing accuracy over time; the earliest instances come from knife and mace handles from the Late Predynastic Period and are very accurate. Starting from the 3rd Dynasty the bill of the hieroglyphic stork began to shorten. In later phases of the Old Kingdom, as the bird died out and disappeared from Egypt, the glyph became increasingly schematized, with a shorter neck and bill, a goose-like posture, and incorrect placement of the wattle on the neck or chest rather than at the base of the bill. This form then continued on mostly unchanged for the rest of Egyptian history.

The phonetic value of is derived by the rebus principle from the glyph’s use as a logogram for.

Usage notes
This is both the earliest and most widespread glyph to serve as an logogram for, among  ,   , and possibly    with the same meaning.