Representing hilly areas beyond the Nile River Valley. Compare the Chinese character 山. The hieroglyph was generally colored yellow, reddish, or pink with dark spots to represent desert and rock, and sometimes its base was colored with a black or green line to represent cultivated land. Archaic forms (and occasionally Old Kingdom and later forms) show the outer sides sloping instead of vertical.
Gardiner, Alan (1957) Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs, third edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 488
Henry George Fischer (1988) Ancient Egyptian Calligraphy: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Hieroglyphs, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, →ISBN, page 36
Betrò, Maria Carmela (1995) Geroglifici: 580 Segni per Capire l'Antico Egitto, Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A., →ISBN