[en] Following a remark of H.G. Fischer (1988, 54), the formal change 𓀆 → 𓃂 of the semogram wꜥb PURE is generally connected to the grouping 𓃂, which is the result of practices of intentional sign modification in the Pyramid Texts. This assumption is contestable since a significant temporal and geographic gap separates the last documented occurrences of the grouping 𓃂 in the pyramids of the 6th Dynasty from the first attestations of the logogram 𓃂 in Theban epigraphy during the reign of Intef III. In the present paper, I provide solid arguments against Fischer’s hypothesis, based on a thorough examination of the two relevant steps in the evolution of the semogram PURE. I suggest that the emergence of 𓃂 may have been triggered by the influence of cursive writing, which is a driving force behind the emergence of new sign shapes in the regional epigraphies of Upper Egyptian during the FIP.
