rwḏt

Egyptian

Etymology

rwḏ (“to be firm”) +‎ -t. As ‘sandstone’, a shortening of the full phrase jnr ḥḏ nfr n rwḏt (literally “fine white stone of hard rock”); sandstone, despite being relatively soft as far as rocks go, is often harder than limestone, the other principal stone used by the Egyptians for building.

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈɾawcʼit/ → /ˈɾawtʼiʔ/ → /ˈɾawtʼa/ → /ˈɾawtʼə/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈɾawcʼit/
• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈɾawtʼiʔ/
• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈɾawtʼa/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈɾawtʼə/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ruːd͡ʒɛt/
  • Conventional anglicization: rudjet

Noun

 f

1. hard stone in general
2. sandstone

   Synonyms: jnr ḥḏ nfr n rwḏt, jnr ḥḏ mnḫ n rwḏt

Inflection

Declension of rwḏt (feminine)

singular	rwḏt
dual	rwḏtj
plural	rwḏwt

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of rwḏt  

rwdt	rwdt	rwḏ	rwḏ
[Middle to New Kingdom]	[Middle to New Kingdom]	[New Kingdom]	[New Kingdom]

Derived terms

• jnr n rwḏt
• jnr ḥḏ mnḫ n rwḏt
• jnr ḥḏ nfr n rwḏt
• ꜥꜣt rwḏt
• mꜣt rwḏt

 

Descendants

• Sahidic Coptic: ⲣⲁⲟⲩⲧⲉ (raoute)

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1928) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 2, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 412.14–413.2
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 148
• Harrell, James A. (2012) “Building Stones” in the UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, version 1(1), page 1–2.
• Vycichl, Werner (1983) Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Copte, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 179