Representing a scorpion. The glyph as usually depicted lacks its tail and venomous stinger for superstitious reasons; this usage began in funerary texts in burial chambers but in time became standard. However, above-ground Old Kingdom examples typically show the scorpion intact,
. Some of the earliest (intact) depictions are shown in profile, with all the legs on the underside; later the legs were placed on both sides, representing a more top-down view.
Gardiner, Alan (1957) Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs, third edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, âISBN, page 478
Henry George Fischer (1988) Ancient Egyptian Calligraphy: A Beginnerâs Guide to Writing Hieroglyphs, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, âISBN
